Runt's Revenge

Homes and Prisons

Angel stopped laughing when one if their “escorts” pulled a pair of silver handcuffs out of his bag. Nea stared at the cuffs and eyed the three werewolves, calculating her chances of escape.

“Angel, I think we are screwed,” Nea told her wolf.

Angel said in a panicked voice, “You won’t be able to hear me once those are on… and I won’t be able to heal you either.”

“I love you Angel. I will do what I can to get away.”

“I know,” she whimpered. “I love…” but Angel’s voice was cut off abruptly as the silver cuff were tightened around her wrists.

“Angel?” Nea sobbed in her mind. Even though she had known it was coming, the sudden loss of her wolf was overwhelming. Now, without Angel protecting and healing her, the full effects from her injuries hit her like a punch in the gut. She collapsed, gasping from the pain. She could feel hands pulling her up roughly and that made it worse. Her eyesight started getting funny, like she was looking through a tunnel, as the dark edges seeped in until finally, the blackness was all she could see. “Angel?” she called out one more time, instinctively, just before she passed out.

Dave, Dr. Janna, and Cassie had taken the car to the packhouse to get Cassie looked after in the hospital wing. Zayden and the others shifted to their wolves to race to the packhouse on foot.

“Cassie, I’ll be with you in a minute, sweetheart,” he linked her.

“Okay, Daddy… Is Mibayda alright? I think she was hurt.”

“I am worried about you right now, sweetheart. We’ll talk about your… friend later,” he replied simply.

“Nathan,” Zayden switched over to his Beta, "Dr. Janna should be pulling up with Cassie any moment. I want a 24-hour detail guarding her starting right now.”

“And, Beta, I will be arriving shortly as well. Meet me in my office in ten minutes.”

“Yes Alpha!”

A flurry of activity was happening as Zayden arrived at the packhouse. He could see the extra guards settling in around the packhouse. His Beta was standing at the door with a set of clothes on a hanger as he shifted and walked through the front door. The Alpha took the clothes from Nathan, dressing as he walked, not wasting any time.

Walking through the hallway to the hospital wing, it was obvious that there were more warriors on hand than usual here as well. Zayden smirked, he could always count on his Beta… then he frowned, because it was not so with the current Gamma.

Zayden followed Cassie’s scent right to the room that she was set up in. It was good to be able to sense her so clearly again. His heart was filled with gratitude that she was home safe.

He walked into the room. She looked so small in that big bed. Her eyes were closed and he went over to her and picked up her hand. Her eyes remained closed when he touched her.

“Nurse Bella,” he said to the attending nurse, “what is wrong? Why isn’t she waking up? Where is the doctor?” he said loudly looking around the room.

“I’m here, Alpha,” said Dr. Janna as she came back into the room.

“Is something wrong? Is she hurt?” He worried.

“Well, she does have injuries, but nothing that isn’t already healing. She is sleeping because I gave her a sedative.” Dr. Janna spoke carefully, “Alpha, she has hardly gotten any sleep since she was taken. I’m surprised that she hadn’t started hallucinating. Not many adult wolves could manage with so little sleep.”

“Do we have to be worried about permanent damage?” Zayden asked tentatively.

“No! No… she just needs a solid block of time sleeping. Her body and her mind will heal from the lack of sleep. And I will schedule a therapy session for her when she wakes up to start dealing with the trauma of the abduction.”

“Good.” Zayden looked down at his precious daughter. The only “real” thing that he had left from his first mate. “Take good care of her, doctor. The warriors are her for her protection, but will also assist you with anything you need to keep her comfortable. Let me know the second she is awake, no matter what time it is!”

“Of course, Alpha,” the doctor said in a professional tone.

Zayden left the hospital wing and hurried to his office to meet with Nathan. They needed to have a tactical face-to-face. He had hoped to give Cassie a hug and a smile before getting down to business, so he was even more agitated than before! That runt… He had never despised anyone more!

“We don’t know the whole story,” Derrek reminded him.

Oh GODDESS… since when did his WOLF become the calm and cautious one of the two of them?

“I know enough,” he growled back.

Nathan was waiting in his office for him, as expected.

“Alpha, how is Cassie?” he asked, concerned.

