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My stomach twisted with hunger, and I felt starved. Despite being in this place for a while, my mate still hadn't allowed me to eat. A few girls had tried to sneak food to me, but they had been beaten for it, so I turned down their offers. It was torture to watch my mate have sex with nearly every girl in the place, let alone see them get beaten afterward. As the door opened, I sighed and climbed off the bed, moving to my corner, knowing what was coming next.
Flopping onto the ground, I leaned against the wall. Kelly was the only one who entered and stopped in front of me. Usually, Charlotte came in every few hours to drug me with whatever substance prevented me from shifting. However, she was nowhere in sight.
"Get up!" he said, kicking me in the thigh.
"I'm sorry, could you please repeat that?" I asked, feeling confused and unsure of what was happening.
This was not the usual routine that Kelly had forced upon me, where he made me watch as he had sex with other women and forced his disgusting member into my mouth, making me taste them. He growled in response, and I looked towards the door when he kicked me again.
"Get up and get on the bed," he growled, grabbing my arm and forcefully pulling me to my feet. I struggled in his grip, my hand lashing out and slapping him before dropping my weight, refusing to comply. He snarled and yanked me up by my hair, dragging me towards the bed, but I fought back when his fist connected with my face. My vision became blurry, and my neck ached as my head snapped back. Blood began to sputter from my nose as I stumbled backwards, feeling my hair being painfully ripped from his grip.
Feeling dazed, I blinked up at the ceiling when I heard his furious growl as he reached for me. His face twisted in rage, and his canines slipped out from between his parted lips. I lifted my leg as he pounced on me, and he grunted as my foot connected with his groin. I tried to roll away from him, but he grabbed my hair, yanking my head back.
"You will obey your Alpha," he snarled.
"You are not my Alpha!" I screamed. He growled before shoving me back to the floor. I crawled toward the wall and pulled myself up. His snarl behind me grew louder, then he suddenly stopped.
"Get on the bed," he yelled at me. I felt his command wash over me before it suddenly slipped off like I was made of Teflon. It didn't stick! And I laughed hysterically.
"I said, get on the bed!" he commanded, but it rolled over me again and slipped right off. Turning around, I couldn't control the laughter that escaped me.
I had no idea why I was laughing, yet it made me laugh harder as I looked at him. The furious look on his face was almost comical suddenly, or maybe I had lost the plot. He looked at me like I was insane, but I was not getting on that bed. A beating, I could take one of those. Sh*t, I spent half my life taking those. So if I had to choose, I would take a beating over letting him take more from me.
I wiped my nose; it dripped with blood and stained the back of my hand. "What's wrong, Alpha? Can't put your Luna in line?" I taunted. "Get on the bed!" he screamed, turning red-faced. I giggled at his pathetic command.
My muscles tensed as pain slithered up my spine. The command was strong, rushing over me like a tidal wave, crippling me with pain. Yet still, I laughed. Pain? All I knew was pain. Pain ended. I had endured years of nothing but pain, and I had a strong tolerance for it. The pain I could live with, expect, endure, survive.
Once again, I was becoming numb to my surroundings, numb to everything. So I let him hurt me because the pain I could handle, but could he? I knew it must hurt him, but as for me? No, pain was in your head. Something you could switch on and off, desensitize yourself to. And that's what I did.
Most would call me mad for what I intended to do. Calm washed over me as I let my mind float. I went on autopilot, and then I poked the wolf. "Surprised you have a pack. My principal back in the day commanded a better pack, and she was an omega!" I laughed. His eyes turned black, and he shifted in rage at my words.
A malt-colored wolf charged at me, its paws hitting my chest and sending me flying back against the wall. My brain rattled inside my skull as it smashed against the brick, and I saw double. But not a sound left my lips, not even as the wolf snarled and stalked toward me, its razor-sharp teeth tearing through my flesh.
"Don't cry. Tears won't save you; I am done shedding tears for this monster," I reminded myself. When the wolf got no reaction from tearing into my thigh, it tore into my shoulder and arm. Blood drenched me and pooled around me. My body shook, but I made no sound and just stared, going to my safe place. Zoning out, my mind took me to a place where no one could touch me.
I was an empty shell, only coming back to my surroundings when the wolf's teeth snapped at my face. Its fur puffed out as it growled. Then I heard a sob, and my eyes flitted toward the door to see a woman. Tears stained her cheeks, but none fell from my eyes. I felt nothing as I stared at her fear-stricken face.
The wolf, named Kelly, whimpered and backed up, sniffing my thigh where it had torn it apart. I glanced down and saw so much blood that no part of me was left unstained or unmarred.
"Are you done?" I asked, my voice steady despite not recognizing it as my own. Kelly turned his furry head to the side, examining me, and I stared back, unblinking.
Kelly crouched before me, his bones snapping as he shifted back. For a moment, I thought I saw guilt flash across his features. "You will learn. You only had to get on the bed," he said, scanning over my mauled flesh.
"It didn't have to be this way," he snapped, and my eyebrows rose. I laughed and shook my head, feeling my blood drain out of me and cold sweat bead over my skin.
"Get the doctor," Kelly screamed as I felt myself fading and the room becoming dull.
"Rina? You need to stay awake," Kelly said, trying to stop the bleeding and causing tingles to spread across my skin. I knew I was bleeding out, and so did he.
"Get the pack doctor now!" Kelly screamed as my mark burned on my neck, and I relished the pain of the bond dying along with me.
"Does it hurt?" I murmured, my eyelids closing as my head fell forward, unable to keep it up when he grabbed my face. His fingers pried my eyelids open, but I only saw white.
