Chapter 6 Griffin
Griffin
“This stupid motherfucker won’t submit,” the so-called trainer huffs above me, the crackle of the cattle prod sounding in the air before he shoves it into my side again.
I grit my teeth against the pain. All my nerve endings feel raw and exposed, almost like I was dragged across the pavement like some sort of meat crayon.
They’ve been at this all fucking night, and I’m getting tired. I’m sure these guys are starting to get tired, too.
Well, one can hope they’re getting tired. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.
“Kneel,” the trainer snaps.
I glare at him, lunging forward with a snarl, the chains binding my wrists to the wall of the shed pulling tight.
“Fuck off,” I spit, overwhelmed by an all-consuming fury.
If it weren’t for this fucking collar around my neck, doing something weird to my body, I’d have used my bark and made all of them fuck off.
But trust me, I’ve tried that already.
I can feel the pulse at my temple throbbing with every heartbeat.
I’ve always been hot-headed, but ever since these crazy fuckers started pumping me full of their cocktail of drugs a few days ago, anger has been my constant companion.
The trainer jumps back, his eyes going wide with fear for a split second before he gets pissed and shocks me with the cattle prod again. In the same goddamn place too.
My roar of pain echoes off the wooden walls.
When the trainer doesn’t seem satisfied with the pain he’s inflicting with just the cattle prod, he turns on the metal shock collar around my neck, too. My roar cuts off as the muscles in my neck strain, freezing from the current.
Only then do I collapse down onto my knees. The chains are the only thing keeping me from face-planting onto the disgusting concrete floor beneath me.
“Damn, this guy’s a fucking tank,” one of the junior trainers, who hasn’t gotten the courage to fuck with me, mutters under his breath.
“He’d better be. The boss bought him to be a replacement for him in case Jett’s plan doesn’t work.”
My brain fights through the anger enough to process some of their words.
He must be some other fighter if I’m his replacement. Maybe one who’s already fucking lost it. Unsurprising, considering the bullshit they’ve done to me in the past few days since I got here.
All thanks to my fucking dad. Turns out, fighting for a living wasn’t enough to cover the debts he kept on racking up.
I was a sucker, too. I walked right into the Mercer family’s trap. I knew they’d bought my dad’s debt from his previous brokers, but I thought I was just asking them for more time to pay it off.
I didn’t know I was the goddamn payment.
The next time I see my dad again? He’s dead. The rest of my family would be better off with him six feet under, too.
If I see him again.
The people who run this hellhole don’t seem like the type to ever let me go.
The trainer paces in front of me, the cattle prod crackling menacingly.
“You’ll learn your place,” he huffs. “You’ll be fighting down in the cages in no time.”
I lift my head and glare up at him, my lips curling back in a snarl. If I’m stuck here any longer, who knows, maybe my face will be stuck like this. I don’t have to say anything to telegraph exactly what I’m thinking.
This asshole doesn’t seem to be a big fan of my look because he presses the cattle prod into my side once again.
I grit my teeth, the muscles in my body locking up all over again.
Fucking hell.
There are certain kinds of pain you can get used to. I’ve learned how to handle the impact of fists against my flesh.
This kind of pain, though? It hurts just as badly as the first time.
Maybe that’s because I’ve had a lot less time to get used to it. Maybe this sort of pain is the point.
As I slump forward in my chains, my gaze is cast towards the floor, and I feel shame gnawing at my throbbing ribs.
The three trainers leave me alone when the sound of some commotion outside filter into this torture chamber of a barn house.
“Oh shit, I didn’t know they were bringing her in!” One of the junior trainers hisses.
Her?
What would a woman be doing in a shithole like this?
“I guess it would make sense Jett would want to test out his idea on the new guy first,” the other junior trainer says. “If I were taking bets, I’d say she wouldn’t last two minutes if she were tossed in with the others. Then all the money they spent on her would be for nothin’.”
Their words make my hackles rise. I shift my weight slowly, keeping tension on the chains so they don’t make too much noise as I move.
I want to be able to get to my feet if shit goes down. Not that I’d be able to do much, chained up like the dog they seem to call me, but still.
That’s when I hear it.
A pitiful, desperate cry.
I have to bite back the protective growl that wants to fight its way out of my chest.
I keep my head lowered, but at an angle where I can eye the door.
“Jett! Hello!” The older trainer says as the door opens, his voice betraying his nervousness. “Good morning to ‘ya.”
A brown-haired man in a cheap-ass suit that looks terribly out of place here enters the torture chamber. He drags behind him a tiny figure. A woman. A young woman, at that.
His hand is tangled in her red hair as he drags her along the filthy concrete. Her pale legs—covered in scratches and grime she must’ve gotten from being dragged through the dirt outside—kick out to try to get some leverage. He just continues to drag her cruelly along despite her protests.
Her sobs echo off the walls as she claws at his forearm, trying to fight his hold on her.
