Alisha's POV
It has been two long weeks of constant insults and beatings. Alisha had lost count of the times Alpha Thomas had come into her cell and screamed at her while whipping her with the horsetail whip that he carried on his waist. She initially kept yelling back, pleading for him to stop as the tears rolled down her face. Alisha quickly realised that the more she shouted back, the worse she was whipped. Alpha Thomas would continue berating her as he mercilessly whipped her again and again
She didn't understand much of what Alpha Thomas was shouting at her. She heard her father's name being shouted, and she guessed that the "human whore" was supposed to be her mother. She heard the Alpha curse the Moon Goddess for allowing it to happen again. What was it she wondered that distressed Alpha Thomas so much that happened again? What happened that made him curse the Moon Goddess so much? Alisha realised that the Alpha's eyes would glaze over while he hit her. It was like he was remembering something that happened in the past but using Alisha as his punching bag to deal with the pain he was feeling. Alisha couldn't understand why the Alpha hated her so much.
Sometimes Alpha Thomas would sit and watch as Sean took a turn at whipping Alisha. She hated it when it was Sean's turn to torture her as he seemed to enjoy it even more especially when she screamed. The skin over her back and legs had been torn into strips. Her accelerated wolf healing wasn't working as they had continued to inject her with wolfsbane. This had caused Heera to become quiet and to Alisha's despair, Heera had not spoken or shown her presence to Alisha since the day of her capture. She felt all alone as she couldn't even mindlink her mates due to the effects of the wolfsbane
Sometimes Sean even dipped the whip in a silver solution to see if that could make Alisha scream louder. She had tried not screaming initially but she realised that both Alpha Thomas and Sean would continue whipping her until she cried out bitterly in pain. Alisha's pride was in tatters as they would constantly taunt her about how weak and useless she was. They would laugh and goad her to shift into her wolf even when they knew that she could not. She would cry bitterly and scream until she lost consciousness due to exhaustion or due to blood loss.
"See... even your wolf has left you! You are worthless even to her. You are an abomination! An insult to every wolf that had ever lived"laughed Alpha Thomas as he saw the tears trickle down from between her eyelids. Her tears would stream down her chin and precariously gather on her jawline until it grew too big to stay there. The globules of tears would plop onto the floor with a loud splash as she strained her neck forward. Her arms which were pulled right-angled on either side of her body ached as the chains didn't allow her any movement to ease the pressure on her shoulders. There were also chains trailing from the ceiling that were attached to her neck, her waist and her ankle which jangled in protest every time she winced and struggled at the abuse she was getting at the hands of her captors.
Alisha would scream and cry until the welcome pull of unconsciousness engulfed her in its tender embrace. It would usually not be too long before Alpha Thomas or Sean noticed that she wasn't responding to their beating. As usual, it would be Alpha Thomas who would roar in anger as he shouted for the pack doctor to come and ensure that Alisha wasn't dead. He would always threaten the pack doctor who would shiver in fright as he struggled to revive Alisha. Every day he would struggle harder just to pull her away from death's door after one of Sean's or Alpha Thomas's torture spree.
"Make sure you get her back, Dan. I will string you up to the ceiling and make you take her place if she dies."Alpha Thomas would threaten Dan, the pack doctor, as he valiantly revived Alisha each time she lost consciousness. Many times, in the last two weeks, Sean would resort to literally dragging Alisha's unconscious body to a small stream that ran under the Black Raven dungeons and he would then scoop a pail of freezing water from the stream and throw it onto Alisha, shocking her awake from her unconsciousness. Alisha would snarl in disgust as she struggled to get away from Sean. He would just laugh at her efforts to escape while he snapped on the silver chains back onto her neck and waist. Sean would look on with glee as he pulled the chains toward him making Alisha struggle as the chains lifted her and made her dangle from it. Sean would wait till she exhausted herself before snapping the chains on her hands and feet.
Today Alpha Thomas has been more vicious than he had been previously. He had brought his favourite leather strap which was studded with two-inch silver stakes to be used on Alisha. This strap was usually reserved for the most hardened of criminals. Even Sean's eyes grew large with shock when Alpha Thomas took hold of the leather strap on his way to see Alisha. It looked like he was bent on killing Alisha today.
