(The last semester of my university career started up yesterday! It's crazy to think that in April I'll be finished :o With that being said I will try my hardest to update as often as I possibly can. I can honestly say there are not many chapters left of Runt so hopefully I can get those finished and uploaded before March (goals right there). Once again I want to thank you amazing readers for all your views, votes and comments! Please be sure to let me know what you think and anything you'd like to see before the end of the book! I love hearing your feedback -Leina ♥)
**Completely unedited I just finished typing this chapter 2 minutes ago and didn't read through it. I wanted to get it up ASAP for you guys so please ignore all errors they will be fixed in the future.
Nina's POV
Darkness. I was completely consumed by the darkness. No light was visible, not even the slightest sliver. To be honest the only reason I knew I was back in the cell was due to the cold concrete floor underneath me.
"Nina," I heard my name being called by the familiar voice of my best friend. When I attempted to reply back I realized just how completely and utterly sore I was. The word sore didn't even properly describe the state of my body. I tried to open my eyes and realized that I couldn't even manage to do that. No part of my body would listen to me. All I could do was lie on the cold, disgusting floor and try to fight off falling into unconsciousness. I wanted to fall into the evil arms unconsciousness provided; then I wouldn't have to feel the pain I was feeling right now.
There was the sound of soft shuffling that came from somewhere, it was accompanied by light sounds of groaning. "Jesus Nina, what did they do to you?" Keiva whispered.
I had a feeling her question was rhetorical. That didn't stop me from thinking back and trying to figure out what had actually happened. I remember talking to Keiva earlier in the evening and being interrupted by Declan. He walked into the cells flanked by two other men, they were huge. They carried a tray in their hands and Declan grabbed something off of it, said something to me and then... nothing. I had zero memories of how I ended up in the state I was currently in.
Keiva was panicking because I wasn't responding to her. I could imagine how hard it was for her to see her Alpha who was her best friend in the condition that I was in. I wanted to tell her that I was fine, but my body wouldn't allow me to do that. It wouldn't allow me to do anything other than take the shallow breaths that I was taking. Every fiber of my being was screaming at me in pain, and I was screaming right back to move. Move a finger, move a toe, move any part the tiniest bit so Keiva could see that I was still alive.
It felt like hours had passed as I continued to lay on the cold ground of the cell. Hours of Keiva attempting to get a reaction out of me, hours of me attempting to show Keiva that I was in fact alright. As alright as anyone could be in my situation. Hours of urging myself to move, and hours of failure. I exhausted myself to the point of no return. I had no energy left to move, and I fell into the arms of unconsciousness.
I woke up on a cold metal table. The metal touching my skin burned like it was melting my skin away. All of my senses were hypersensitive. The lights in the room were too bright, the voices in the room were too loud, it felt as if every hair cell on my skin was being pulled on. I wanted to shout at everyone to shut up. Their voices were painful and I couldn't concentrate enough to hear what they were saying. When I attempted to move I felt the restraints that were holding down my arms and knew that I was in trouble.
"It looks like someone has finally woken up." A sinister voice said. "No worries, we can fix that." I felt the needle puncture my skin and a cool liquid ran through my bloodstream. Once again I thrown into a dark world where I couldn't feel, see, or hear anything. A world I was becoming too familiar with.
This dark world was similar to a black hole in my opinion, although I have no idea what a black hole even was technically. This empty world had no concepts of anything. Time was not a thing here, neither was light. There were no feelings, in the emotional sense and physical sense. It was eerie to say the least. I could tell that my body was going through immense pain, but I couldn't feel it. I was in a state of being aware that I was not actually in another world, just mentally I wasn't connected to my body.
________________________________
The next time I woke up I was once again on the floor of my cell. I was just coming out of my drug induced coma when I could hear Keiva once again trying to talk to me. She was an absolute mess, and from her reaction I could tell that she had been trying to get a response from me for awhile.
My mouth was parched, I didn't even have enough moisture for saliva. My throat was just as dry, so talking was going to be difficult to accomplish. I was too determined to communicate with Keiva this time to simply fall back into the darkness. I needed my Beta to know that I was alright, I couldn't allow her to give up on me.
