WINTER'S BROKEN MATE

EPISODE 11

Casey was walking out of the garden with Kenny in her arms when she heard him shout “Daddy.” She saw a handsome man walk towards them with a smile on his face, but his eyes held pain, she guessed at the loss of his mate. He took Kenny from her arms and smiled thankfully at her, before turning to his son.

“I have been looking everywhere for you, little man. Where’d you run off to?”

“That’s my secret with Casey.” He said cheekily.

“We’re keeping secrets now, are we?” he said in a light tone, looking mischievously at Casey.

“It seems we are,” she replied, her smile echoing theirs.

It had been too long since Casey had felt remotely happy. The duo talked a while longer with Kenny’s father; who she learned was called Aiden. Casey kissed Kenny on the forehead before he left with his father. She watched them walk away, happy to have been in the presence of kind people. Speaking of kind people, she better get back to Maia. Casey turned around, only to be greeted with the sadistic smile that was my mate.

“I told you no talking to unmated males,” she scoffed, is that really what bothered him?

“Only a weak man would be threatened by someone still mourning his dead mate,” she replied, every bit of sass in her voice. Casey knew instantly she shouldn’t have poked the sleeping bear. She could see his eyes harden and his vicious side rise to the surface. He grabbed her by the neck and squeezed hard, but only for a moment.

“See you back in our room, darling,” he said and walked away.

The vile creature Casey thought; she hadn’t seen him for months. Now he wanted to walk into that prison, he called a room like nothing happened? This time she would fight back. Maia found Casey outside the garden, and they headed back to the house. Casey tried as much as she could to eat the food placed in front of her. The two girls didn’t speak, but Maia knew something was wrong, she could see it in Casey’s eyes.

That night Damien came to the room. He pulled Casey from the floor on which she slept and threw her on the bed. Casey screamed, Cara had barely spoken to her during the time they’d been there, and like her, she could feel the wolf die inside of her. Damien stood over her, his eyes filled with loathing. What had she ever done to merit such hate? Casey hoped that whatever strength she had left would be enough to deal with Damien that night. He slowly removed his shirt and dread filled Casey; she would never let this man hurt her again. She got up, kicked him in the groin, and pushed him away from her.

Casey let Cara take over her whole body,

“What kind of monster does this to his mate? You are a vile, disgusting creature hiding behind the fact that he is too weak to love and still too weak to kill me. You should have left me in that dark alley with that man, he is a kind reminder to such barbarity. You took me from my family, kept me isolated, abused and imprisoned me. You are no man yet not even a beast somehow, I figure your wolf disagrees with the way you are treating me. Cause not once have I seen your eyes turn dark, you are always in control and yet you to prove to be more worthless than any man I have ever met before.” Cara yelled.

“Shut up!” He ordered so close to losing control, but Casey couldn’t stop Cara, she didn’t even know if she wanted to. Damien needed to hear this, he needed to know what he was doing to her.

“What are you angry for?” Cara questioned mockingly “Has no one ever stood up to you? Has no one ever told you how weak and pathetic you are? Strength and power don’t come from cruelty, it comes from so much more, I couldn’t hope for you to understand. You can cocoon yourself in that self-made bubble telling yourself that you are a man, a strong one at that but I want you to know it’s a lie, you are weak, weak for not allowing yourself to see beauty and kindness in the world, weak for imagining pain and suffering are strength and weak for putting your hands on a woman, for doing everything you are doing to me. The big bad Alpha couldn’t even make his mate respect him without using brute force, now that is saying something.”

“Shut up or I will kill you,” he shouted; Cara smiled.

“Go ahead Alpha, give it your best shot.” She said mockingly.

Damien’s rage mirrored hers, and she was glad. He slapped her across the face so hard she fell to the ground. When he kicked her several times, she was sure some ribs were broken. When she thought he was done, he dragged her by the hair to the basement in his house; which apparently was a make-shift dungeon, and shackled her with silver chains. The chains burnt her skin severely.

