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He keeps it pressed against my skin, the three prongs sending electricity through my body, locking me in a vault of pain until he finally releases me, and I stumble to the floor. My body refuses to move or listen to me, still jerking with aftershocks despite the prong being gone.
I glance at him to see him laughing and stroking the prong. “Hurts, doesn’t it? It’s got enough power to kill a grown human, but just enough juice to hurt monsters. It won’t knock them out because that wouldn’t do, but it hurts like a son of a bitch. I can lock you in that agony.”
Gritting my teeth, I order my body to move, but it won’t, and he sticks me again, making me snarl. Pulling back, he cackles maniacally, wandering around the cell. I stumble to my paws, swaying like I’m drunk as I try to escape him, but he stabs again, and I get slower until I writhe on the floor with the current.
My change wants to come, and I use all my strength to keep myself locked in wolf form despite the current tearing through my body.
“Enough,” Lucien barks, and Jai steps back reluctantly as I pant.
I feel my body trying to heal the weakness, to combat the electricity still coursing through me. I can feel the stab marks from the prongs and the singed fur around it.
“Feel like talking now?” Vale asks.
Lifting my head, I meet his gaze and very purposely look down at his leg wound, which is bleeding through the bandages. Nostrils flaring, he turns away. “Carry on,” he tells Jai.
Jai drags it out, prodding me and letting me recover before doing it again. I withstand it all. I stop trying to get up during the recovery period until Vale calls for him to stop. He watches me with a bitter grin on his lips.
Rolling my eyes, I force myself to stand on shaking paws, and his eyebrows rise as he meets my gaze. “Strong little she-wolf, aren’t you?” he says. “No matter, everyone breaks eventually. I will give you time to think about it. You will have one more chance to speak voluntarily tomorrow, otherwise we’ll be forced to start cutting parts of you off. Once the wolfsbane poison kicks in from those cuts, you won’t have a choice. It will kill you.” He sounds put off about that, like my death is an inconvenience in his plans. “But we cannot afford to be picky, can we?” He slams his fist into the bars, but I don’t flinch.
“I’ll stay. Lucien and Jai, go check the traps. Make sure there are no more ferals or pack. Be extra careful. They are probably staking out the ones we set for her,” Vale commands as he heads behind the cage.
I keep them in my vision. Lucien and Jai shoot me looks before heading out. I hear the rumble of the car engine and almost grin gleefully, hoping the pack is waiting to rip them apart.
Turning, I watch Vale.
Despite his wounds, he picks up some knives and idly tosses them in his hands before throwing them in quick succession at the board placed up on one of the beams. I watch as he practices. He hits the bullseye each time. The circle of knives is so close, I’m surprised they don’t fall. He never once misses, and it’s clear he’s letting me watch to scare me, but the idiot is also letting me know his strengths and weaknesses.
He’s fast and good with blades, but I see him tiring from his wounds.
I can outlast him, not to mention his brother is his weakness.
He loves him a lot, enough to give in if I get the right leverage.
Settling back, I lick my wounds before drinking the bowl of water in the corner like a dog and watching Vale practice. He turns with some of his throws, and sometimes he watches me and throws it without looking.
I let my body heal as I observe him, and when he finally limps away, I’m the one who is smiling smugly. He stomps outside, and I relax, focusing on sorting through the scents to pinpoint my exact location. I plan on getting out of here, and when I do, I’ll need to know the quickest way back to the pack.
Those three will be dead or dying. I’ll make it quick for Lucien, but Jai will suffer.
I must nod off at some point because when I wake up with a start, it’s to the skidding of tires and panicked shouting. I sit up and cock my head. The sound of doors slamming fills my ears as well as pained, heavy breathing. Inhaling deeply, I smell blood and, under all that, the distinctive, unmistakable scent of a feral.
That’s what has me standing. Ferals all smell the same. When they break from the pack, their wolf turns sour. When the doors fly open, Vale and Jai carry a groaning Lucien between them. The sour smell is all over them—mainly Lucien, Jai too, but Lucien reeks of it.
They ignore me completely as Jai hurries over and knocks everything off one of the weapons tables, sending them scattering along the floor. They lay Lucien down.
“What happened?” Vale demands, his hands moving across Lucien’s groaning form.
Jai swears, rushing to grab first-aid kits as I watch. I move around in my cage to get a better view, and I almost whistle when I do. Across his left pec is a ragged bite from a feral. It’s ripped through most of the skin, and he’s losing a lot of blood. He’s pale and groaning. The wound smells bitter, so it’s going to get infected. Ferals carry a lot of parasites and infections.
“Fucker was waiting outside one of the west side traps. He must have had a friend caught inside it. It masked him, and he leaped out at us. He was on Lucien before I could snap its neck.” Jai grunts, ripping open bags and pressing gauze to the wound as Lucien roars, his back bowing in agony.
Vale swears. “Brother, it’s okay,” he says, trying to assure him, but even I can hear the panic in his voice.
Something in me twinges, and I don’t know why.
Lucien gasps as Jai holds it there to staunch the bleeding. He grabs Vale, yanking him down. “Don’t let me,” he rasps.
“What? It’s okay. You’re safe,” Vale replies.