"Nina please." Keiva said on the verge of tears. Hope was completely lost in her voice, and that broke me.
You need to move now, I demanded to myself. I imagined myself moving, much like I imagine myself morphing into Lyra before I shift. Essentially I had to imagine the muscles in my finger moving, all the muscles contracting inside the finger before I finally got a twitch.
Keiva, who must've been watching me like a hawk, noticed the simple twitch of my pointer finger. "Nina?" Her voice squeaked at the end of my name.
The finger twitch morphed into a hand twitch, which then turned into an arm twitch. Soon enough I was able to move my entire body. The movements were slow, but draining nonetheless.
Finally I was able to turn my body and open my eyes. The light burned my eyes until my retinas adjusted. I blinked a few times until I could see colors and shapes because at first everything was strictly black and blurry. When my vision was back to normal I locked my eyes on Keiva and tried to give her a smile which turned into a grimace real quick.
Keiva was covered in bruises and I could see that she was struggling to breath. If I concentrated on her breathes I could hear the wheezing coming from her. Declan and his goonies did all this to her while I was lying unconscious. I felt defeated because I couldn't even protect her. I failed her, everything she has gone through because of Declan fell onto me. I put her in this position and couldn't even offer her any help. What kind of Alpha was I?
"I am so sorry Keiva." I managed to choke out as my vocal folds rubbed together in a painful manner. I desperately needed water in my body. My cells were screaming for the refreshing liquid.
She moved closer to the bars that separated our cells and pointed to the corner of the room where a small cup a little bigger than a Dixie Cup sat. I rushed over to the cup and consumed the lukewarm water that was inside it. I reveled in the feeling of the liquid running down my throat.
When I was finished, I dragged my body back towards the bars that Keiva leaned against. I let my eyes scan over her frame, noting everything about her. I allowed the guilt I felt to slowly consume me. With the small amount of water I had in my body, tears began to form in my eyes. There was no use hiding them from Keiva.
"Nina don't even start with that." Keiva said.
I shook my head and looked away from her as I attempted to blink the tears away. "There's nothing I can say to you that would even make this better." I looked back at her and a new wave of tears came. "Keiva I am so sorry." As much as I tried to rein in my emotions, I just couldn't stop the tears from coming.
Keiva moved a little closer to me. "None of this is your fault."
"All of this is my fault. You're here because of me, because of what my mother did to my father. How can you even say that what you're going through isn't my fault?"
"I am here because a deranged man kidnapped me." She said confidently. "I don't blame you for any of this. You can't help how your father turned out after Kane supposedly died and your mother did what she had to do to protect her only child. The consequences of that event wasn't something anyone could've predicted. So no Nina, none of this is your fault."
Any other person would've blamed me for getting them stuck in this situation, but not Keiva. Even after being beaten and tortured she still managed to have her head on straight. Bless her for being so strong. I had no idea what I did to deserve such an understanding friend and Beta, but I thank the Goddess everyday for whatever it was.
I was speechless but I managed to force a couple words out to her. "We're going to get out of here Keev, I promise." That was a promise I wasn't sure I could keep. I had no way of knowing how the plan was actually following through, I had no idea what was behind these walls of the cells. In actuality I felt doomed, hopeless even. "Keev?" I said after silence fell onto us.
"Yeah Nee?" She said back.
The answer to my next question was something I dreaded. "How long have I been here?"
"I'm not sure on the exact number, but I'd say a few days."
A few days...that could range from anywhere from three to seven. I was hoping it was on the lower end of a few. That would mean the plan was still in the works. "If you had to guess, what would you estimate?
She took a deep breath, a deep wheezing breath and let it out. I heard her wince as she breathed to deep and a sharp pain filled her chest. Keiva most likely had fluid filling her lungs. "Probably five." She said in a soft voice.
Five days, but there was no way of knowing if her guess what right or not. It wasn't like Declan or any of his men would tell us. Even if I did ask they'd want to know why I was wondering. If the plan was going how it was suppose to go then Keev and I would've been out of here days ago.
What could be holding them up? I wondered. Jaxon was adamant on going with another plan, but I promised him I'd be safe and he promised that he'd get me out in three days time. I couldn't help but wonder what was keeping him.