He swung the leather strap with all his might grunting loudly with exertion. The silver stakes raking across Alisha's back causing her to scream with pain. Sean could hear Alpha Thomas growling in anger as Alisha squirmed away trying to pull away from the stakes that were digging into her flesh and burning her.
"You whore..I told you to leave him alone! You just wouldn't listen, would u?You dare try and blemish our wolf lineage with your weak genes? Humans are the weaker and they will never mate with the mighty wolf !!!" Alpha Thomas gnashed his teeth together in anger. Alisha's head snapped back in surprise. She turned to look at Alpha Thomas in his eyes and realised the truth. He using her to get back at her parents.Alisha starting feeling her anger bubbling up inside of her ...all of the anger now aimed at Alpha Thomas. She was furious that Alpha Thomas was torturing her because of what her parents did. They had proved that Alpha Thomas was wrong!! Humans and wolves could be mates. There was no reason why they shouldn't be! Her parents had proved Alpha Thomas wrong and now he was torturing Alisha because of it...
Alpha Thomas had tried to prevent her mother and father from mating. Alisha remembered that her father and mother would whisper about how Alpha Thomas would kill them if he found out that they had been able to conceive a child. The Alpha saw her very presence as a failure on his part to prevent a pairing of a wolf to a human. Alisha never could understand until now, that is, why he was so angry at her. She had never seen or done anything to the Alpha... but her very existence proved to everyone that what the Alpha said was wrong. Humans and wolves could mate....and they could produce a child as well!!! It made humans not weaker than the wolves... it made humans just the same as wolves!!
"I am not my mother, you arsehole!! But I can tell you this ....Lawrence, my father, was her true love...her mate! She would never have let anyone come between herself and her mate....especially not a selfish, ignorant arsehole like you!"Alisha spat out as she reeled from another lash from the leather straps. The collar that was wrapped around her neck tightening as she thrashed in pain.
Alpha Thomas glared at Alisha with deep hatred in his eyes. His canines elongating as he struggled to get control of his wolf. He closed his eyes and took a deep shuddering breath." How dare you talk to me! You abomination! You are a disgrace to the wolf lineage!" he seethed as he drew the leather strap back to hit Alisha senseless for daring to talk to him
"Alpha! You need to stop!! She has lost too much blood! She will not survive another beating today. Let me treat her now and then you can continue in a few days time" the pack doctor begged Alpha Thomas as he rushed forward to apply pressure on the lacerations caused by the leather switch. He shuddered at the deep gauges that the stakes had made all over Alisha's body. Dan raced to stop Alisha from bleeding out due to the multiple injuries over her body. He quickly applied a tourniquet over her arm that continued to bleed. He didn't realise that he had turned his back on his Alpha as he tried to staunch the worst of the bleeding.
Alpha Thomas growled in displeasure. He wasn't used to listening to anyone else's advice. Since the day he ascended as the Alpha of the Black Ravens, he had given the orders, and everyone else had listened. The pack doctor whined and fell to his knees as he realised he had just come between the prisoner and his Alpha. His eyes opened wide in terror as he leaned his head to the left, exposing his neck in submission to his Alpha. Dan could feel the rage from deep within his Alpha permeate through his skin and push him down onto the floor. He winced as he collapsed forward in surrender knowing very well that this was the end. His Alpha wouldn't let him live after such a mistake.
Dan prayed that the Moon Goddess would protect him from the wrath of his Alpha while he waited for the death blow to hit him.
"I am sorry Alpha. Please believe me. I...I did not mean to go against your orders...Please forgive me...I wasn't telling you what to do!! Its...It's just that I know that you would not like it if she dies before you had finished with her"Dan whined from his position on the floor directly in front of his Alpha.
Alpha Thomas fumed as his anger engulfed his entire body. His wolf gnashing his teeth as he howled in anger. The sound reverberated throughout the dungeon shaking the bars on the doors and windows. His spine, curving as wolf fur sprung from his back and his legs. His fingers clenching into a fist as his palms turned into paw pads. Alpha Thomas's clothes ripped to shreds as his wolf took over from his human form.
