"Gage," Mac said barely above a whisper.
She just woke up surprised to find Gage on the side of her. Her back was already healing but the blood still left a thick scent in the air. She looked over at her arm to see the wolf's bite still etched into her skin. She knew as soon as the wolf bit into her that he had wolfsbane on him and that Zane was close. She tried to protect Gage, but when she looked past her hurt arm she could see Gage chained up and knocked up.
His arms were chained to the wall while his legs were chained in a V formation on the ground. Mac was the same way, except her chains weren't made of silver, instead, her chains were made of palladium, she could feel the sting sear through her wrist.
The room was white, with just a single silver tray table to the left, she could see the bags of blood and of liquid silver covering the table along with needles spread out. She gulped remembering the first time her eyes landed on needles. A flash of the pain she felt radiated through her body.
It was a new place and much more modern than the last and also more expensive. She pulled at the chains but a searing pain flickered through her. She rested her wrist, smelling her flesh burn her nostrils. She looked down surprised to find her normal brown hair instead of any disguise she had. It was longer than she remembered, blood, mud, and leaves caked into the tips of it. Almost like she was dragged through the mud for miles.
"You're finally awake," Zane announced walking in the room. "Good, it is about time. It has been a couple of hours."
"What do you want?" She was glad Gage wasn't awake, the longer he slept the less pain he would feel.
"You ask me that every time, I think it is obvious now what I want," Zane muttered.
"Okay, you want me for experiments, I get that. What do you want with Gage?" Mac asked she couldn't help but glance at him. His face showing the slightest bit of pain.
"I don't really want him, I was going to kill him. But then I thought, I could use him. You have always been against my experiments. Screaming and kicking when I put the silver in. With the pallidum, you kept breaking the needle when it was put into your arm. The fact you kept trying to tip over the chair and bite me when I was testing your healing powers was just plain annoying and last time, running away before I could even capture you, that last one disappointed me most, " Zane muttered, he breaks the bag of blood he was holding, it staining the white floor. "I even had to teach my assistant a lesson because he wasn't watching you properly." He leaves it there, picking up the next one inserting the needle, he walks over to Gage inserting it into his arm. Gage flinches a bit but doesn't wake up. "All I ever wanted was for you to help me with my experiments. See what I see, get excited about what I get excited about, but no you fought and fought and fought. So when I was shooting at Gage and you stepped in the way, the idea popped into my mind. You care for him, enough to risk your life. You do realize the power you gave me when you took those bullets right" Zane finished going back to sitting in front of Mac.
"I don't care." Mac said, bluffing.
"I was hoping you would say that," Zane said gleefully, he stood up heading over to the pile of bags. He put a glove on before grabbing a hold of one of the silvers bags. He squeezes it until it breaks just like the blood bag did. He then raised it in the air, wanting Mac to see how much silver he held. He then walked over splashing the handful at Gage. Mac bit down on her lip, knowing what was going to happen next. The memory of it happening to her fresh in her mind.
It takes a moment but Gage starts screaming, screaming at the top of his lungs. His eyes fluttered open and he looked down at himself, his chest blotchy red where the silver touched. What he could tell it looked like second-degree burns on his chest. He pulled at his chains but then felt a burn spread like a wildfire on his wrist. He knew immediately what was on these chains. Silver, wolfsbane, and a metal he never thought he would feel burn his arms again. He didn't have much time to think about it, Zane throwing silver at him once again. This time he bit his lip holding in the pain. He glanced over at Mac seeing the look of worry cover her features.
"I can do this all day," Zane said gleefully as he shook his hand letting the silver splatter out.
"Stop. Okay, stop, you made your point I care." Mac uttered, a couple of tears falling down her cheek. She didn't want to see Gage this way. She didn't want to see anybody in that much amount of pain.
"A lot more than I thought," Zane said he pulled off his glove throwing it in the trash.
"What do you want me to do?" Mac mumbled. She straightens herself out glaring over at Zane. She couldn't glance at Gage again, it would be too much for her.
"I want silver hair," Zane said, he comes to sit next to her blocking her view from Gage.
Gage glared over at the guy, worried about the way he interacted with Mac. He could tell that they knew each other but in a bad way. Mac was Zane's pet, as far as Gage could tell.
Zane reached out twirling Mac's hair with his hand.
"I can't," Mac said, pulling her head away so her hair would fall from his hand.
"I know you can," Zane said, grabbing her face, forcing her to look at him.
"I don't have my power now, too much wolfsbane," Mac then looked over at the needle that was attached to her arm.
Zane followed it with his eyes, seeing the bag of wolfbane that was dripping into it. He then looked over to see Mac with a worried look on her face. She was staring at Gage with worry and Zane couldn't help but scrunch his face disgust.
