Sam hands Alpha Tate a whip. I whimper simultaneously as the Lycan does as Alpha Tate whips the Lycan across the chest. I look away, covering my eyes.
Tears flood my face as the whip cracks against his skin over and over. Finally, I look up to see blood dribbling down his chest.
‘Stop! Please stop!’ I shout, horrified at the horrendous sight.
Alpha Tate pauses and gives me a deathly glare. ‘It will be your turn next, Slave!’
The Lycan uses the little strength he has to open his eyes and look toward me.
As soon as our eyes meet, I feel my body wanting to be closer to his as if I were being sucked through a portal. A sudden sense of desire consumes me. I feel incredibly euphoric. Hot sparks flow through my body as my hands glow, my hair rises, flowing around me, and my eyes are a glimmering silver.
Everything disappears around us. All I see is the Lycan and him gazing euphorically back at me. ‘MATE!’ we say together.
As my glow dissipates, the dimness of the cell returns and my eyes are now blue again. I gasp for air, feeling as if I have been held underwater and thrown back into my body with force. Whatever I felt, whatever I just saw, the Lycan did too. He is also struggling to catch his breath.
The Lycan keeps his eyes on me in disbelief at what has just happened. I can see the yearning for me in his eyes.
He reaches his hand toward me, as far as the chain will allow, his fingers stretching out, desperate to touch and hold mine. I crawl closer to the bars between us and stretch my arm through. Our fingers eagerly try to touch and reach for each other.
‘This can’t be possible?’ Alpha Tate shouts angrily. He turns back to face the Lycan. ‘She is MY mate!’ he yells at the Lycan.
The Lycan ferociously roars in Alpha Tate’s face. Alpha Tate stumbles back.
The Lycan then tries to pull the chains off again but to no avail. Alpha Tate laughs and unlocks my cell door. He grabs me roughly and pulls me up by my hair.
I can see the distress in the Lycan’s eyes as he watches Alpha Tate pull me up by my hair.
‘Is this what you want, Alpha Maximus?’ He says, licking my neck. ‘This is my property, my mate!’ he shouts.
I quiver in repulsion and try to free my hair from his hands. The Lycan becomes more and more aggressive, desperate to free himself. The Lycan looks at my tear-filled eyes and glares back at Alpha Tate.
Sam begins punching the Lycan repeatedly. Two other pack members throw in kicks and punches as well.
‘No! please! Stop hurting him!’ I beg.
Alpha Tate forces me against the bars between the Lycan and me and starts to pull my dress up.
‘Before you die, you will watch while I mate and mark this bitch.’ Alpha Tate says with a manic chuckle.
‘No!’ I shout and turn to fight him off. He grabs my arms tight, spins me around, and slams me hard against the bars. The Lycan is going berserk at this point, snarling and growling. Sam reaches for the knife attached to his belt.
‘No!’ I scream as Sam thrusts the knife repetitively into the Lycan’s stomach.
‘Slow down, Sam! I want him to watch me mark and mate, Slave, before he dies!’ Alpha Tate shouts.
Alpha Tate then moves the hair from across my neck and nuzzles around my neck to find the right spot to mark me. I’m crying and pleading for Alpha Tate to stop. Sam grins, watching the Lycan bleed out from the knife wound.
I can see the Lycan’s eyes rolling back as he struggles to stay awake from the blood loss. I know he is about to die at any moment. I can’t watch my mate die. I look down and notice a syringe attached to Sam’s belt.
Having no idea what’s in it, but knowing it’s my only chance of saving the Lycan, I squirm from Alpha Tate’s elongated teeth scraping along my neck. I reach my arm through to grab the syringe from Sam’s belt.
Just as I take it, men I don’t recognise come running down the stairs.
‘Shit!’ Sam says as he races toward the Lycan’s men shifting into his wolf to fight them. The other pack members down here also shift to help Sam fight off the now-shifted three wolves who are here to free the Lycan.
Holding the syringe firmly in my grasp, I jab it into Alpha Tate’s leg and inject every last drop. Then, realising what I had just done, he strikes me across the face and sways. Alpha Tate collapses on top of me as I fall to the ground. He is so heavy I struggle to breathe.
Turning my head, I see the wolves are still fighting, except for two that have been ripped apart. There is blood everywhere and limbs lying around. My attention returns to the Lycan. His breathing is worse, and his head slowly falls back. There is a puddle of blood underneath him.
I squirm and wriggle until I’m free from underneath Alpha Tate, who lets out a moan. I stand up, grab the keys from his belt, and run from my cell into the Lycan’s cell.
I unlock one wrist freeing one arm, and then I unlock the chains around his ankles. Unfortunately, I can’t reach his other wrist as it’s chained up higher.
‘Mate,’ I hear him whisper. He is looking down at me, barely conscious. I take his free hand and place it on my cheek. His thumb weakly caresses my skin.
Sparks explode from our touch. I feel like I’m about to combust into stardust. The feeling is something I have never experienced before. Even with Alpha Tate, it wasn’t this intense.
Suddenly I’m roughly pulled back by someone, ‘Get away for him!’ the man yells. I cover my face with my arms, afraid he is about to hit me.
