Everything hurt.
Every muscle in my body, every breath that I drew, oh... and my head was throbbing in a pounding headache worse than any I had experienced before.
Why me?
It took me a while to regain any sense of understanding of where I was or what happened. The light was too bright to open my eyes, and all I could hear was the rhythmic slapping of skin and frustrated grunts.
A painful breath of air filled my already burning lungs, causing me a traitorous coughing fit. Shit. Anyone would know I was waking up with that barking cough.
But as I pushed past the searing burn of my lungs, I noticed a scent.
Heat.
My heart raced. I couldn't be.
No, I just finished my heat a few days ago. It couldn't be me.
Please goddess, don't let it be me.
I heard a loud smack followed by a muffled scream. "Well, someone finally decided to wake up." The deep voice sounded familiar, yet different... memories broke through. The man who killed Rick. No, the wolf who helped Donovan and Scyler kill my family and violate me in the worst ways possible.
Eyes flew open to look around, only to see him standing in front of me naked and erect. A lecherous grin on his face. Longer dark hair was wild and damp with sweat mixed with the blood from the earlier battle. Golden eyes of his wolf watched me as my fear spiked and I tried to scream.
It was only then that I noticed the gag in my mouth, not letting much escape. I twisted, trying to pull away and couldn't move.
He chuckled as he knelt in front of me. "Don't bother to try to escape. You are surrounded by an army loyal only to me. Your screams will only turn me on more. And your beloved prince will not live long enough to find you in this hidden corner of the world." Fingers fisted tight in my hair, lifting my head and forcing me to look at him as he spoke. "But don't worry too much. I won't kill you." A calloused finger trailed down my cheek then his hand grasped my jaw painfully and turned my face to look at the woman on the other side of the room. I seriously hadn't noticed her before.
Whatever was in the smoke or the injection he had given me before leaving, it messed with me too much. How could I not realize she was there? She was the female in heat. The pheromones were thick and fresh. She must have just started her cycle. How did I not realize she was there?
But worse than the realization that I hadn't noticed her was the understanding of what I saw.
She was tied and chained so that her tear soaked faced was shoved into the dirty floor. A collar was wrapped around her throat and chained to the floor, preventing her from getting up, while a gag filled her mouth. Arms tied behind her nude form, while her knees were cuffed to a bar, keeping her from closing her legs. Her ankles also cuffed and chained to the floor. What I could see of her body, she was dirty and covered in bruises.
The true horror.
Was coming to realize, that I was left in a very similar position. The only differences, I had my dress on still and my neck wasn't chained down. And though I could feel the dirt and bruises on my body, I could also feel several injuries.
Tears rolled down my cheeks, begging her to tell me none of it was real. Anything, but to experience what it seemed he had in mind.
Her silent sobs were my only answer.
"This, puppet, is what you have to look forward to." His voice crawled over me like nails down a chalkboard. "I've never forgotten just how sweet your body was. Had I known that Donovan had you all these years, I would have taken you from him. He didn't deserve you. To have you chained up in his cell and not even fuck you..." He shook his head. "Miserable excuse of a male. What's the point of having a mate if you don't use them for all their worth?" He turned to look at the female. "Right slut?"
She was his mate? My eyes grew wide. He did that to his mate? And he wanted to do it to me in front of her? He would hurt her like that?
"Oh, don't look like that. You'll learn soon enough that I'm your alpha and the only person you need to worry about."
'Don't listen to him.' My wolf growled in my head. She had done well in trying to protect us, shifting into wolf form to fight him off as Rick went down. My only regret was that it had taken so long. Still, we fought. We fought hard and sliced up his wolf quite a bit. I could see the wounds still healing on his flesh, just as I could feel the burn of my own. We just hadn't expected him to drug us. Damn it. 'He could never hope to prove himself the stronger alpha over King Phalen. I will never accept his dominance over us. If you need to, pretend, let him think he won. But know that I will never stop fighting him. Emerson and Phalen will come. You'll see.'
He let go of me and stood up with a growl. "Fuck, why did you have to start your heat now? Huh slut? Was your bitch jealous?" He moved to his mate and smacked her ass a couple of times before sliding into her in a brutal pace.
I could hear her whimpers and muffled screams as I closed my eyes and tried to forget what was happening in front of me.
His angry growls increased as he ranted at her. "Just because my wolf wants its mate more than her during your heat, doesn't mean I won't be fucking her silly in front of you." Another loud slap. "It's almost a shame I killed your father this morning. I wonder what he'd say if he were here now? To see his dirty whore of a daughter, her bitch begging to be fucked, while the girl I've fantasized about for years watches us, just waiting until the rolls are reversed." Another slap sounded. "Goddess, the memories of her tight body make me want to take you both as a wolf!" He growled and I heard her scream even more.
The information and the sounds made me cringe. He was a sick, twisted, mother fucker. It was no surprise he used to be friends with Donovan. Who ever would have guessed Donovan would be the lesser of the two evils? All I could do was squeeze my eyes shut and curl into a ball as much as my position would let me.
Nightmares had come true.