29. Chapter 29
WhenIwakeup, I”m back in my cage, the door shut once more. I look for Lila, but she”s gone. I push up too quickly, hitting my head on the top of the cage as I frantically search for her.
”Lila?” I call out, hoping they have moved her to another cage, but there”s no response. ”Lila!” I”m louder this time.
”Quiet down, they”ll hear you.” Another voice a few cages over hisses at me.
”Where”s Lila?” I need to know where she is.
”They took her, now will you please quiet down.” The voice calls back to me. This time, I shut my mouth.
I don”t want the wolves to come, but at the same time, I need to know what happened to Lila. Did Alaric take her? She mentioned the blood moon, and him wanting to mate with her, the same as Rufus wants to do with me, but that can”t be happening yet, can it? He said it was a few days before that happened.
There”s more to each faction than I ever knew. When Jax told me about it, he said in the wolf sector they held balls each year so they could find their true mate, the other half of their souls. But not all wolves can find their true mates. Instead, some form blood bonds with their partners, the supernatural version of getting married.
But what Rufus and his men are doing is wrong. They”re in the vampire sector, kidnapping women, and forcing them into the bond against their will. These wolves are crazy, and it”s about time someone informed the Council about them. Unless they already know and are turning a blind eye.
I don”t know what to believe anymore. I always thought vampires were merely blood-thirsty monsters, but I”ve seen a side to them I’d never imagined possible. Even from Jax. They”ve cared for me, looked after me, and protected me.
The door swings open and Hank strides inside. He”s carrying someone bridal style, and I realize soon enough it”s Lila. She”s limp in his arms and her eyes are closed.
Kicking the cage door fully open with his foot, Hank kneels and throws her in. Lila lands with a thump, but doesn”t open her eyes. There”s blood and God only knows what other fluids between her thighs. The door clangs as it closes, locking her back in and Hank leaves the room once more.
I shuffle to the edge of the metal box and watch as Lila”s chest rises and falls. I let out a small sigh. She”s alive. We need to get out of here, all of us. No one deserves the torment these women are going through.
Please find us.
I send an unspoken prayer to anyone who is listening that the guys will find us. And that it is soon.
I spend what feels like forever watching women being removed from their cages by various men. The flimsy negligee they have been given barely covers their bodies. They lead most from the cave-like room, but some of the men seem to find it fun to chain the women from the manacles I saw when I first arrived. They do what they want with the women no matter how much they scream and cry, laughing at the pain they cause. These aren”t men, they”re savages.
A few of the women strike up whispered conversations when we”re alone, but we keep our conversations brief. My focus remains on the door, scared of who will be taken when it opens again.
Alaric and Hank enter the cave carrying trays of something I don”t recognize. I”m hoping it”s food as my stomach is rumbling again. They systematically work their way through the cages, throwing the women scraps of the leftovers on the trays. When Hank reaches my cage, he doesn’t have anything left.
”Rufus has requested your presence.” He unlocks the cage and lets the door swing open, standing there expectantly.
I scramble out of the cage and stumble to my feet. His huge, meaty hand wraps around my upper arm, tightening his hold to the point of pain.
”I can walk, you know!” Hank”s head whips in my direction. A low growl escapes through his lips as he glowers at me.
”Move!” He bellows in my face, spittle flying from his mouth. Using the back of my hand, I wipe away the droplets that land on my face.
”Say it, don”t spray it, buddy.” He gives me a firm shove and my feet start moving.
Hank takes me down the same corridor I”ve already been along to Rufus” room. With another shove, he pushes me through the open door and slams it behind me. Rufus sprawls on the couch, his arms hanging over the back.
”Come here, little one.”
I shuffle across the rubber flooring until I”m standing at the side of the seat. His head turns slowly until his eyes settle on me. They rove across my body and I can’t stop the involuntary shiver.
”You won”t be in a cage for much longer. Soon I”ll have you here with me, where you belong.”
Standing from the couch, he makes his way over to me. He takes my hand in his, lifting it to his mouth and kissing the back of my knuckles. I snatch my hand back and there”s a flicker of anger across his face.
”Soon you will follow my every order. You will want to please me in every way, like the good little bitch you are.” He moves his hand along my bare arm, across my shoulder, and up to my cheek. I bite the inside of my mouth to stop myself from pulling away again.
”And what of the other women?” My voice trembles as his fingers caress my cheek.
”Alaric has his eyes on one of them already. Like you, she will be bonded.” He smiles at me, but it may as well be a grimace. ”I like to take care of my men, but our current stock is almost damaged beyond what is acceptable and we will have to replenish it.”
That”s his plan then; he’ll bond with me and bond Lila to Alaric. The other women he will dispose of like they are rotten meat. Him and his wolves will murder them, and do whatever he does with them after that. I can”t let him. We need to get out of here.
My eyes flicker to something shiny on the coffee table - a set of keys. I have no idea what they are for, but maybe they unlock the cages. If I can free the other woman, we can try to fight our way out. The idea is laughable, but dying on our own terms seems better than what’s currently planned.
I take a step closer to Rufus, and force my hands to drift up his sides.
Don”t puke, don”t puke.I repeat the mantra in my head.
Leaning up on my tiptoes, I brush my lips against his and he takes it as an invitation. His fingers tangle in my hair, and pain flashes through my scalp as he rips my head to the side to deepen the kiss.
