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46. Cherish
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56
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The Beta's Prize 47. Ivan
For the very final time, I wait in the holding cell. There are only two of us left as I am the second to last fight. The room stinks of men as I sit under a flickering strobe light examining my hand strapping for the thousandth time. The fighter after my match, Jackson is meditating away in the corner. Whatever helps I guess. Vincent knows that by suggesting a target to get to freedom it will spur fighters on. I imagine every rookie thinks they can do this ten or fifteen times if they had to. However Vincent, being the sick bastard he is, knows realistically, a shifter's body can only heal so much. Denton and I were probably fifty percent less powerful when we first arrived. My battle with Xavier sapped a lot of my inner strength, the whipping took Dentons. Now we are more vulnerable, fuelled not by muscle but primal emotions. Mine is the desperation to get back to Cherish, whereas Denton, all flaring black eyes and wild back beard, is angry. Sheer hatred for killing his only fri
The Beta's Prize 48. Ivan
My victory was all but assured as Denton lay on the floor, his hands trying to cover the gaping, bleeding wounds of his smashed ribcage I looked once more towards the box where Vincent and Kingsley sat. Kingsley had a victorious little smirk on his face, as though he was already planning his tortures for Cherish. Instead I ran to the ladder where hundreds of men were gathered waiting to congratulate me on my win. Instead of climbing I used every last bit of strength and wrenched it from the wall. Aware of the thousands of eyes on me, I was relieved when it came away with a large metal plate attached. The crowd gasped and muttered. Was I planning to decapitate Denton, put his head on a spike like a barbarian? Or maybe something even grislier? “He hated him, he’s going to make him suffer, go on Ivan!” they shouted, loving the idea of an even gorier death than they had seen before. They watched as I ripped the backing plate from the ladders struts, giving me a long piece of metal. More
The Beta's Prize 49. Cherish
I spend most of the evening sitting blankly on the bed beside a small black canvas bag. It contains just a few basic items of clothing and food. There is nothing of value I can include, no money, nothing to assist us once we get out of here. The trivialities of which long black dress to pack was robotically completed. After throwing up I cried whilst Martha softly held me until I fell asleep in her arms. Any remaining adrenaline must have ebbed away from my body, leaving me exhausted. Halo tried to soothe me by suggesting I conserve my strength for what was to come. However when I woke, flinching and flailing, Martha was still holding me, stroking my long blonde hair, perhaps imagining her own girls in my place. “Martha if he dies…will we really be free?” “I don't know but it is the closest I have ever come to it in all these years. Vincent doesn't like to be seen as a man of poor honor.” “But then Ivan…” “He has made a noble choice,” her voice more strict and matronly than friendl
The Beta's Prize 50. Ivan
I mentioned feeling as though I was on a tightrope when she first taunted me in the dark as she slowly headed around the bed a few weeks ago. So this was what it felt like to fall. That first knock on the door, getting nothing but silence, hit me like a sledgehammer. The plummet was sickening. Looking around the corridor, debris and carnage everywhere I started cursing myself for not getting back sooner. Out of desperation I tried that second knock, hearing her familiar scuffle and squeal sent me skyrocketing. My heart soared as though a trapeze artist had grabbed me mid-air. I know we don’t have time for this, we need to be on the move while it’s dark, whilst the crowd is still here causing chaos but fuck, the instant I see those blue eyes I cannot put her down. Her smile, the pure illuminated joy on her face is now etched into my memories. My goal in life is to never put her through such worry again. /Or yourself/ Kohl added, /we cannot let her go again./ We need to get out
The Beta's Prize 51. Cherish
In silence we trundled away from our spotlit prison, the roads bumpy and jarring. passing through town after town it was clear just how big an influence Vincent had held over the area. Everything revolved around gambling. Ivans painted portrait hung in several shop windows along with Denton. It made me shudder, his face curled up in a snarl that I’d never seen before. There was even one of Xavier, his snarling disfigured rage marked with a huge red cross, signifying his end. Even though it was the middle of the night, bars and taverns were bouncing with life. Clearly some people had done very well out of the looting tonight and were celebrating. Quite how this area of wooden buildings and small stone walls would fare without the income from guests travelling to watch the Showcases was a serious issue. Was Ivan right, would another gang of thugs just take over? Ivan kept quiet, his hands white, wrapped around the steering wheel, eyes laser-focused ahead. This was the trickiest part.