"What? Hurry up!" Kelly screamed, and I heard people running up the steps towards us.
"Does it hurt?" I repeated.
"You think I wanted to do this? Of course, it hurts, I..." his voice trailed off.
"Because I feel nothing!" I giggled.
"Hang on, Rina," Kelly said, and I snorted.
"For what? Certainly not for you," I mumbled, feeling my lips going numb.
"Hang on for me. I didn't mean it. You should know better; I..." he stuttered frantically.
"Just hang on," he said, as my body went limp. I slid down the wall I was leaning on, my face pressing against the carpet, and I could hear the frantic beating of my heart drumming in my ears. I focused on that sound, waiting for the moment it would stop and everything would go black.
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As we made our way back to the sleepy town to collect Osborne and Lezlie, my mind traveled back to the butcher Travis had dealt with. My skin itched at the memory of all the blood caked on it from when Travis had finished with the butcher and we tried to move him around. The blood was thick like gravy, and I was surprised the butcher had lasted that long. If it hadn't been for the blood bags Travis had acquired, we would have been covered in blood ourselves.
Travis whistled happily when the bell rang, signaling that someone was here. "Yes! Customers. I missed my calling, I reckon. I think my steaks look pretty good. I wonder if they want to try my marinated butcher steaks or my butcher sausage," he said, excitedly taking the tray on which he had been placing his were-steaks. He was taking butchering the butcher too seriously. I laughed as he grabbed his tray and raced to the front of the store, but my laughter was cut short by the shrill scream of a woman before the bells sounded as she rushed out.
"But it's a delicacy. I marinated it myself for 12 hours," Travis called out to the woman. I shook my head and removed my rubber apron, hanging it on the hook next to the freezer door. Travis came in with his tray in hand, looking upset that the woman didn't want to try his butcher steaks.
"I wasted all that time marinating those," he said, tossing the tray on the counter. He washed his knives and placed them in his satchel. I grabbed some soap and scrubbed my hands clean while Travis growled. Peering over my shoulder, I saw him glaring down at the butcher.
"Bloody b*****d, look what you did! You owe me a new apron. You'd better hope I can wash this out," he snarled, taking off his apron. I raised an eyebrow at him. The man was bonkers.
"What? He got his filthy blood on it. Look at this," he said, trying to clean his apron in cold water. "He turned it pink. I'll just say it's salmon. I can pull off salmon, right?" Travis growled as he scrubbed his apron, which he had come to love.
"I like to see someone tell you that you couldn't," I laughed, before looking down at my jeans. Not even the apron could save them. I sighed and walked out of the shop to the car, retrieving a bag from the trunk where I always kept spare clothes. As I stepped out into the town square, it was pretty quiet, with a lot of stares, but no one dared say anything. I was kind of waiting for them to break out into a dance, like a flash mob, with the way the noise stopped abruptly and everyone froze.
Shaking my head, I popped the trunk, grabbed a fresh shirt, and pulled it on. Just then, I heard the butcher's shop bell jingle, and as I glanced over my shoulder, an elderly lady sitting in front of the bakery eating a scone under a blue and white umbrella let out a scream.
Travis strutted out naked, drenched from head to toe in blood. He shook off some congealed blood that had plopped on his foot and then shook his head. His apron was clutched in his hand, and he shook it out.
"I told him, 'That is not going in the car. Put it in the trunk.'"
"But how will it dry?" he whined.
"I have to go grab Logan and Oliver. The kids will freak if they see you like that," I told him. Just then, a shriek reached my ears, and a crowd formed around an old woman.
"Are you itchy?" Travis asked, scratching his genitals. I chuckled and shook my head. People rushed over to a nearby bakery, and Travis and I looked over to see the old woman choking. Another woman was patting her back frantically. Travis sighed, shook his head, and stomped over to help her.
He began performing the Heimlich maneuver on her, which was a sight to see. Everyone scattered as he grabbed her, his naked butt tensing as he performed the task. A piece of scone flew from her mouth, and she gasped for breath when he released her. The woman collapsed on the ground, and Travis clicked his tongue, sitting her up with his chunk right in her face. She gasped again, her eyes widening when she realized his chunk was only an inch away from her face. She looked up at him with wide eyes.
Travis winked at her and teased, "You don't want to choke on your saliva this time, Love," blowing her a kiss. She looked at him, appalled, as his chunk slapped her cheek when he turned to walk back to the car. I snorted and shook my head at him as he leaned into the trunk to grab some clothes. We were all animals, and everyone had seen each other naked as we shifted to and from our animal side.
He put on some shorts and a tank top before moving towards the passenger side, and I jumped into the driver's seat, starting the car. The engine revved loudly as I tore out of the town square, headed for the pack house before I remembered that we didn't have the king's permission or paperwork to take the boys. Two days later, I was going back there for the boys with one of our other men, Junior. It was a paradox considering how big he was.
Junior lit a cigarette, and I snapped my fingers at him before he growled, taking the cigarette from between his lips and handing it to me. He lit another one as we weaved through the streets to find the kids.
"So, what do you plan on doing with them, anyway? Since when did you become all fatherly?" Junior asked, and I shrugged. I never gave much thought to kids until I met Rina. Maybe I could keep them? I shook the idea away. Rina might not want kids. I supposed we would see when I got her back.
"I'm not keeping them," I told him.
"So why are we taking them?" he asked.
"Zara," I replied.
"Ah, I see. A fine woman. Too bad she could never have kids. She would have been an excellent mother," Young said.
"Well, she is a mother. She practically raised Arman and half of the servant's kids. Zara will take care of them, love them," I told him, and Young nodded.