"Wake up," a voice boomed before I found myself drenched in with cold water.
Jolting forward, I hissed in pain as the metal cuffs around my wrists cut into my skin.
What the hell?
The smell of stagnant water, iron and death invaded my senses, causing me to gag before looking around to notice I was in a stone cell with the exception of iron barred gate that was closed.
Looking closer at it and through the bars, a pair of eyes stared at me from another cell, the mossy orbs glowing in the cell's obscurity.
"You wake up to notice everything but me," that voice spoke again causing me to jump to my left, the rattling of my chains echoing though the dungeon.
Looking in the direction of the voice, I could feel my anger spiking. Approaching me from the shadows was Calder.
You've got to be fucking kidding me.
"What the hell do you want," I growled.
"You're still in high spirits, I see. I'm actually surprise you lived from the last time I really saw you prior to your capture," Calder shrugged.
"Why was I captured in the first place?"
"Oh. Well, remember when you killed Xanthe? Yeah, I've been spending the last season plotting on getting you," he paused, assessing my reaction. "Thus, I now have you."
Calder took a couple of steps before closing the distance between us before grabbing a fistful of my hair, forcing me to stand.
"I'm going to break you," was all he said before he turned and slammed my head into the stone wall causing me to fall.
The sound of his footsteps and the cell door opening was all I could hear before rolling onto my side to once again be met with mossy eyes before I was taken into a numbing sleep.
When I awoke again, rays of sunlight were shining through the small barred window above my cell, giving light to the Hell I was newly placed in.
"It's good to know that you didn't die in your sleep after he bashed your pretty little head up against the wall," an unfamiliar voice came.
Looking around, my eyes landed on the cell across from mine. Behind the bars sat a man who was as close to his cell door as humanly possible with his elbow on his bent knee.
"Well, he's done worse than that before," I snipped, taking in his appearance.
From what I could see of his height with him simply sitting there, he was tall wearing only loose breeches and boots. His chest was bare but scared. His hair was dark and long; it had a single braid on each side that blended perfectly in with his hair. His beard, which looked like it was well groomed, also had a single braid.
"Liam Dahl."
"What," I questioned, confused.
"That is my name, Liam."
Standing, my assumption of his height was correct.
"Oh," I paused, assessing the introduction.
Rubbing my wrists where my chained cuffs where burning me, I sighed.
"Noir Lejos," I quipped.
"Noir Lejos," Liam responded, testing my name. "Nice to meet you Noir. You're either lycan or werewolf, I can't tell. Your scent is complicated. I, myself, am a lycan. Recently made skelmar due to a disagreement with my pack's counsel and acting without their approval."
The last part he spat with venom, more at his newfound title instead of me directly.
Looking back at me, he tilted his head to the side.
"What has a beauty such as yourself done to get caged here like some dog who disobeyed it's master," Liam asked, now resting on the bars of his cell.
I laughed dryly at this before whistling and rocking back on my heels.
"Ehhh. Long story. What you sow, so shall you reap. I don't know what his endgame is though. I'll either die, kill him or magically escape," I said, the reality of everything slowly hitting me.
Rubbing his chin, Liam stayed silent for a bit before growling.
"I had a feeling that man had a personal vendetta by the way he was talking to you. I can't stand it when men hurt women for no reason or the fact they can't take responsibility for their own actions," Liam spat, partially shifting.
"Furthermore, I heard how they got you. Wolfsbane, Ergot and silver infused arrows. When they brought you here in the state you were in, I thought they simply dropped a bloody corpse in that cell. I tried to watch over you to the best of my abilities being over here, caged. When that man did what he did earlier, waking you the way he did and hurt you, I wanted nothing more but to rip his throat out," Liam hissed, now pacing.
When I didn't say anything, Liam stopped and looked at me.
"You mentioned "mate", does that mean you're a werewolf?"
"Not exactly," I said, trying to shift into a comfortable position.
"Then are you a lycan? We imprint but you would surely know that."
"Again, not exactly," I murmured.
"Then what are you?"
Thinking on how I should answer him, I sighed.
"I'm a halfbreed. Half werewolf, half lycan and I can shift into both," I said cautiously.
"A hybrid? I've never met a hybrid," Liam barely whispered to himself. "What's that like?"
"To me it's normal so I don't exactly know how to answer your question," I shrugged, leaning back against the stone wall.
"Surely you ca—," before Liam got to finish, the sound of metal sliding across stone echoed around us as two guards and Calder approached the cells.
One of the guards slid a plate of bread, water and a meat of some sort into Liam's cage then turned to me, opening my door.
"What are you doing," Liam snarled.
Ignoring him, Calder and the two guards stepped into my cell, one holding a vial of some sort while the other had a collar and chain.
Growling, I stepped away from the men.
"It's in your best interest to cooperate, Noir," Calder smiles, taking an agonizing step towards me.
When I didn't respond, the guards stepped forward. The first to grab me was the one with the collar and chain.
"Let me go," I shouted, bringing the chain connected to my wrists up and attempted to wrap it around his neck. The other guard shoved me to the ground, bringing his partner with me.
I couldn't shift. I couldn't even partially shift and being restrained, all I could do no was lash out with my feet and fist, somewhat, before one of the men kneeled before placing a knee to my throat, rendering me motionless as the other squeezed the sides of my face, forcing my mouth open.
"STOP IT!! YOU'RE HURTING HER," Liam shouted, shaking the bars of his cell door.
He continued to shout profanities as a guard took the cork of the vial between his teeth, removed it and constrained the liquid down my throat. When I refused to swallow it, the other pinched my nose and covered my mouth, forcing me to swallow it vile concoction.
The moment I did, they immediately removed themselves as I began to thrash, ripping at my hair and throat, my screams echoing around the dungeon mixed with their laughter and Liam's protests.
The pain was increasing in waves, small lulls giving false hope of an end. Each peak robs my ability to speak. It sends me lashing out and tearing at the stoned floor. It's as though my blood has become sour or poisonous, intent of destroying me from the inside out. All I can do is writhe, the occasional scream escaping to echo off the walls.
When it became nothing more than a numbing sensation, a man bent over and unhooked me from the wall and clasped the chained collar around my neck.
Calder jerked me up by my hair and now standing, I swayed like a drunkard. I think my ears, nose and eyes are bleeding but I can't tell as my body fights against another wave of convulsion.
With a jerk, I'm choked as I'm dragged out of my cell, Liam desperately reaching through his to grab me but I can't seem to focus. All I hear is a shout and a crunch of bone before I'm forced forward onto a room that's opposite of the entrance.