Kaden

Merciless

When my eyes fluttered open, I groaned and hunched in a pathetic attempt to soothe the pain in my abdomen. This time it was only a few kicks instead of some nasty poison. Tom ruined my back with a silver tipped whip the first time I woke. He was quite frustrated when I refused to tell him anything. He didn't stop until he got a few screams out of me, which meant my back was an absolute mess. An oozing, bloody, mess.

As always, I tugged on the silver chains keeping my hands above my head even though I knew it was useless. Still, I'd hate myself if this was the time they messed up and forgot to secure them and I never checked. So, for the sake of my sanity, I tugged even though my back screamed in protest. Every nerve felt like it was on fire, while the muscles in my back ached so bad, I grit my teeth to stay conscious. Not only were the chains keeping me upright silver, but each of my wrists had a silver cuff, as did my ankles. Tom was thorough, I'd give him that.

He'd asked who sent me here and I repeated what Dane and I told him when we arrived. I sought his blessing on my marriage since his nephew was my mate. That had him asking if Kaden put me up to this and I scoffed. He was pleased when I reminded him Kaden had bigger things to worry about than his uncle. Still, he asked several more times, just to be sure. Each one hurt more than the last, but I remained silent throughout it all.

Tom sliced my arms in several places, albeit he'd since bandaged the wounds because my healing was suppressed. My wolf was too, but she growled in the back of my head when he hurt me, lending what she could of her strength so I didn't scream as he desired. It frustrated him which pleased her. I had no way to tell time in the large prison cell where he'd chained me in the corner, but I believed several days passed. My legs suffered cuts and burns too, my back was whipped, and my stomach kicked. I hadn't eaten yet, which only increased my pain.

I was resolute, ready to face whatever the vile man threw at me. My only fear was Dane suffered too. That wouldn't be fair since none of this was his fault. Still, I believed Tom would gloat about his pain at least once if he hurt him. Me? I was the youngest daughter of the king, in his eyes I imagined I was forgettable. I supposed he forgot the desperate search my father conducted for almost a year to find me. This time, he even knew where I disappeared, thus where he should look first. How had this man escaped notice for so long? Or was he tired from hiding his misdeeds for so long that he made mistakes?

My wolf growled soft in the back of my mind, pulling me from my musings so I'd be ready when he entered the room. What games shall we play today? The first day, he burned most of my hair off. I guessed he thought I would scream and offer any information I could so he'd put out the flames. While I was pissed, I didn't react much. I tensed, because, well, my goddamn hair was on fire, but I didn't blubber about it. Once it got close to my scalp, he dumped a bucket of water on my head to banish the flames and one of his poor wolves trimmed off the burnt ends. I'd never been into pixie cuts, but I supposed it'd grow on me.

The only reason it bothered me was I knew Kaden loved my long hair. I liked hiding behind my bangs sometimes, but they were still long enough to fall into my eyes which was enough for me. As a bonus, it was still long enough for him to tangle his fingers in, so if we ever had the chance for hot, kinky sex, it could happen. Thinking of that made me realize I wanted Kaden to force me to submit so to speak. I wanted the chance to be weak, knowing he'd never hurt me. Great, now my body is aroused. Tom might think I get off on suffering. That might work in my favor.

A slight smirk tugged at my lips seconds before the door opened, only to die a terrible death when two werewolves dragged a furious man into my prison. He wasn't kicking and screaming, but he was livid. His arms were bound behind his back with silver cuffs keeping his wrists together while silver chains wrapped around his arms. Were it any other wolf, I'd think it was overkill. But the depth of Kaden's hatred for his uncle made them necessary.