Thane
“This place stinks.”
“What do you expect, Theo? It’s a prison.”
“We have a prison, but it doesn’t smell like this, Blaze.”
We also have a dungeon for our most dangerous prisoners, who will be put to death. It sinks much like this place because of all the blood and whatnot. But I won’t point it out because I don’t care to do so. I’m here to do a job so we can get the hell out of Hell Howlers territory.
Moans and groans of pain fill the cold cells dotted along a long corridor. It’s dark, only lit by candlelight as if back in medieval times.
What was Lennix trying to prove?
‘I think someone’s been having a party,’ Blaze laughs inside my mind while pointing to the largest cell.
I don’t think I fully understand what I’m seeing. Both Lennix and Yuri are naked, chained in silver, and full of cuts. They’ve obviously been tortured, which is fine by me. But Lennix is bent over a table, legs apart, while Yuri is strapped to a cot, legs spread.
“Is he?”
I nod my head at Theo. “It looks like Caleb has been f.ucking the two of them with huge dildos. I think they’re attached to f.uck machines.” Which are moving faster than I realized.
I’m a sick b.astard, always have been when it comes to torture. But nothing like this because it is equivalent to rape. Sure, those men raped my mate and Theo’s, but I’m not sure I agree with this.
“And the guards just watched?”
I shrug. “Caleb is Gamma, Theo. The pack has no Alpha or Beta, so Caleb is essentially running the show. The guards will do as he tells them. I’ve got to say I never expected this.”
“It’s f.ucking brilliant!” Blaze laughs loudly. “Give ’em a taste of their own medicine.”
“My King, Prince Theo, Prince Blaze, I wasn’t expecting you yet. How are the girls?”
Caleb walks toward us with a sick smile on his face. He’s topless and covered in blood, and he looks demonic if I’m honest.
“What the hell is this?”
“This,” He points to his once Alpha and Beta. “Just thought I’d warm them up for you. I know you didn’t permit me to harm them, but I wanted to show them pain. I wanted them to feel everything they did to Harmony and Lyric. This was only a tiny percentage of what they did.”
I shake my head in bewilderment. Blaze is still laughing, which has Theo laughing with him, and I’m wondering if I walked into the twilight zone!
I tip my head at Caleb, who opens the cell door for me to step inside. I walk around Lennix, who lifts his head to look at me. Anger and defiance dance in his eyes, which only means there’s still some fight in him.
“Enjoying yourself?”
“F.uck you,” He spits at me, but it doesn’t go far.
“I think the machine is doing enough of that, don’t you?” The machine moves faster inside him, and Lennix screams because he can’t stop himself.
I’m not one to mock at things like this because it’s not funny. But now Lennix knows what he put my mate and her sister through.
“She loved it, you know. Lyric, she loved it when we f.ucked her, especially when we f.ucked her at the same time.”
I can’t stop him; Jagger pushes through the barrier and roars in rage. I half-shift because I can’t contain my Lycan.
‘You dare speak her name in my presence?’
“Why shouldn’t I? You’re gonna kill me anyway! Might as well,” I didn’t hear the rest of his sentence; Jagger lost control.
When I can finally take a much-needed breath, when the red veil falls, I see body parts everywhere. It seems Jagger tore Lennix to pieces.
‘For Fenrir’s sake, Jagger, I needed answers from him!’
‘F.uck you, Thane. No one will ever talk about Lyric like that and live! Besides, Yuri is still breathing; get your d.amn answers from him.’
“Move that thing.” I tip my head at Caleb, who rushes to remove the f.uck machine from Yuri’s body. It’s making me feel f.ucking sick!
F.uck machines should be used on your woman, but only if she’s kinky enough to want that. Not that I’ll ever be asking Lyric if she’d like to be f.ucked by one, I’ll be all the dick she’ll ever need.
Once Caleb is out of the way, I use the handheld remote to lift the head of the bed. Fear evident, Yuri looks at me with the one eye he has left. It seems Caleb has been having a lot of fun the past few hours. He must have hated his Alpha and Beta to do what he’s done here.
But he had no right to come down here! It was my right to deal with Lennix and Yuri, and Caleb will not get away with this!
‘What the f.uck does it matter?’ Jagger snaps. ‘Lyric is sick, and she needs us. Caleb did us a favor by torturing these assholes.’
I cut him off because he was right, but I didn’t want to tell him that.
“Come to gloat?” Yuri wheezes as he speaks. He must have broken ribs, not that I care. “You already killed my Alpha, so just kill me already.”