The Lycan growls weakly at him. ‘Mine!’ he whispers, trying to reach for me.
‘Alpha Maximus, is she really your mate?’ he asks and then stares at me in shock. I look over his shoulders to see Sam barely breathing and the others dead.
Alpha Tate is still asleep in the cell next to us. The red-headed man looks back to Alpha Maximus and unlocks his wrist that I couldn’t reach.
The man then helps Alpha Maximus gently to the ground and places his hands over the stab wounds.
‘Shit! This isn’t good, Alpha Maximus. Our warriors are dead. I don’t know if you are going to heal quickly enough. There must be at least ten stab wounds!’ he counts.
‘Mate,’ The Lycan whispers. The man looks at me and nods for me to go to the Lycan. I slowly crawl over and hold his hand.
‘I don’t think he is going to make it,’ the man says to me.
I know what I have to do. I know I have to try and heal my mate.
Hesitantly, I let go of the Lycan’s hand even though he doesn’t want to. I place my hands on his chest and concentrate.
‘What are you doing?’ the man asks. I ignore him and keep trying to stay focused. My hair starts to flow as my hand glow, and my eyes turn a glimmering silver.
His wounds are slowly healing. Sam gasps in utter shock and awe at the magic he is witnessing.
I’m feeling drained and dizzy, but I know I can’t stop healing him just yet if I want him to survive. I close my eyes and concentrate, forcing myself to heal him quicker until I let out a breath and collapse on the Lycan’s chest.
Alpha Maximus
The pain has gone, and the wounds have disappeared. I peer down in shock at my frail little mate that just saved my life.
She is covered in bruises, weak from dehydration and hunger, and out like a light. Chaos possessively wraps his arms around her and pulls her as close as possible to our chest. ‘Mine!’ he snarls at Nathan.
Nathan stands and backs away. ‘Okay, okay, I get it. She is yours,’ he says, not wanting to piss me or Chaos off.
Nathan drags Sam into the cell that Alpha Tate is in and locks the iron door so they can’t get out the moment they wake up.
‘I’ve never seen anything like that before. Your mate healed you with her bare hands. I don’t understand… How is this possible?’ Nathan says in utter confusion.
I stare down at my mate again. I can’t keep my eyes off her. The moment she began to glow is an image forever imprinted in my head. It was like I was staring at an angel that fell from the heavens.
Nathan sits himself down. ‘We can either wait it out here until the morning so you can shift back, or we can get out of here now, but I’m worried you might kill the rest of the Blackwood pack in Chaos’s form.’
I growl. I want to destroy the Blackwood pack. I want them to pay dearly for this treachery and for what they have done to my precious mate.
My anger brews, and my mate whimpers, only to realise my claws are slightly digging into her delicate skin. Quickly and gently, I release her to the ground before my anger overtakes me. My mate stirs awake and sits up, rubbing her eyes.
She looks up at me, confused, then starts to cower back in fear when she sees I’m trying to contain my fury.
Nathan gently pulls her back behind him, backing away slowly, ‘Chaos, it’s over. You need to calm down! I know you just went through a lot, but you’re okay now and have your mate. But, I need you to stay here until you shift, so no one else gets hurt!’ he says.
My mate tries to follow me, but Nathan holds her back. I’m worried I might hurt her in this form, and so is Nathan. I also don’t want her to see chaos on his revenge-killing spree. I try to fight Chaos for control, but he only has one thing on his mind: revenge for almost being killed and the unknown horrors our mate has been through. So he blocks our mind-link, so I can’t communicate with him.
He lets out a loud howl and runs out of the cell on a murderous rampage. I try to take control but can’t shift back into my human form until the sun rises. Chaos is adamant he wants his revenge and begins killing any Blackwood pack members he sees.
The moon is fading, and the sun is rising. I shift back to my human form. There are at least a few dozen pack warriors dead. They are all scattered across the ground, lifeless with blood and open wounds. It’s a gruesome sight; if other packs see this, they will say I’m a monster.
Shit! Chaos! What have you done? I growl at him.
Revenge, he replies.
You should not have killed them!
They hurt, mate! They kill us! He growls.
I sigh, knowing what is done is done. The rest of the Blackwood pack members are hiding in their houses and inside the packhouse.
The odd face tries to sneak a peek out a window, probably to see if I’m still on a killing spree. I run back to the cell to get Nathan and my mate.
‘Nathan,’ I shout, running down the steps, ‘We need to go now!’
My mate quickly hides behind Nathan, clinging to the back of his shirt.
Nathan takes her hand and walks toward me. She gasps, and her cheeks flush red. Then, she quickly looks away behind Nathan’s back.
Looking down, I’m completely naked, but that normally doesn’t bother most of us in the werewolf community. I think it’s cute that she’s shy and startled by my nakedness. She peeks up at me, keeping eye contact and looking confused.
‘It’s okay. It’s me, your mate. I’m going to get you out of here, okay?’ I say to her softly.
She looks up at Nathan, who smiles and nods his head to reassure her. I extend my hand out for her to take.
