Chapter 4

She wished Alpha Sebastian would take Audrey away. The poor girl deserves a normal life filled with love and care, which were all absent in her life at the moment.

“Who did this!” Alpha Lake barked at the two guards standing in front of the dungeon door. Rage filled him as he saw the blood-drained girl lying on the floor, looking all pale and dying.

His wolf, Regal, sensed a very faint heartbeat from her, and for the first time, it became crazy, restless, and angry.

He did not understand why his wolf was feeling that way toward Audrey, but it affected him too. Whatever his wolf felt, he felt too. They were one.

He got more irritated as his wolf became more restless. He was angry at Regal for making him want to know who did that to Audrey and why. Left for him, he would care less about her.

“You will answer me.” His eyes glazed over, and his wolf pushed forward, using their Alpha command on the two guards.

“We do not know, Alpha. We were drugged.” They answered in a somewhat hypnotic unison.

Bill and Bull were no longer the ones on guard, they had changed shifts with the new guards for the night.

Alpha Lake was raging.

“Damn it!”

He punched the wall, denting it with his fist. He was boiling in anger.

Who dared to touch his prisoner without his order? And even had the gut to drug his guards.

He had come down here to order for her to be taken to Ms. Bridget so she could nurse her for the night, at least, let her say her last goodbye to the poor woman.

He wanted to do it for Ms. Bridget, not Audrey; he did not care about how she felt, he'd rather she felt heartbroken and torn.

He wished she would feel lonely for the rest of her life, but he knew Ms. Bridget would be very sad and broken for a long time if he dared to send Audrey away without letting them meet for the last time.

She had taken care of her like her own daughter.

Alpha Lake walked into the dungeon, the metallic smell of blood flooded his nostrils, and being a wolf made it worse. It was like he was gulping down a gallon of blood with a hint of lavender flavor. He felt repulsed.

He took the keys that were hanging beside the walls and went to squat before Audrey. With the proximity, he saw clearly how the culprit intended for Audrey to die slowly and painfully.

Her thighs were judiciously sliced open, and her arms and wrist received the same fate as blood still trickled from her wrist, down to the floor.

He was supposed to feel over the moon with her predicament, this was what he had always wanted. Her death.

But when she was dying right in front of him, he did not feel a thing.

He did not feel happy, he did not feel sad.