Tears and snot fall from him, and I snarl. Pathetic, weak wolf!
“I’ll kill you. But first, I wanna know why your Alpha saw fit to do what he did.”
“Why should I tell you?”
I guess we’re doing this the hard way. I let my Lycan claws grow. Yuri’s eyes widen, and I smirk before slicing my claws through his left arm. B.astard screams, but I pay no mind; he deserves much worse.
“I can keep you here for a year, torturing you with no reprieve. Death won’t come for you, but you’ll be begging for it; you can trust me on that. If you tell me what I want to know, I’ll give you a swift execution. If not,” I shrug. Yuri knows what will happen; I don’t need to say the words.
“Lennix said they had to be punished because it was their fault Luna Emily died.”
“She died in childbirth; how was that Lyric and Harmony’s fault?” I snap.
“I don’t know; Lennix just wanted someone to blame. He lost his mate, and he was in great pain. Lennix spent years hiding Emily the way Spencer did Elena – Spencer and Elena are the girl’s parents.” He clarifies.
“Then Elena got pregnant, and Emily sought out a witch to cast a protection spell over Lyric and Harmony. Everything was fine,” He whines in pain. The amount of blood he’s losing from the stump near his left shoulder is killing him.
‘He can die when he’s done telling us what we need to know!’
‘Calm down, Jagger!’
“He found Elena,” Yuri continues. “Then she and Spencer were killed, and Emily only just managed to grab the girls and bring them to safety.”
“He who?”
Yuri swallows hard, his face now so white he looks like a ghost. “The Fairy King.”
“What?!” I look at my brother and cousin, and both stare wide-eyed.
The Fairy King is an evil motherf.ucker, and we don’t engage with him if we can help it – no one does. We could take him in a fight, but the Fairy King fights dirty. He’ll kill the weakest members of your family before working his way up. He’s nothing, but the bastard uses dark magic!
“Why did he kill my mate’s parents?”
“Because his sisters betrayed him. Yes,” He smirks. “Emily and Elena were the Fairy Kings sisters.”
F.uck!
“He made them swear that if he let them leave Valnor to be with their mates, they’d hand him the firstborn daughter. It didn’t matter which sister had the first daughter; she would be the King’s bride. This was the payment he required for letting his sisters go.
“I don’t think either believed they would have a daughter. But Elena had twin girls, and Lyric was born first; she was supposed to be handed over to the Fairy King immediately.
“The spell the witch cast over the twins meant the Fairy King could not find Lyric. The spell would last twenty-one years, so he never found them, even after he killed their parents and aunt.
“Lennix put them in the attic after Emily died to punish them because he blamed them. Emily went into early labor and died after protecting the girls from her brother. Lyric, even at the age of fifteen, was powerful. She knocked the King back, but he swore he’d know the next time she used her fairy magic, and nothing would stop him from taking her. Harmony and Lyric are not safe,” His breathing becomes shallow. “He will find them. He’s coming,”
“Damn,” Theo hisses when Yuri takes his last breath. “I was looking forward to tearing him apart.”
“You can still do that, cousin. Just because he’s dead doesn’t mean...”
“Shut up!” I yell loudly enough to shake the ground. “Did you not hear a word Yuri just said? The Fairy King is our mate’s uncle, and he’s coming for Lyric!”
“Yes,” Blaze nods. “Kinda sick that he wants to marry his niece.”
“Our mates are hybrids, Thane!”
Hybrids that shouldn’t exist. This is the first I’ve heard of a wolf-fairy mix. Regardless, we have to act fast!
“None of that matters right now! We must get the girls back to Lykos today; they’re not safe here. Caleb,”
“Yes, my King?”
I don’t want to hand the pack to Caleb, but I can’t leave Hell Howlers without an Alpha. Caleb shows initiative, and I know he’ll take care of the pack as an Alpha should. I’m still mad at him for stealing my thunder, but I don’t have time to care; I need to get my mate away from this place.
“Do you swear to take care of Hell Howlers Pack as an Alpha should?”
Caleb’s eyes widen. He wasn’t expecting this, but I can tell he’ll take it.
“I swear, my King, to take care of the pack as an Alpha should.”
I grab his hand, let a claw elongate, cut his palm and then mine. I clasp his hand, allowing our blood to mingle. This is the way I induct each new Alpha. It means they’re linked to me until they’re no longer Alpha.
“Take care of your pack. Theo, Blaze, let’s go!”