From Prisoner to Primordial

CHAPTER 17 - Retribution Part 1

*Jane’s P.O.V.*

    I had everything planned perfectly. I knew Delta Titus was a bomb tech and his son, Tristan wanted to follow in his dad’s footsteps. On the 22nd, I caught him outside the library and began making small talk with him until Stevie showed up and rendered him unconscious with the wolfsbane and silver nitrate.

    Then I had her teleport us to my cottage, where she conjured up a silver cell with shackles to hold Tristan hostage.

    I forced him to explain to me how to make the small-scale bomb, while Ashley and Stevie worked on the large-scale bomb that would hopefully destroy my home and any evidence in it, including Tristan. And maybe a few more ranked members if I got lucky.

    When he would refuse or become stubborn, I punished him by whipping him. At first, it was just regular whippings, but then I decided to soak the whips in wolfsbane and silver nitrate to show him I meant business.

    Eventually, he gave in and explained how to make the bomb, though he wanted answers to questions I didn’t want to answer, but I did give him some information because I knew he wouldn’t live to tell a soul, despite my promise to let him go if he gave me what I wanted.

    He even had the nerve to call me a dummy. That made me angry, but I just continued with what I was doing as he walked me through each step.

    Eventually, both bombs were complete, and I wrapped Brielle’s “gift” in a festive box, making it so the bomb would detonate as soon as the lid was moved even a centimeter.

    Christmas Day came, and finally so did the pack gift exchange. I had placed Brielle’s “present” at the very bottom. I stood close enough so that I could witness her death but not so close that I would get injured.

    All the ranked members, minus the Deltas, had gathered around her. Good, I thought to myself. The more the merrier. Alpha Kane picked up Brielle’s “present” and was carrying it to her when he and Luna Nova suddenly stopped.

    “Bri-Bri, no!” I heard Kiya cry out at the same time the Luna yelled, “Kane, stop!” as she turned to me. “TO THE DUNGEONS!” she ordered the Deltas. I tried to run, but everywhere I turned, there was a Delta.

    “Jane Norse! STOP WHERE YOU ARE!” she commanded in a voice so powerful, I kneeled and bowed to her command, unable to fight it. I heard Alpha Kane asking her what he was supposed to do, but I couldn’t focus on it.

    Finally, Axel, Aryan, Deacon, and her dad grabbed me harshly and dragged me to the dungeons while I kicked and screamed, fighting to get away, fighting for my life. But it was no use. I mind linked Ashley to tell her to finish the plan.

    The Deltas threw me into a cell that was solid walls with no windows, only a vent in the ceiling and a drain in the floor. I banged on the door but felt the burning sensation and immediately stopped. It was made of silver.

    At least I knew Tristan wouldn’t live to tell a soul anything.

    I don’t know how much time had passed as there were no windows, just solid silver reinforced walls. I saw food slid under a slit at the bottom of the door, but I ignored it.

    As the food was being slid under, I heard Ashley screaming as she fought the Deltas to no avail. She must have been put on the opposite side of the dungeon because her screaming became fainter and fainter until it disappeared altogether.

    I leaped for the slit at the bottom of the door and tried to push on it, but it wouldn’t budge, and I was only burning my skin worse, so I gave up.

    You moron. Why did I have to get stuck with a selfish, idiotic, delusional, egotistical human counterpart such as yourself, my wolf, Aetna asked me.

    He was our mate first! I yelled back at her, but she had already put the block back up. Ever since I drew Brielle’s name out of the bowl and hatched my plan, she had stopped talking to me and had put up a permanent block.

    All I could hope was that Ashley’s part had been finished to the end and that there would be no evidence left to incriminate me, other than the bomb that got interjected by my Luna and her daughter.

    My stomach growled in hunger, but I ignored it and the food in front of me.

    I laid down on the concrete floor to sleep but my thoughts were racing. There’s no way they could connect the bomb to me, right? How would they detonate it? Or would the bomb techs disable it? How would they disable it? Maybe they’d be killed trying to do so. I could only hope.

    And then I shot up straight. f**k, I thought to myself. Of course, they’d be able to disable it. Tristan taught me how to build the bomb. His dad taught him how to disable bombs. His dad was a bomb tech.

    Of course, they’d be able to disable it because it was design Tristan and Delta Titus knew well, or Tristan wouldn’t have been able to teach me how to build it. And my fingerprints were all over every piece. So were Ashley’s and Stevie’s.

    Maybe I could pin it on Ashley and Stevie. They coerced me into helping in order to get revenge against Gunther. Ashley’s my best friend after all, she should want to help me out.

    Ashley? I tried to mind link her but was met with a block that was the walls of my cell. f**k. This was not good. Not good at all.