"Oh him, he doesn't need wolfsbane," Zane said reading her mind, "he doesn't have your abilities. Of course, right now it seems you don't seem to have them right now either," Zane said, his face dropping when Mac shook her head. "We will think of another way," Zane muttered standing up. "I will go get my assistant, he is quite great. Knows a lot." Zane said leaving the room.
Mac looks over at Gage, the places where the silver land pierced with small blood drops. Red patches covering his body. "You should have run," Mac mumbled to herself.
Gage couldn't help but stare at her. The girl before her wasn't Mac, but it was. She was the fierce girl that he fought in the cafeteria, the bald girl in Derricks' arms, and the blue-eyed girl that beat him in beer pong. She was everything but at the same time right now she was different. He didn't understand how the girl before him could be different every time he saw her, but something about her was always changing.
"I wouldn't run," Gage said with confidence. "I'll get us out of here." He started to pull at his chains, the pain burning in his wrist, but it was getting him nowhere.
"Gage stop," Mac uttered, but she too was trying to pull at her chains.
"I would stop that if you remember it only causes more pain when you start bleeding," Zane said then he started laughing. "It would melt if the wolfsbane didn't keep your special blood at bay." Zane couldn't help but glance at Gage.
"I noticed," Mac said, she does readjust her wrist so they barely touch the chains.
"What do you want?" Gage demanded from Zane. Everything about this guy made his skin crawl.
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with," Zane said.
"Then let Mac and me go," Gage demanded. Zane didn't say anything he just turned away facing Mac. He leaned down playing with her hair again. Fascinated by it. "Did you hear me, let us go now," Gage said letting his Alpha tone seep through. Zane then turned, anger radiated from his face. Mac knew that look, it was the reason she never bothered to use her Alpha tone on him. Zane was a rogue and no matter how powerful the Alpha was he bowed down to no one.
"Gage stop," Mac pleaded, but she knew it was too late.
"You stupid dog," Zane's voice was crisp, angry. "You don't think that I haven't been keeping a tab on you as well. The boy Mac is willing to sacrifice everything for. Well, everything but her pack. " Zane half turned to glare at him.
"I can take whatever you throw at me," Gage said and Mac couldn't help but look away. She knew Zane had been watching her. She didn't realize she had been watching the people around her as well.
"But you can't," Zane lashed out. He grabbed Mac's arm pulling it forward. Her wrist pressed against the chains, she tried to pull away, but that would cause Zane only to pull against her arm more. She was only able to last a minute for her scream echoed in the room. It burned down to the bone.
"Stop," Gage shouted pulling against his own chains, not worried about hurting himself.
"You see I know that not only will Mac do anything to make sure you live, but vice versa," He let go of Mac's arm and she couldn't help but sigh out in relief. It was short lived when he pulled her arm again, the fresh cuts pressing against her wrist again. She screamed, pulling against the pain but it was getting her nowhere.
"Stop, I'll do whatever you want," Gage shouted. Zane gleefully smiled before dropping Mac's arm.
"Good," Zane said standing up, he left the room with almost a skip in his step.
Gage looked over at Mac but wished he hadn't. She was taking deep breaths, letting the tears fall down with ease, blood was running down her wrist, mixing in with her hair.
"I'm so sorry Mac," Gage whispered, but Mac turned to look at him.
"Why? You didn't get me into this," Mac said.
"I'm still sorry, somehow I feel like this is all my fault," Gage replied.
"It isn't, you being here, that is my fault. I should have just sent you home," Mac sat back up, making it so her wrist barely touched the chained. She looked up to see third degree burns etched into her skin.
"You tried too," Gage said.
"I didn't try hard enough," Mac muttered, "I was supposed to save you, I was supposed to save all of you. But here I am chained up, feeling weak and vulnerable once again."
"You are anything but weak and vulnerable," Gage said. "And why is up to you to save me? I can save myself and I'll save you in the process."
Mac couldn't help but chuckle. The idea of anybody saving was a fantasy she has always wished for, but new it would never come true.
"Are you okay?" Gage asked after she didn't say anything. He leaned forward pulling against this chain to get a better look at her. She did look more vulnerable, but he could tell that she was still strong.
"Your wrist," Mac said ignoring his question. He looked up to see his wrist pressing against the chain, he barely felt any pain, but they were starting to bleed.
"It doesn't hurt that much," Gage replied.
"Oh but it will," Zane said coming into the room. He had his journal in his hand, something Mac became all too familiar with. Every time anything happened, she regrew a bone, she accepted the blood, and even her bathroom breaks, he recorded it all down.
"Now it is time for you try to change your hair," Zane said going over to his tray. He grabbed a plastic cup pouring silver into a cup. "My assistant was going over my notes and he realized something, I'm surprised I didn't think of it sooner. " He then walked over to her placing the cup to her lips.
