Chapter Three

Layla.

I am woken to the sound of water dripping softly. It is so cold that my teeth begin to chatter out of my skull as I slowly open my eyes. I am in a cement looking jail cell with bars on one side with a cell door and the other three walls are made of cement blocks. The floor is also cement and there isn't a single window in here. The room is maybe 8 feet by 8 feet, if that. There is a small drain in the corner opposite of the tiny dirty mattress that I am currently laying on. No sink. No toilet. I wonder if the drain in the corner is for toileting? I hope not! There isn't even paper in here to clean myself up with if I do have to go. Thankfully I don't. The cell door is closest to my feet and my head is shoved up against the wall that is parallel to the door. It smells like old urine, copper like blood, dust, and wet dirt. Not very pleasant.

I try to use my arms to get myself into a sitting position but as soon as I scoot my bottom half up and sit on it, I cry out in pain from the sensitivity in between my legs and the pressure I feel as I put my weight down on it. I can feel my hair is still soaking wet as it runs down my back and pools at my waist. I lay back down on it, not having the energy to try and move it. I am in a different oversized shirt that reaches my thighs if I pull the hem down. Someone has changed my clothes... I rip the shirt up to my belly button to find I do in fact have panties on. They are blue and lace and run right up my butt crack. I hate thongs, they are so uncomfortable especially when everything is so sensitive from what they did...

Don't go there, Layla. The voice in my head tells me.

You're right, I say back. I really am going crazy.

My mouth feels like I have been sucking on cotton balls all my life and my throat feels raw and like I swallowed sanding paper. My eyes are dry so I blink a few times to try and bring some moisture back to them. The lighting is dim in here and only illuminated by one light bulb hanging from the center of the cement ceiling. From what light that is being produced I can see fingerprint bruises left on both wrists, bruising on my inner thighs as well. Multiple scratches litter my legs and the bottoms of my feet are pink with fresh skin being exposed from running bare foot. I roll up the t-shirt and look at the jagged cut on my right bicep. It's very deep and the muscle is visible, but at least it isn't bleeding anymore. I gently touch my face and can feel swelling over my right eye, right cheek bone, and my bottom lip is split right down the middle. My nose is extremely tender but I don't think it is broken.

"She's awake!" Someone shouts from out in the hallway. Just as I get myself into an uncomfortable sitting position, a very large man opens the cell door and enters.

He is extremely tall - almost 7 feet if I had a guess - his head almost touches the low ceiling. His muscles are stretching his black form fitted t-shirt that oddly resembles the one I am wearing that smells just like him. Apple pie and coffee, delicious. His hands are massive as they clench and unclench by his monstrous thighs that are probably bigger around than I am. I look up to his face and notice dark brown, almost black, eyes looking at me with so much anger that I want to flinch away but I can't. This man is so captivating with his dark mocha colored hair that matches his perfectly trimmed short beard. His nose is straight and his thick eyebrows are drawn together as he sizes me up. I feel like I could fit in the palm of his hands. 

"Speak," is the only word that comes bellowing out of his mouth. His voice is deep and seductive in a dominating sort of way. Controlling yet comfortable. Like melted chocolate being poured down the walls of the Grandy Canyon. 

"M-my n-name i-is," I am cut off before I can even string a coherent sentence together.

"I SAID SPEAK!" He roars so loudly I fear the walls will crumble around me. My insides are screaming as panic sets in as flashes of the last however long, blaze through my mind like a forest fire.

"My name is Layla. I don't know where I am, or how I got here. I don't even know what day it is. I was running and fell off a cliff into a raging river and that is the last thing I remember. Brady and Jace - " I start to explain what happened when he slams his fist into the cement wall cracking it. Whoa.

"DON'T YOU EVER SPEAK THOSE NAMES TO ME AGAIN! GOT IT?!" He screams at me so loud I jump and fall off the mattress with my butt and everything down below facing him. My arms are shaking as tears start falling to the cement floor. I peak back over my shoulder and see his eyes widen in shock as he notices the bruises on my inner thighs all the way down to the ripped flesh on the souls of my feet. He looks away in disgust as I shift on to my bottom and pull the large shirt over my legs that I had instinctively tucked up under my chin. I hug my arms around my knees and I can feel the wound on my arm stretch and rip open. Being this close to the cut, I can smell the coppery smell of my blood as it races down the length of my arm and begins dripping from my elbow onto the cement floor below me.

He must notice the blood running too as his eyes flash a lightning purple color, as he takes in my arm and my face. Again, I must be going crazy because nobody has eyes that change color. He grimises as he turns on his heal and marches out of the jail before slamming the door shut behind him without even looking back.

I lay my face into my knees and inhale this intoxicating scent. As I exhale, I feel the dam that was holding back my tears burst and I allow myself to cry myself to sleep in this sitting position against the cold cement wall. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jaxon.

"I want to know who she is, where she came from, who she is working for, and what the fuck happened to her! I want every detail of her life all the way down to her first sliver, IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?!" I roar at my 5 best warriors. Two of which are my Beta and Gamma, Trev and Grey. Trev is my Beta, my first in command and most trusted friend. Grey is my Gamma and my second in command as well as the leader of our warriors. Someday when, if, I get the pleasure of having a Luna he will be her personal guard. All his other duties will be obsolete. His only duty is to protect his Luna, even if it means giving his own life. 

"Yes Alpha!" They all respond as everyone takes off to do the task set before them.

Mate. She is our mate. Someone hurt mate. WE MUST KILL THEM! Screams my wolf, Ash, as he paces back and forth in my head. He growls and shows his teeth at the thought of someone hurting what belongs to us. 

You don't know that. She is human after all. And there is NO WAY the Moon Goddess gave me a fragile human for a mate. I snear back at Ash. 

Mark my words, Jaxon, at the next Red Moon she will be ours. Human or not. You don't even know what happened to her so BACK OFF!

Ash retreats to the back of my mind and blocks me out. My head hurts from his growling and his severe anger just at the thought of someone hurting that girl.

What did she say her name was? Lyla? Layla? Ya, that's it, Layla. She smells like cinnamon and burnt marshmallows and what a perfect scent. I know I have smelt it before, prior to finding her, but can't place where...

She looked like she had been through hell and back when I found her washed up on the banks of the river during one of my sleepless nights. I had decided to go for a run when I smelt her as I was getting a drink farther up the river. I followed her trail and that is when I saw her. I ran over and rolled her from her side onto her back. She was breathing but barely. Her shirt was ripped and soaked in blood. Looking at her legs angered me to my core as I saw the markings and the missing panties. Someone had hurt this girl beyond repair. I pitied her and Ash had been repeating the mate bull shit sense we found her. I had linked one of the packs female warriors and told her to meet me and grab a pair of panties and one of my shirts, knowing my shirt would be the biggest and provide the most coverage. Like a good loyalist, she obliged without questioning me. As soon as she arrived and saw what I needed the clothing for she instantly redressed the girl. I had carried her unconscious body bridal style back to the cells where I knew it would be safest for everyone involved, including her. I'm sure whoever did this to her wasn't finish with her and could potentially be looking to bring her back.The last time I allowed strangers to walk freely on my pack lands had cost me dearly...

I admit I could have been a little more gentle with her when questioning but once she mentioned those pieces of shits, Brady and Jace, all I could see was red. I have been hunting them for three years now after what they did. Even if it is the last thing I do, I will have my revenge.