Sorry I've been a bit absent. Things have been a bit hectic and I'm finding less and less time to write. But, here's another chapter for you all!
The rest of the day passes by in a blur filled with presents, food, and attention. I've never seen so many teddy bears and flowers all in one room before! I guess I'm more popular than I thought! It seems that every single member of the Dark Wood pack has visited and brought a gift with them to wish me well in my recovery.
Or maybe Axel threatened them to bring gifts.
Either way, I'm happy with all the love and attention. My favorite part of my day is when Axel continues cuddling with me even when people enter the room. He was never this touchy around other people, whether it be slight embarrassment or his tough, emotionless reputation he needed to uphold. Now, it's like he doesn't give a shit anymore.
If one good thing came from our bond almost being severed, it's that.
There is something that I haven't brought up with Axel yet, and it has been weighing on me all day. I know that if I bring it up, Axel will stop being touchy and clingy and will instead be detached and growly.
The subject is Brenden.
Just thinking of him makes me sick to my stomach, furious and ready to murder him myself. It's one thing for Brenden to attack me, but to go after my mate? That is unacceptable. The way that Brenden hurt me, he also ended up inadvertently hurting the love of my life, and that is where I draw the fucking line.
So, even though I hate to ruin the slight peace and tranquility of the space, I turn over in the hospital bed and lightly squeeze Axel's bicep to get his attention. Yep, it's still hard as a rock, like another part of him that I'm desperately trying to ignore. Axel raises an eyebrow at me.
"If I bring something up, do you promise not to leave?"
Axel studies my features, then nods.
"What happened to Brenden?"
Like I expected, Axel's eyes dilate and he releases a deep growl that I know the other doctors and nurses can hear down the hall. His hand tightens around my hip. I follow the movement, noticing not for the first time that he isn't wearing his rings that I am so fond of. I wonder what happened to them when he force-shifted?
As if Axel can feel my worry from him, which he most likely can now that our bond has healed more, he slides his palm up and down my waist to relax me. "You don't need to worry about him."
"Yes, I do," I explain to him gently. Even if I'm out of danger, which I assume I am because I know Axel, Brenden is still my business. I deserve to know what happened to him and where he is.
"No. You don't."
"Why are you fighting me on this? He hurt us. Both of us. I deserve answers on where the fuck he is or if he's gone already!"
"You see?" Axel says, sitting up more so he's hovering over me slightly. "You said 'if he's gone already.' You can't even say it: if he's dead already. If I ripped him apart. If I slowly poisoned him with silver. If I drained him of every last drop of blood. If I-"
"Stop trying to intimidate me!" I say, shoving at him slightly. He barely even moves. "Yeah, I want to know if he's fucking dead." Axel is beginning to get on my nerves with the way he's avoiding answering me.
"Why can't you just accept that I have him taken care of?" He runs a hand through his perfectly groomed hair, displaying his unease.
"Because I want to see him," I say, taking a stab at the idea that Brenden isn't dead. Since Axel didn't leave my side in the five days of my coma and hasn't left my side except to take the fastest shower known to man, I can conclude that Brenden is most likely in the cells. I doubt Axel let anyone near his prisoner, and he wouldn't have been this relaxed if Brenden wasn't in Dark Wood custody.
Axel stands to his feet and begins pacing. "No. You won't see that monster ever again."
I stand up as well, needing to match his height slightly. He looks alarmed that I'm getting out of bed at all, but to be honest I should be able to leave the hospital by now. I don't need this IV anymore, no matter how paranoid Axel is about my health.
"I want to see him! Did you fucking think about that? You saw what he did to me. I know he hurt you when our bond was almost severed. You would have had to live the rest of your life without your mate, and I know how much that would have hurt you." I walk up to him and place my hands on his cheeks, my fingers folding around the back of his neck. "I need to talk to him. One last time."
Axel closes his eyes as he breathes heavily through his nose. I can feel his need to rip Brenden's flesh apart. I can feel his desire for pain and blood and death. Why can't he understand that I have that same need?
Axel opens his eyes, and I know that his mind is made up.
"No."
He places me on the bed, forcing my body backwards until I have no choice but to sit down. Then, he storms out of the room.
"Stop fucking pouting and get back here!" I yell at him. A minute goes by, and just when I think that he's going to come back and apologize I see Cole's head pop in through the door.
"I've been summoned," Cole says with a grin.
"Ugh," I whine, falling back on the bed. "He's so fucking stubborn sometimes."
"No comment," he says, sitting in a chair next to the bed. I roll over to look at him.
"He won't let me see Brenden."
Cole's eyes darken, his jaw becoming more defined with his obvious anger. "You shouldn't."
"Why not? Axel will. That fucker is probably heading over there right now without me!" I lean forward, placing my forearms on my thighs. "Brenden hurt me. Brenden almost forced my mate to live his life alone. That doesn't sit well with me. I need to..."
Cole looks away from me, suddenly finding the floor extremely interesting.