The Beta's Prize 52. Ivan
I’ll probably end up saying this for every day I get to spend with her but Cherish is something else. I have no idea how I didn’t crash the truck, my eyes were constantly drawn to her gorgeous face. That blonde hair tumbling down in waves soft, rounded cheekbones and pink lips. Those big blue eyes, taking everything in. After fooling around in the truck we sat together during the final hours of the night, dawn beckoning, as she slowly peeled the wrapping from my hands. Though I hadn’t been too badly hurt by fighting Denton, ripping that metal ladder from the wall had torn my palms pretty badly. I had a few worries, none that I wanted to burden Cherish with right now. Firstly, we have absolutely no money to buy more fuel with. At best when we run out we are going to have to hope someone will buy the truck and not rip us off. In this part of the world, I’m not holding my breath. From then we are going to have to hike. Pretty shit start to her freedom. Secondly, she needs to eat. She
The Beta's Prize 53. Cherish
Having successfully teased Ivan into blushing once more before we set off I soon fell asleep. The soft trundling of the truck was lulling, as long as I didn’t think too much about the last time I was in the vehicle. Sadly though having wheeled transport came to an end. We arrived at a little town, a collection of stone built cottages with a large hall at its centre. Families milled about, families played happily whilst in the distance there appeared to be a bustling town square. It was nothing like the squalid, run down shacks we had left behind in the Shadowlands. Ivan was outside the truck, talking to a grey-haired man in his fifties. He was examining the truck, the hood was up and he was gesturing at various areas. I gave Ivan a sleepy wave, those green eyes of his seemed to light up on catching mine as he gave me a soft smile and a little nod. Then he put his head down and got back to chatting. Eventually he came to my passenger window, leaning his huge arms down on the open w
The Beta's Prize 54. Cherish
Walking helped clear both our minds. Ivan didn’t elaborate further on why he grabbed me so tightly but he told me lots of tales of growing up. How kind his parents were, how his own first shift had happened at fourteen and how he had bolted off up into the mountains, by the time he shifted back he was completely lost. He laughed at describing how he ended up building a raft from logs, trying to float back towards Silver City then just as he’d finished it he remembered there was no river, only the huge lakes and jetties. He had made it though, his father had been following from a distance to make sure he was safe. His stories were so jolly, all these adventures and excursions. Even warrior training sounded fun, then from the age of eighteen living in the Silver City castle. “My life has been so boring until now, I could sum up my existence as just plant, harvest, sell, fight, and that would cover it.” “No silly adventures with friends, surely you must have been romanced by someone,”
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The Beta's Prize Epilogue 6: White Forest Ball (Cillian)
Without thinking I shouted “Stop!” causing the cloaked person to sprint. “GUARDS!” I screeched, unable to mind-link members outside of my pack. Why was the entire fucking castle asleep! Sprinting after the cloaked figure I saw nobody else, no guards, not even a servant to help me catch the stranger. Arriving at the huge foyer of the castle, surrounded by flickering torches, hanging tapestries and miserable grey stone walls I had nothing to follow. They had vanished into thin air. All I knew from the build around the cloak was that they were a man, a man wearing long black trousers. Giving up the chase, I headed back to my room, flights of stairs, leading me to nothing but duplicating corridors of arched doorways, presumably student accommodation. The door to my parents’ suite remained open. “Papa?” I knocked softly to no answer. /Cillian, I am so sorry/ Vez said, realising before I did that my world had been knocked from its axis, shattered like porcelain. On the double bed, wrappe
The Beta's Prize Epilogue 5: White Forest Ball (Cillian)
I understood immediately why Papa never took us to many of these charades. Standing there in a pompous white shirt, on display like a prize pig at a fair I was happy to escape with Genevieve into the masses. I wasn’t so happy about Nikolai. We had only met briefly during a few childhood meetings but as a man he oozed anger and resentment. What for, I have no idea, but my sister and her wide eyes clearly thought it was the hottest thing she had ever seen. Silently, from my chosen distance, I watched his charisma overwhelm her, my own heckles rising. /She asked you to let her be an adult, to make her own choices/ Vez urged. Ever since first shifting and Vez came into my world it has been like having two fathers, both eager for me to prosper as Alpha. Our wolf fur was as red and fiery as my hair. I cringed, remembering how Jackson had laughingly called me the Infant Inferno, leaving me furious. Vez however, despite our fiery colour was sage, calming and fair. My papa tried to downpl
The Beta's Prize Epilogue 4: White Forest Ball (Genevieve)
Having to walk in behind my parents I felt like a child amongst women. Despite the stunning dress, the styled hair and jewels I’d been given, the ballroom had a strange feel about it. I felt watched ,studied, but not in the usual way, like at home in Cragstone when crowds gathered. One person’s gaze had me flustered. The smell of burning spice made my eyes widen in fear, urgently seeking out the owner. As though we were in danger of attack, then I saw Nikolai Romanov. He headed up towards our little royal enclosure furtively, as though he was breaking in. He was just as entitled to be there as the rest of us and yet his fearsomely dark eyes were stuck on me. He offered no greetings to anyone else, not even his parents. My heart flipped, what do you do when someone looks so blatantly at you? He wasn’t undressing me with his eyes or anything crude like the silly Kharkov boys. Instead, he was seriously, steadily looking at me as a person. Almost the same age as me, already nineteen and
