It was midday and Lauren and Roxanne sat on a grassy verge soaking up the suns warmth. Lauren shifted her emerald eyes uneasily on her surroundings. There seemed to be less people around lately, not that she minded. Her eyes lingered on suspended cage erected within in view of the old pack house.
"How did you get mixed up in all of this," she asked her companion. Roxanne had her eyes shut and had shimmied her t-shirt up to reveal her flat stomach to the sun's rays though her skin was already bronze. She didn't open her eyes to answer.
"My folks were the ones that got mixed first and they just brought me along for the ride. My dad's hoping, like the rest of them, that Ryder will begin his training soon. He wants some of Ryder's magic," Roxanne chuckled lightly, "but Ryder's not foolish enough to give it to him, I bet." Lauren understood more about this training from what Roxanne had already told her.
Her stomach squirmed unpleasantly as she thought about it. Roxanne explained that to get complete brotherhood and trust with those he trained, Ryder created for them a world of pain. It was a world where only he could rescue them. He makes them beg for every comfort. Sunlight, food, drink, freedom all came at the cost of giving yourself completely up to Ryder. Lewis was undergoing this process. Lewis would fight Ryder, she knew he would. But in the end would he bend or break?
Lauren's eyes darted back to the cage. For a brief moment her eyes locked with those of the woman trapped within. Her bare feet dangled through the bars and she was slumped feebly, her head resting on her shoulder. They had erected the cage for her the night before last. Lauren hadn't been able to sleep that night, not with all the noise the poor woman had made.
"Who is she?" Lauren asked. Roxanne opened her eyes to see who she was referring to. Her face hardened and she quickly shut her eyes once more.
"Claudia, she used to guard the prison. Just don't look at her or you'll get us into trouble." Lauren quickly lowered her gaze and starting picking daisies to create a daisy chain. "They'll die now," Roxanne reproached her when she saw but Lauren shrugged her shoulders.
"They were going die eventually anyway." She wore the daisy chain on her wrist, she hadn't done that in years but today she wanted to.
"We should head back inside and get back to work." Lauren joined her friend in groaning as they got to their feet. The sun beat heavily on their backs as they retreated into the shade. The old pack house was guarded, as usual, by Thorn and he nodded to them as they headed passed. Once they were in the hallway Lauren moved to the door on the left.
"I just need to use the loo," she explained before ducking in. Once she was in the bathroom she quickly bent down and untied one of her shoe laces. She counted to ten before poking her head around the door. Roxanne had carried on up the stairs and was out of sight. Lauren stared at the back of Thorns head.
He hasn't really stopped me from doing anything yet, he hasn't even spoken to me.
Decided she marched confidently out of the building and fervently avoided looking at Thorn though she could feel his gaze boring into the back of her head. She walked briskly as if she was headed for the green but she had to alter her angle slightly to bring her close enough to the cage. When she was beside the platform erected beneath the cage she knelt down in the dirt to re-tie her shoelaces. "Psst Claudia," she whispered through her teeth keeping her jaw locked shut. She stared straight ahead at the green. "You want to be free?"
"Yes," the voice in reply was hoarse.
"You help me to free Lewis, the Alpha werewolf Ryder's training, and I'll get you out of that cage." Lauren promised. She had already finished tying her laces but she made a show of checking her other lace was secure also.
"There's only one guard to get passed but Lewis is being kept in a special cell, you can't break through it without the key." Claudia's voice was so feeble that Lauren had to strain to hear her. Lauren slowly got to her feet. Thorn was heading in her direction and staring straight at her, his expression grim.
"Who has the key?" She hissed urgently.
"Ryder," Claudia started coughing violently. Lauren automatically turned to look at her and gasped. The woman was covered in bruises and her swollen lips were cracked and dry whilst her left eye was so puffed up that she couldn't see out of it. In spite of this Lauren noticed the roundness of her cheeks and the peculiar shape to her eyes.
She looks like Chloe.
Lauren felt a sudden pang in her chest at the thought of her friend. Chloe had a tragic love of shoes costing over £100 and a string of lovers to foot the bill. She'd always teased her and sang really horribly when drunk. They had created a code for when they wanted to subtly check out and discuss men in the surrounding area, though the subtlety was ruined by the amount of giggling that usually happened. Tears sprang up in Lauren's eyes and she reached out to touch the woman's limp leg reassuringly. A hand clamped down on her shoulder.
"Look, Thorn I know..." Lauren's words trailed away as she turned and stared up at the guy towering over her.
"Don't touch her," Ryder ordered, tilting his handsome head in Claudia's direction. He stared intently down at her, his gaze dark, but the corners of his chiselled mouth were quirked up with amusement. Lauren took a step back and narrowed her eyes.
