54
Scarlett
I wake with a foul taste in my mouth. It almost reminds me of the time I ate a spoonful of rotten honey by accident when I was a child, but not quite.
It takes several long heartbeats before I will my eyelids to flutter open, though it feels like someone has super glued them shut after sprinkling sand on them.
Soft light seeps through gauzy curtains that are only half closed, making me squint where I am curled up on my side on a too stiff mattress covered in swaths of gold and silver.
I try to lift my head slightly to take stock of my situation, but it’s difficult.
My head feels like it’s weighed down by two ton bricks.
The sound of metal rattling against metal echoes around the room when I shift my body, alerting me to a heavy weight wrapped around my right ankle. I bring my leg up, and grimace when I spot the metal cuff attached to the long chain I know will be bolted to the floor at the foot of the bed.
Memories start filtering through me, and I’m reminded just how fucked I really am.
I squeeze my eyes shut when the vision of Apollo falling to his knees tries to flash across my mind.
The echo of the gunshot that pierced his chest ricochets in my skull, and it takes me biting down on my tongue hard enough to draw blood to get the sound to dissipate.
Somehow, the coppery taste of my blood in my mouth helps center me.
I sit up slowly, already knowing what I’ll find.
Though the room isn’t familiar, everything else about this situation is.
I’m still dressed in the crimson red bikini I’d had on while sitting by the pool with Kate.
There is a tender ache in the back of my skull from where I’d fallen back and hit my head when an explosion had shook the building.
An explosion that had no doubt been a distraction. Another elaborate ploy of Harlan’s.
Dragging my legs up to my chest, I ignore the metal cuff around my ankle as I wrap my arms around my knees. I must’ve been dosed with something to transport me to this place, wherever it is, because I can feel the twinge in my neck where the needle had sunk into flesh and muscles.
I sit there for what feels like hours, thinking about all the decisions and moments that have led me here.
Part of me wants to berate myself for allowing this to happen by getting close to my alphas, but I quickly squash that thought.
I won’t allow myself to regret the things I shared with them and the life we’d started to create together.
I fold a hand across my flat abdomen. Whatever happens here, I can’t allow Harlan to find out I carry my alpha’s child. It’s the one thing I’d failed at when he’d held me all those years. If he somehow finds out I’ve been able to get pregnant with other alphas, he’ll lose his shit.
I don’t want to think about what he might do.
Another few minutes pass by in silence as I think about what my alphas must be enduring. They definitely know I’m gone by now. I wonder how they are faring with me and Apollo-
I cut off that thought, slamming it down into the depths of my brain where most of my nightmares reside.
Just as I drag in a shaky breath, I hear the lock click on the door a second before it swings open.
I already know who it is without lifting my head from my knees.
I’d sensed him through the partial bond before he’d even approached the door.
It’s hard to tune out your own monsters when you share some convoluted bond.
“Get up and greet your alpha, pet .” He sneers, but I curl my lip and ignore him. I don’t want to look at him. He chuckles when I don’t respond. Then, he says, “Bring her in.”
Metal rattles, and then something thuds hard against the floor, finally dragging my attention. My entire body goes rigid at the sight of Kate on her knees beside him, chains trapping her hands behind her back.
Horror washes through me when I take in her appearance. She’s dressed in a pure white teddy made of lace and silk, but the outfit isn’t what steals the breath from my lungs.
It’s the mottled bruises all over every available inch of her skin. It’s the swollen cheek where I know she’s been struck by the back of his hand. It’s the weeping slices in her thighs and breasts made by his favorite blade.
I’m scrambling off the bed without another thought.
Kate whimpers when I fall to my knees and crawl across the floor towards him.
Her right eye is slightly puffy from where she must’ve been hit, but our eyes connect while she watches me approach.
I don’t look at him as I come to a stop.
The chain that has my ankle bound is long enough to reach him where he stands.
If only it were long enough for me to use to choke the life right out of him.
“That’s right, pet . I think it’s about time that you apologize for the mess you’ve caused me and for breaking the rules.
” Harlan snaps his fingers, but my eyes don’t waver from Kate’s as I lower my face to his shiny loafered feet.
I know exactly what he wants without him even having to voice the words.
