Chapter 42 - Prisoner
Anderson's POV:
Walking through the forest, especially alone, always brought back a feeling of nostalgia. I couldn't help but smile at the memory, regardless of where I was headed and what I was headed to do. My, oh my, how things had changed since that day.
With one last wistful thought, I allowed my wolf to come forward, swapping my happy memory for the angst of my wolf, both of us ready to take on the task handed to us by our Alpha in the care of our Luna.
The tree scanned my face, allowing me entrance into the cave. No matter how many times I walked through this thing I'd never get used to how well the door was hidden, it was literally seamless. I felt like a child in awe every single time I saw it. The technology of these cells was beyond advanced.
Stepping through I then followed the prompt for the voice recognition portion, and entered the next step which was a palm reading panel. I walked down the steep stairs with just enough light to see the next step in front of me, having to push my wolf further through to be able to see clearly without tripping to my death. I finally descended the last few steps and grabbed a lancet from the bucket at the landing and pricked my finger, dropping the spot of blood onto the reader that would verify my DNA and allow me to continue on my way.
Once the reader verified me the door slid open and I stepped through the narrow passageway and pressed the numbers into the keypad that then produced a skeleton-type key. The key was enchanted and if somehow someone other than Brent or myself were to actually reach this point, the key would disintegrate into dust and the person would then be stuck down here until one of us came to the cells.
I unlocked the heavy old door and with a firm tug and a loud creak, I was finally allowed to enter into the cells, the smell alone letting me know I'd made it. It was putrid, admittedly Brent and I weren't the best housekeepers, but it's not like anyone but our prisoners were allowed down here so it wasn't exactly at the top of our to-do list when we housed the most ruthless of criminals, one of which had been rotting in the corner for quite a handful of years now.
I snarled at the man, kicking his cell door, causing him to cringe and shrink even further into his corner. I laughed darkly, "it's your lucky day, I'm not here for you this time." However, I made a mental note to make it back down here soon to... pay him a visit, so to speak.
I continued walking past each cell, some empty, some not. Eventually making it to Dalton's cell and then Maci's at the end of the rust colored hallway.
I turned to face her and found her writhing in pain. A pain so gripping she could barely speak, let alone scream. Only letting out short bursts of air and low grunts as she fought to stand from the floor where she lay, but was unsuccessful and fell back down to the floor and rolled onto her back. Her hair and skin were slick with sweat, her face pale and ashen, and her eyes bloodshot as she struggled against the convulsions.
"Help. Me." She looked up at me from the floor, panting out each word. If I weren't so highly ranked, I may not have understood a single thing she'd said .
I crouched down, cocking my head to the side, and grinned at her, "kinda like the help you got from the witch who helped you curse my Alpha and Luna?"
Her jaw twitched as her body was racked with yet another convulsion, her back arching off of the floor. I imagined whatever had flown out of the hospital room was now single handedly holding on to its last chance of survival. With Dalton no longer having his wolf, there was nothing for it to leech onto but her. The spell was to change the fate of their mate in relation to their wolf. Dalton having no wolf meant he had been spared, what a pity that was.
The yellow hue of the lights that hung above made this all the more eerie. I would be completely freaked out had I not been adorned with every kind of protection possible it seemed. I think I might honestly have at least ten pounds of crystals alone hanging from my body, including selenite in my pocket and tourme-something around my neck. All I knew was that it was black and a buzz of peace and calm had washed over me the moment I slipped it over my head. This situation didn't have me the least bit anxious.
I looked down at the round pendant I held in my right hand, and rubbed my thumb across the cool silver. This would be the medium that the dark magic would settle into and would then be destroyed once back above ground. There was no way to open a window down here, so obviously, this was our next best option. I had been pretty hesitant in thinking it would work, but there was no way Maci was leaving these cells with her wolf intact. Very rarely did they ever actually leave the cells, but there had never been a time a prisoner had left with their wolf intact and we weren't about to start now, so pendant it was.
I wanted so badly to continue to let her writhe for a while longer, so that's exactly what I did. My wolf snapped his jowls and puffed his chest at the sight of the vile woman in pain at her own doing. Poetic justice is what they'd call it. I just called it fucking karma.
"You deserve every twitch, every searing pull of muscle, every grip of your heart as it twists through your body on a raging war path for sustainability." I paused, my own emotions over my mate's somewhat similar story squeezed my heart like a vice as I began to see it in a personal light. Why did people think they could alter someone's life as if they were entitled to it?
"Wolves like you are a disgrace to our kind and you will no longer have the gift from the Moon Goddess bestowed upon you." I stood to my feet and held the pendant out and away from my body as I was instructed back in the hospital room. My chest heaved as I steadied myself, bracing for what I am sure would be a forceful impact.
"You. Can't. Do. This." She managed to get out through gritted teeth. She scowled at me, sweat beading across her brow.
"Oh, yes, actually I can." I quirked my eyebrow at her, "I, Beta Anderson Brigg's, hereby strip you of your wolf, never to be returned to you in this lifetime. The decision to reunite you with your wolf in an alternate timeline totally and completely lies with the Moon Goddess." I huffed deeply one last time, "by the power and authority vested in me by, Alpa Brent O'Connor, I hereby carry out my order from the mentioned Alpha which is to now strip you fully of your wolf." The once stagnant air somehow began to blow wildly about as a dark billowing cloud ascended upward from her body, swirling wildly above her as it fought the pull of the pendant. It screeched loudly and incessantly, making me want to cover my ears, but that was impossible at the moment.
