She was being carried; she knew that much as she started to come round. And it wasn’t a dignified carry, she over someone’s shoulder and it hurt, their shoulder pressed into the top of her stomach, just under her breasts and it made breathing difficult, more painful. The pace they were walking at was more like a slow sprint, it was fast and it made her already dizzy head even more dizzy. She vaguely got concerned about being unconscious twice in less than an hour but figured that was the least of her problems.
She didn’t say anything, she didn’t struggle, she simply let them carry her off to somewhere unknown, for the simple reason that her head hurt and she knew she was too weak to fight and that it would bring worse consequences for her. The thing that calmed her down though was that she knew Ray would not let them just take her. She knew he would come for her and so she vowed to be compliant, the nicer she was and less likely to put up a fight, the higher the chance they kept her alive longer and that gave Ray a chance to get to her before they took her life.
She tried to not be afraid, she tried to reason that Ray would come for her, but still that sick feeling in the pit of her stomach remained and it was in fear she closed her eyes and like a child let the darkness take her again…
She woke with a jolt of pain after being dropped to the cold hard floor. She groaned at the shooting pain and was kicked in the ribs for her noise. She didn’t make the mistake of crying out at the pain again. Her hair was caught up in a tight grip and she held back her moan instead she opened her eyes and looked at her attacker, it was a he. And he looked horrifying.
His face was thin, his hair was long, but limp, his lips were… too red. Like blood, gory almost, and she wondered what he had eaten because she was sure he had eaten it raw. His eyes were a mix between brown and green and looked… off. Wrong, and they were deep, not deep as in ocean depth like a lover, but deep as in soulless. She gulped at his image, it wasn’t that he looked uncared for, or like he didn’t clean himself, but rather that he looked as if what he did was messy work, dirty work and she glanced back at his lips, slaughter wasn’t the cleanest of jobs and he was responsible for a lot of that.
“Two birds with one stone is the saying but you,” Spit dripped from the side of his mouth as he spoke to her, sickeningly, “you will help me get three.”
“Three?” She questioned trying to not puke at the sight of his disgusting excuse for hygiene. A sharp slap to her face quelled her line of questioning though. “Hush!” He spat in her face, “I want your father dead, screwing me over and running from me, but I also think I want new land and your mate doesn’t need all that land. I can have your father, your mate and his land and finally dispose of you brats that have made your pathetic excuse of a father move so long. You little girl made him move too often and I don’t like chasing people especially when my own pack couldn’t dispose of him for me when he travelled to their districts.”
“Are your pack that bad then?”
She didn’t know where the words came from, or why she said them. She wondered where her previous terror had gone but she knew one thing; she would not die cowering. She would face her final moments with strength and she would ensure that the life others had worked at, to both lengthen and make happy, would not be wasted.
She was flung from him, her body jarring as it hit the hard cement floor. Only then did she look around and notice she was in a cage, or rather a room with bars from floor to ceiling sectioning off the part she was currently in. It wasn’t very small and she was surprised at just how big it was but then she noticed that from the middle of the cage ceiling was a rope and on the end of them were iron cuffs. She wondered at just why there was so much space, what exactly was it they intended to do to her that required so much space when she would be merely hanging from that point. Still she hadn’t worked up that fear and she turned her head back to her attacker. If anything he only got more angry at her defiance. Tough. She liked the stronger side of her.
He began to walk over to her, she knew she was in for it. He pulled her up by her hair and attached her hands to the very cuffs she had just spotted. “James!” He yelled, his voice hurting her ears he was both that close to her and had shouted so loud. A burly man came in, as wide as he was tall. “Teach her respect.”
“With pleasure.” The brute said curling his hands into fists and walking over to her.