As soon as his tongue enters my mouth, I clamp my teeth down on it. I may only have human teeth, but with enough force I make them pierce through it. His hands tighten on my sides, and I can feel his claws digging into my skin. With a pained yelp, I let go of his tongue and spit the blood that is gathering in my mouth in his face.
Rufus shoves me toward the ground and I position myself so I fall straight into the coffee table, knocking the keys to the floor. I make sure to roll my body over them and grasp them in my palm. Now I just need to get them out of the room. A hand in my hair drags me back to my feet and I cry out at the burning pain in my scalp as Rufus spins me to face him.
”If you wanted to taste me so much, why didn”t you just say so.” Rufus” hand cracks across my face and splits my lip, the blow sending me to the floor again.
This time I’m not prepared and I instinctively hold my hands out in front to stop my fall. The keys fall to the ground as I land in a heap. I reach out slowly to grab them, trying not to draw attention to them, but a foot slams down on my fingers and I scream out.
“What do we have here?” Rufus reaches down and lifts the keys up. My eyes follow them up as he stands straight and pockets them. ”I can”t have this sort of disobedience.”
His hand wraps around the back of my neck, and I scream again as he drags me to my feet. Moving out of the room, he pulls me along the hall, my feet barely finding purchase on the floor as he does. He barges through the door back into the room with the cages, and my eyes dart around the room.
One of the women is sprawled across the top of an empty cage. The man snaps his hips as he thrusts into her from behind. Her screams echo around the cave, bouncing off the walls. The other women hide behind their hands, curled up in the corners of their own cages.
”Enough, Derek!” Rufus bellows and Derek”s hips falter to a stop as he looks up at us before stepping back from the woman. ”I need to show my mate what happens to those who disobey me.”
With his hand still latched around my hair, Rufus pulls me across the room to the table. He pushes me onto it so I’m face down, my hips catching on the edge. Letting go of my hair, he straps both my wrists to the sides of the table before walking away.
I hear his booted feet stop and a whimper sounds. I lift my head a few inches off the table but it”s not enough to see where he went. I can only see the other end of the table in front of me and a little to either side. Rufus soon reappears with the woman I saw when we first came in. He pushes her against the other side of the table.
As Rufus traps her hands with the manacles on either side, her eyes lock with mine. Our faces are almost touching. Tears stream down her face as Rufus steps up behind her. There”s a ripping sound as he uses his claws to rip open the little shred of clothing she is wearing.
”Now, mate, make sure you watch. And remember, this is your fault.” The grin on Rufus” face is terrifying, promising nothing but pain.
”Please... don”t.” The woman begs.
Rufus raises his hand in the air, his long black claws glisten in the light before he brings it down. As he connects with her back, the woman”s scream pierces the air. But he doesn”t stop. Instead, he raises his hand and aims at her back again.
Rufus keeps going for more slashes than I can count. The woman screams through all of it and I keep apologizing to her, telling her how sorry I am. He”s right, this is my fault. I shouldn”t have tried anything with him. I”m not sure what I was thinking. I saw the keys and took a chance, but I failed and now she”s suffering. All because of me.
”I”m sorry... I”m so sorry.” I hiccup at the now unconscious woman. Tears fall down my cheeks onto the table below, and even though my eyes are now blurry, I can”t take them off her.
”Now, mate. No more being a naughty girl.” Rufus steps away from the woman. His claws are dripping with her blood, and he raises his hand to his mouth, licking up every drop.
Rufus makes his way round to where I lay, trailing his fingers over my back and down each arm before he undoes my bindings. My legs are like jello and I slump toward the floor, but he doesn”t let me fully fall. His arms wrap around my chest and catch me. He lifts me and takes me back to my cage, lowering me down into it.
I crawl inside without him even needing to ask and flinch when the door slams shut again. I roll onto my back and look at the woman still strapped to the table. Derek approaches and undoes her bindings, scooping her up. I can”t tell if she”s alive or dead, but blood drips steadily down Derek”s arms as he heads for the door.
As he goes to leave the room, Rufus stops him and whispers something in his ear. Derek nods and makes his way over to where my cage sits. He shifts the woman”s body in his arms and lays her over the top of my cage. She whimpers at the movement, her eyes barely opening and looking down at me.
Derek steps up behind her and shoves himself back inside her semi-conscious form. Her fingers wrap around the bars on the top of my cage as he jostles her body. He goes at her until he”s done, pulling out and stepping away.
Another man steps into Derek’s vacated position, his cock already on display. He doesn”t even wait, he just thrusts straight into her. A scream pushes through her lips and I grab onto her hands, lacing our fingers together. There are more men in the room now, waiting their turn with the broken woman lying over me.
Each one of them takes their turn with her. Her blood drips down her sides and onto me, soaking through the fabric and staining it red but I never take my eyes from hers. Even when one wolf slices his claws across her neck and life leaves her, I don”t avert my eyes. They still continue to defile her long after she”s dead.
Rufus is the last to take her, he comes with a howl, and the other men in the room join in chorus with him. He grabs her lifeless form and throws her broken body across the room before turning his attention back to me.
”No more defying me, mate, or every woman in this room will endure what she did.” He gestures to the other cages. ”Their deaths will be on your hands, just like your friend in the alley, your parents.”
His words hit hard, and I whimper. Rufus killed them all, and he won”t stop. Blackness takes over me and nightmares of my parents, Ginny, and monsters plague my brain.