Chapter 13: A walk through the past

Iris' POV

"Where did you get that claw mark from?" Gustav was everything except calm. His nostrils flared wide and his ears puffed out angry fumes to intimidate me into telling him the whole truth. He reached for the serrated Muay Thai dagger, and stood inches away from my pounding heart.

Damn it! How did I not see the mark in the first place? And why doesn't it hurt the way normal bruises do?

Telling him his henchman marked me while giving me the best sex of my life would infuriate him and bruise his already crucified ego. I could lose a limb or have my eyes gorged out.

I thought against it, and decided to corner him in his own turf.

"Your henchman did this to me," I spat, hiding my fear as subtly as I could muster.

"What henchman?!" He squinted in confusion, and relaxed a bit.

"Don't play that card with me, Gustav, I know you sent two assassins to come get me. But you know what, their lazy asses couldn't capture me." My blood rippled with courage, hoping I could buy myself some time before I tasted the cold pointed steel in his hands.

Mere looking at it was enough to make me shit in my pants.

"Henchmen? Assassins? I sent no one else after you except the royal guards. Drogo, my Delta, found you, not some self acclaimed charlatans fooling around for some bucks."

Now, it was my turn to get confused. Gustav is an Alpha of a pack. He was either hiding the truth from me, trying to cover his track, or he sent no assassins after me.

I was forced to align with the second. Gustav was too proud to hide his game play from a wolf-less eighteen year-old. What does he stand to lose?

But I was smart. I would keep playing with his ignorance till his lethal appetite for my head on a spike is assuaged.

"The Alpha Assassins." Wow! What a cute name I could coin, kneeling at the gate of hell. "Rings a bell?"

He grabbed my throat in a flash, pushing me hard against the cold stone wall. His grip around my jugular tightened with every breath from his nostrils burning my newly found courage to ashes.

Death, here I come.

"Tell you what, Wild Dog," he whispered into my face, " You either give me a name, or I snap your tiny neck in two like Summer twigs." He was serious as fuck now. The putrifying smell of the desperation in his voice saturated my body from his grip around my neck.

"A... Amber." I managed, my eyes bulged.

"And?" He breathed.

I'm sorry for betraying you, Ludovic; but I hope you understand my plight. You're a powerful Alpha, and I'm a nobody in need of somebody.

"Ludovic."

At the mention of his name, he dropped me to the ground with a plod, taking a few steps away from me without turning. His face was focused on my face, as I retched and gasped for breath. He was between afraid and confused, needing answers.

"You're toying with me, Iris." His voice settled into his usual guttural voice. He tried to play tough, but his heaving chest betrayed him.

"You heard me right." I struggled to my feet, wincing in pain.

"I don't know who the hell Amber is. She can suck my dick for all I care." He took two short steps to reduce the gap between us. "But the second name, Ludovic, are you sure it's him?"

"I may be wolf-less, Gustav; but one thing I'm always proud of is my photographic memory. Anyone or anything I see lives rent free in my head." I spat out blood mingled in saliva. "They stay forever."

"Prove it." He was intentional about knowing if I was right or wrong. But I was sure he knew I was speaking the honest truth. I was going to die, anyway.

"Tall, long light brown wavy hair packed behind his head, slanted dark eyes, pointed nose, ripped to the chin, tasty natural lips, soft palms, padded chest, toned abs_"

"That's enough." He barked, cutting me off from my reverie. "The werewolf you met is Ludovic Stone, a sworn enemy to my pack. He's the Lycan king of the Crescent Pack. For a decade now, the Crescent Pack and the Grey Moon Pack have been fighting a protracted war. Our borders have become a no-man's-land for both packs. Any werewolf from either pack that strays off course becomes toast in a split second."

Oh, my. I was wrong again.

"Why are you at war?" I enquired.

"You don't have to know the why, it's none of your fucking business." He ran one hand through his dark brown locks in exasperation, "but that fucking Lycan will pay for everything he's ever done. Everything."

Ludovic. Oh no! I was afraid for him at once. I wished I could send him a message to warn him. My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach at the gory image of Ludovic being slashed to pieces by angry claws and fangs.

I had not known Gustav enough to know what he was capable of, but for the few hours he had me strangled, I could guess what he was capable of.

"Where did you meet him?"

"At a motel." I dare not lie to him. Not now. Not with his piercing gaze boring into my soul.

Alphas may be psychopathic sadists. Who knows?

"Give me a name. There are lots of fucking motels anywhere around here."

"I swear by my dead parents, I don't know." My fear returned on full scale. " It was dark and raining when I got there last night, and I was too tired and hungry to see any name anywhere.

"I'll give you another chance, Smart Dog. Give me something I can work with, or I'll..." He charged at me with anger oozing out of him.

Instinctively, I lifted my right knee in self defense, tearing my gaze away from the impact it would create.

A key fell out from the pocket and clattered to the concrete floor, which made him stop in his track. He bent forward to pick it up, examining the golden numbers imprinted on it.

"You mean this Amber?" He cocked a grin at the corner of his mouth, dangling the key before my watering eyes.

The possibility of Amber being a human gnawed at me. I had put her life in danger. I hoped she understood as well.

He turned off the light and strolled out of the dungeon in a haste, closing the large metal doors behind him with a loud bang. I was left alone in the darkness, bleeding, hungry, and tired.

"I'm so sorry, Amber." I wept.