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“Sounds like,” I rasp.
“When we burned it down, I had hoped it was over. But I shouldn’t be surprised. We didn’t cut the head off the snake.”
“Bishop, I hate to ask,” I start.
“You don’t need to. You saved my life. You saved my sister’s life. If you need me, I will be there.” Bishop was meeting with his sister when they were taken into the games.
“Thank you,” I sigh. “I have to tell Kerian everything. Ava, too.”
“Do it. It doesn’t reflect badly on you. They need the information to protect themselves,” he assures me.
“I can always count on you, Bishop.”
“You can. Go to them. Let me know when you need me.”
“I will.” I pause. “We will kill him this time.”
“We will. I will burn the remains to ashes with my fire,” he promises.
***
Kerian was concerned. I refused to explain until we had everyone at Ava’s house. It was torture for me to wait. I went back to work in a daze. I had to have time to gather my thoughts and build up the courage to admit to the weakest moments of my life.
We open the door to Ava’s house to bickering. Ava is faced off with Bash.
“Why does he have to be here? He’s an asshole,” she sneers.
Bash is a vampire. He was made by Ryker four hundred years ago. They are business partners and friends. If you can get through the coldness surrounding Bash, he’s loyal. I don’t know him that well, but he’s a solid ally. Later I will have to dig into the reasoning behind her hate.
Ryker is staring at the ceiling, trying to hide his mirth so it can’t be that bad. His hand rests on Serenity’s shoulder. She’s rolling her eyes at Ava.
“I asked him to be here,” I say.
“Why? What’s going on, River?” she asks.
“I have a story to tell. I would rather never discuss it, but a recent phone call has forced me to. It’s not easy for me,” I pause, avoiding everyone's concerned looks. I take a seat in the chair furthest away from them all. “The only reason I asked them to be here is that I might need help. I have to keep you safe.” I nod at her.
“Okay, River,” she says softly. She sits on the couch.
Everyone finds a seat, giving me their attention. I take a stabilizing breath and start.
“I was lost when my parents died. They meant everything to me. No one would give me the reason for their death, no matter how many times or who I asked. It remains a mystery. My human uncle became my guardian. I had never met him. I didn’t like him the minute I did. He was an asshole. He looked down on all the shifters. I hated that I had to go with him, leaving my home, the people I loved, and most of all, Kerian. We moved away, and I felt powerless. He treated me as his errand boy. I had to clean the house, cook the meals, and wait on him and his friends. If I didn’t complete the list of chores he left me in the morning to his high standards, I wouldn’t eat that night. He deprived me of fundamental human rights. He taunted me. I was sixteen, and even though I was a wolf, he made me feel like he was the stronger one. He mentally abused me. He starved me.”
“Brother,” Kerian breathes as he lays his hand on my shoulder. I can’t bring myself to look at him.
“We lived in the woods. I couldn’t drive, so I was isolated. His friends would join in the fun when they would come over. They were drinking one night and came up with an idea. They loved to hunt, carried rifles everywhere, and often shot them off the porch for fun. My uncle proposed putting up a fence. He wanted to find shifters to hunt. Trap them within the boundaries and make them run for their lives. They discussed ways to control them. One of the men had dozens of dogs. He brought up the idea of putting shock collars on the shifters. One of their friends was an electrician. He would make them strong enough to take down a shifter.
“But first, they had to starve them. Make them weaker and desperate.” Shocked gasps reach my ears, but I continue, looking at the floor. “Since I was already trapped, they started with me. They called it The Games, except there was no way to win. I wasn’t given an out. It wasn’t as if I could reach a certain point to win. I had to run. I had to run and hide until they got tired or drunk. Then I would live another day.”
I close my eyes. “I remember the hunger the most. Not the fear of being killed. Not pain or the cold of the night. The hunger. I would go days and days without food. When I was allowed to eat and on the verge of death, they fed me dog food.” I swallow down the shame.
I glance through the room to see Kerian pacing back and forth, his body stiff. Ava’s eyes shine with tears. I can’t bare the visual and retreat.
“At that point, I would eat anything. More and more shifters were brought to the woods. The fence was built. The collars souped-up. They burned like crazy. They rubbed the skin from your neck because they didn’t care how tight they made them. At one point, they gathered over fifty shifters of every species. The best way to keep and control that many shifters were in cages. I lived in a cage.”
Kerian stops and grips the back of couch. “A cage?” His question is forced through his teeth.
“Yes,” I confirm. I ignore the creaking happening under his hands as he breaks through fabric and wood. “They were cocky. They made a mistake. When you have that many captives that want to escape, they ban together. We started to help each other. I may have been beaten down with humiliation, but my wolf wouldn’t let me give up. I still had a fire inside. We worked in teams of two, three, or more. We got better at hiding, finding food, and hunting them. I wasn’t sorry when we killed their weak. I was proud.”