Maybe they failed? I thought to myself. That didn't seem possible though. Jaxon and his men were well trained, one of the best in the country even. Although Declan had a lot of rogues on his side and they fought dirty, Jaxon's men had the skills. There was no doubt in my mind that Jaxon's pack could take down Declan and his followers.
Than what was going on? I asked myself. Why were we still here? The plan was perfectly thought out. Every aspect was thought out strategically, and although someone didn't necessarily agree with it they even admitted that it was most likely our best option to take down Declan. Where did it go wrong?
The door to the cells busted open and standing in the doorway was Kane. He looked malicious and nothing like he did the last time I saw him before he 'died'. This Kane looked...evil. The child inside of me broke as she realized she would most likely never get her older brother back.
I sat up a little straighter and wiped all the emotions off my face. If I learned one thing as I grew up it was how to appear impassive and cold. It was like a switch that automatically flipped when a situation popped up.
Kane walked over to my cell, his expression never lightening up from the vengeful look that occupied it. I kept my eyes on him and I noticed how Keiva backed away slightly as he neared. When Kane was right in front of my cell he looked me over. Taking note of all the handy work Declan had done. If this was the same Kane I grew up with he'd murder Declan for even laying a hand on me. Hell, I wouldn't currently be locked up if this was the same brother I grew up with. The Kane that was standing in front of me was a stranger, a stranger who clearly thought it was amusing that his younger sister was being tortured.
He let out a low whistle. "Declan sure did a number on you, didn't he?" He was fishing for a fight. I said nothing, but I didn't remove my blank stare from him.
The harsh words and attempts at getting a reaction out of me kept coming. All of them ended with me saying nothing back. It was pointless to even try, the fight would get me nowhere other than back on one of Declan's torture tables. That was a place I didn't want to return to, ever.
When he realized he wasn't going to get what he wanted, he changed tactics. Kane grabbed a hold of the metal bars and brought he face closer to them. "I'm going to enjoy getting the justice that dad deserves."
Immediately I stood up and walked over to him. My stone cold face stayed the same, although I was raging on the inside. I was within a yard away from him when I spoke. "That man deserved what he got."
"You're disgusting." He sneered at me.
"I'm disgusting? You don't even know what he did to mom and I! You're deranged if you believe the lies anyone else has fed you." I shot back at him.
Kane's eyes narrowed on me. He was trying to intimidate me, and it wasn't working. Whatever emotional breakdown I was going through before he showed up, vanished. I was determined to stay strong, Jaxon was coming and Keiva and I are going to get out of here. Kane and Declan can try to break me down as much as they pleased, but it wouldn't work. I would not give them the satisfaction of breaking me.
"The only one who is lying here is you." Kane said in a low voice.
I waited a couple moments before I answered him. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Dad was abusing mom and he nearly killed me. I'm not sure what kind of twisted spinoff of the truth Declan fed you, but I can assure you they're all lies. Dad wasn't the same man you remember, he was a monster." All I could do was hope that some part of Kane would believe me. The truth was now out there and that was all I could do. It was up to Kane now to realize that I was telling the truth.
The doors to the cells opened again and this time Declan was standing in the opening. He shook his head. "Now now Nina, how can you possibly keep telling these lies to your brother? Everyone knows that Alpha Theo Williams was the nicest man out there."
My lips pulled back into a snarl, the reaction was automatic. Of course Declan would come in as soon as I told Kane the truth. This entire feud between Kane and I had to be some plot Declan came up with for whatever reason. Even when I was younger I knew there was something off with Declan. The man has always been strange, like his head wasn't on straight. I could remember him wanting to go to war every time there was a situation that came up with another pack, luckily my father would refuse.
It dawned on me then that Declan probably manipulated my father when he was at his weakest. Everything my father turned into was probably encouraged by Declan. Declan didn't have a mate, she was murdered not long after they had met. It was a sad story that I only heard once because it was too painful for him to speak about, which was understandable. He allowed his pain to turn him into something that was evil though, my father never saw it that way though. He simply thought that Declan was mourning in his own way, which was true for a little while but the mourning turned into something else, something awful.