“She is sleeping. She hadn’t been allowed to sleep for DAYS, the doctor said. I am so worried about her.”

Nathan put a hand on his Alpha’s shoulders, “she has all of us behind her, Zayden. And a father who loves her so much… she is going to make it through this and come out stronger than ever.”

“She’s too young to have such a frightening experience. I will always regret allowing this to happen,” Zayden revealed to his friend.

“I know. We all feel some level of responsibility. But now we need to find out what happened! The runt is in a cell and, I hear, may be gaining consciousness. We should head down there soon,” Nathan told him.

“Nathan,” Zayden groaned, “there’s something else you need to know… the runt… she is, she was, d*mn it, she’s my second chance mate.”

Nathan stared at his Alpha, jaw slack. He tried to say something, but nothing came out. Finally, he stuttered, “wh-what are you going to do?”

“There is nothing to be done. I have already rejected her at the first chance I had.”

“I-I’m so sorry. You must be hurting,” his Beta said sympathetically.

“That’s just it,” he replied, “I’m not hurting. It’s weird. At first, I still felt linked to her, but then… nothing. I don’t feel her at all, even though she didn’t accept or deny my rejection.”

“Hmmm…” thought the Beta, “she is in silver chains in the cell right now. That would be silencing her wolf.” Nathan’s brow furrowed as he contemplated the mystery.

“And then there’s Lydia,” the Alpha continued. She has openly been acting on her own, even defying my wishes. My Goddess, she almost clubbed Cassie today! If the Runt hadn’t gone to imprison Cassie in that moment, Lydia would have seriously injured her!”

“The runt did what?”

“Cassie was protecting her for some reason. We were all closing in and then the runt suddenly pinned Cassie down underneath her. Maybe she was planning to use her as a hostage, I don’t know. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she took the blow from the branch to protect Cassie. Lydia whacked her pretty hard and she was stunned, letting Cassie go.” Zayden was reliving the moment as if it was playing out in front of him all over again.  “It may have turned out okay, Nathan, but Cassie could have been hurt or killed by Lydia. The Gamma has got to go. I am done with her!”

“I know you must be exhausted, Alpha, but it is time that we got some answers. Come on,” Nathan stood up and walked decisively out of the room with Zayden right on his heels.

Everything was still dark. Nea heard water running down a wall somewhere behind her. It smelled dank, musty, close… She felt deep down inside for Angel, but still couldn’t find her. Her wrists were burning, so she still must be chained in silver. She felt the cold hard floor under her still naked body. Slowly, she made herself open her eyes to check out her surroundings. The floor was concrete with drains, probably for cleaning away the blood when they were done with their prisoners. The walls were brick and the silver chains around her wrists hung on a pulley system from the ceiling.

Nea sat up, observing the parts of her body that were injured. She definitely had a broken rib or two. Her shoulder was popped out of joint, well that she could fix. With a mighty yell, she snapped it back into place, before collapsing back on the hard floor from the pain. She tenderly moved her shoulder blade… it seemed to be back in place.

“Ahhh, our little guest is awake. How lovely,” said a silky and dangerous voice.

Athena looked up to see a perky, pretty blond looking at her with an ugly sneer on her face. It was the wolf who had been attacking her at the field.

“It is time for your interrogation,” said the woman with an evil smirk on her lips. Lydia pressed a button on the wall and the chains attached to Nea’s wrists began to wind upward onto a crank dangling from the ceiling.

Nea felt her arms being pulled up, eventually pulling her whole body to a standing position, and then, just a little bit further until she dangled from her wrists, her injured shoulder popping back out of the socket. She moaned in pain, but managed to stifle it so that it was barely audible.

Now that Athena was completely compromised, Lydia opened the door to the cell. Nea watched her approach with something hidden behind her back.

“I have a little treat for you, runt,” giggled Lydia. She actually started laughing to the point where she bent over. “Oh My,” she said, wiping her eyes, “you are going to wish that you had accepted Damien’s offer, precious Nea,” she said emphasizing the Athena’s nickname.

“What do you know about that,” Nea gasped, mortified.

“I know everything,” Lydia replied. “I’m probably the only one who knows EVERYTHING. Soooo, then,” she slurred, “shall we begin?”