I took a step closer, grinding my teeth together at the shrill sound, and thankfully the resolve of the mass slipped and it came flowing toward me at rapid speed. I gripped the pendant so hard that my hand had begun to go numb. Finally, it stopped, having been fully absorbed into the pendant, the air returning to its unmoving state. Maci lay in a heap on the floor, sobbing and feeling sorry for herself. How someone could be so selfish was beyond me. She was a true narcissist.
Without another glance, I walked away from her cell and Dalton weakly hollered at me from where he sat on the blanket from the floor.
"What do you want, you piece of shit?" I glared at him in disgust.
"Kill me, please," he dryly whispered.
I laughed, "and give you the easy way out? Fuck that. Men like you deserve to suffer," I grumbled back, wondering if I should remind him of what we said would happen if he asked for his death again. But I took one look at his leg and the mangled mess appeared to be insanely infected, a whitish pink drainage dripping from an abscess on his thigh. He was suffering plenty at the moment and I really wanted to get back up to fresh air and a shower.
"Men like me and the man at the front of the cells? What's he in for? Let me guess, fucking your mate?" He struggled to get out, his voice sounding like he'd gargled glass.
I swallowed deeply, he was just trying to piss me off, and although it was working he wasn't worth it, besides, he deserved to rot and me getting mad and killing him would be exactly what he wanted. I worked with enough of these criminals, I could see their game from a mile away.
"You'll get yours, just like he gets his, slowly and without fail until you inevitably die," I darkly growled at him.
I then continued on to deliver the last step that would end his nightmare for my Alpha and his family, along with our pack once and for all.
______
I finally arrived back at the hospital after having to wait on the car service for what felt like a million years. I made it a point to remind myself to ask for another personal vehicle, hopefully agreeing to go and strip someone of their wolf so that he could stay with his mate was sufficient blackmail.
I walked back through the doors, carrying the pendant in a baggie of salt to keep the dark magic contained. I knew I was at no risk here, but something about carrying it on my person sent shivers up my spine and I couldn't wait to get it out of my possession.
I finally landed in the Alpha wing and Brent met me at the door and ushered me into the room, slamming and locking the door behind him.
Brent was noticeably tense as Luna had been unbending about destroying the pendant in front of her. She wanted to see and know for herself it was all over, once and for all, and I couldn't say I blamed her. Although I could absolutely see why Alpha was acting the way he was. He was scared that something could happen to his mate and child. However, I had a feeling this was going to be fine. Intense? Sure. Life threatening? I doubted it.
I handed the bag off to Luna's aunt and made my way over to my mate in the corner, which I hadn't realized was even going to be here. Wondering why the hell she'd come as my nerves began to rise .
I asked her just this when I reached her, suddenly feeling myself swing to Brent's side about having this happen anywhere near our mates, quickly eating my previous thoughts.
"I heard you were in the cells and I know how that affects you and I just wanted to be here for you when you got back," she gave me a small grin and shrugged her shoulders in response, rubbing her hands up and down my arms.
I wrapped her in my arms and held her tightly, "it is I that should be comforting you, don't worry about me. It is my honor to bestow the punishments upon him and seeing him no longer affects me the way it used to. You're mine and you're safe, and I can find the gratitude in that." I could hear Luna's aunt preparing the ritual behind us as I assured her that I was fine.
"That is so very sweet of you, but um you kinda reek of the cells and it's making me nauseous, and these pregnancy hormones are not making it any better." She scrunched her nose and leaned back from me.
"Oh, I fully planned to shower before seeing you. I had no clue you would be here, remember?" I playfully reminded her.
She sighed, "this is true." She chewed on her lip for a moment, making me want to capture it with my own mouth, "what happened down there anyway?" She asked before I could make my move. I didn't give two shits about the chanting going on behind us. I highly enjoyed kissing my mate and I made sure to show her that several times a day.
"Long story short I said, I, Beta" I growled into her ear, "Anderson Briggs, the sexy -" causing her to melt into a fit of giggles as I wrapped my arms tighter around her, "must now strip you of your wolf so that I can hurry back home and strip my mate of her clothes," I breathed into her ear.
Her eyebrows shot up as she popped me on my chest, not a single person taking any notice of us. The chanting still continued behind us- apparently, it wasn't the shortest process to break this particular curse.
"Anderson Briggs!" She hissed just above a whisper and I bent down and kissed her, swallowing every protest she had ready to spew at me, damn I loved riling her up, but I'd never dare admit it. It was far too much fun. The way her cheeks flushed and her eyes glittered somewhere between shock and humor mesmerized me down to my very core. I loved the effect I had on her, she was my entire world.
I pulled back, but kept my head bent toward her, my lips just barely grazing her own, "the sexy." I growled.
Her cheeks flushed once more with embarrassment, igniting a flame in my lower stomach, playing right into our secret game.
"Oh, sure, okay," she rolled her eyes at me and attempted to look away but I reached up and gripped her chin, the sparks shooting across my palm as my rough, calloused hand met the delicate skin of her face.
"Say it," I playfully commanded, staring straight into her eyes.
She swallowed heavily and took in a deep breath, the scent of her arousal flowing through my senses and it took all I had not to march her out at that very moment.
"The sexy," she breathed out.
I leaned in and pecked her lips, smiling against her mouth, "good girl."