AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The air is always slightly warm down here despite the ventilator, and when I hit the bottom, I nod at the three wolves standing guard.
To the right are the video feeds for the cameras we set up across our territory. This is also our base, so it has our computers, confiscated weapons, and artefacts that have been found on our land. The guard scans his handprint at the door, and it swings open. I step inside, letting it shut behind me. I ignore the cages for a moment and the shrouded figure I see in the very last one.
The wolf leans against the first one but straightens when he sees me, lowering his head. “Beta.”
“Any issues?” I query.
“None,” he answers quickly, and when I move closer, he bends lower, showing his respect.
“Good job,” I tell him, watching him brighten as I move to the cell and finally look inside. Shock fills me.
Sitting with his knees drawn up, his head back against the stone wall is Jai. His dark eyes watch me. I see the usual madness in his gaze as he smirks, pulling on a slash mark across his cheek. I smell his blood and see his torn clothes, telling me he is worse for wear.
“Surprised I’m not dead, she-wolf?” he asks.
“Disappointed,” I reply, leaning into the metal bars. “Foolish hunter, wandering our land alone. Where are your brothers?”
He doesn’t answer, just stares at me for a moment. “Settled back into your pack, have you?” he comments as he pushes to his feet. Wincing in pain, he limps closer and wraps his hands around the bars. “Do they know the truth?” he mutters quietly.
I feel the wolf in the room looking at me, but I won’t rise to the bait. “I have no secrets from my pack.” Surprise flashes in his eyes, but I told him a lie. “So, hunter, shall we begin?”
“What? No names? I thought we were friends,” he sneers.
“Friends?” I grin. “We were never friends, Jai, enemies for sure. Shall I remind you?”
“If you dare, she-wolf.” He steps back, spreading his arms wide.
I smirk, holding his gaze. “Open the cage.”
“Beta, we have been ordered . . .” The wolf hesitates.
I turn my gaze to him, and he withers. “I said open the cage.” I let my power flood the room, and he whines as he drops to the floor, crawls to the panel, and hits it. I look around as the cage door swings open, and then I step inside.
He moves back, hitting the wall and watching me with that arrogant smirk. “I can taste your power.” He cocks his head. I let my claws slide out, and his eyes drop to them. “I remember those well.”
“I bet you do.” I grin, looking at the wound on his neck. “It’s a shame you survived, but don’t worry, you won’t this time.”
I lunge at him, but he just waits with his arms at his sides. He knows he has nowhere to run.
He welcomes me like death welcomes its lover.
He’s not easy to break, I’ll give him that.
I cut up his body until he’s nearly dead, his organs on the outside, and then I heal him and do it again. He doesn’t scream once, nor does he answer my questions. When I grow bored, I let others join.
After all, many have history with hunters.
I’ve tried, and so have many others as I watched. He has countless wounds and is passed out on his side, barely able to move, so it surprises me when his voice comes. The room is empty bar us, but I’m unwilling to walk away before I get what I need.
“What you said,” he says roughly, lifting up on his shaking arm, his pale face covered in blood as he turns his gaze to me. “That I hate my own kind. What did you mean?”
Leaning forward on my chair, I rest my chin on the top as I meet his eyes. “You know what I meant. You might be too afraid to admit it to them or to yourself, but you have always known.”
His dark eyes stay locked on mine. “I’m a wolf.”
“Or part.” I shrug. “I’m not sure. I smell it on you, and the only way you would survive that”—I nod at the wound on his neck—“is if you were one of us.”
He nods like he expected that, and I tilt my head, watching him.