The Alpha's wolf was as vicious as the Alpha himself. He growled seeing Dan cowering near the wall of the cell. Dan cringed in fright as his Alpha loomed over his curled up body. The tears of fear sprang from his eyes and flowed down his cheek. Alpha Thomas swung his large paw at Dan effectively swatting him away like a bothersome fly. Dan was thrown back hitting the brick wall with an awful crunch which severed his spine from his body. Dan tried to crawl away from his Alpha but he had lost the use of his arms and legs so all he could do is watch Alpha Thomas's wolf slowly advance towards him. With a mighty roar, the Alpha lowered his large muzzle to Dan's unprotected neck and tore at his throat.
As Dan's blood sprayed all over the wall and floor of Alisha's cell, the Alpha wolf turned and walked away as if nothing was wrong. He licked the smear of blood on his lips and snout as his mind linked Sean to remove Dan's body before anyone else in his pack found out that he had killed the pack doctor.
"Sean! Get rid of Dan's body now! Throw it to the hyenas at the border of our territory. Tell the pack that he had gone out this morning to the border unescorted by our warriors to pick up some supplies that he needed. Let the pack know that the hyenas attacked and killed Dan. Tell everyone not to go out unescorted for the next few days"
Sean nodded and walked back to where Dan laid in a pool of his blood. He bent down pulling Dan's arm and leg towards the exit trailing his blood onto the broken cement on the floor. Dan had been a tall wolf but thankfully, he wasn't very heavy so Sean could drag the body by himself.
As he neared the exit of the dungeon threw Dan's lifeless body over his shoulder and carried him out of the dungeon into the wood bordering the Black Raven territory. He threw Dan's body down the ravine and sat by the edge to smoke a cigarette. Sean waited patiently as the hyenas slowly sniff at Dan's lifeless body sprawled on a large thicket that he had landed on. The hyenas yipped and yelped loudly calling on the rest of their family to come and eat the meal that they had been served. Sean watched as the hyenas tore at Dan's body leaving nothing much behind except scraps of his flesh and his bloodied and torn clothes. It took about four hours before the hyenas finished their meal and Sean winced as he got up from where he had sat to watch the hyenas eat the evidence of Alpha Thomas's fury. Sean flicked the cigarette ash that had collected beside his pant leg and whistled as he walked back to the packhouse
He had been killing and covering up for Alpha Thomas kills for the last 20 years or so. Truth be told, throwing Dan's body over the ravine did not affect him at all. It was not his loyalty to the Black Raven's Alpha but the thrill of the multiple kills that kept Sean quiet and happy at Thomas's side. He had initially been a Gamma in the pack but when Lawrence, Alisha's father, had run away with her mother, the Beta post opened up to him and he had gladly accepted. It wasn't until then, that he realised his penchant for killing and torture and being with Alpha Thomas allowed him to delve into his passion of causing pain and suffering to others.
As Sean walked into the packhouse, he turned to see Alpha Thomas sitting down to eat his dinner at the large table in the dining room. Sean nodded to signal to his Alpha that his job was completed. No one would be able to find Dan and Sean would spin a story about how Dan had been killed by a group of hyenas on the way to get his medical supplies. Dan would be just like the many wolves that had been killed for angering the Alpha. Sean had lost count of the many wolves he had gotten rid of for his Alpha.
As Sean climb the staircase to his room, he sneered as he remembered the fate of a certain Beta that had also been faithful to Alpha Thomas. Sean was the leader wolf for the small group of wolves who were sent to find and kill the traitorous wolf, Lawrence, and whoever was with him. Sean had found evidence of a small wolf living with the couple but try as they might, they were not able to find the young wolf.
He laughed when he found that the little wolf he had tried to find all those years ago was no other than the Luna of the Starfall pack. When he saw the opportunity to finally get the little wolf that had to escape him before, he had pounced on the opportunity. Sean remembered the other female wolf who had lost her life protecting her Luna He could still remember the feeling of euphoria that course through his veins as he stepped on her chest and heard the cracking of her ribs under his boot and the squishing of her punctured lungs
As he closed his eyes to sleep that night, Sean laid in his bed peacefully as knew that his Alpha would never turn against him as he did with Lawrence since he knew all the sordid details of the Alpha's past. Alpha Thomas couldn't afford to alienate Sean as he wouldn't be able to answer for all he had done in the last 20 years. The Black Ravens would not have let Thomas stay as their Alpha if the atrocities that he had done during his reign came out.