His Fading Humanity

Chapter 35: Oceans

Reuben turned his back on Kyros and crossed his arms behind his back. "Foolish words you speak when you do not know the plans I have for you."

"Oh, then care to enlighten me, so that you won't have to listen to my incessant lectures for too long."

"Shut your mouth." Reuben spat, turning around to face him, "Can't you see how stressful this all is for me?"

"How stressful it is for you?" Kyros laughed aloud, gesturing to his own chains.

Reuben only furrowed his eyebrows in anger, but before he could speak, he was cut off by Kyros.

"I don't think you're in any position to complain. Unless you'd like to trade places with me?" Kyros wiggled his eyebrows sarcastically and held up his arms, gesturing to the chains around his wrists, "Here, these can help keep you company when you find yourself dying alone after you're eventually captured by Asheria."

"Enough!" Reuben roared.

The sound of the rain and waves pounding the roof above them became louder, and water started to drip into Kyros' cell.

"You may be able to get away talking to me that way," Reuben laughed, "But you won't last a day if you run your mouth to the person you are being taken to."

Kyros raised an eyebrow. "Who are you taking me to?"

Reuben bent down so that he was eye-level with Kyros and smirked. "It will be quite the story when the king becomes a pet."

And with those words, Reuben stood up and walked away, leaving Kyros alone in silence. 

Kyros scoffed in disbelief, "Wild animals do not make good pets."

* * *

Kyros admitted to himself that messing with Reuben was a special kind of entertaining. But many hours later, he found himself hungry, in pain, and seasick.

He rattled the chains against the wall in an attempt to be as obnoxious as possible.

But he was ignored.

His wolf was angry, very angry. Kyros could feel it. For not only being taken away from his mate, but for being betrayed. He was also enraged because he was being taken to an unknown land so that he could be some kind of....pet?

Yawning, he closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep, but the rocking of the ship combined with his increasingly sick, empty stomach was making it difficult. And, to top it off, the wounds from the arrows he was shot with were in the process of healing, so they felt itchy and painful.

He was also freezing.

His mind conjured up scenarios of Asheria finding out that he was missing to distract himself. He wondered if she had noticed yet, or if she was still unconscious. Anger flooded him when he reflected back on what Reuben had done to her.

Revenge is mine. 

Darkness soon swallowed up all the light, which meant that it was past seven o'clock at night, since it was nearing winter and the days were starting to become short. He tried to pinpoint little details that could help him, but after a while, time melted into one and he could no longer distinguish much.

Pulling his knees to his chest in an attempt to keep himself warm, he battled the cold water dripping onto him intermittently. He knew that by morning, he would be soaked. He started to shiver and gnashed his teeth together and his jaw eventually started to ache.

He closed his eyes again. Sleep never found him, but at least he could let his eyes rest.

* * *

He could estimate that it had been eight hours on the ship when the storm finally ceased. But he was drenched and pulled his knees to his chest to conceal as much warmth as possible. Fear hadn't settled into him yet, and perhaps it never would. If anything, he was livid and aggravated, and those strong emotions suffocated any other emotions that dared to creep into his mind.