Page 107 of Forever My Siren Luna
Cedric and I met each other’s eyes, our pained expressions similar. Then Killian takes over, ripping out of me as I bolt for the castle to return to save my mate from whatever horrors she is facing.
Cedric and the King are right behind me. They are following me on horseback, but are somehow keeping up with Killian’s monstrous speed.
“Hold the line,”I commanded Mel. “Lira is in danger. Hold the fucking line until they make the first attack.”
None of this adds up. Did we march into a trap? Did they just lure me away to steal my mate? Why? This didn't happen in the past. None of it. If she suffers again like in her first life, or something worse, if even one hair on her head is yanked from the locket, I will burn the northern land down myself.
Thirty-Two
Beretta
“She’s coming to,” a female voice hissed quietly somewhere nearby. My entire body is aching. My jaw is throbbing. My head feels fuzzy, but then I hear my beast muttering softly in my head, whimpering as she tries to heal the worst of my body.
I quickly remember why my body hurts so badly and my eyes fly open, expecting another attack. Instead, I find a wet, cold room, large but cluttered with rusty dank cages.
In each cage are women of all nationalities, some fae, some lycan or were, and even a few humans among the mix. All of them looked scared shitless and worn for wear. I can only imagine the shit they had been through after what I endured upon getting to this hellhole, wherever in blazes it is.
There are several women out of cages, looking better off even though they still look terrified. Most of the free women are cuddled in a corner on top of a stained mattress, but two women are hovering over me, worry on their faces instead of fear.
One of them, a young red-head with eyes that remind me of someone else, is holding a metal collar like the one that was forced on me during the attack.
Wait…
My hands reached up to my throat to discover it empty. That is the collar that was on my neck. My blood is coating the thing, dripping from the crude edge. My neck and jaw feel raw, new flesh forming over a fresh wound. A wound my Lycan is healing, since she is free to do so now.
“It’s okay. Your beast should heal you now that this is off,” the redhead coos, running her free hand over my head. She tossed the collar across the room, making a couple of the caged girls scream and flinch away from the harsh noise. “Your jaw was already broken, but we had to dislocate it more to get the collar over your head. Be careful not to move your mouth too much until it’s healed. We had to hold it in place for a while until it started to mend.”
That’s why it hurts worse than any other part of my body. I thought for sure there would be greater wounds than my jaw, but these two women saved me from suffering the aftereffects of that torture.
I’ve suffered worse. I’ve endured more. It made me stronger, and this time it will be no different.
The other woman, a beautiful elvish or fairy girl with dark hair, brings me a ladle of water, and gingerly helps me to sip the lukewarm fluid so I don’t injure my jaw.
Now that I’m awake, my beast is working hard to heal the last of my injuries, and soon I have the ability to speak again.
“Thank you,” I muttered in a hoarse voice. “If you hadn’t gotten that thing off me, I would have woken up so much worse off.”
The two women looked relieved. They probably expected me to be scared like all the other women in this room. That's not going to happen. I will be fighting until the end. “It was her that suggested breaking your jaw more,” the red-headed girl pointed to a cage close by with a woman who seemed familiar.
No, she didn’t seem familiar. She was familiar.
“Are you…”
She smiled sadly. “I recognize you too. From the Western Shores Pack? Alpha Wayne?”
I nodded, my heart constricting to see someone familiar here. I didn’t know her name, and never was I allowed to speak to her or any other warriors’ mates, but I did recognize her as being one. Her mate was in the same platoon as mine.
“How did you get here?” I asked.
She shrugged, but the action looked forced. “No mate, no use for me. My mate was sent on a sea voyage and never returned. Many men disappeared at sea. I felt it the moment he died, and made the mistake of trying to go back home to my family.” Her eyes looked lost for a moment before she continued. “I was captured and called a traitor. Myself and a couple others like me were sent to this place as tribute, along with Alpha Wayne’s daughter.”
This surprised me. “He sent his own daughter as a tribute to demons?”
“No,” she shook her head. “He sent her to become his bride.”
“Whose?” I asked, looking around the room when many of the women began to cry. “Whose bride? What is this place?”
The redheaded woman spoke up when it was clear the woman from my old pack didn’t have the answers. “Lord Tenebris.” Her voice was soft, full of hesitation. It was as if the mere name could hurt her. “He’s-he’s the ruler of this place.”