"What is it?" I ask, very curious as to why he is acting so guilty all of a sudden. "Cole..." I say, mimicking Axel's serious voice. Surprisingly, it actually works.
"Shit, I'm the worst Gamma ever. I can't keep secrets."
"You're a Gamma? Since when? You know what, never mind. Tell me." I watch as Cole battles with whether he should tell me about this secret revolving Brenden and my mate. What did Axel do to him?
"Beta Axel and Alpha Grayson would never forgive me if I told you..."
"Spill the fucking tea or I'll go grab my mate." That small threat makes him squeal.
Cole looks at me with a very serious expression, and it is very clear to me that the joking Cole is not here anymore. In his place is a dark warrior, a violent Gamma. "Axel wouldn't have lived his life alone. He was ready to die alongside you."
I freeze up. Every muscle in my body tenses while my brain cannot comprehend. "Axel wouldn't do that. He wouldn't kill himself just because I..." My hand covers my mouth as I shudder. My glasses fog up, but I pay them no mind. Would Axel have actually gone through with it? He has Grayson and an entire pack to support him. He has people who would be torn apart if he voluntarily left this pack. Left this life.
I feel partly to blame. If I had just taken the time to allow Axel to become friendlier with other pack members, maybe he wouldn't feel so attached to me. So guilty for my death. No wonder he wouldn't leave my side. Axel has never felt love, at least not like ours. What must those five days have been like for him, both of us teetering on the edge of life and death?
More than anything, more than the relief that he didn't have to go through it, more than the sadness that he felt like he had to die, I feel anger. Anger that is more pure than any other kind I have felt. I've been through a lot of shit in my life. Abusive mothers, deadly marks, and homophobic bullies- all have made me mad.
I'm downright homicidal now.
I drop my hands from my face, peering over at the pile of clothes on the chair in the corner. I calmly remove my IV. I've seen videos of them getting removed before, so I gently remove the tape and slowly pull the tube out as straight as possible.
"Stop. What are you doing?" Cole tries to stop me but I have already removed the IV. A small bead of blood forms on my arm and Cole curses under his breath as he goes across the room to the first aid kit and hands me a band-aid. "Are you crazy?"
I press in the band-aid and walk to the corner of the room. "I've never been more sane, actually." Then I drop the hospital gown.
"Oh, Goddess! Give a guy some warning, will you?" Cole is covering his eyes and he is turned in the opposite direction. I put on the sweatpants and a plain t-shirt. I have to roll up the sweats a few times and the shirt is big around my arms and chest, so I know these belong to Axel. Of course the fucker would want his scent on me even more.
I walk out of the room, not even bothering to tell Cole where I'm headed. Sure enough, he catches up to me. "Where are you going? Cooper, I'm sorry if I upset you. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything-"
"No," I interrupt him. "You did the right thing. Now I have to make things right."
"Cooper, Beta Axel told me to guard your hospital room-"
"Then go fucking guard it. I have to see Brenden. Now. I hate to pull rank," I say, turning to him and looking him straight in the eyes, "but I order you to not follow me."
Cole staggers back, then his eyebrows furrow as he growls under his breath. "Cooper, don't do this. You know I don't want to disobey a direct order-"
"Then don't. I'll see you later," I say, then walk right out of the hospital. Nobody stops me even though it is clear that many people are staring, most likely wondering what the Beta's mate is doing without the Beta, and so close to his time of injury. I honestly don't give a fuck what they think as long as they know that I'm able to do whatever I want.
It doesn't take me long to find the cells. It's the furthest clump of buildings away from the pack house that is still deep enough into the territory to prevent break-ins. Dark Wood isn't the kind of territory anyone wants to attack, especially because other supernaturals know the consequence- death.
The pack guards give me a funny look, but they allow me inside. I give them a wide smile before entering the building, then I go straight for the stairs leading down to the cellars where prisoners are kept. I picked the building with the most guards on the outside, hoping that's where Brenden would be kept. I don't think that Dark Wood has many prisoners at one time, but they definitely have the space for them.
The cells remind me of those torture chambers you see in old vampire movies- deep gray stone walls and floors, no windows, and brand new and shiny metallic chains. There are all kinds of torture weapons that I can see through the bars, half of them I'm not even sure what they do. The closer I get, the louder Brenden's screams become.
I find Axel in the last room down the hall. He is currently using a small silver knife to carve out a chunk of skin in Brenden's cheek. It is very gruesome, and I want to look away from the bloody slab of skin that falls to the floor with a wet thwack.
I don't look away. I generally dislike violence, but something about the way that Axel defends me and protects me from a guy that assaulted me, that almost killed me, makes me grin with mirth.
Then, I once again remember that this piece of shit almost killed Axel as well, whether intentionally or not. I can't stand the thought of Brenden living a second longer. I'm not one for torture, but I need Brenden to hurt.
