Page 39

Scarlett

I groan, my entire body screaming in agony. My insides are on fire, the sheer pain from them crippling me. The wolfsbane that I was injected with is still searing through me, and something tells me they topped up.

Fuck…

My arms are twisted behind my back, tied painfully together. They aren’t going to risk taking any chances.

Suddenly I’m kicked in the stomach, making me gasp, the pain from the impact sending me rolling and I’m ready to throw up. I force my eyes open through the pain, the taste of blood in my mouth making my stomach turn.

Everything slowly begins to return to me and I remember how we had the accident and then I was taken.

A bleary look around and I find I’m in some sort of cave. I would scoff at the irony if I could. Why the hell am I always brought to caves? I am beginning to hate them. I can tell from the light that comes in from outside that it is probably late in the afternoon. I can see a few wolves standing around the edge of the large cavern.

What do they want from me?

“Fucking bitch!” a voice hisses. One that I recognise instantly.

Zidane.

I now glare at the man towering over me and I realise he’s the one who kicked me. Why am I not surprised? “You’re the bitch, Zidane,” I spit back. That’s not want he wanted to hear.

His face contorts with pure rage, and I take the moment to look him over. His platinum hair is no longer sleeked back. In fact, he looks dishevelled. His suit is rumpled, too.

Good.

He doesn’t look as in control as he likes to display. In fact, he looks restless. I wonder why he is so stressed. Did our attack rustle his fur?

I should be afraid, but I don’t know if it is the pain my body is tormented with or the fact I no longer feel any fear seeing him before me, but I’m simply angry. Angry he was able to abuse me for so long, angry that I could never escape from him.

“You dirty little cunt!” he spits, grabbing me by my hair and lifting me right off the ground and slamming me against the jagged stone wall behind me, knocking the breath from me as pain hammers through my body. I grit my teeth, refusing to give him even a sliver of satisfaction that he is hurting me.

“Keep cursing, keep hitting me, that’s all you can do, right? You’re worse than a fucking coward. Keep going, end it. Kill me if you can!” I rasp out. Despite the strain in it, the taunt is crystal clear. I glare at the man I resent with every inch of my being.

“I am no coward! We all know I am the strongest alpha! This time I will do more than simply rip you apart!” he snarls, his eyes filled with a hatred I can feel deep inside of me, but the feeling is mutual. I resent him too. His eyes fall to my neck, they fill with disgust as he looks at my mark.

He hates that I found my mate. He had wanted to use his mark against me.

“What’s wrong, almighty Alpha? Did I ruin your fucking plans?” I spit in his face.

He punches me across the face, snapping my left cheek straight into the wall, but I barely feel it. I need to buy enough time so my body can heal. I’m stronger now. I can feel it inside of me, the mate bond… Elijah’s strength. Once we mate, we become stronger, and my man is strong.

“No!” he thunders.

Oh, what a lie… I know I have. His current state is proof of that.

“Then why did you need to bring me here? What was wrong with keeping me in your pack, where you are all powerful?” I strangle out, barely able to breathe. But I’m not fighting him, wanting him to think I’m weaker than I am. Biding my time.

“You’re little trick to get the pack members to turn on me failed. They’re all dead or near dead, and it’s all because of your pathetic little stunt,” he sneers.

My stomach twists. Goddess, no… but I refuse to let him see my pain.

“It’s no stunt. I am going to take that pack from you. I’m going to heal it, fix it, and be the Alpha you never were, and my mate’s pack is right behind me.” I muster a smirk despite the blood that rushes down my mouth.

“So where the fuck is he? Your precious mate. Not here, is he?! Once again, your blue-eyed bastard couldn’t protect you.”

I test my wrists. I’m bound by silver chains, and although they burn my skin, I know if I have enough strength, I can break free.

I simply let out a strangled laugh, ignoring the pain from where my hair is holding my body weight. He then smashes my head against the wall behind me.

“Are you finding this funny!? Do you think he’ll come for you?! I am in control! You were made for me to use! You will be my obedient little bitch or I will fucking kill you!” he shouts, repeatedly smashing my head against the wall. I can see stars, my vision is darkening and everything is spinning. “Still feel confident?!”

More searing, hot pain rips through me and I hiss, realising he’s injected me with another syringe of wolfsbane.

“That plan of yours would NEVER have worked! You can never control me… you never were able to… the reason…” I take a ragged breath, trying to clear my darkening vision. “The reason I irritate you so much is because you were never able to break me. I’m not just a woman, I’m a fucking Alpha!” I smirk as a fit of cold, blazing anger surges from the mad alpha and he drops me, kicking me in the head. My body lifts up at the impact before I land on the ground, trying to gather my bearings.

“Don’t ever give yourself that much importance!” he shrieks, his eyes flashing dangerously, his wolf making its presence known. “I will break you! Again and again and you will break!”

“Then go ahead. All you can do is attack when I’m down. If you’re such a strong alpha, fight me like one! One-on-one!” I shout, forcing myself to my knees, seeing one of the wolves step forward, a syringe in hand. I growl, making him hesitate, feeling my aura around me.

“Inject the bitch!” growls Zidane, and the man steps forward raising the syringe but I twist around, pulling the chains with me and throw my arms upwards and smirk in victory when they lash across the man’s face.

“Bitch!” the man growls in pain. My eyes flash dangerously, my Alpha aura now surrounding me despite how weak I feel.

“You will regret this,” I say quietly, the dangerous tone to my voice making him hesitate. But Zidane steps forward, grabbing the dropped syringe and injects it into my neck before I can react. “I’m not alone. Not anymore,” I mumble as he hits me across the head, making me fall to the ground.

My vision blurs, thinking this isn’t meant to happen. I am meant to be stronger than this. I need to shift. If I can with all this wolfsbane in me… If I can, I will be able to defeat him. I close my eyes, stilling as he continues to beat me violently, kicking every inch of my body.

He wants a reaction, but no matter how much pain I am in, I will never give him that satisfaction.

He cannot break me.

He cannot weaken me.

He cannot control me.

Fire, agony, hell. That’s how my body feels. It’s worse than heat, this pain is earth-shattering.

“Scream! Let me hear it!” he snarls, but instead, I work on slowing my erratic heart rate. I need him to think I’ve fallen unconscious. One thing I know about Zidane, he hates rushing to the kill, preferring to play with his prey first.

Focus on something that calms you , I tell myself, taking a deep breath as Elijah’s face flits into my mind.

Focusing on him, I tune out the pain my body is facing. Remembering his scent, the way he held me, looked at me with so much love, and the promise to always be there for me.

But I was wrong. This time Zidane isn’t stopping, he’s still attacking me. I feel a sharp pain in my chest. He’s still hurting me, even if my body is fighting the wolfsbane. He slams his foot into my back and I hear something break.

I’m… fuck. I’m not able to get up…

And when Zidane grabs my hair and smashes my head into the ground, breaking my nose, I’m not even able to react.

I need you, Elijah. I don’t think I’m going to be able to get out of this one myself. I’ve been forced into such a weak state.

Elijah… His name is the last thing I think before a searing pain rushes down my back, realising Zidane has moved on to using weapons for his abuse.

I’m coming, Kitten, hold on… Elijah’s distant voice comes and I smile weakly. Have I imagined his voice? Probably. I think the wolfsbane should have blocked the mind-link… unless the poison is bleeding out of me. I’m not sure, but I don’t mind. If this is my end, then I am glad the last thing I think I heard was my love’s voice. Hold on…

Excruciating pain rushes through my back as a blade is driven into it repeatedly and my body can’t take it anymore, and I lose consciousness.