    I don’t know how much time had passed, but the slit at the bottom of the door was opened and I slid the untouched food back out. They didn’t bother sliding another tray in.

*Kane’s P.O.V.*

    After the Elders left, I went back up to the conference room where Deltas Titus and Ximena were waiting with Tristan, Nova, and Dr. Perez. The rest had already dispersed.

    “Alpha,” they bowed as I entered the conference room.

    “What’s going on?” I asked.

    “Kane, I can hear Jane’s thoughts, even from way up here. She thinks her plan was a success, and she wants to try to pin the blame on Ashley and Stevie,” Nova told me.

    “And I want to go down there to show her that I’m alive and that she won’t get away with any of this,” Tristan said, his voice full of confidence and conviction.

    “Dr. Perez, what say you?” I asked him.

    He turned to me. “Despite the events of today, Tristan is doing remarkably well. The anxiety pills I gave him earlier have already worn off, and he’s been talking about what happened openly and without a single sign of another breakdown.

    “Honestly, he is remarkably strong. I think I will still do a few sessions with him just to be sure, but I truly don’t think he needs them,” Dr. Perez said with the utmost confidence in his voice.

    I nodded. “Very well. But they will be tortured and killed in front of the pack tomorrow, so why don’t we let him make his appearance tomorrow?”

    “Also…” I hesitated, “My light witch friend and her werewolf mate are coming to visit in a few days with their Alpha, Andrew,” I said as quickly as I could.

    Titus and Ximena growled, but Tristan remained calm. “Stevie’s half-sister?” he asked.

    Once they realized that Tristan was okay, Titus and Ximena calmed down.

    I nodded. “Ariadne and her mate Khonsu and their Alpha, Andrew. Also, Nova’s uncle.”

    “Does Delta Cooper trust them?” Titus asked.

    “With his life.”

    “And you? Do you trust him?”

    “I trust Cooper’s judgement, so yes.”

    Titus nodded. “Very well, then,” he said, and they took their leave.

    “Let’s go tell Kris that her potential mate is coming here,” I said to Nova after the others had filed out of the room and shut the door. She took my hand and we walked to her office while I mind linked Kris and my dad to meet us there.

    They were waiting by the time we got there. I led Nova into the office, and we sat down on one side of the desk while Kris and my dad sat down in the grey chairs on the other side.

    “Son, what’s this about?” my dad asked impatiently.

    “Well, as you know, in a few days’ time, Alpha Andrew, Ariadne, and Khonsu will be visiting our pack. At the same time, Alpha Kai and his father, former Alpha Regis will be joining us as well. They will be staying for three days, whether you are his mate or not Kris.

    “If you are his mate, then you will not mark him while you are here. They have a special ceremony planned for his future Luna that requires marking to be done differently than we do it here. Do you understand?” I asked, looking directly at Kris who was bouncing up and down in her seat. She nodded in excitement.

    “Yes, Alpha,” she said under the weight of the command, but that couldn’t contain her excitement. “I have a question though. Why wait so long after we turned 18 for this meeting?”

    “Former Alpha Regis wanted to wait until Kai took over the pack, which he did on Christmas Day.”

    Her mouth formed an O shape before she regained her composure. “So, what happens to those insolents down in the basements?”

    “They will face their punishments and death tomorrow at 2:00 PM in front of the whole pack,” I answered her.

    “I want a piece of them. They could have hurt many people that are close to me than just the one that was targeted,” she growled, and I nodded in answer.

    “That is all for you two,” I dismissed Kris and my dad. They stood, bowed and left and I mind linked my Betas, Gammas, and Deltas Cannon, River, and Kate to come to my office. Once they were settled in around my office, I began.

    “Given that Brielle and Nova are so far along in their pregnancies, they are only allowed to give 10 lashings each.”

    “What?!” Nova gasped. “Kane, they could have killed Kiya! She was sitting right next to Brielle! And Caisson was right next to her with Lyra!”

    “My decision is final, Nova. I can’t risk you going into early labor. I can’t risk any of you going into early labor. So, you better let Venus use her strength to make those lashings count.”

    Nova huffed at me but nodded. “Fine,” was all she said.

    “The Deltas that found Tristan will be the ones administering the punishment, along with Tristan once he makes his appearance. Nova, I want you to keep an ear out for his thoughts. Dr. Perez will be nearby with anxiety medication and sedation should he need it. But I want you to be looking for warning signs that he’s about to lose control,” she nodded, so I continued.

    “I will be letting Aetna and Chase fight to Aetna’s death. I get the feeling she won’t put up much fight, but Jane will. This will only be after both Jane and Ashley receive their full torture that they so deserve. The same torture they gave Tristan, just condensed into one session,” I wanted to let an evil smile cross my face, but I had to stop myself.

