5

  RATED R!!!!! ABUSE. PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU FEEL THIS SCENE WILL UPSET YOU. 

THIS IS PART OF ATTICUS's back story. This is not a must-read chapter. ATTICUS'S MOTHER DIES IN THIS CHAPTER AND THAT IS THE ONLY DETAIL OF THIS CHAPTER YOU NEED TO KNOW. Atticus and Adeline were subjected to the cruelest acts that could be done to a living person. Please feel free to skip it. I write things like this because Darkness like this happens in the real world today. Children need our protection. Hugs and love to everyone who has ever suffered abuse. 

  

I cough violently as I fall to my knees once more. Blood trickles down my chin and I look up at the burly man excited to see me hurting. 

   "Get up, Little Alpha. Your father won't get to kill me," he snarls, and I shrink back a little. 

   My breathing is constricted and my limbs are burning. I am exhausted, but I haven't made him bleed and I sure as hell haven't made him submit. Father won't call an end to the match until I do one of those two things. 

  "Done already," he sneers before kicking me in the face. 

   Pain shoots through my head and black dots cloud my vision. I try to gargle words of mercy, but the blood pooled in my mouth and my blurry vision work against me. I fall flat on the mat and I hear the men next to my father laugh. 

  "Looks like a loser, Alpha," a male says and I hear Rupert growl. 

  My consciousness slips a little for a few seconds, but before I can completely fall into the darkness rough hands yank me to my feet.

"I will not be a laughingstock in my own pack! Get up, Runt! I will show you what happens when you disappoint me," Father snarls as he drags my wobbly body to the doors that lead to the lower levels. 

   He practically throws me down the stairs as he pulls me along with him, but I ignore the pain of his actions. Terror is consuming me. Rupert Kincaid is not a man you want to make angry and I made his men laugh. They called me a loser... Something he will not tolerate since I have Kincaid blood running through my veins. 

   Father yanks Mother's door open and my heart practically stops as my mother looks from my battered face to her mate. 

  "Get out here bitch! And bring your pathetic pup," Rupert snarls and I begin to squirm. 

  "No, please... It was me. Not them. I failed, Father. Please," I beg while spitting out chunks of my cheek and blood. 

  He throws me towards one of his favorite torture stands and my stomach practically becomes a prune. 

   "SHUTUP! I WILL NOT HAVE THE HOUSE OF KINCAID MOCKED," He roars, and Mother hurries forward with Adeline tucked close to her chest. 

  My three-year-old sister looks at me terrified, and all I can do is stare. I feel helpless. I can't do anything. He is so much bigger than me and he has an army of evil men that would hurt me if I did manage to stop him. 

  "Rupert, I understand the importance of your family. Allow Adeline to stay in the room. I will take whatever punishment you deem fit for Atticus's failure," Mother says submissively and Father looks her over for a second before glancing at me. 

  "No. She is getting older. She needs to bear witness to what happens when I am disappointed," Father growls as he removes his belt. 

   Father grabs Mother's arm and shoves Adeline toward me. She collapses into my broken body and I shield her the best I can. I wrap my blood-covered arms around her tiny body. I try to keep the blood still leaking from my face from landing in her hair but it is impossible. 

  "First I will paint your Mother's back red for bearing me such a pathetic mutt," Father snaps as he ties Mother to his torture board. 

  Adeline begins to cry, but I cover her mouth with my broken hand quickly. I can't let her shift Rupert's anger to her. Mother would be disappointed in me if I allowed Adeline to be hurt as well. 

   "I accept, Rupert. I am sorry," Mother says and I force myself not to scream. 

  I want to beg! I want to apologize to her for failing yet again. I wish I would just die. If I were dead Mother wouldn't be getting punished because of me. 

   Father's belt zips through the air before I am ready and Mother screams as the black leather cuts through her shirt. He doesn't allow her to recover from a single blow as he rains down lash after lash upon my poor Mother's flesh. 

Adeline is screaming at this point and so am I. With every hit, we scream with our Mother. It's as if we can feel her pain through our skin. 

   When Father's breath becomes labored he throws down his belt and begins to undo the front of his pants. Disgust slaps me in the face as I realize what he is planning to do now. I cover Adeline's eyes just in time before Father slams into his mate viciously. He pounds her while hitting her and I fight back the need to vomit.  

  After ten horrifying minutes, he lifts his face and moans signaling his climax. Relief bubbles inside of me for a split second. Finally, the ordeal is over. My mother's body can heal and she can go back to her room. But Rupert isn't finished. He gestures to his vile audience. 

Many of the men already have their penises exposed. They were excited by my mother's rape and torture. They probably expected my father to share. 

He moves to stand in front of her while the others line up excitedly. He slaps his mate and calls her name as his men use her. Twice bile comes up my throat but I force it down. I can't throw up and keep Adeline's eyes covered. I have to stay strong until I am back in my cage  

  "I have had enough! I kept you around in hopes of one day receiving a strong male," Rupert growls suddenly and my eyes become saucers as I see my Father break my Mother's neck. 

  I scream, but the scene in front of me doesn't change. Mom stays limb. The men keep moving and Father just stares at the dead female he was supposed to treasure and protect. Adeline tries to squirm away from me, but I cling to her. I know I am scaring her with my screaming, but I can't stop. It's like I am having a nightmare that I can't wake up from. 

   Finally, the men finish. They move away from my Mother's body as if it is just another day. They don't care that they just helped kill my whole world. 

  "I expect you to remember this the next time you give up. Adeline will be on the chopping block next," Rupert snarls without looking from Mother's body and my eyes snap to his blood-splattered face. 

  "If you kill my sister I will kill you and then I will kill myself. The Kincaid line will die," I shout without even thinking. 

  Rupert stares at me slightly stunned before moving to crouch down in front of us. 

"Then I won't kill her. I will make her dream of death every single time you disappoint me," Father says lowly, and a cold chill slides up my body as I realize I am solely responsible for keeping Adeline safe. 

I can never fail him again. I can't die. I can't submit. I have to separate my body from my mind. I have to become unbeatable. Adeline can not suffer what my Mother just suffered. 

  He smirks as he watches my inner turmoil. 

   "Get her to her room then go to your cage. I have to clean up," Father says with his smirk still intact. 

   So many emotions explode in me at once that I go numb. I pick up my sister as I stand. My pain from earlier is gone. I don't care about my damaged body. It doesn't  matter anymore. Adeline is the only thing that matters. I promised Mother. I will never break my promise again. Adeline will be as safe as I can make her. No one else matters not even me.