Page 38 of Brutal Truth

“Save it.”

“Cairo, please––“

“He said to save it! You don’t get to waltz in and spin a sad story and then think all the years of pain and suffering he went through will just vanish. You are fucking pathetic.” Shelley stares at Sky in shock, everyone who knows Cairo knows that if you fuck with him, you have Sky to answer to.

“He’s, my son.” Sky scoffs and Ro doesn’t even attempt to intervene or stop Sky.

“No, he isn’t. I found him and nursed him back to health, I made sure he was okay and safe. I did all of that, not you, so don’t you dare claim that he is your son. Your story may be true, but it’s too late, the boy you left behind is gone, he died the night his mother left, and his father was killed. You ever try to push him for more than he is willing to give, I will fucking gut you like a pig!” The hall is deadly silent that you could hear a pin drop. After a minute Ro steps forward to break the staring match between Sky and Shelley by placing his hand on Sky’s shoulder. Sky looks up at him while he smiles down at her, I can see nothing but love and respect in his gaze when he looks at her. I have always wanted to know how their strange relationship works; it intrigues me.

“I’m okay, we’re okay. Reign it in now, deep breath killer.” I look at them in confusion then dart my gaze around to see everyone else is just as confused, I look to my sister who is holding her nephew and she seems to be the only one who knows what the fuck is going on.

Chapter

Twenty Six

Jessica

I feel so dizzy, my head is pounding, and my mouth feels like it is full of cotton. I reach up and rub my head hoping that it will take the headache away, I’m glad Harlem isn’t awake yet, that means I can lay in bed longer. I roll over to reach for Creed, but my hand cuts through the air and slaps against the cold hard ground. That’s when I remember I’m not at home in bed next to my mate! I peel my eyes open, and the florescent light above has me slamming them closed again, the headache begins to throb against the base of my skull. I open my eyes slowly this time, the light is harsh against my eyes, and it takes me a couple seconds to adjust. I sit up and it’s a struggle, I feel so tired, and my limbs feel like they are being weighed down with bricks. Once I’m sitting, I dart my gaze around and begin to panic when I notice I’m in a cage! I reach inside myself for Sheba but…. I can’t feel her. I try to reach for Creed through the mate bond, but I can’t feel him either! I start to panic and wrack my brain trying to figure out what the hell happened, then it hits me. I was on the couch, and then felt a sting in my neck, I reach up and feel the spot where I was injected with something. I have a sinking feeling I’m not on the island anymore, I remember seeing someone and hearing murmurs before I passed out.

Oh my god!

Harlem, what if whoever has done this to me has taken him too? Oh god, a sob tears from my chest. I’m not religious but right now I’m praying to God that Harlem stayed asleep and whoever took me didn’t harm him. I push myself to my feet and grip the cage bars to steady myself, my head isn’t just throbbing now it’s also spinning. I use the bars to maneuver my way around the cage, I pull on the bars and yank on the chain that is wrapped around the door hoping beyond hope that I can snap them. There’s no way I can do that without my wolf, I know Sheba and I have been off lately, okay for a few years now but not being able to feel her inside me petrifies me! I feel incomplete, like I have lost half of myself and I fucking hate it! Whoever has done this will pay, I just need to remember to keep my cool and not mention Harlem. If whoever took me is working with the council and they find out I have a son, they will take him. But if I don’t ask, how the hell will I find out?

I look around and thanks to not having my wolf with me I can’t see anything past the cage. It’s so dark and the light above me only shines in the cage, clearly it was designed this way so I’m not able to see my surroundings. I hear a bang and then voices; I take a breath and give myself a mental pep talk. I release the bars and move back to the center of the cage; I will not allow whoever it is to see me as weak. It’s harder than I thought to stand here and not sway, I try to ignore the dizziness and the pounding headache but its freaking hard when I feel like someone is bouncing a basketball around in my head.