He knew he should be the happiest wolf in the world at the moment, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel anything. He felt…void.

~~~~

Andrew was just about to go to bed when he received a mind link from the Alpha, asking him to come down to the dungeon.

The day had been very busy for him. Alpha Lake had given him a few orders to complete regarding the upcoming full moon which was in the next two months. And now, he had a bad feeling as he walked down the dark walls of the dungeon.

He entered the dungeon and froze. He saw the Alpha standing over Audrey's butchered body. He felt conflicted.

He wanted to ask him if he was the one who did that to her, he knew how deep his hatred ran for her, but he believed his Alpha, would do this to her.

He was too busy to stoop so low to find time to do such a thing.

“Alpha, I’m here.” He knew better than to question his Alpha when he felt the rage emanating from him.

He kept his mouth shut knowing that Alpha Lake was a force to be reckoned with, especially when he was pissed.

He was brutal with enemies, he was not known as the most feared Alpha for nothing. But he did not expect him to treat Audrey as one.

“Dispose of her.” His voice was deadly cold. No emotion could be traced in it.

“Alpha?” Andrew dared to question. He could still feel a faint pulse from the dying girl.

He did not understand what he meant by disposing of a breathing girl.

“Do as I say,” Alpha Lake slowly turned around, facing his beta.

His eyes were changing from red to grey, he was fighting dominance with his wolf, who was annoyingly not in support of his decision, and that made him want to get rid of her the more.

He would not allow his wolf to feel sympathy for that bitch.

He understood his wolf only reacted that way because it had recognized Audrey as a part of his Pack, and as an Alpha, it was his duty to care for an injured Pack member. But he knew better, Audrey would never be part of his Pack. Never.

“Are you questioning your Alpha?”

He brought his face close to Andrew's, looking straight into his eyes, daring him to challenge him.

“ No, never.” Andrew bowed his head, showing his submission.

“Outside the Pack's border. Don’t want her stupid body anywhere in my territory.” With that, he walked out of the dungeon, leaving his beta feeling conflicted as he looked at the dying girl lying helplessly on the floor.

Andrew stopped the car a good distance away from the Pack's border.

It was the peak of the night and there was no moon in the sky. The owls and crickets could be heard in the forest.

The road was lonely that night as not many people traveled the area unless they were coming to visit their Pack. Trees lined the sides of the road and he would have enjoyed the view if not for what he was about to do.

He went and opened the back seat door and carried the bloodied Audrey out. He carefully carried her to the other side of the road and gently placed her on the soft grass beside the road.

He gently ran his fingers over her soft dirty cheeks. He had always known he had feelings for Audrey, but he dared not act on it for fear of offending his Alpha.

He bent over and pecked her cheek.

“I'm sorry I couldn’t help you. I was not man enough.” He closed his eyes and sighed.

His conscience could not allow him to walk away from her, but he had to. He was following orders.

His heart shattered with every step he took away from her. He knew he would live with this guilt forever.

He had known Audrey since she was little, and even though he was not allowed to associate with her, he still watched her grow.

He knew she was strong, and always found a way to be happy in the midst of her chaotic life. He knew it was absurd, but he wished a miracle would happen, Audrey would survive and he would have the chance to meet her again.

He swore he would not let her go if that ever happened.

This was her first time outside the Grey Blood pack. He did not know what her fate was. But something told him that she would survive, she was a fighter.

He shook his head at himself, maybe he was going crazy with hope. He knew an average wolf could not easily survive such deep and heavy cuts, talk less of a 'wolf-less' girl.

He looked back at her one more time before entering the car and driving back to the Grey Blood pack.

Audrey lay unmoving on the soft grass, beneath the night. She was unconscious of her environment.

Her body felt like it was falling into an endless vortex of silent darkness.

She kept falling and falling, not knowing when she would hit the ground.

'Finally.'

Audrey heard a soft but mischievous whisper amid the dark vortex.

'Yes, finally.' Another whisper, but this voice sounded serene and softer than the first.

'We're free.' The second voice echoed.

Suddenly, Audrey felt herself being drawn out of the vortex with incredible speed, like someone was using a vacuum to suck her out at the top of the vortex, the darkness moving in flashes past her.

'Wake up, sleepy head.' The first voice said in a playful tone.

Audrey started feeling a tingling sensation of pain all over her body and slowly opened her eyes.

She lay immobile for some time, trying to understand what was happening.

She winced from the excruciating pain she felt all over her body, she did not have enough strength left to shout or cry, she was drained.

“Argh!!!”

She suddenly let out a loud painful scream as she felt her body suddenly start to stitch up at an unimaginable speed, she felt like she was under the hands of multiple surgeons, stitching her up all at once at an inhuman speed.

“Make it stop!!!”

She screamed to no one in particular as the pain reached its peak.

She arched her back off the floor, gritting her teeth together in pain.

She felt like her head was filled with excessive time bombs, ready to burst the next second, she raked the dirty earth with her fingers, trying to grasp anything that could save her from this pain.

But suddenly... Nothing. All the pains were gone like she had just imagined it a few seconds ago. Memories of how she got sliced open all came rushing through her mind in a flash.

She had been weak, hanging in the dungeon when the iron door suddenly opened.

She thought the Alpha had come to taunt and punish her, but the person she managed to see with her blurry tired vision was shorter than the Alpha, and his face was covered, leaving only his blue eyes to be seen.

He had roughly brought Audrey down and without warning used a sharp shiny knife to cut her open all over. Stabbing her back and stomach multiple times.

She remembered hearing, ‘Courtesy of the Alpha. Rot in hell.’ She knew without being told that the voice belonged to no one but Bill, the wicked guard.

As the flashback ended, Audrey lay on the floor, panting. She gasped for air, trying to catch her breath. She was exhausted.