“Are you fucking dead yet?”
I cracked open my eyes as a snarl reverberated in the middle of my chest. But it wasn’t my chest, nor was it my growl. It was his, the beast. He snapped his head upwards as heavy boots sounded in the dark room. Trembling muscles flexed as he drove our body through the dark. His hand reached out, clawing the air as though there should be talons on the end of the bleeding stubs.
But there weren’t…there weren’t even nails, not after they’d ripped them off.
There was only pain.
The beast lunged, desperate to snap and savage and run. God, he was desperate to run. Until the chain snapped taut and the shackle around his throat snapped us backwards, slamming us to the cold, filthy floor once more.
Laughter came from the male. Sick, abrasive laughter.
It spilled like acid all over me, snatching the last traces of warmth inside me.
No. Inside him. The beast.
The scrape of boots ended. In the gloom, the beast saw him, dark eyes scanning the damage he’d done. There was a wince before he lifted his hand, covering his nose. “Christ, you’re disgusting.”
“Fuck you.” The words rumbled through our chest.
I felt those words. I said those words. Still, they sounded like him. Coarse, husky, his throat bruised from the steel cinched tight.
“It seems your…father and your brother are causing me some problems.”
The beast stilled, sucking in a hard breath. Memories drifted in the darkness of his mind. Faint memories. Faces he couldn’t quite understand.
I’ve got you, son. The deep male voice rose. Hold on to me, Colt. I’ve got you.
Colt.
Blue eyes replaced the darkened stare. Blue eyes, he knew. Brother. The word slammed into me, making my pulse boom. Brother. I knew him. We protect him. We. Protect. Him.
“They’ve torn apart half the fucking city.” The man in front of us spat. In the murky light, the man’s lips curled. “But they won’t find you.”
He stepped closer, so close the beast could almost…
Chain links gnashed. A swipe through the air went unrewarded. Hate. HATE!
“They can burn all the fucking buildings they want. They can torture, they can kill. They can howl and kick and scream like a wailing child as much as they want to. But it’ll get them nowhere.”
He lifted his gaze, meeting the beast’s. “They won’t find you until it’s too late. I’ll enjoy watching them fall apart, them and that bitch you fuck. Wildcat…more like used cunt.”
Wildcat?
A roar unleashed, bloodied and blistering, ripping through my throat as her face came to me. Her face. Her beautiful face.
I strained against the end of the chain so tight I felt the beat of my heart in my face. Thud…thud…thud. Veins popped, stinging as I drove harder, until the steel clamped around my throat choked me. I snarled, baring my teeth, the words a hot rasp. “Touch her and you’re fucking dead.”
The male never flinched, never backed away.
Just stared at me like the beast I was.
My chest was on fire.
The kind of fire that burned all the way down. I swallowed hard and tasted blood.
“I would say goodbye, Son, but there’s nothing good about it.” He took a step backward toward the light spilling in through the cracked open door. “Enjoy your last days in this cell. Maybe in your next life you’ll do well to stay away from the likes of me.”
Then he turned.
I flinched with every step until the howl of the hinges made me whimper.
Then slowly my legs shuddered and gave out.
Thud.
I hit the cold floor and collapsed; the shackle digging into the flesh of my throat. How many days had it been now? Days…weeks? I didn’t know. What I did know was, I wasn’t going to make it. I knew that, knew from the hot coals burning somewhere in the middle of my chest. I wasn’t going to see them ever again. I wasn’t going to see her…
Wildcat.
The name stayed with me as I closed my eyes. But there were no more tears. Nothing but the sting.
Until the squeal of the door came once more. Only this time the steps were slower and heavier.
Buzz…
A hitch ripped through my chest as I opened my eyes to the arc of neon light…and the face of my tormentor.
“Now, how about we speed up that end a little, huh?” The bastard smiled. “Time to dance for me, big guy.”
