Four

{Please take note of the following trigger warnings that encompass the entire story:

- Abuse (physical, emotional, sexual)

- Violence (involving bloodshed)

- Emotional Trauma}

Thank you for reading. 

[break]

Rune, from the clustered bushes, keenly watched the front door of Rose’s house. Three days had passed, and he had yet to detect any motion. The house was still, and his hearing could not pick up anything. These factors made his concern grow. 

“Why are we back here, Alpha Rune?” Symon whispered. “Nothing special is happening.”

“Exactly.”

“Huh?”

“Do you know who might be in that house?” Rune dreaded the answer to that question despite knowing it.

“Humans who are living their life?” Symon never failed to hide his annoyance whenever he could not figure out Alpha Rune. 

“No.” 

“Then, who?”

“Someone that will make my life better.”

Symon scoffed. “Are you saying I make your life terrible?”

Rune eyed the man. Symon certainly knew how to twist statements to his taste. “Think whatever you want. While doing that, I need you to recheck the house.”

“Seriously! What is going on? I keep checking that house, but all I see is nothing. It is quiet, all the curtains are pulled down, and there are no concerning sounds. It’s proper for a house to be this quiet on a work day.” The Beta was almost stomping his feet.

“If all you will do is make noise, just leave. I can do this on my own.”

“B-but…”

“Leave.” Rune’s brows frowned when he detected footsteps.

“Are you mad at me?”

He gently shoved Symon to the side and focused more on the house. Finally, someone walked out, and it was that bastard husband of hers. Behind him was a giant suitcase, which he dragged while suspiciously checking for human movement. 

“Why is he being weird?” Symon also focused on the view. “Wait a minute… Is that blood?”

Rune’s heart thudded. “Where?” His eyes searched the body of the suitcase.

“On the doorstep.”

The moment Rune sighted the stain, rage filled him. He rushed towards the bastard, his hands pulling his hood. Once he got there, he snatched the bag before the husband could place it in the boot of his car. 

“Who the fuck are you?”

Rune ignored him, tore the suitcase open and allowed relief to wash over him when he saw the paint cans haphazardly placed in the bag.

“I said, who the fuck are you?”

Rune lifted his head, his natural and dangerous aura appearing in his eyes. “Where is your wife?”

“What?”

“Where is she?”

“How is that your business?” The husband’s brows tightened, and his smallish hands rested on his waist. “Does she know you?”

Rune slowly got up after he convinced himself to hold back from storming into the house. That would violate the pact he made with Rose. So, to ease his concern, he widened his senses and picked up Rose’s scent to his relief. The faintness of her scent did worry him, but he chose to believe that she was holding on and planning her escape well. 

“Hey!” The husband continued to yap. “I am talking to you! I said, who are you?” His eyes burned. “Are you fucking her? Huh?”

The man’s speaking disgusted Rune, so he walked away without a word. But the husband would not have that. The moment Rune’s legs moved, he grabbed him by the collar. “I am talking to you, fucker. Answer me.”

Rune looked down at the bastard, who could barely stand properly and smirked. The husband was undoubtedly a pathetic man.

“What is funny to you, you fucking weirdo? Huh?”

Rune, with little power, held one of the man’s wrists and weakened his bones. 

“Wh-” The feebleness in the man’s eyes gladdened Rune. He watched as the bastard held his deflated wrist with great confusion. “What is this? What did you do to me?”

Without a word more, Rune walked away and went back to his hiding place where Symon was waiting with a questioning frown plastered on his face.

“Who is this person?” he asked, his arms crossed. “Are you trying to cheat on the Luna?”

Rune’s brows jerked. “You speak like a fool, Symon.” He pulled down his hood. “Think hard before you utter your next statement.”

“Uh…” The man, whose build was impressive yet not on the same level as Alpha Rune, scratched the back of his head. “I overstepped. I apologise. But…” Rune’s hands pulled into fists, he disliked that the Beta wolf was about to mention one of the things he hated the most. “You are technically still married to Luna Catherine. Just because you were-”

“Just because I was banished doesn’t mean she is no longer my wife?” Rune grinned maliciously. “Is that what you are trying to say, my dear Beta Symon?”

“Uhm…” The evil in Rune’s eyes once drove a wolf mad, Symon knew better than to provoke it. As the Beta swallowed hard and closed his eyes to construct his words better, he stammered, “I- uhm- I think… It might be best that you… uhm… take things slow?” His forehead creased with uncertainty, and he looked up at Rune. “Can you do that?”

“I am doing that.”

“You are stalking this person, Alpha Rune. And this person is messing with your time.”

Rune looked ahead as the bastard husband drove away. “I am protecting her.”

“I-”

“Listen up, Symon,” the Alpha cupped his jaw, “sometimes you stay in my business too much. If you stifle me too much, I will not hesitate to get rid of you. There is only so much I can let you get away with.”

It was apparent in his eyes that Rune’s words hurt the Beta, but he quickly nodded and accepted the warning because he knew they were not false statements.

“I will uhm… take note of that.”