The Beta's Prize Epilogue 3: White Forest Ball (Ivan)
I know exactly why she is nervous. It’s not ideal and we’ve put it off for so long that it’s brought the formal gold bordered letter from Alexander to force our attendance. They are so young, the twins are barely even adults. If they find their mates tonight there it is more complicated than they realise. For Kharkov’s girls, or Lyon’s boys, when they make their match it will be a simple case of falling in love and finding a place to live and be happy together. Our children, should it be from a rival pack, will see alliances drawn up, decisions taken out of their hands as their parents become a tangle of wants and wishes. Should my beautiful, delicate little Genevieve be drawn in with that dark-haired lout Nikolai, what then? He is the future Alpha of White Forest, as Freya is to live in Rising Star. I would lose my darling girl. I know it is just the mindset of a scared father. I am a proud, happy man, terrified of nothing the world can throw at me. Except for damaging my family'
The Beta's Prize Epilogue 2: White Forest Ball (Cherish)
I gasped at the sight of our intruder. Cillian, my beautiful boy, had somehow transformed into a powerful, charismatic man, his white shirt open at the top showing the sculpted chest he inherited from his father. His coppery red hair had an even fierier tone than Ivan’s, almost sheer red, whilst his eyes had eventually turned blue like my own, despite starting green. He had a strong, masculine jaw and his figure had developed over the past year. He had trained like a beast with Kharkov and Jackson, as if preparing for his mate by getting into perfect shape. “Are we ready to do this parade then?” he grumbled, fiddling with his cufflink, the rasping depth of his manly voice still making me wistful even after years of it breaking. “How has a white shirt made you look this grown up,” I said softly, adjusting the collar of his shirt whilst he towered over me and his father. The squidgy faced little boy who hid behind my skirts clutching stacks of buns he had stolen from Martha was no m
The Beta's Prize Epilogue 1: White Forest Ball (Cherish)
** TWENTY YEARS LATER ** “I cannot believe it has truly been so long since we were last at White Forest,” I murmured, standing in the same suite we had used so many years ago. Back when I shouted at Helena and suggested she had failed Ivan. The four-poster bed and stained glass windows were unchanged. As if we had simply stepped back in time. The sight of the balcony, where I had once stood in only a black cloak for Ivan to devour under the pale blue moonlight made me smile and Halo purr in remembrance. “You are as amazing now as you were then,” Ivan murmured, approaching me with a grin. In his late forties he was getting somehow even more handsome with age. His hair remained the stunning copper beacon I looked for first in every room whilst his frame remained strong, tall and muscular. Although my heart had two other beacons to contend with in Genevieve and Cillian, Ivan’s strength was the tree which my roots had grown around. They had turned eighteen last winter, Ivan insiste
The Beta's Prize 106. Cherish
Although Ivan’s silly trick with the balcony made me laugh, we were soon back in the same glum mood we had left the dinner party with last night. The stone walls around us swirled with confusion, the footsteps of unknown servants constantly pattering by made me feel watched, edgy. At home, in Cragstone we knew exactly who roamed our smaller world. “We should just ask Helena outright,” I snapped in frustration, “they’re discussing us and our babies so why shouldn’t we know.” Ultimately we had the matter taken out of our hands. A small, elderly male servant summoned us for breakfast with Alpha Brandon and Luna Hollie down in the dining hall. Kissing the babies and leaving them with Kharkov and Penelope we made our way for attempt Day Two of the so-called Conference. As expected the four of them were already there. Brandon raised his hand as soon as he saw us enter and saw Ivan assessing the situation. Alpha Alexander for once looked distressed. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes wer
The Beta's Prize 105. Ivan
My worst fears were confirmed. This wasn’t a proper conference, there was no respect for our attendance as the leaders of the Shadowlands pack, it was some ridiculous notion by Helena to try and fix her own ego. Kissing Cherish softly as she tended to the babies with Penelope I informed Kharkov I was heading for a stroll, he could stay with the women and enjoy some breakfast. His face lit up at the prospect, whether it was breakfast or the company of the women I could not tell which thrilled him more. I loved the fact he had such a bond with Cherish. Having someone in your corner like that, it’s how I used to see myself and Helena. Different but the same. /If everything had stayed the same, we would have been dead in a ditch long ago. Some things have to change/ Kohl murmured sagely. I agreed with him, but I still regretted my lost friendship. Heading out of the huge double doored stone archway I found myself looking down upon a splendid view of the surrounding forest. It was so
The Beta's Prize 104. Cherish
When the servant brought us into the dining hall it was just as grand as I expected. Huge golden candelabras and chandeliers lit up a picture perfect room. The usual tapestries and war scenes I had grown used to seeing at White Forest were not present here. Rising Star was a gallery of landscapes. The valleys, lakes and forests depicted everywhere gave the castle a softer feeling than I had expected this pile of stones to provide. Even the soft rugs were welcomely eyed by Halo, my feet still not fully healed made me want to jump to the nearest chair. I preferred this castle to White Forest, though as Halo warned me, that may just be because I had lingering reservations about Luna Helena and her knowledge of Fate. Ivan, bless him, knew my feet were not fully healed yet and made sure to have me seated comfortably before anything else. Alpha Brandon and Luna Hollie were kind and gracious hosts. They clearly adored Helena and Alexander, a cosy coupling that we were on the outside of.