It feels like minutes have gone by before someone appears but really its only seconds. I have no idea who the hell this woman is, but she keeps her gaze on the ground, I have to squint because of how dark it is, I can only tell it’s a woman because of how short she is and the fact she is tiny. I can’t see what she is doing but I do notice that she has stopped moving and just stands there, I may not be able to see her, but I can feel her gaze on me. I feel like I’m on a platform almost like I’m on show for everyone to see, I ignore how uncomfortable I am and focus on everything Z and Ro taught me.

If you are ever captured, never show weakness, never break the silence, and never ever beg.

I keep replaying those words repeatedly in my head, Cairo and Zeke made sure to train me in case the council ever found me. They were shocked to learn that from a young age my mom made sure I learnt martial arts and self-defense. I hear more footsteps, but I refuse to take my eyes off the shadow in front of me, I feel more eyes on me but ignore them. I see two more shadows approach the woman and they too are conceded by the darkness. More footsteps approach and time ticks by as more and more shadows surround the cage, I can feel their eyes on me, and my skin begins to crawl, but I still refuse to look anywhere other than the first woman that came in. I can feel that I am surrounded and with no wolf, I have to rely on my basic human fighting skills to help me if they all decide to have a go.

Just when I think this can’t get more eerie the light above me goes off, I bite back my scream. I stand here still as a statue and make sure to keep my breathing even so they don’t know how terrified I am, I hear movement, and the chain jiggles, they’re opening the gate. I push all the pain away and block it out, I crouch down low and get into a fighting stance with my hands raised in front of my face ready to attack or defend myself. I hear feet shuffling against the concrete floor, but I can’t keep track of where they are moving. I never realized how much I depended on Sheba until now, I regret keeping her locked up and shutting her out. I slam my eyes closed when the light flickers back on, I quickly blink them open and try to adjust to the light as fast as I can but it’s too late. The first fist connects against my cheek, and I stumble back, I spin around and see that I am surroundedinsidethe cage now. I have no idea who these men and women are, but they all look pissed! I can hear my brothers voice inside my head.

Never go down without a fight even if you know you will lose. Always fight back until you can’t!

And I do, as each of them lashes out at me I fight back. I kick, punch, scratch, bite, I do whatever it takes to inflict as much pain as I can, but it doesn’t last, there is too many of them, I go down like a lump of flour when one of the men punches me directly in the face, they don’t stop, the blows keep coming and when a kick lands against my ribs I swear I feel them crack. I try to curl into a ball and cover my head but still…they don’t stop. The pain is so intense that I bite into my bottom lip because I refuse to give these bastards the satisfaction of hearing me scream, I welcome the darkness when I pass out.

When I wake, I wish I hadn’t, my body aches and everything feels like it is broken. I try to open my eyes but only one of them opens partially because the other is swollen shut. I feel woozy and I have a headache from hell, thanks to being beaten. I can already tell that Sheba isn’t here because if she was my injuries would have healed, I don’t know how long I was out but I can’t feel any eyes on me so that’s a good sign. I decide to sit up so I can check my injuries but as soon as I move a horrible scream tears from my throat, tears roll down my cheeks. Oh my god, I have never been in this much pain, I dart my tongue out to moisten my lips and then flinch in pain. My lips are split, and I can taste my own blood on my tongue, I need to block out the pain and try to find a way out of here, if I don’t I fear whoever has taken me will kill me.

I take some deep breaths to prepare myself for the pain I’ll be enduring when I move again, excruciating pain thrums through my body as I grit my teeth to stop myself from screaming. It takes me so long to climb to my feet and I have to use the bars of the cage to help, I’m panting and sweating from exertion by the time I’m on my feet, I take deep breaths and cringe every time. My ribs burn and fresh tears trek down my cheeks with each breath I take. I know damn well my ribs are broken, I notice pinky finger is broken on my left hand, using my right hand to gently pat my face for injuries and hiss instantly. My whole face is swollen, I feel gashes on the front and back of my head, I look at the ankle that is causing me pain and attempt to put weight on it, it hurts but it isn’t broken so I’m thankful for that. I wrap my arms around myself to stabilize my ribs as I move slowly across the cage toward the door. I glare at the padlock and chain, how nice of them to remember to lock up after they beat the shit out of me. After searching for any weak points in the cage and not finding one, I decide to go back to the middle and sit down––well drop down. More time passes and my stomach growls, my throat is hoarse and I’m beyond thirsty, but I would rather eat shit than ask for food or water from these assholes.