“Bring it on.” She mumbled. God knew she had had her fair share of beatings, this would be nothing new, and she knew full well she could survive a beating, and hell, she could take one without uttering a single sound. The product of needing to keep her younger brother as innocent as possible. She would annoy them as much as she could; let him beat her and she would take it stoically, not a sound, not a flinch but she would look him in the eye and she would stare him out. This time she had hope of being saved, so she would stand, preparing to walk out at a moment’s notice should Ray come…
Nightfall came, she was still chained to the ceiling, technically she could be called standing up, in reality her arms were tied and they were holding her up - her body was so beaten she was leaning forward too weak to take her weight on her legs. Her head was bowed but only because they had left her and she wanted to rest a little. Her hair was a mess, knotted from being grabbed too often and from flying around her when she was punched and the way she was chained had made her sway and twist with only the shackles on her hands keeping her from falling.
Her stomach hurt as did her back, her arms and her face, but she was still standing and every second that passed she put more and more weight on her feet, slowly gaining back her ability to stand on her own and ease the weight of her arms that burned. Her eyes were not closed, she was watching her surroundings, her final moments would not be with closed eyes; that was after they had killed her. Instead she watched the door, waiting for them to return, in the mean time she waiting, biding her time… with a smile on her face…
Cold water was thrown all over her; it made her shiver and woke her up, though she hadn’t fallen asleep. Drowsiness had come over her throughout the night but they had come in early the next morning switching on the light and holding a bucket, filled with ice water, and it made her shiver but she took the advantage it brought her. Awareness.
The cold brought her back to her exact setting and it made her look up at the one holding her, “Are you going to kill me?” She asked him. Better know his plan now and she could plan against it. Her hair was again taken hold of, her head pulled backwards and she looked into his face. The smell of rotten flesh got worse with every second he was there.
“Of course I’m going to kill you. I just want you to be with your precious father first.”
“I don’t see him, you telling me empty threats?” She taunted back. It earned her a blow to her stomach but she only grinned more.
“Oh I’ll get him. I’ll go right to your Alpha and take everything from him, then I will bring your mate and your father here with that brother of yours and I will kill your father, then your brother and the pain you’re in will hurt your mate. Then I’ll kill you and hurt him more, and then I’ll kill him.”
She spat in his face, gathering the saliva in her mouth and making it a spit worth giving. There was a first for everything and never before had she been compelled to do such a dirty thing. He wrenched her head back further.
“It will be a slow death, I’ll make you scream.”
“I won’t scream. What has my mate ever done to you? Why do you try to make him suffer? I understand my father, he screwed you over, he didn’t complete his deals but Ray? What has he done?”
The man holding her finally let loose a smile, but it was a smirk and it was clearly showing her who was superior. “He has land.”
“That’s it? Land!” She screamed it in his face.
“I want more land, he has it. He won’t have for much longer.”
“Who’s the mole, in our pack, who is betraying us?!” She had to shout her question for her had released her and was not just leaving her cage, but the room itself. He turned back and laughed at her.
“You don’t know? Isn’t it obvious?”
“Who has betrayed us?!”
“Do you know what happens when a wolf loses a mate?”
The sudden change in topic stumped her for a second, she didn’t answer for a full minute and he stood there patiently.
“No, I was never part of a pack.”
“They get depressed. So much so they end up a recluse, no good to anyone, literally they can do nothing. Tell me Tendra, do you know anyone who is so depressed like that?”
“No.”
“Exactly.”
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock….Tick….
Tock.
“NO!” She screamed.
“Goodbye Tendra, see you later for your execution!”
“Let me out! I’ll kill you!...I’ll kill her. She’s with Tim!”
“Of course she’s with Tim, did you think she took a shine to him? Did you think her kind and warm hearted? Poor poor Ashton, his mate isn’t all she says she is. She isn’t depressed is she Tendra? She told us exactly when Ashton would be alone; a grieving mate always looks innocent.”
“She can’t be.”
“Oh yes Tendra, Nancy is the betrayer and now that she has the trust of Tim she’ll bring him straight to me.”
“Nooo!”
The light went out.