My tortured Luna

Chapter 2

Valens POV

For a long moment, no one moved. The silence that settled over the basement felt nothing like the one that had greeted us when we first arrived. That silence had been born from fear. This one was born from disbelief.

One by one, the wolves behind the iron bars slowly lifted their heads. Some stared at Jack's lifeless body while others looked at me as though they couldn't quite believe what had just happened.

"We need healers." Jayden looked around the basement, his usual carefree expression gone. His eyes lingered on the cages, the children and the broken wolves.

"And the Royal Guard." I gave a short nod.

"Bring everyone. Every prisoner leaves this place today." Jayden didn't hesitate. He turned on his heel and disappeared up the staircase, already barking orders before he reached the ground floor.

I remained where I was, letting my gaze sweep across the basement one last time. Rows of iron cages stretched along the walls, chains hung from the ceiling, and frightened children sat huddled together in corners while wolves lay curled up on the cold stone floor, too weak to stand. This wasn't another pack.

It was a prison. A prison that had existed inside my kingdom without my knowledge. The realization settled like lead in my stomach. How many reports had never reached my desk? How many Alphas had known exactly what was happening here and chosen to look the other way? How many people had stayed silent because speaking up was more dangerous than pretending nothing was wrong?

Too many, Cain growled. He wasn't wrong. Far too many.

A faint scraping sound pulled my attention toward the middle of the room. The white wolf was trying to stand. Every movement looked agonizing as her front legs trembled beneath her weight before finally giving out, sending her crashing back onto the stone floor. She didn't cry out. She didn't whimper. She simply lay there for a heartbeat before trying again, as though giving up had never been an option.

She's stubborn. Something twisted inside my chest before I even realized I was moving. By the time I stopped, I was only a few feet away from her. Slowly, she lifted her head. Our eyes met. Silver. There was no trust in them. No relief. Not even hatred.

Only exhaustion. And acceptance. It was the look of someone who had already convinced herself that whatever came next would hurt just as much as everything that had come before. A long scar ran from above her right eye and down to her cheek. Long and unhealed.

For reasons, I couldn't explain, I suddenly found it difficult to breathe.

She was much smaller than I had first thought. Beneath the white fur, every rib was visible, and now that I stood close enough, I noticed countless old scars hidden beneath the fresh wounds. Some had healed crookedly. Others looked as though they had never healed at all. No wolf should ever look like this.

Touch her. Cain stepped closer inside my mind, his voice no longer filled with anger but something almost protective.

"No." The word escaped before I had the chance to stop it. The wolf's ears twitched immediately, and her gaze dropped to the floor. Damn it.

"I'm not talking to you." I crouched down slowly, making sure every movement remained calm.

"I'm talking to my wolf." She didn't react, nor did she look at me again. Carefully, I reached toward her, but the moment my fingers brushed the top of her head, every muscle in her body flinched so violently that I instinctively pulled my hand back. It wasn't aggression. It wasn't even ordinary fear. It was instinct. The kind that came from expecting pain every single time another hand reached for you.

She's terrified. I know. Not of us. I closed my eyes for a brief second. 'I know.' Carefully, I slid one arm beneath her chest and the other beneath her hind legs. She weighed almost nothing. Far less than any healthy adult wolf should. As I lifted her from the floor, she tensed for only a heartbeat before going completely still in my arms. Not because she trusted me. Because she had learned long ago that struggling only made things worse.

Behind me, hurried footsteps echoed through the basement. The young man Jayden had freed stumbled across the room before dropping to his knees beside us, his silver eyes never leaving the white wolf.

"Sage..." His voice broke as he reached toward her, only to stop halfway, clearly afraid of hurting her. Instead, he rested a trembling hand gently against her shoulder.

"I'm here." A tiny whine escaped her. It was so quiet I almost missed it, but it transformed the young man's entire expression. Relief flooded his bruised face as tears filled his silver eyes.

"She's alive." His voice was shaked.

I looked from the white wolf in my arms to the young man kneeling beside us. He couldn't have been much older than twenty, yet his body was covered in bruises and dried blood. The skin around his wrists had been rubbed raw by the iron shackles, but despite his own condition, he never once looked at himself. Every ounce of his attention was fixed on the wolf resting against my chest.

"You stayed." The words left my mouth before I had time to think about them. He frowned in confusion before looking up at me.

"What?"

"When Jayden opened your cage, you could've run." I held his gaze, searching for any sign of fear or selfishness, but found neither.

His silver eyes immediately drifted back to the white wolf.

"I wasn't leaving without her." The answer came so naturally that it caught me off guard. There hadn't been a second of hesitation in his voice. He hadn't thought about saving himself. Everything had been about her.

"What is your name?" I studied him more closely, noticing how similar his eyes were to hers.

"Deletio." He hesitated briefly before answering, as though he wasn't sure whether he should trust me with something as simple as his name.

"Can you walk?"

"I think so."

"Good." I rose to my feet, carefully adjusting my grip around the white wolf.

"You're coming with us." He blinked.

"Us?"

"My palace." For a long moment, he simply stared at me. Confusion, suspicion and disbelief all crossed his face before his eyes dropped back to his sister.

"We're... not prisoners?"

"No." I looked at him with a frown.

"I don't understand." He looked at me again.

"You don't have to." My eyes moved toward the staircase as several Royal Guards hurried into the basement.

"Get every prisoner out of here," I ordered without looking away from Deletio.

"I don't care how many healers you need. Empty every cage and make sure every survivor reaches the palace alive." One of the warriors stepped forward immediately.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"I can walk," Deletio said quietly as he forced himself to his feet. The effort alone made him sway, but he stubbornly caught himself before anyone could help him.

"You don't have to prove anything." I glanced at him briefly before turning toward the stairs.

"Save your strength." He didn't argue, but I noticed how he stayed as close to his sister as his exhausted body allowed while we made our way upstairs. Even after everything he'd endured, he refused to let her out of his sight.

The fresh air hit me the moment we stepped outside. For the first time since entering the basement, I could breathe without the stench of blood and decay filling my lungs. Royal Guards moved across the estate in every direction while healers hurried inside carrying blankets, stretchers and medical supplies. Some of the former prisoners collapsed the moment they reached the courtyard, sobbing openly as they felt the sun on their skin again. Others simply stood still, staring at the sky as though they'd forgotten it existed.

Jayden met me halfway across the courtyard.

"The estate is secure." His eyes briefly fell to the wolf in my arms before returning to mine.

"The guards are searching every building."

"The survivors?"

"They'll live..." His voice faltered.

"...Most of them." I looked down at the white wolf. Curled against my chest, she looked impossibly small, her breathing so shallow that I caught myself checking whether she was still alive. Home. Cain's voice was quieter now, almost thoughtful. No. She belongs with us. She belongs somewhere safe. The same place.

I ignored him, though I found myself holding her just a little tighter as I reached the car. One of the healers hurried toward me with a stretcher, but I shook my head before he could say a word.

"I'll carry her." He looked surprised but stepped aside without questioning my decision. Carefully, I laid her across the back seat, making sure her injured leg wasn't trapped beneath her. Her eyelids fluttered for just a second, and her silver eyes met mine. There was still fear in them... but beneath it, something else. Confusion. As though she couldn't understand why I hadn't hurt her yet.

"I'll be driving." I wasn't sure why I felt the need to say it. Perhaps I was trying to reassure her. Perhaps I was trying to reassure myself. Her eyes slowly closed again.