I must have fallen asleep; I wake to the sound of footsteps, and I get the feeling they’renothere to talk. I refuse to take a beating lying down, I am Jessica freaking Hasting, I am the first female alpha, and I would rather die than give these bastards the satisfaction of seeing me break. I push to my feet and bite through my bottom lip to stop the screams that want to tear from me, I feel the blood dripping down my chin as I stand and face off against the shadows. I turn around slowly and let a dry humorless laugh escape me, I may be broken and in the worst pain of my life, but I won’t back down. I have every reason to fight and make it out of here alive, I refuse to die and let my son grow up without a mother!

“Come on you pussy’s, is that all you got?” They don’t make a sound or even move from what I can see. Then the light goes out, I brace myself for what I know is about to happen. I hear the chain clink and the squeak of the door opening; I send up a little prayer hoping someone is listening. When the light flickers back on they’re all in here with me, I don’t wait for them to attack, I let out a strangled battle cry and launch myself at the nearest women. I last a minute before I’m thrown to the ground and once again, I’m curled up in a ball trying to protect myself and my already battered body from more injuries, when my vision begins to turn black, I welcome the darkness once again.

Chapter

Twenty Seven

Jessica

My body is broken beyond repair, my limbs refuse to move, I can barely wiggle my toes or move my fingers. I have no idea how much time has passed or how many beatings I have endured. I’m given a bottle of water and two stale bread rolls once a day, I’m only guessing its daily because I have no idea what the time is or how many days I have been in here. Every part of me aches, even my fingernails are in pain. Each time they come down I always make a show of pushing through the pain and getting to my feet but the last time no matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t manage it, so instead I stayed on the ground and ran my mouth. Truthfully every time I wake up, I just cry from the pain and the loss I feel inside me, I miss Sheba so much and without her I know I am going to die down here. My hair is crusted and mattered to my face and neck from the dried blood, I’ve even lost control of my bladder. It didn’t bother me before to just squat in a corner of the cage but now that I can’t move, I had no choice but to pee myself. I cried the whole time, I have never felt more powerless in my life.

Each time I wake, I try to reach for Creed through our bond, whatever they used to get me here took away my wolf and my mate link! Is he even searching for me? Does he know where I am? Is Cairo coming? I push those thoughts from my head and try to open my eye, yes eye because my left one is sealed shut, I can only open my right one a tiny sliver. I roll my head to the side and groan in pain, right there on the other side of the cage is two bread rolls and a water bottle. A brittle laugh escapes me, even if I wanted the bread and water, I don’t have any energy to reach it. I close my good eye and get lost in my own head. I think back to the times Harlem and I played outside, I think about when the twins were first born and how happy I was. I think about Creed and how much I miss him. My heart begins to ache when reality settles in, I will never have a future with my son or with my mate. Creed and I will never get to make love again, I’ll never get to see my son have his first haircut or watch him get married. I know deep down inside myself that I am never going to make it out of here alive.

“Pssst.” My eye snaps open, well as far as it can, and I lull my head to the side trying to scan the cage for whoever made that noise, I can’t see anyone. “Jess.” The voice is right beside me, but I still can’t see who it is. “Don’t talk just listen. When they come down again tell them you give up, if you do, they will leave. This is what my father does, he pushes people until they break.” It hits me then; I know who the voice belongs to.

“Kayla?” I wheeze out, my throat is dry and coarse.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com