Four

4

Fear.

It was unexplainable and felt like a living, breathable mask as it moved through my body. I didn’t think that I would be able to breathe anymore. I felt like I was finished and broken in so many ways that could not be explained.

"Move!" 

The guard’s voice sounded distorted in my head, but still I moved forward, unable to do anything else. Suddenly, I was groped at either side of my hands and jerked forward. My ankle twisted painfully, but I wasn’t given ample time to process it. 

I was suddenly outside and led through the back of the packhouse towards the lone building at the extreme end. It was made of stone, and I felt horrified at the thought of dying in here. I wanted to protest even more that I didn’t kill anyone, but my lips wouldn’t move.

Immediately we got to the door of the building; it beeped, and the double doors pulled in. I was shoved right in there without much drama. It seemed to me like it was a mini-cell, but it was stained with blood and vomit. I moved back a bit in horror, but a kick to my stomach had me flying down on the floor.

"Goddess," I cried in pain.

"Keep your fucking mouth shut. You have the guts to call on goddess Selena after what you’ve done? You killed our Alpha, Alpha Kael!" The same guard cursed me.

I angled my face to look at him, despite the pain that I was feeling, and he looked at me in irritation. "I didn’t kill Alpha Kael," I mumbled in pain.

Tears spilled through my eyes as he kicked me once again. "You can tell that to the twins when they come," he snapped as he walked out of the place, snapping the door close.

Oh, no!

I was alone.

Trying hard to control myself, I pulled myself into a sitting position as I rose my legs up to my chin, cradling it wildly. Once again, I was left to die. 

How long would I bear this?

This pain that the werewolf clan has given me is too much. I can’t bear it anymore. I should have died with you, papa. Why did you make Cormac spare my life? Why? 

Painful sobs wracked through my body, and the pain of being alone without anyone to help me almost made me double over in pain. Alpha Kane had left me, his daughter, to suffer! A princess like I was has turned into a fucking murderer overnight. This shouldn’t be so!

The sounds of footsteps approaching caught my ears, and I reluctantly pulled my head up. I saw nothing but shadows at first, and it caused me to hold my legs tightly. Was that one of the twins that I had seen? If it was them, then I was definitely done for. 

There was no way that they would believe my words. I knew I didn’t kill their wretched father, but they loved him too much to believe a word that I said. 

"I see that you’ve turned this place into your home, whore," a cold voice said suddenly as he came to light. 

Behind him were troops of guards. My hands shook as I stared at the man with a goatee; he looked completely horrifying. What would he do to me? Was it too late for me to run out of this place alive? I should have done so when the guard left the door open, but I had not, and now I was paying for my stupidity.

He gestured for someone to come forward, and a man holding a weird instrument stepped forward, handling it over to him.

"Look, girl, I don’t want to go through the hassle of torturing you because I should be in bed with my woman. So, tell me now, why did you kill Alpha Kael? Were you sent as a spy to do this dirty job?" He snapped at last.

I shook my head. "I did nothing wrong," I whispered.

"You’re still saying this nonsense? Don’t test my patience, Rose. Your name is pretty straight forward, so you better tell me now, why did you kill the Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack?" He thundered.

I shook hard as I moved back, tears blinding my vision, causing me not to see anything else. How could I explain to this man that I was not a killer? I could feel the taste of the horror that I would experience in my mouth, and I shook involuntarily at the ordeal. 

He snapped his fingers, and two men came right at me. Ignoring the presence of the vomit, I tried to crawl to the extreme end, but I was lifted up at once and forced to sit on a chair that I had not seen before. As they held me to the chair, they used black robes to bound me, trailing a bit of silver into my skin. The pain was maddening, and my wolf threatened to go away. I could barely think or keep her in check.

"Don’t do this to me!" I screamed.

The pain of a man’s hand squeezing my cheeks caused my eyes to pull up slightly. I found myself staring at the goat that I was beginning to hate with a passion. His eyes were like scars of dark orbs promising pain. The pain of the silver sliding into my skin could barely make me speak, but I shook in fear and anguish. Still, I hoped that my father would rise from the dead and assemble his broken parts together to save me.

"Hey!" The man cried in anger. "You think that those nonsense acts of yours would save you from me? You should have thought of all the pains you would go through when you decided to kill the Alpha of this pack. You’re going to spend a long time in these walls without food or water, and you would beg for death each fucking day of your life," he promised as he knocked my head to the side.

I coughed wildly. 

The man laughed at my misery, and my eyes misted even more as I struggled to stop the cough. It wouldn’t let up, racking all of my body and causing the silver areas to slink into my skin once more. I shook at the pain, unable to breathe.

"Bring the machine!" He snapped.

My eyes widened as I trained my eyes to the same equipment that I saw earlier. My stubborn cough slowly dwindled to a stop, and I drew my waist inward in a bid to stop the process. Looking from the machine to my tormentor, I gasped out. "What is that? Please take it away from me. I have said the damn truth. I didn’t kill the Alpha. I can’t do something like that! I’m just a woman, and he is a mighty warrior. How could this be possible?"

"Keep shut!" 

Biting my lips, I tried to breathe. The memory of my father telling me that I was a strong girl came at me. But I didn’t feel like I was brave one bit. It felt like I was the most hopeless girl ever. When the bastard who was having so much fun torturing me clamped the packing on my wrist and stepped back. I felt a zip of electricity move through me, and I shook consistently. My lips gagged at the horror of it all as the cold laughter of the men reached my ears.

I felt my wolf push through, but the silver snapped her back. I couldn’t understand where the pain ended or started—only the feel of someone pulling my head harshly back. "Are you ready to confess your crime?" he asked.

I couldn’t see anything or understand anything. All I felt was a total disconnection from reality.

"Give her one more. I think she would be able to talk then. She looks innocent, but she is a hardened criminal. We would definitely deal with her this time, and she would never forget it in her damn life!" Someone swore from a distance.

Just like that, the zip moved through my bones, clanking my teeth now. I cried out in horror and pain. "Make it stop!"

It did. 

I gasped as I tried to pull myself together, but everything was even more cloudy than before. All I knew was that my wolf and I were in pain. I felt like I was continually being beaten with a rod. It was the worst feeling in the world to have.

"I’m asking you one last time, bitch. Why the fuck did you kill Alpha Kael?"

My head moved to the side, and I tried to look at the person who had spoken, but he looked weird. I clamped my eyes shut instead. "I didn’t. Kill him."

"Sir Blade," someone called. 

There was a pause, and then the same person said, "Alpha Kael’s twins want the prisoner at the pack at once. We would understand what happened since the priest had come."

Did it mean that it was all over?

Would I be tortured in there or free?