"Stop, she will die," Gage shouted. Mac barely protested drinking in the silver. She coughed, feeling a slight burn. "Mac stop." She ignored him finishing the cup. She has drunk it before, but something about this time tasted different. She could feel her eyes droop, barely able to fight the sleep that was pulling her in. "What did you do to her?"
"She is so bad with needles," Zane said like it was no big deal that Mac was passed out asleep. He walked over to her arm that already had the wolfsbane needle in it, he put another needle just above it, hanging the silver bag above her head, almost like an IV would look.
"That will kill her," Gage shouted.
"It won't, last October I did it for a week and she was fine. My assistant reminded me of the changes it had on her. Her hair was turning silver, and so were her eyes, but I had to stop the experiment to focus on another one. This time though I will easily make it happen." He then walked over to the table grabbing another bag, placing the needle above the last one. Gage looked over horrified. Zane placed the needle and hung the second bag, but he couldn't help but sit down next to Mac, fiddling with her hair.
"Why are you doing this?" Gage asked.
"You know I was going to give her up after she almost died I thought I had had enough. I couldn't kill my favorite. She couldn't survive all my experiments, so I was just going to give her up. But then he made me see reason. My love for her wasn't worth giving up my experiments. So I continued studying her, reporting back to him everything I knew. He was just as fascinated as I. What she would give up, what she could handle. But he wanted to push her farther, and so do I." Zane then dropped her hair. He lifted his hand up to gently stroke it against her cheek. He looked down at her neck to see a black emulate with silver surrounding it, she had worn this every day since she killed Alpha Brett. He couldn't help but reach down to grab it, he instantly dropped it feeling a burn spread across his hand.
"Who is he?" Gage asked. This brought Zane out of his thoughts. He turned to look at Gage, chuckling, but not saying anything. He grabbed the third bag hooking it up to her other arm, and then a fourth. Each time Gage's heartbeat raced, wondering what type of pain she could handle. "You will destroy her," Gage shouted.
"I will make her stronger," Zane shouted back. He then placed the fifth bag of silver in her arm before leaving the room. Writing down in his notebook, every last detail of Mac.
"Don't worry Mac, I will save you," Gage whispered to the empty room.
"Why isn't she back yet?" Jason asked, it has been a couple of hours and there was no sign of Gage or Mac.
"Maybe Gage got hurt," Ethan said, a small smile on his face.
"Don't be happy about that," Allen said. "He's my brother."
"Crappy brother at that," Ethan said mostly to himself, but Allen still heard.
"He has changed," Allen said, getting a little angry.
"Yes, and who do you think was the reason that he has. Who came into his life recently making him a better person and yet he broke her." Ethan stands up storming out of the room. Allen tries to follow but it is Jason who stops him.
"Let him cool off. He had a bad past just like you and it was Mac who saved him. He believes he owes her his life even if she won't take it," Jason said. Allen nods his head taking his seat back.
"She isn't answering," Ethan said running back in.
"Do you think we haven't tried that before?" Trent said in a duh tone.
"But still, she never does not answer," Ethan said. "Maybe we should go and check out the area, our wolves haven't come back anyway."
"I'll come." A bunch of the group agrees. They wander into the woods, listening for fighting sound but only hearing the sounds of the forest.
"It was in the west," Jason said taking the lead. He steps into the clearing where the fight was supposed to take place.
"I don't see any..." Trent was caught off by his own yelp, he has tripped over one of the wolves. "Thing." He finishes on the ground.
"Who is it?" Justin asked, thanks to werewolf sight being enhanced they don't need flashlights although there eyesight isn't as perfect as it is during the day. Trent looks down at the wolf, it is one of theirs.
"Dan," Trent said, he brings his hand next to his muzzle. "He is just knocked out." The rest of the group looks at the ground checking each wolf for life. All were fine just knocked out.
"None are Mac," Ethan said, looking them all over.
"I found a bullet casing," Katie said, running over with it in her hand, she didn't mind the burn.
"Wolfsbane," Jason said, seeing the shine of the blue off the moonlight. "Zane."
"Gage isn't here," Allen said.
"Who cares about Gage, Mac is gone again," Ethan said. "Your brother could be dead and I wouldn't give a shit. Do you even care about Mac?" Allen runs over pushing Ethan against a tree, pressing his forearm into his throat.
"Don't you ever think I don't care about Mac. She saved me just like she saved you and I care. But I also care about my brother. You don't know what my father is like and how we were taught about life and Gage has changed. You may not see it but I do. So don't give me shit if I'm worried about my brother. He is more likely to die than Mac anyways." Allen said, he pushes away from Ethan, pacing back and forth.
"Alright, that's enough," Jason said, his fist tightens around the bullet case. "You know how the plan works, although Collin I think it's best if you go over to Gage's pack and tell them what happened. God Derrick's in charge this can't be a good month." The group nodded while following Jason out of the forest.