Chapter 4
The past three days have gone by excruciatingly slowly. Partly due to boredom, but mostly due to hunger. Every day, the vampire guard, whose name is Kieran, drops off a bowl full of dog food to my cage, and every day I dump it on the ground in retaliation. That is, until today.
I want to keep refusing, but it’s getting harder. Each day I don’t eat, my body grows weaker, making an escape that much more unlikely.
“Just do it,” the man next to me, who goes by Night, insists. “You’re not doing yourself any favors by starving out here.”
I hate that he’s right. The more I think about it, the more pointless this whole standoff seems. At the very least, Thane isn’t here to witness me concede. I start with one morsel, plugging my nose and swallowing it before I have a chance to taste it.
“Oh, come on. You can do better than that.” I roll my eyes at Night before tossing half a handful of dog food into my mouth. “Atta girl.”
Never in a million years would I have thought I’d be eating fistfuls of dog food with a werewolf cheering me on, but here we are.
At first, I thought he wanted to eat me, and he probably did, but something about my defiance earned me a little bit of respect with him.
What’s that saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Maybe that was part of it. Somehow, we’ve ended up on the same side of this twisted nightmare.
Of course, we’re far from being friends and haven’t really talked too much, but I can’t deny that his company has been welcomed the last few days.
Surviving alone has made me comfortable with solitude, but being held captive is different.
It’s been nice to occasionally take a break from thinking about the hunger to hear him tell stories of his past.
Apparently, he wound up here because he and his pack tried to steal blood from a vampire coven in retaliation for killing one of their own.
I’m sure there are two sides to this particular story, but I listened anyway.
Besides, I was far more interested to find out why Thane had gotten involved with the feud.
Night informed me that Thane, who he only refers to as Alpha, is in charge of the North American Territories.
Werewolf packs and vampire covens are spread all across, but most keep to the larger cities and forests.
He doesn’t have much knowledge when it came to the rest of the world, but as far as he knows, Thane is the only one of his kind.
When I asked for more details about the hybrid, he wouldn’t go on.
In fact, just the mention of his name seemed to spark fear in his eyes.
The only other thing he told me was that Thane was the one who brokered the deal between the vampires and werewolves.
He was already Alpha by then, but the two species remained separated from one another.
It wasn’t until the deal was made that they came together to live in peace, though it seems like there’s still some lingering tension.
A slow applause has the two of us whirling around to see Kieran sauntering over with a grin plastered across his pale face.
“Thane thought you would last five days.” He stops in front of my cage. “My money was on two.” I toss the half-empty bowl at his head, but of course it hits the fence and lands in the mud. He laughs darkly, taking a step closer. “Thane will be pleased to hear he broke you in only four.”
“He didn’t break me!” I snap back, but Kieran is already gone, leaving me to shout at only the wind. “I never should’ve eaten it.”
“Don’t let a vampire get in your head. You did what you had to do, and your body will thank you for it.”
Even though he has a point, I can’t help but feel disappointed in myself. I could’ve at least lasted an extra day, but even that would still be proving Thane right. I take a seat back on the cold ground and lean my head against the stiff metal cage.
He may have won this round, but he won’t win the next.
“Wake up, Grey.”
Kieran yanks me off the ground before I have the chance to stand myself and takes off. I’m still trying to get my bearings when I go barreling through the dining room doors. This time, the force sends me skidding onto my knees. I slowly stand and notice a plate of eggs and sausage waiting for me.
Whatever pain I had been feeling is quickly replaced by hunger, but as I move to take a seat, Thane comes bursting through the doors. He nods for me to sit and then shoves my chair into the table so hard I think my ribs might be bruised.
“Let me explain how this is going to work,” he begins, striding over to take his seat at the opposite end of the table.
“You’re going to do as you’re told. You wear what I tell you to wear.
You go where I tell you to go. You do as I tell you to do.
” I scoff at his blatant disrespect, but he doesn’t miss a beat as he takes a bite of eggs and continues.
“You’re my pet now, which means I own you.
” He motions for me to eat, and it’s not lost on me that there’s no silverware for a reason.
I pick up pieces of scrambled eggs in the most human way possible, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of watching me revert to animal-like ways.
“And if I don’t play along with your weirdo fetish?”
He nearly chokes when I say the last word, and it brings a smile to my face.
“It’s not a fetish. It’s retribution.”
“Whatever you gotta tell yourself,” I snicker, reaching for one of the sausage links. Before I’m able to taste the savory meat, I’m pinned to the ground with Thane locking both of my arms above my head.
“Your mockery will not be tolerated,” he growls, squeezing my wrists tighter.
“Get off of me!” I twist beneath him, but it does nothing to free me.
“I make the orders, not you.” He lifts me by the wrists and slams me into the floor, making my head throb from the impact.
I’m not sure if it’s the head injury or just pure stupidity, but I spit in his face with as much disdain as I can muster.
There’s only a split second of shock before his face goes stone cold.
His eyes almost seem to go black with seething rage, and I close my eyes, waiting for his retaliation, but it never comes.
Instead, I’m whooshed away and thrown back into my cage. In no way do I think I just got away with doing that. Whatever punishment is to come will be far worse than what he could’ve done to me in that moment.