Chapter 15
2161 Words
My lips thinned once more. "You will never have me."
"I will," Kane opposed, sounding so damn confident. "In fact, I would not have to do anything. You will come crawling to me yourself tonight, begging me to take you."
I narrowed my eyes in an attempt to mask the uncertainty slowly creeping up my spine. "And you're so sure about that?"
His jaw clenched. "I am," he replied, then pointed to the wall behind him. "You will even go out of your way and literally break through this wall if I would be standing behind it, just to be by my side."
"That's a load of trash," I remarked, letting him know that he - as well as his assumptions - were insane. "I'm not strong enough to do that-"
"It would be your wolf that would be in control. And from what I see, it seems like you do not know her very well. She would be stronger than you, quicker, and much more willing." His lips curved to form a faint sinister smile. "I cannot wait to meet her."
My heart skipped a beat.
"You're sick," I spat, struggling to keep myself from fully lashing out at him. "You're the one who doesn't know me. I don't know who you think you are but there is no way that I'd ever let you have any part of me. My wolf is not that shallow and for the thousandth time; you're not my mate."
"To get a mate or to mate, she-wolves would do anything. And it appears yours is no different." Kane turned away from me and began to walk along the corridor, towards the other end. "If you do not believe me then it is up to the blood moon to convince you of that."
"I'll be waiting then." I lifted my chin defiantly behind his back, silently hoping that he didn't hear the slight tremor in my voice. "And then when nothing happens, that'll prove to you that you've got all this messed up in your head."
Not answering straight away, Kane just stopped beside a door opposite the one I'd come out of earlier. Turning to face me, he pressed his right palm against the surface of the wood.
"Willing to let the blood moon prove me wrong? Then you might want to take precautions first if that is your wish, whether you like it or not." Subsequently, he pushed it opened and I winced a little when it creaked loudly.
One thing I noticed was that the door had not been shut. There was no lock, no bolt, no nothing. And I expected at least some sort of restrictions.
"This is your idea of precaution?" I asked in a dubious and rhetorical manner. "Because it seems like you were able to open that door without a single effort and that is not the kind of proper containment I had in mind."
"This door is made of wood and has not apparently been attended to for a long time, she-wolf. Though made of the same material as this cabin, it is nowhere as strong and standing," Kane said, casting his eyes on mine before wordlessly prompting me to step forward. "Besides the fact that no one has been here for years, having a lock on this door would not make a difference as you could easily break through it even right now in your feeble state. It is simple logic."
Of course. "But it still helps to be extra secure," I retorted, gradually making my way towards where he stood.
Ignoring Kane's grunt of disapproval, I moved closer and turned directly to my left in order to eye inside the room. However, what I saw made me wish I had just remained where I was.
"What the hell is this?" I asked breathlessly and in shock as I scanned the room's content. This...This is not what I expected.
The only source of air in the room was through the window that faced me, though it was kind of the same height as the one in the opposite room. And although it had wooden boards nailed vertically along its length with intervals of approximately an inch, that was the only pleasant sight to behold. The others were simply horrific.
Saws, metal hooks, butcher knives and all sort of hunting guns hung on the walls, covering each corner. The floor, however, was decorated with dust - same as the walls - and just two extremely thick rusted chains. The chains had been embedded halfway along the height of the wall facing the door, with metal rings linking them to it.
Funny enough, that section of the wall was cemented halfway, starting from where the metal rings were inserted and down into the ground. The rest of the ground was bare with the exception of dirt.
Beside me, Kane replied nothing for a while before touching the small of my back and whispering in my right ear. "This is your restraining ground, she-wolf. Unless you are not ready to take the risk."
I took in a deep breath, careful not to let my fear show on my face. I can do this.
"This is only to prove to you that you will be way stronger when your wolf takes over. Strong enough to break through any obstacle." Kane removed his hand from my back but kept his body near. "But if you are not up to it then I would gladly have you quicker than..."
I turned my body sideways so quickly that he stopped talking and chose to stare at me, waiting for my response.
With my determination set, I gave him the best one I could muster, "Watch me."
~
I gulped and wriggled my hands for the umpteenth time, nervousness eating me up painfully. The shackles that bound my wrist squeezed my flesh and I couldn't help but wince each time I felt the sting.
The soreness in my throat and need in my stomach didn't help me much either.
It had been hours since Kane had left me in this room with no water to quench my thirst. I could survive a day or two without food, it was nothing new to me, but water was crucial. However, I didn't feel as thirsty as before once night time had fallen and I envisioned the blood moon rising at a slow pace.
