Once I’m released, I allow my hands to fall to my sides, and my head to hit the wall behind me with a loud thud.
At some point,I must have fallen asleep as I found myself lying on the floor with my face in a shallow puddle. I grunt and push myself up, wiping my dirty cheek with my even dirtier T-shirt.
My eyes flick around the cell to be met with the woman in the corner. She offers me a weak smile as the girl rests her head on her lap, her eyes closed.
“Hi,” she whispers.
I swallow. “Hi.”
“I’m Fi,” she mutters so quietly I barely hear her.
“Caleb,” I say in response.
Her gaze wanders over to the door. “They mostly go to bed when it’s late.”
“Do you know what the time is?”
“I know this place like clockwork,” she sighs. “So, I presume it’s one or two in the morning.”
“Why the hell are there so many of you down here?”
Fi strokes the child’s head softly. “He attacked our pack, and when we fought back and didn’t want to join him, he held us hostage. He wanted us to learn a lesson, so we’re his prisoners now.”
My jaw clenches. “How long have you been here?”
“Months.”
I curse and drag a hand down my face. “I’m sorry.”
“We’re all just trying to survive.”
My eyes fall on the girl in her lap once more. “Is that your daughter?”
Fi smiles and admires her. “Yeah, this is Lula.”
“How old is she?”
“Thirteen.”
Thirteen years old and being kept in a rotten cell against her will. My blood boils.
“He killed my husband,” Fi says after a few moments, and my throat closes up. “He killed him in front of me and has taunted me with it ever since. He’s a monster.”
There is a tight ache in my chest. “I’m so deeply sorry,” I murmur.
“I have to keep going. For Lula.”
I study the sleeping girl. “Yeah,” I rasp. “I understand.”
“How did you end up here?”
A choked laugh escapes me. “If I tell you, you’ll probably presume a lot about me.”
Fi frowns. “I don’t judge anyone here apart from Ryker and the guards.”
I suck in a breath as I turn to face her. I zero in on her dark eyes and the curiosity behind them.
“Ryker is my father,” I state simply.