"What are you doing out of bed?" Axel asks, not turning away from his carving to talk to me. It's difficult to hear him over Brenden's screams of terror and pain, but I already know how pissed he is that I'm here.
Axel can suck it because I'm pissed as fuck, too.
I push the cell door forward, and it opens with an ominous creak. The fact that it is left open says a lot about Brenden's bindings- he isn't going anywhere, and there is no chance for escape.
"I told you I wanted to talk to Brenden. This isn't news," I say, rolling my eyes. When I step next to Axel, I notice that he saw me roll my eyes.
If it were possible, Axel looks even angrier. "I said no."
"And I don't care," I say, then I look at Brenden, whose eyes are extremely dilated. His wolf has come out to play. "That looks like it hurts," I say sarcastically, then cringe away from his gross wounds.
Brenden doesn't say anything. He just stares at me, and I somehow feel scared by the way he looks me up and down. I automatically reach out to Axel through our bond, and his presence calms me down. Axel would never let anything bad happen to me. Brenden is trapped, and he won't hurt us anymore.
I'll make sure of it.
"Go home or-" Axel begins threatening me, but once he sees me walking over to the steel table with a collection of sharp knives, he cuts himself off. I study Axel's torture equipment, noticing the array of sizes, shapes, and sharpness of each piece of weaponry. There is something with a type of corkscrew edge, and I can't even begin to imagine what that one is for. It looks kind of sharp at the end, and curiosity gets the best of me as I reach out my hand to feel the weapon.
What can I say? It looks cool as fuck! I've never dealt with weapons before. In all the training I've had with Axel and Cole and the others in Dark Wood, I've only practiced fighting in my wolf form or my human form, but never with any weapons. My claws are my weapons, so I know that hurting Brenden with one of these knives will be a new experience for me.
One I want to have because Brenden almost killed my mate.
My fingers are inches away from touching the corkscrew thing-a-ma-bob before Axel grips my wrist tightly in his hand. He wrenches me away from the steel table, never letting go of me.
"What the fuck?!" I growl in his face. "You can torture the shit out of my abuser but I can't do the same? Are you that fucked in the head that you won't even let me get the retribution I fucking deserve?" I try to rip my wrist out of his grip, but Axel only holds on more firmly as he brings my nose inches from his.
"Those weapons are silver." His eyes lower to my lips for only a moment before returning to my eyes. "Only touch the handle."
Oh. Once again, I presume wrong when it comes to Axel manhandling me. I can feel my cheeks heating up with embarrassment. Of-fucking-course these knives would be silver. He's torturing a werewolf.
I pick up a dagger from the steel table once Axel releases me. It hasn't been used today, unlike a few of the other weapons that lay bloody on the table. Brenden seems alert, which means that Axel must have barely gotten started. I can feel amusement through my mate bond with Axel. Does he like the idea of me handling a weapon? Of hurting someone?
I walk closer to Brenden while Axel stays behind, watching carefully with his arms crossed at his chest. I'm going to pay for my defiance later, I'm sure. For now, I'm going to enjoy this freedom.
"So," I begin, holding the knife by the black leather handle. Why do Axel's torture devices need to look so kinky? "I'd like to know why your wolf is so obsessed with me. Why mark me? Why almost kill me?"
I can feel Axel's anger, but I brush it aside. Brenden growls at me. "I didn't try to kill you. I tried to tell him that," Brenden says, jerking his chin weakly towards my mate.
"I was already marked and you knew that," I squint my eyes at him, stepping a foot closer. "You knew what would happen!" I fucking hate being lied to, and Brenden is desperately grasping for an escape.
"I thought- Please, Cooper. I didn't mean to. We used to have fun, remember? I guess my wolf got attached, but please don't let him kill me!"
If Brenden wants to stay alive, bringing up our past is not the way to do it. I never got around to telling Axel that Brenden was the other guy I slept with, but he sure as shit knows now. Axel's accelerated breathing isn't a great sign.
I hate that Brenden is hanging over us. Just watching how angry and upset Axel is confirms what I have to do. Axel will want to torture Brenden for who-the-hell-knows how long, but Brenden remaining alive that long will cause Axel distress in the meantime. I have to protect Axel like he protected me.
"Axel, go take a breath," I say, jutting my chin towards the cell door.
"No," he says predictably.
"Fine." I roll my eyes, then step closer to Brenden. "You try to kill me? That fucking sucks, but whatever. But you didn't just do that. You tried to kill my mate. You almost succeeded. I pity you, I truly do. That's why I won't let my mate torture you."
"Cooper, don't-"
Brenden gasps in surprise, which makes sense. The dagger I shoved deep into his chest is buried up to the hilt. He makes a few more pained noises, and then the room is silent.
Until Axel begins yelling.
~
Axel is NOT happy that his torture subject is dead. How do you think he's going to react?
Q: If you could go back in time, where/when would you travel to?
A: I would travel to Roanoke in 1590 to discover what actually happened there!
Xx alexia