Bruce slightly opened his eyes groaning in slight pain. His sight was blurry clearing out gradually as he widened his eyelids. He tried to move his hands but they were fastened together with a rope. He was tied with his hands up.
Looking by his side, he saw Elora tied up the same way he was. She was still out, her head bent to an angle.
"Hey! Hey!" Bruce called out to her but she seemed to be far gone. He swung from the rope and moved towards her in an attempt to wake her up but he couldn't reach her as they were far from each other.
"Elora!"
"Elora!" He called out again but she was very much unconscious.
"I see you are awake. Welcome, such a pleasure to have you. It's been a while we had visitors." A man appeared from a corner. He was muscular with a marking on his bare chest. He only had animal skin wrapped around his waist, with a quiver strapped to his back and a bow on his hand.
"Welcome to the Den. I am Milo, the leader of the Forsaken!" The man grinned with a funny gesture as he approached Bruce who seemed upset tht Elora had dragged him into that situation.
"You really should let me go!"
"Easy there. I do the talking." Milo retorted with a smirk. He moved towards Elora and dragged her by her neck forcing her to wake up. Elora slightly lifted up her head from the angle groaning and when she saw Milo holding on to her bravo, she struggled to unfree herself from the rope holding her up. She attempted to kick Milo but he pushed her leg away.
"Easy Elora! This is not how to say hello to an old friend."
"Hello Milo. Really!"
"I see you brought a friend along. This your love?" Bruce scowled when he heard Milo ask if he was Elora's lover.
"No!" Elora seemed to be sharing the same thoughts with Bruce as he makes a disapproval gesture with her face.
"We want no trouble Milo. I just want to talk. I have a job for you."
"I see. You still owe me some gold from the last one." Milo sneered grabbing Elora by the neck again. She tried to free herself but his grip was firm.
"I will pay you double!"
"Ok! I will triple it!" Her eyes were bulging from their sockets as she tried to catch her breath dangling from the rope she was tied to, still struggling to free herself.
Milo let go of her neck gently as soon as he heard that she was going to triple the money she owed him. Elora coughed out loud choking as she gasped for air. Bruce on the other hand was quiet, watching as the drama unfolded. He couldn't believe that he was being humiliated in such manner by the Forsaken.
The Forsaken was a group of werewolves who stole for a living. They were werewolves abandoned or exiled from their packs at young ages and came together to form a pack. Milo was their leader. He couldn't be recognized as their Alpha as he was more like a criminal who was only interested in filling his sacks with enough gold. He was a well known criminal who could do any dirty job just to get paid.
"What's the deal?" Milo asked beaming with excitement.
"Cut us loose and we will talk." Elora said with a slight smile on her lips. Bruce looked at Milo in anticipation of his response to Elora's demand.
"Very well then. I hope this is a good one. Any pranks and I will hand you over to the council myself." Milo said and walked away entering into a tunnel in the cave.
"The Council is after you too?" Bruce asked with a frown on his face.
"Yeah!" Elora replied sharply not eager to have a share of the blame Bruce was about to dish out to her.
"You must really be a mess to be dealing with the Forsaken." Bruce was pissed, his voice shaking in fury.
"They are our best shot at getting my brother and gaining back your honor. I told you to follow my lead remember!" Elora replied with a smirk.
"Seems like you are leading us to be killed."
"I didn't know that the almighty Alpha was afraid of mere criminals." Elora teased but Bruce ignored her and made an attempt to free himself from the rope but it was tied so tightly. He groaned in frustration giving up instantly.
"They mustn't know your true identity. Tell them nothing!" Elora warned, her voice a little above a whisper.
"Why?"
"Because they are thieves. They can't be trusted. They could hand you over to Darius the moment they know who you are. Milo only cares about the gold and would do anything to get paid."
"I see. So much for having the best plan." Bruce smirked and turned his face away from Elora.
"I am back!" Milo appeared from the tunnel holding a small dagger in his hand, two other men appeared right through the tunnel holding up arrows fixed to a now ready to take a shot. They were dressed in the same manner as Milo, just some piece of animal skin covering part of their waists and thighs.
Milo gradually moved towards Elora and cut her loose. She fell to the floor hitting her fit on the rough soil but falling with her side. Milo moved towards Bruce and smiled at him, then he gently raised up the dagger to cut him loose.
"Make no mistake, the arrows are laced with wolf bane." Milo warned as he started to cut the rope with which Bruce was tied up. Soon it was loose and Bruce landed firmly on the floor with his two feet standing firm.
"Follow me!" Milo commanded and walked away through the tunnel. Elora stood up, rubbing her wrist as the bruises on her hands were visible. The two men who had bows and arrows signaled to Elora and Bruce to walk through the tunnel dragging their arrows and ready to shoot.
"I hope you know what you are doing." Bruce warned as he started walking behind Elora through the tunnel.
They walked through the tunnel until they came out and appeared in another cave, there were tiny crystals glittering in the walls of the cave. Milo stood in the middle of the cave with his hands extended smiling lavishly. There were other men dressed in the same manner as he was standing at different corners of the cave with their arrows fastened to their bows ready to shoot.
"Welcome once again to the den. Pay no mind to my brothers. They seem not to be used to outsiders. Come sit with me, I hope you bring good news." Milo said leading Bruce and Elora to some rocks piled up at a corner of the cave. Some of the men close by sneered at Bruce as he walked past them.
"It's Rudolf Milo. He has my brother."
For a moment Milo seemed really excited to hear what news Elora had to give but the smile on his face disappeared gradually as he heard what Elora said.
"You come here to joke! I have not time for this!" Milo barked and some of the men standing close by pointed their arrows at Elora and Bruce aiming at their heads and ready to fire.
"Five stacks of gold!"
"Ten stacks of gold!"
Bruce stared at Elora in shock not sure of where she planned on getting the gold she was bargaining with.
"I will take twenty stacks." Milo said displaying his greedy expressions.
"Fifteen Stacks!" Milo thought about the offer for a while, then he smiled and gestures to the men who lowered their arrows.
"We have a deal! You can rest now. We shall make our plans at night. Milo stood up almost immediately smiling in satisfaction.
"Are you mad?" Bruce was shocked that Elora could make such an unreasonable bargain with Milo.
"Maybe you can do it your way then. That was the best deal."
"How do you intend to pay him?"
"Well I hear you have a lot of gold in your castle." Elora answered after a short while. She bent her face avoiding Bruce's angry gaze.
"Can we trust him?"
"First rule. Trust no one." Elora said slowly and got up, then she used her hands to wipe the dust off her cloths and walked outside the cave towards the cliff, she looked through the horizon taking in a deep breath.
"Your brother, what's his name." Bruce asked appearing from behind her.
"Seth. Rudolf took him to make sure I killed you." Surprisingly, Bruce felt some sympathy for Elora drawing close to her with a smile.
"We will get him back." He said tapping her on the shoulder.