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I looked around, trying to assess my surroundings. We were out of the cover of the woods now, somewhere different. The full moon was so bright I could see everything clearly. In front of me was a huge rock formation that took up most of my line of sight. Behind me, was the woods. I hadn’t been this far before. We were either at the border of pack lands, or we’d ventured beyond.
“Are you dead yet?” Tyler asked.
I turned to see three naked men walking toward me. Tyler looked smug but his friends didn’t look as confident as they had when they started all this.
“What’s wrong? Never seen a girl beat to death by her mate before?” I snapped. “You’re the ones who did this to me.”
“I can’t hurt you,” Tyler said. “I learned quickly that if I inflict pain on you, it hurts me.”
“You’re a coward,” I said. “You didn’t have to do this. What kind of a man hurts someone who can’t fight back?”
“You’ve fought back plenty over the years. Why stop now?” he asked.
“You know I’m no match for any shifter solo, let alone the three of you.” Talking exacerbated the pain I was feeling, but as long as I was keeping him talking, he wasn’t hurting me.
Tyler knelt next to me. “I can be a generous man.”
“You’re a monster,” I spat.
“I could have them kill you now, if that’s easier for you,” he said. “Or, we can toss you in the cave. If you get out, you’ll survive. Otherwise, you’ll perish like the others who were sentenced to their deaths. It’s fitting, really. The place you and your whore mother should have been sent years ago. Then none of this would have happened. I’d never even have known you. Think of all the pain you’d have been spared.”
I should have known the rock formation was the cave we’d all grown up hearing about. The place reserved for traitors and the worst of the worst. Supposedly, there were exits, but nobody had ever found their way out. It was a death sentence.
“The only reason I had pain was because of you. You made a choice,” I said.
“And now I give you a choice. Cave or death?”
“You know what a farse this is? That cave is death,” I said.
“So you’d rather face a quick, merciful death?” he mused.
“There was nothing merciful about any of this, you bastard,” I said.
“Kyle, kill her,” he said.
I looked over to where Kyle and Julian were standing and was surprised that Kyle didn’t move. My brow furrowed as I watched his reaction. He was going against Tyler.
“I’ll do it, Ty,” Julian said.
“I asked Kyle,” Tyler said.
“You said we were going to scare her,” Kyle said. “You didn’t say we were going to do this.”
“Are you defying your alpha?” Tyler asked.
“You’re not an alpha yet,” I said. “Nobody ever saw the mark. You’re a fraud. I can’t wait until someone comes and knocks you and your father from your pedestal.”
Tyler stood then kicked me in the stomach. I groaned, and reached to cover myself, making my broken wrist twist in the process. I screamed as sharp agony shot through my arm.
“That hurt me too, Lola. Why do you make me do that?” Tyler was kneeling next to me again. He brushed a stray strand of hair away from my eyes. “If only you had shifted tonight. Things could be so different for us.”
I spat in his face. “I’d never be with you.”
He groaned and stood as he wiped my spit from his face. “You bitch. Julian!”
“Stop.” I knew Julian would finish the job if given the chance. “Put me in the cave.”
“Slow death?” Tyler sounded surprised. “Here I thought you’d take the weaker way out.”
“Only you would think death of any kind showed weakness.” I glared at him. “I’m going to survive the cave and then I’m going to come back for you.”
Tyler kicked me in the stomach over and over until I couldn’t breathe. At first, it was nothing but pain, then I couldn’t feel anything at all. It was as if my body had given up.
When he finally stopped, I was barely hanging on to consciousness. The copper taste of blood coated the inside of my mouth and I was pretty sure Tyler had damaged some of my internal organs.
“I’d love to see you survive now, crazy bitch,” Tyler said. “Get her in the cave.”