"Why not?" She demanded crossing her arms over her chest. Ryder frowned. "She's sick, she needs medical attention." Ryder took a step toward her, his smile gone.
"No, what she needs is to learn." He spoke slowly, moving in closer. Lauren saw that he was attempting to pin her against the high platform. Quickly, she ducked under his arm and got around him so that he was now trapped between her and the scaffolding. One of Ryder's dark eyebrows raised but the slight smile was back.
"And what exactly does this teach her?" She gestured to the cage that was gleaming in the sunlight.
"To never be careless again."
"Or that you're sadistic."
"Careful, or I might take that as careless speech. Would you care to be taught a lesson?" His dark eyes were gleaming and his voice had taken on a seductive, husky edge.
"Would you?" Lauren shot back at him angrily.
"What lesson do you think I need to learn?" He moved toward her once more but this time Lauren had more room to avoid him.
"Perhaps the bitter taste of your own medicine," Lauren snapped. Ryder grinned, his gaze now openly looking her up and down appreciatively.
"Are your proposing that you want to tie me up and," he paused his smile widening, "do bad things to me," he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Lauren made a sound of disgust and stalked back to the pack house.
Thorn was by her side in an instant and Lauren gulped when she read the anger on his terrible face. They walked in silence but Lauren's ears were filled plenty by the hooting laughter coming from behind her.
If he has the only key, how the hell am I going to get it?
*
Lewis was relieved when the door to his cell creaked open. He lived in fear now that Ryder would leave and never come back and he'd be abandoned to rot.
I'm rotting anyway, rotting in my own shit. I need to start playing the game by his rules.
Ryder sauntered into the room. He flung his jacket on the filthy straw revealing his naked torso. The thick bands of muscle rippled as he moved and he brushed aside a strand of his raven hair that fell before his stormy eyes. He pressed his fingertips together, as if in prayer, and smiled wickedly at his captive.
"Are you ready to trust me now?" He purred seductively. Lewis locked his jaw but nodded his head brusquely. Ryder's grin widened and he leant casually against one of the barren, stone walls. "I warn you, I'll know if you're lying to me and it will make me very sad if you do, so answer me truthfully. What happened to Alpha Leo?" Lewis understood the threatening promise of Ryder's words. He sighed but held his head up and kept eye contact. He was submitting now but he would not do it weakly.
I have to show strength, that way this doesn't become his victory.
Lewis tried to forget the pain in his wrists and shoulder blades form his shackles, he'd been suspended for so long that he doubted his arms would ever lower again.
"Alpha Leo was murdered, his head ripped off whilst he was in human form and unable to defend himself properly." Ryder's eyes shone like two black beetles in the gloom and Lewis could feel the hunger behind the gaze. "But not by me." He paused, clenching his teeth and bracing his muscles waiting for Ryder's reaction. The disbelief followed by the pain he would inflict upon him. But it never came. Ryder nodded slowly but made no other movement. "I took the blame or credit, it depends on where you stand I guess. I did it because...," he hadn't told this to anyone. This would be the first time saying the words out loud. "I did it to..." He hesitated, knowing that it was too late to stop now but unable to form the words.
"You took the blame to protect her," Ryder finished for him simply. Lewis' eyes widened and he stared at Ryder incredulously. For once the evil sneer, the mocking grin and superior stance were stripped away and Ryder stood before him as a man, his gaze soft and sympathetic.
"You knew!" Lewis trembled. That's impossible, there's no way he could have known that.
"Yes, I already knew. But I needed you to tell me. Now you need to say the words out loud," Lewis hesitated debating if this was a trick or not. "This secret binds your far more tightly than my chains ever can. Break free from them now." Lewis stared at Ryder and noticed something else about him. Ryder's dark eyes contained incredible depth so much depth that really they weren't dark at all but filled with warmth.
"Immy killed Alpha Leo," he gasped when he heard his voice say the words without his permission. Now Ryder knew the truth, and knowledge was power, yet Lewis didn't regret saying them. It was like a weight had been lifted and he felt freer knowing that the truth was out there. Finally his darkest secret was revealed to the light.
Ryder smiled warmly.
"Let's get you down from those chains and tonight I'll bring a mattress down here for you to sleep on." Ryder stepped forward and brushed his palms against the chains, they fell away with his touch. No longer tethered, Lewis fell forward but Ryder caught him before he could hit the ground. Relying on Ryder's support he managed to ease himself down the wall. His bones cracked and his aching muscles protested but he sighed heavily when he finally lay down, his pain easing. He looked at Ryder in confusion.
"Why?"
Ryder smiled.
"I'm your friend. Everything I do is for you. I punished you for placing your people in danger because you had to learn the penalty of rash acts. When you refused to trust me I punished you again. Now I reward you." Ryder got up and donned on his jacket. "Remember Lewis, I can make you glorious."