Betrayal.
This wasn't a joke this time. Not a prank, not a ruse, definitely not a mistake. She had been betrayed by a pack member. Her pack member. A wolf under her care.
He betrayed her.
Daniel Chan of Central C3, residence 104 is chained to the Wall of Punishment. He is unharmed and whimpering in front of an audience of at least 4o warrior wolves, 10 station guards, the Gamma, Beta, the newly appointed Jaci Marcus Johns and the Great Alpha.
"I had to do it!" He pleads, trying to melt the thin layer of ice that had frosted in the Alpha's eyes. "He made me--he said he'd kill my family if I didn't."
A sigh escapes the lips of the Beta. "You know the rules, Daniel. Any act of betrayal is punishable by death. We can't help you."
I looked on at the ghoulish scene. They weren't really going to kill him, were they?
Deep down, I knew that they would. They were to serious to be bluffing and I first hand know what Lana is capable of. "Will you shoot him?" I blurt out , blushing at my suddenness.
Flame shifts her head to face me. "No. Gunshots don't kill werewolves. He will die slowly."
"Why? What did he even do wrong?"
"He stole from her."
Time seems to move slower as Lana's slow, deliberate and almost predator like steps drag against the stone earth to reach the captive. Daniel visibly sweats with every clack of her heel. "Great Alpha, 发发慈悲 Fǎ fǎ cíbēi!" I shiver at his cries but Lana takes no heed.
And as if Fate slowed this moment to seem more poignant in my memory, I watch as her hand slowly moves down from the back of his neck to the low edge of his spine and emit a sickening, crushing sound.
Her fingers dug painfully into the taut flesh of the wolf. The most agonizing scream I had ever heard was echoed around the corners of the forest. Ignoring his pain, she digs deeper till her entire forearm is buried deep in the abdomen of the captive. The she begins to pull. And slowly, her arms tinted with blood, her fingers reveal a white object, something like a fence, covered in gauzy strings and dark blood.
His spine.
She ripped out his spine.
Then she ripped out his rib-cage; one by the one the cracks of the feeble bone rang through my ears. Ripped out his diaphragm. Ripped out lungs. Ripped out his femur. His heart. Piece by piece she emptied his body till nothing was left but the stained red grass, mutilated flesh rotting and the somber silence of death.
She ripped him apart.
I don't know when I began running--all I knew was that I had to escape. Escape the horrifying sight of a man physically torn apart, escape the evil that was the crowd around him, mute as a man was killed so brutally in front of them. They watched like they had done this sort of thing before. Of course they have. They aren't human, they are wolves, beasts, monsters.
And that woman, that murderous, despicable woman, was the most evil of them all.
With the blood pounding in my ears growing too much to handle and the soreness in my ankles too painful to bear, I sink down to the earthy forest floors and sob in front of a pair of patent leather boots.
My eyes slowly rise to spot a pair of caramel legs, a sunflower dress, warm hazel eyes and wispy blonde hair. She was beautiful.
Without awkwardness of hesitation, she slowly wraps her arms around me and begins to rock me back and forth. At this point my cries grow into sobs and I am near hysteria.
"Shh. It's okay. I'm human too--I'm human." Her fingers slowly caress the curve of my head and I calm down.
"Are you someone's mate?" I ask. "What? Hasn't the Alpha--never mind. I'm Jenny. I'm the link, or Watcher, of this pack. " I frown in confusion. "The what?"
"The Watcher. I'm like a correspondent between a wolf pack and a government. For the obvious payment, the government allows wolf packs to reside on human soil. We are sent in as government representatives of the sort--we watch how the Alpha maintains pack life and duties, we watch the various wolves of high rank, we monitor human interaction with wolves, how well territory is guarded, breaches in the treaty--"
"Treaty?"
"Treaty--every Alpha has to sign one to be able to set up a pack within its predetermined location. Without one, the wolves aren't documented and therefore are taken in as government property. " I nod, intrigued. "And do you have a mate in this pack?" She laughs; a warm and inviting sound that sends warm shivers down my neck. Who the hell was this lady? Why was she making me feel this way? "Watchers can't mate."
"What do you mean you can't mate? Is it because your human--because I'm human and I've mated."
"We are sterilized." I nod in understanding.
"So, what stops a Watcher from going to the press and revealing the existence of werewolves?"
"There are only 7 Central packs worldwide meaning that there are only 7 links in the world. We're not common, our kind and are picked straight from our childhood. We have to exhibit certain characteristics that will allow us to complete our tasks properly: hyper intelligence, investigative skills, loyalty, wits and--" She paused, eyes dancing amusement.
"And what?"
"An absolute hatred of gossip."
We both laugh at the joke--well, she laughs and I stare. She's so pretty, I think. "Enough about me," she says, interrupting the moment. "Why were you crying?" My good mood suddenly turns sour. "Monsters."
"What kind of monsters? The ones under your bed?"
"No. The ones names Lana."
"Hmm. I'm not disagreeing with you. Why so much animosity towards her? She's your mate, isn't she?"
"Some mate!" I growl. "She bits me, ships me off to China, locks me in my room and makes me watch her literally turn a man inside out with her arms. She treats me like a child-- like she owns me."
Jenny laughs again, fluttering my stomach. "Technically she does own you and you are a child--at least to her. Do you even know how old she is?" Suppressing a shiver, I reply, "No, and I don't want to. I imagine shes like 150, the pedophile."
"How flattering. Most people guess 280."
We both turn to face the stony faced Alpha. Immediately Jenny lets go of me and scoots away. A cold feeling engulfs me and I find myself wanting to be in her arms again.
"Great Alpha," Jenny greets, bowing ahead formally. I remain silent instead eyeing the dried blood stains that cover her arms and cotton shirt. Monster, my mind screams, monster.
"Jenny--I give you as much leeway as I can but you know Forest Marina and the Wall of Punishment are forbidden from non Pack members. Why are you here." She says all this while staring at me, her eyes a puddle of emotions that I can't decipher.
"I know, Great Alpha, and I am sorry. I just--" A slim, blood tainted hand stops her rambling.
"No excuses, Jenny. Your monthly salary is cut by 15%. You may take your leave now."
The Watcher's head shoots up, eyes blazing. "Alpha, with all do respect, I did nothing worth the punishment you have given me and--"
An inhumane growl rips from the Alpha and she glares at Jenny, eyes glowing. "You have spent 19 years of your live studying wolves Jennifer Connolly. I expect that you know what happens when you question an Alpha's order. As I said before, you. may. take. your. leave." Suitably chastised, Jenny gets up, glances at me and runs away.
"What the hell? What if she needed the money? What if she has a sick family member or something? What if she's sick herself? How could you be so callous--so heartless?" Lana stares blankly as if she can't hear me and as if in some sort of trance, slowly turns away and walks away from me, leaving me furious and yelling in the middle of Forest Marina.
Lana doesn't want to leave him--every inch of her is telling her to turn around, to go back , to soothe her mate. But she doesn't. She cant. Not while he still reeks of the Watcher's perfume, while the scent of her shampoo lingers on his cheeks. She wants to be alone--to ignore the growing ache in her heart and heaviness in her mind. Is this what love was? If this is love, take it from me for I do not want it. I do not need it. And she walked away, away from the rage-filled ranting of her mate, away from the smell of Marcus and Jenny embracing, away from his harsh words, away from the never ending heartache.