Trying my best to steer my thoughts away from the ascending nightlight, I looked at the door and imagined Kane in the other room - as he said he'd be in - waiting anxiously and non-too-patiently for me to turn. He'd said it would take a whole lot of effort to keep Albus and even himself at bay for a while so I would be able to have enough time to tear away from the chains and discover what power and strength I'd possess, sparing Albus the chance of doing that for me.
A distant howl broke me out of my thoughts and I gazed at the ground again, refusing to acknowledge the shackles that also bound my ankles as I pictured the moon already halfway in the night sky.
See? The blood moon's rising and yet no sign of your wolf, my conscience reasoned. He was just bluffing, no need to be afraid.
Bluffing he may have been, but that didn't stop my hands and lips from quivering.
I had deceived myself into thinking that I had agreed to him restraining me because I'd wanted to prove that there was no way I was ever going to crawl and beg him to take me. But that was only partly true.
The full reason was, I was s**t scared that what he said might be the truth. Of course, I had considered that before, but after spending some time alone, I suddenly realized that my wolf hadn't uttered any sort of noise ever since Kane had jumped into the scene.
Not one protest, one whine, or one howl. Nothing.
And that scared the hell out of me.
Why? Because my wolf was one to express herself and let her emotions out. Always whining and clawing at the bars of her cage when she wanted to be heard or stop me from doing something stupid. But the only uttering I constantly heard after that fateful night was from my conscience, and I could tell the difference.
Something had changed. And that was what truly made me agree to have myself bound; to stop my wolf from making the biggest mistake of our lives.
I'm doing what's best for the two of us-
I snapped out of my thoughts the second I felt something wrong with my system. My hands were shaking, but too violently to be considered normal. My breaths came out quick and rushed, making it hard to actually take in a sufficient amount of oxygen. My vision blurred slightly as I felt a strange feeling inside me. A sudden stirring and an unexpected awakening.
It was then that realization hit my brain like a ton of bricks. My wolf's awake.
Unlike what I was used to, she didn't attack the cage immediately. Instead, a deep foreign growl sounded from within her cage just as a gruff feminine voice echoed from within her cage.
Tonight, I'll finally get what I want.
My heart almost stopped. I'd never heard her speak before and what I had imagined didn't even come close to the deadly tone of her voice.
You denied me the one thing I've longed for ever since we both could remember.
I closed my eyes as a heated sensation began to spread from the tips of my fingers and gradually along my arm, aiming - I was sure - for the rest of my body.
"No, y-you don't understand." I tried to let out more words to explain my reasons, but I just couldn't find the right ones. What the hell was I going to say? That I thought it was best for both of us? Even in my head, I knew that that was a complete and utter lie. It was clear - even to me - that I did not do it for both of us.
I did it for me.
You know I can't survive long without a mate.
Choosing not to attempt to speak, I instead gritted my teeth as the searing pain spread across my back and attacked my spine. I then let out a sharp cry and fell to my knees, nails digging into the wooden floorboards as I fought away the feelings of pain, suffering and guilt.
Yet you murdered every single one of them down through the years! The vengeance in her voice was as clear as day. And for once, I didn't try to justify myself.
I squeezed my eyes shut whilst I recalled the lives of the werewolves I'd taken when they had come, each one after the other's life had been stolen, to claim me as theirs. It was deemed impossible to murder one's mate lest you take the risk and go mad. But somehow, I had managed to stay sane for as long as I could remember.
"I'm sorry."
You're not sorry.
"I-I just couldn't - can't help it," I choked on my words. "I don't know why but I can't stop it! I can't help but kill them. I don't know what's wrong with me but I just can't allow anyone to touch me. You have to understand."
Expect Kane. A small voice whispered at the back of my mind but I tuned it out, knowing that it wasn't true.
I don't care. Her voice sounded emotionless and cold. Your time is over for the time being. Now, I have power over you and I command you to step aside.
Something snapped inside me, and out of the blue, I felt a bombardment of emotions crashing from everywhere. Anger, sadness, pain, loss, dread, longing and the most intense, hate.
"What are you doing to me?!" I screamed when the sensation all of a sudden closed around my chest area and squeezed. The pain becoming too unbearable.
We have bonded at last, and now I'm taking over your body. The triumph in her tone couldn't be mistaken for anything else, though it didn't override the hate she so blatantly felt towards me.
Now you'll know how I felt, and what I am feeling.
"No!" I gasped out, finding it difficult to breathe. "You don't know what you're doing. You're going to give up my body to that deranged man! Are you even thinking?"
Not rationally, but this is what happens when you deprive someone of getting what they are in desperate need of for decades. This is what happens to selfish, inconsiderate people like you.
And just like that, the pain consumed me, prompting me to let out an agonizing scream as my whole body became numb to my control.
- Writer