“Thank you.” Rune relaxed his sinisterness and patted the wolf’s head. “I appreciate all you do for me. You know that, right?”

“I do,” Symon croaked, his head ducked to hide the tears that always came easily. 

Rune looked away because tears from a man annoyed him. “How is retrieving the data from that phone coming along?”

“We found a very concerning audio file.”

The Alpha noticed that the front door was not completely closed.  “Hmm.”

“It suggests domestic violence and-” Symon’s pause was weird. Rune looked at him, saw that his eyes were narrowed, and pointed at the house they were surveilling. “Is that why we are here? Is this person being-?”

“Wait for me.” Rune left Symon to figure out his thoughts. He rushed to the entrance of that house. Upon entry, the quietness that greeted him made him aware that Rose was not in that place. With fright gradually wrapping his heart in an unfamiliar way, he checked every inch of the house. She really was not in the house. The only trace of her was the faint lingering scent in the kitchen and her items in the little room he first checked. 

With a pounding heart and sweating palms, Rune summoned his wolf to heighten his sense of smell even more. Despite that, he could not trace her whereabouts. It was as if she had been forced to erase most of her existence from the world. 

That thought crushed Rune, he fell to his knees while his aching heart worsened.

“Rose…” While clutching his chest, he wondered if that was how he was going to lose his mate without getting to know her. 

No, that must not happen, he decided. 

Wherever that bastard dragged her to, he would find it and bring her to her real home. And… If by any chance she already suffered death, he would go to the depths of the world and beyond to bring back her soul. 

Why?

Because she is his mate, the one who set his soul ablaze with passion after months of living in great despair because of the things he lost. 

[break]

Rose pinched her eyes to adjust to the ridiculously bright and moving light before her. As she did that, she realised her body was stiff and uncomfortable, and her ears picked up weird noises. Once her heavy eyes opened, she unclenched her vagina and allowed the pressing urine to pass. While it was disgusting, she was relieved of the itch the piss was causing her.

Then, with a sigh of relief following a shiver that relaxed her body, she focused on the projected video in front of her. In it, two people were in the sixty-nine position, eating each other out with passion and laughter. 

Rose frowned and inwardly questioned the sex film she was watching. She wondered if there was a point in Richard tying her up to watch such a thing. 

Rose did not recall a lot after she slumped in the kitchen, but at intervals, she glimpsed and heard Richard cursing while recklessly moving her before tying her up. 

When the faces of the people having sex became fully exposed, her chest felt a thud while her eyes widened in shock to see how pleasured and excited her husband was with another woman.

“Nicely done, isn’t it?” 

Rose flung her head in the direction of the voice. 

“Ri-” It was painful to speak. 

“Shh. This is just the beginning. There’s a lot more to watch.”

“Richard!” Rose managed to cry despite how her throat hurt. “Can’t you just let me go? Huh?” This time, she could not fight the tears. The pain was now intense; it would be hard to heal from it. “I will not trouble you. I won’t ask for divorce anymore.” Her head shook with desperation. “I will run far, far away. You will never see me again! Please. Please, Richard, please! This is too much!” The ropes holding her were vicious, they bit her arms and legs. That added to the pain. 

“If you run away,” he paused the video after reaching for a clicker, “I will catch you.”

“Ohhh,” she moaned with regret. She should have just gone with that stranger. She should have just accepted his help. “Richard, please.”

“For today, you gain a little freedom.” Her eyes filled with hope, but she dimmed them before he could change his mind. “We have bible study at church. Pastor Remi asked that we come together.” 

Richard walked closer, then past her. Sensing him in that blind spot made her more fearful. It was unclear what he was doing and what he could do. So, she listened and monitored his movements. A few unusual noises were made, but he did nothing to her and walked to her front with a gown in his hold.

He continued, “I will clean you up, and you will wear this. Once we get there, make sure you say nothing.” His face came closer, and she shook with fear, her eyes almost squeezing shut. “If you do as much as cough or sneeze, that virgin hole of yours will get branded tonight.” Her tears rolled down more, and she pressed her lips to show him she would listen. “Is that clear?”

She nodded.

“Fucking answer me!”

“Y-yes. Oh, God.” Her breath trembled, and she wished to disappear at that moment. It was just too much. 

“Ugh. Did you pee on yourself?” He covered his nose. “Disgusting shit.”

In her mind, Rose was beating herself up. Her hands were slapping every part of her body because she clearly calculated her escape in the most stupid way. 

“In case you are wondering how you got here,” he smugly continued, he was enjoying her heated crying, “it was easy. I drugged everything eatable and drinkable in that house. When I woke up from that brief sleep, it was easy to escape those silly, sexy ropes. You 

passed out because you drank water from the fridge. If you had not done that, you would not be here.” He held her chin to feast on the mess on her face. “You will never escape this, Rose. You are mine to play with as much as I want.”

Rose could no longer muster the strength to beat herself up. With what little strength she had, she decided to use the Bible study as an opportunity to escape. She was barely thinking straight, but the fight for survival was raging inside her; one way or the other, this time, her plan had to work.