    “That means that Kate, Cannon and Braylen will be administering the torture with Tristan after Nova, Brielle, Aileya, and Kris get in their 10 lashings on each of them, so you get 20 total each.”

    Nova smiled happily at that information.

    “What about us?” Gunther asked, motioning to him and Jax.

    “Oh, you’ll get your turn after your mates and the Deltas are done,” I told him, and they both smiled and rubbed their hands together.

    “You all are dismissed,” I told them, and they got up and filed out of my office.

*Jane’s P.O.V.*

    I don’t know how long I’ve been down in the dungeons. I had one of Stevie’s calling cards with me, and I tried ripping it, but she didn’t appear.

    The only two people who knew I was working with a dark witch were Ashley and Tristan, and Tristan’s dead, which means Ashley must have told them.

    I still don’t know why that would make her not show up when called. She’s still alive, or I’d already be dead, too.

    Unless she gave me bum calling cards. Is that even a thing? I had no idea.

    The guards slid another meal under the door. That would make meal number three. I doubt they feed prisoners three times a day, so it probably meant I was on day three.

    “Eat up, you’re going to need the strength,” the guard growled before shutting the slit.

    What did he mean, I’m going to need the strength? What in the world could he mean? I’m being held captive in a cell with silver walls. There’s nothing I could need strength for.

    I glared at the plate of food. It looked even worse than hospital food. I grabbed the bottle of water and drank some of it, but I wasn’t going to touch the food.

    I deserve better than this, damn it! I’m better than this!

    “ARGHHH!!!” I screamed in frustration, kicking the cell door as if it were going to do anything. I laid back down on the concrete floor.

    Even human prisoners were treated better than this, and I’m better than a human! I’m a freaking werewolf, for crying out loud!

    I heard the lock click and the cell door swung open. Luna Nova stood there, and she was laughing. At me! How dare she!

    I lunged for her, but there were four guards outside my cell that blocked my path and grabbed me by my arms.

    “Ow! You’re hurting me!” I screamed at them, but that only caused them to tighten their grip on my arms as they dragged me out of the cell.

    “Let me go! I didn’t do anything! It was all Ashley and that witch!” I screamed. I heard someone else laughing at the other end of the dungeon and I realized that it was Alpha Kane.

    “You liar! You dragged me into this!” Ashley screamed at me.

    “I did not! You wanted to help me!” I screamed back, and then realized what I had just admitted to.

    “SHUT UP!” Luna Nova roared. “Take them upstairs to the courtyard and shackle them,” she ordered the guards.

    “Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!” I screamed as I was dragged up the stairs. I could hear Ashley yelling the same thing as she, too, was dragged up the stairs and into the courtyard.

    I gulped at the sight in front of me. There were two wooden structures that had been erupted just past the table area of the courtyard. They reminded me of the things in hangman, though I couldn’t remember what they were called. There were silver shackles hanging from each of them.

    Nearby was a table with stainless-steel syringes and various torture devices, from whips to chains and more. I gulped again as Ashley and I were shackled to each of the structures.

    “You stupid b***h! I knew I should have never helped you!” Ashley yelled at me.

    “Keep talking, girls. You’re only making things worse for yourselves,” I heard a familiar voice that I couldn’t place.

    I turned my head and saw Elder Simmons.

    “Guards, warm them up with 50 lashings each for your Luna, Beta female, Gamma female, and my sister, will you?” Alpha Kane asked politely. Each guard grabbed a whip and began to whip us as we screamed in agony.

    “We’re… innocent!” I screamed.

    “Far from it,” another familiar voice said. A voice from someone that should be dead. I gasped audibly as he made his way so he was standing in front of us. “Your death warrants have already been signed by the Elder council after I told them everything you did to me.”

    “You’re… supposed… to… be… dead…!” I growled between each lashing.

    “Yeah… about that… Bet your dark witch friend didn’t tell you there’s an antidote to the s**t you poisoned me with. Actually, she probably didn’t even know,” Tristan said smugly.

    “What in the hell do you mean?!” I screamed just as the guards finished lashing us.

    An unfamiliar man and woman stepped into view. The man was most definitely a wolf, but the female… “You’re a witch!” I yelled.

    “Ariadne, and yes I am a light witch. This antidote Tristan speaks of is only one that light witches know. And I’m glad I taught your Delta Cooper it and he was able to teach it to the pack doctors. Oh, and this is Khonsu, my mate,” she added.

    I couldn’t help it. I screamed and struggled against the silver chains, trying to break free to kill her.

    “You ruined everything! EVERYTHING!” I shouted at her.

    “Actually, I believe you have yourself to blame for that,” the witch said to me, smiling.