However, before my lips can brush against the expensive Italian shoe, he brings it up and kicks me right in the underside of my jaw.
My teeth crack together and blood bursts across my tongue where I accidentally bite the inside of my cheek.
My body careens backwards, and I hit my head again against a too hard surface.
Stars dance across my vision, and I can’t help the groan that slips free from me.
Kate’s muffled screams can be heard behind the gag in her mouth.
“Get her back on her knees, Jacob.” Revulsion is a hot tidal wave washing through me when my second worst nightmare wraps his clammy hands around my biceps and pulls me back up to deposit me back on my knees before the pack lead.
Harlan crouches down before me, something he never does, and grips my chin between his fingers in a bruising grip. My jaw flares with pain from where he’d struck me with his foot, and a little blood trickles out of the corner of my mouth. His lips peel back in a sneer as he looks over me.
“You just had to go and break the rules, pet . I was content to let you live out the rest of your days as long as you followed the fucking rules. Tell me. Were their knots worth it?”
I can’t help myself. I spit out a mouthful of blood right in his face.
It sprays across his skin, in his eyes, and all over the front of his pristine white dress shirt.
“ Fuck you .” I manage to grit out right before the back of his knuckles slam against my cheek, cracking my head to the side so hard it makes my ears ring.
Kate screams again when Jacob’s fist twists in my hair to yank me to my feet.
“Bring both of them to my class room. It’s about time I remind my pet just who I really am.
” Harlan snarls at the asshole holding me up by my scalp while he pulls out a cloth to wipe away the blood I’d spit in his face.
That brings a savage smile to my lips. Part of me knows I shouldn’t be pushing him this way, but my rebellious nature can’t help it.
The little scrap of freedom he’d once offered me gave me a new outlook on life.
These alphas can go fuck themselves.
Levi steps into the room then to grab a hold of Kate under her arms and drag her to her feet.
Together, the both of them do as Harlan ordered and cart us to Harlan’s infamous “classroom”.
They deposit us inside, and I keep my eyes trained on Kate and not on the various macabre instruments adorning all four walls.
Her eyes are wild as she looks around at what awaits me. All the color has drained from her face, and when our eyes connect again, I see the understanding there. I hate that she has to be here for this. I hate that she’s going to have to witness all the horrors I’ve kept buried since meeting her.
Jacob offers me a twisted smile. “Harlan will be just a moment while he prepares, princess. You two sit tight.” He practically purrs before he and Levi leave, shutting the door behind them.
I wait a minute or two before I speak. It takes several swallows to get rid of the blood still pooling in my mouth from both strikes I’d taken from Harlan before I could do so.
“Listen to me, Kate.” My words drew her attention from where she’d been staring extra hard at the metal table bolted to the floor just a few feet away.
Tears are streaming down her face. She looks so damn terrified.
“Whatever you see, whatever he does to me, you cannot react anymore. He feeds off of it. He’s going to make you watch while he reminds me of my place, but you have to promise me you won’t make a sound.
Can you do that for me?” I feel a lot calmer than I probably should, considering the situation.
Kate stares at me, that familiar horror flickering in the dark blue depths of her eyes.
It takes her several heartbeats before she manages to nod, though she doesn’t look happy about it.
I try to smile, but when she grimaces, it drops from my face.
My teeth are no doubt coated in blood. I can still taste it when I run my tongue along them.
I want to tell Kate that everything is going to be fine, but I won’t lie to her. I have no clue what Harlan plans to do with her. I have a hunch he’s going to try to catch a price for her, though I hope it doesn’t come to that. I also don’t want her to have to stay here, though.
“I’m going to do everything I can to get you out of this, Kate. I promise. Just keep being strong, okay?” Her lips tremble around the gag in her mouth, but she nods her understanding.
I sigh and relax back against the floor, my legs shifting until I can curl up into a ball with my knees to my chest. The chains rattle where Jacob has secured me to the bolt in the floor, but I barely even feel the cuff around my ankle.
It’s as familiar to me as the scents in this room.
It’s not the same exact room I’m used to, but the purpose is clear.
I just have to bide my time until I can figure out a way out of this.
This time, Harlan will not win.