As Declan walked over and stood next to Kane his eyes lit up an emotion that irked me. His presence always felt wrong and the goosebumps that littered my skin were automatic around him.
"Now, what do you say for lying to your brother?" Declan said when he stopped in front of my cell.
My hands curled into fists and I held myself back from grabbing him through the bars and choking the life out of him. I was outnumber currently and I knew if I killed Declan right then it wouldn't look good in front of Kane. I needed to somehow build up my trust with him and murdering someone that he trust would do the opposite. Instead I chose the route that would give me a little bit of satisfaction. "When I get out of here you better believe I am going to enjoy watching you die."
"What makes you think you're getting out of here, my dear Nina?" He questioned me. He moved a little closer to the cell bars. "Do you think your mate Jaxon is going to rescue you?" Declan waited for my response but I didn't give him one so he continued on with his banter. "Don't you worry about him, we knew he was going to be an issue so we planned ahead. Now we have you all to ourselves."
They're lying, I thought immediately. If anything would've happened to Jaxon then I would've been able to feel it. This is another one of their tricks to see me break. I remained stoic in the situation much to their disappointment. At my lack of reaction I saw both of them grow angrier. I almost smiled for a second but kept it in. "As I said before," I spoke the words evenly. "I'm going to enjoy watching you die." I finished as I looked at Declan.
"You will never get that pleasure!" He screamed at me and I simply shrugged my shoulders. He can think whatever he wanted, but I would surely be getting the satisfaction of watching my hands drain the life out of his pathetic body.
Kane left the room after Declan's outburst, but not before he said a few more hurtful words towards me. I let it go though, when he finally realized he was in the wrong he'd feel awful for how I was treated. That simple thought made it a little easier to deal with the situation I was in. I had hope that Kane would eventually know the truth, I wasn't sure how it would come to be but something inside of myself told me it would happen.
Once Kane left Delcan turned towards me and his lips curled up into his signature smile. The one that showed off his off white teeth and made him look delusional, which he was. A couple of minutes passed before he finally spoke. "Do you honestly think your brother is ever going to believe you about your father? You're pathetic just like your mother was for staying with him after he beat the shit out of her."
Don't respond to him, I told myself. I kept repeating the words in my head. He was more deranged than I thought. What kind of sick person watches their Luna get abused and not do anything about it? The answer was Declan, Declan stands by idly and watches innocent individuals get beaten. What a sick fuck.
"I think the best part of the entire last year of your father's life was how he would come to me after feeling guilty for what he was doing to your mother. You want to know what I did?" He asked me although I knew he didn't need a response. "I told him she was to blame for your brother's murder. I told him a good mother should know how to keep an eye on her children. I encouraged everything your father became and watched as the strongest Alpha family in the country crumbled into nothing." Declan stopped talking for a second and held my gaze.
I was itching to fight him, the longer he stood in front of me the harder it was to control myself. I was dying of thirst for his blood, and I was going to quench that thirst as soon as I could. This man deserved nothing other than a torturous death.
"The best part of it, is that I knew Kane was never dead." He went on to say. "The poor excuse of a man he became listens to anything anyone says, especially from someone he trusts. You know, like the Beta from his father's pack."
My hands grabbed onto the metal bars as hard as I could manage. "When I get out of this shit hole you better hope you're long gone because I'm going to kill you, you nasty fucking excuse for a werewolf! You're a sick fucking man." I screamed at him. "Whatever lies you told Kane he won't believe for long, he's going to help me tear you apart when he realizes what you've done and all the lies you've fed him to cover up your twisted fucking plan."
"Eh eh eh such foul words should never come out of such a beautiful mouth, Nina." Declan raised his hand to touch my face but I backed away. The thought of his hands touching me caused bile to rise in my throat. He let out an exaggerated sigh when he saw me back away. "It's so much better to touch you when you're unconscious, you don't put up a fight then."
I choked down the vomit that came up in my throat. I couldn't think about what he had done to me while I was unconscious. No, I would not allow my mind to go there. Nothing could ever justify what he had done, and his death was going to be a hundred times more painful than anything the most twisted minds in world could think of.