"Alessandra?" I open my eyes slowly, my vision slightly blurry. I groan, and sit up in my bed.

"What the-" I moan, my head pounding.

"Drink some of this." I look up again to see Klaude and Phoebe, who is handing me a glass of water, which I guzzle down quickly.

"How are you feeling, Ale?" Klaude asks, sitting down on a chair next to my bed.

"Awful." I groan, and throw myself back on the pillow. "I can't believe Octavius."

"Ale, listen." I sit up again, and pull my knees into my chest. Klaude's face is stern, serious, and I frown. I've never seen a serious Klaude.

"Octavius is doing what he has to do. His hands are tied, he has to follow the laws. He didn't make them, his father did." It was the first time someone had mentioned Octavius' father, and I shudder, not wanting another flashback of that awful day to come back.

"Tyler and Benjamin are my family." I whisper. "He's killing people I love."

"Octavius is doing his job. His job is to enforce the laws, if he didn't this place would be chaos, anarchy."

"I-I" My voice falters. I want to argue, I want to scream from the mountaintops, I want to kill Kane with my bare hands. But I know he's right.

"I need to see them."

Klaude looks at me apprehensively. "I know they're still alive, Klaude. Kane said that they would killed on the next full moon."

Klaude looks at me pitifully. "Ale, that's tonight at midnight."

I scramble out of bed quickly, running to the door.

"Where are you going?" He shouts after me.

"To see my cousins!" I shout in response, about to shoot out of the front door, when I stop.

"Klaude?" I ask.

"Yeah?" His voice is faint from all the way in my room.

"Can you lead me to where they are?" His head pokes out from my bedroom and grins.

"But of course, milady." I slap his arm and he leads me to Benjamin and Tyler.

We reach a large steel door at the edge of the mansion, and I open it, peering down a dimly lit stone staircase. I take a deep breath and walk down them, holding one hand to a wall, because it's just so dark.

I reach the end and turn, and am shocked by what I see.

Cells line the walls, made out of a thick, grey metal. I walk further into the room, and look into the cells. Most are empty, but I reach one that holds my favorite cousins.

"Tyler, Benny." I whisper, keeping my voice low so no hidden guards could hear.

"Sandra?" Tyler crawls up from his sleeping position on the cold ground, and shakes Benjamin awake.

"Yeah, it's me." I smile, happy to see them again.

"What are you doing here?" Benjamin asks, winces as he lightly touches his swollen eye.

"I wanted to see you, I need to get you out of here." I begin to peer at the lock, and am about to touch it when Tyler shouts, "Don't!"

"What?" I whisper, my hand hovering over the metal.

"It's laced with wolfsbane, to knock out anyone who tries to get freed, the bars are laced with it too." He sighs, slumping back to the ground, and I kneel down on the other side of the bars.

"Tyler, what did you do?" I plead.

"We needed to get out, Sandra. We couldn't stand the thought, fighting for the people who killed our alpha, who killed your parents." I wince.

"Sorry, but we tried to rile up the others, cause we thought that if we got enough people together to revolt, we could force our way past the guards and back home. But when we were all about to break through the guards, the others held back, and we were left, just the two of us, to fight. And yeah, here we are." He hangs his head, and I ache for him.

"Oh, Tyler, Benny." I moan, and I just want to reach through to them, my best childhood friends.

"I'm sorry, Sandra." Benny speaks for the first time, the shier of the two twins.

"How could you guys-What were you-Oh god." I stutter, at a loss. I sigh deeply, and put my head in my hands. "I love you guys. Never forget that. I love you." I look up and see them crying, and I realize that I am crying too, slow tears pouring from my cheeks.

"We love you too, Sandra. Always."

I want to stay forever, just sitting with them and talking, but a clang and the thumping of footsteps echoes down the stairs.

"OW! Oh fuck! That hurts! Who decided to put a step there?" I hear, and I almost laugh as I see a tossed Klaude stumble into the room.

"Ale, we have to go, Kane and Damien are coming soon, they can't find you here."

I scramble to my feet, and I place my fingers to my lips, and I push it to Tyler and Benny. They do the same and I run towards Klaude before I begin bawling.

I run up the steps, and Klaude leads me down the hall back to the wing. I push open the door and enter and freeze.

Octavius is sitting at the kitchen island, and he looks up at the sound of my entrance. He stands and frowns when he sees my tears, concerned. That bastard.

"Alessandra-" He starts to come towards me.

"Don't come near me." I hold out a hand to stop him, and he freezes when his chest is pressed against my hand.

"Alessandra, please listen." He pleads desperately.

"No!" I snap, and my face is set. There will be no compromise this time, neither of us wins. "You are going to hold a ceremony tonight to kill my family, Octavius. And you did nothing to stop it. After I begged you, after I was dragged out of the fucking room, kicking and screaming for you to stop. You did nothing. The mother of Tyler and Benjamin is practically my mother, and tonight you are planning to make her watch as her only sons, her only children are killed. Kane is not the only monster here, Octavius. You are a beast." I finish my speech and race into my room, locking the door behind me.