That’s when her scent hits me. Strawberry shortcake. Even with the way it’s sour and twisted with her terror, it’s still the most delicious perfume I’ve ever had the privilege of scenting.
Omega.
I can’t hold back my growl now.
I lift my head, baring my teeth, committing this man’s face to memory. I’ll kill this motherfucker too.
I don’t try to temper the fire pumping through my veins. I let them all see a glimpse of the monster they’re fucking making.
Jett just flashes me a smug smirk before tossing her down onto the ground. Her shoulders tremble as she slowly pushes herself up.
Her big emerald green eyes are wide with terror, bouncing between the alphas in the room. Even filled with fear, I can’t help but notice how pretty her eyes are.
“Seems you’ve taken a little liking to my gift here, mutt,” Jett chuckles, crossing his arms over his chest.
His dominance explodes out from his body, and I instantly know he’s using some of the drugs they’ve been forcing into my body. Maybe not at the same dosages, but there’s just something about it that gives him away.
He’s strong, but he’d be no match against me, no matter how many drugs he took. Not even if I were stone-cold sober.
I don’t know whether it’s brave, na?ve, or stupid—probably a combination of all three—but with Jett’s attention turned towards me, the omega takes that opportunity to crawl away from the group of posturing alphas.
“Fuck off,” I snarl, my attention snapping back to the real threat in the room. My dominance erupts from me, clashing with his hard enough to make the other trainers in the room cough uncomfortably, even though they’re all alphas.
Jett tries to hide his wince, but I catch it. He knows the power I have. And it scares him, if the tightness around his beady eyes is any indication.
“Ah, ah, ah,” Jett says, pulling out a shock collar remote.
“You think that little thing fucking scares me?” I spit, daring him to press it. Anything to keep his eyes on me.
He makes a show of pressing the button, and I brace for the pain. But it never comes.
The omega collapses to the floor, clawing at the collar around her neck, her strangled screams echoing off the walls.
I let out an instinctive roar, leaping to my feet. All the trainers in the room jump backwards as the chains creak.
It doesn’t even matter that I have no clue who this girl is. Every part of my mind and soul is screaming at me to protect her.
I don’t know whether it’s the cocktail of drugs they have me on that’s making all my alpha instincts go into overdrive, but it’s almost like I turn into a snarling animal at the sight of her writhing around on the ground in pain.
Jett clicks the remote off, and the omega’s piercing screams quiet to gasping sobs that still stab into my heart with every sound.
“What part of the training plan were you on?” Jett asks the older trainer.
“Uh, kneeling, sir.”
“Seriously? You’ve had all night,” Jett huffs. He turns his sharp gaze to me, that disgusting smirk tugging at his lips again. “Well, you know what’s coming. Be a good little doggy for us and kneel.”
My chest heaves, and my vision is hazy around the edges from how fucking furious I am.
“When instructions are given, I expect you to follow them,” Jett growls, lifting the remote up threateningly.
My gaze quickly darts to the omega’s trembling form, and my jaw clenches so hard it creaks.
I lower myself to my knees, my shoulders straining as my arms are pulled behind me with the motion. I don’t, for a single second, drop my glare from the fucker’s smug face.
“Good boy,” Jett snickers.
He turns his attention to the omega, and my chest grows tight with panic.
“I followed your stupid fucking instructions! What are you doing? Leave her alone!” I roar.
“Eh,” he shrugs. “You may have eventually done what you were supposed to, but she was stupid.”
He stands above her trembling form.
“Don’t think I didn’t notice you trying to crawl away, you stupid bitch,” he hisses.
“I—I’m sorry,” she says. It’s the first time I’ve heard her speak. Her voice is soft, almost melodic. It clashes with the surrounding room. “Please, I—“
Her protests are cut short when he grabs one of her legs and starts dragging her back to the center of the room.
“Stop it! Let her go!” I roar.
Her wide eyes meet mine, and I see tears sliding down her pale, freckled cheeks.
Jett and the old trainer easily manage to subdue her flailing legs. There’s a click as they lock a thick metal cuff around one of her ankles, chaining her to an anchor point in the center of the room.
“So you don’t think of going anywhere again,” Jett says with a maniacal grin, patting her upper thigh before standing.
Everything about this situation infuriates me. The sight of this poor omega chained to the floor like a dog. The way they’ve hurt her, so casually. The smug, triumphant look on Jett’s face as he stands in front of me.
“I think you’re understanding now what it really means to be a dog for the Mercer family stable,” Jett says. “And you will heel.”
My jaw clenches, but I keep my mouth shut. I know he’s won this battle.
Even if it’s stupid, even though I know it’s exactly what this sadistic fuck wants, I will not let this innocent omega get hurt because of me.
“You’d better be prepared for your actual training later,” Jett calls over his shoulder as they all leave the torture chamber.
The thick metal door slams shut, the lock clicking into place, leaving me alone with the omega.