Casey heard him leave with a satisfied grunt, and she smiled. Before she blacked out from the pain, she and Cara made a vow; as they suffered, so shall he. Since they knew death was the only logical ending, they vowed that just as he destroyed her, so would they destroy him. On her grave, she promised she would ensure their mutual destruction.

She sent all her pain, her anger, her hatred down the mating bond, igniting a fire she could almost see, then she blacked out.

****

As he walked back to their room, he felt his mate shove all her pain, her anger, her hatred down the mating bond. It brought him to his knees, the sheer strength of such emotions. It took him nearly ten minutes to recover from the assault and get up. He could still feel the residual effect of her emotions. Her little body had endured so much pain at his hands, but he felt an undertone of something else, grief? He wasn’t sure. She was so angry, but what crippled him was her hate. She hated him so much she would do anything to get away from him, even die. He felt how the thought of death gave her comfort, his non-existent heart broke. He’d never meant for it to get so bad, never meant to hurt her so much. He was just so angry at everyone and everything.

He dressed up and headed to his office, where he picked Casey’s locket from his top drawer. In the past months, he’d played with it on his fingers. Everyone in the pictures looked so happy and full of love, especially Casey, you could tell she loved her family so much. He wanted to feel sorry for what he was doing to her, but the part of him raised in blood and cruelty wouldn’t let him. He shoved the locket back to the drawer. Deep down he knew he should have returned it, but something sinister in him didn’t allow it.

He went back to work. Being Alpha came above all else. His Beta, Drew, strolled into his office at the crack of dawn. They talked and solved some pack issues, before Drew blindsided him with a question,

“How is your mate?” he asked

“In the dungeon.” He replied without even batting an eyelid. He heard his Beta growl slowly. He looked up, waiting to see a challenge in his eyes, but all he saw was disgust and disappointment. He was taken aback.

“Disagree with my decision?” he questioned Drew challengingly.

“Yes,” he replied with so much conviction Damien almost stepped back, almost.

“This is inhumane, what you are doing to that poor girl is in bad taste. What are you punishing her for?” Drew questioned.

“She challenged me,” he said, as if that should explain everything, but Drew was having none of it.

“That’s not reason enough to treat her as less than a human, less than an animal. All she did was have the misfortune of being wholly yours and you’re treating her as if it was her decision. It’s not right, it’s sadistic and cruel, especially when we both know she doesn’t deserve it.”

“Drew, are you challenging my decision?”

“Yes Alpha, in matters of the pack I wouldn’t dare, but I’m talking to you as a friend. You need to let that girl go; she has done nothing wrong.”

“I will not get advice from an unmated male.” Damien said arrogance dripping from his every word.

“Just because she’s not here doesn’t mean I didn’t find her.”

“You found your mate?” he asked shocked, Drew was his best friend. He told him everything.

“When…?”

“The night you found your mate, I rejected my mate and it took everything in me. I couldn’t allow her to be tainted by the darkness that is your rules. I always knew how you felt about mates, and I wouldn’t let mine feel anything less than perfect. So, I parted with her.”

“So, do you want me to part with my mate?”

“You can’t love her, at least not in the way she deserves. All you are doing is hurting an innocent girl. Let her go man, it’s the noble thing to do.”

“I will do no such thing.”

Damien could see he had broken something in Drew, something between them he didn’t think would ever be fixed, but the thought of letting Casey go broke so much of him.

“Then I cannot be your friend.” Drew stated matter-of-factly.

“What?” Damien asked, feeling something darkening within him.

“You do not seem to value my opinion anymore. I always knew you were tough, but I never thought you could be this cruel. I will remain your Beta until the time you choose another Beta for whatever reason you see fit; I will not fight you on the decision. But our friendship ends here. I am not the best of guys, but even I can see what you are doing is beyond wrong. I can’t stand on the sidelines without speaking my mind.”

“You can’t do this,” Damien said, knowing Drew was one of the people who would have stood by him through anything. They’d gone through hell together.

“All I have to do is think of how I’d feel if someone ever hurt my beautiful mate, I’d go into a murderous fit. Watching you extinguish the light from her eyes hurts me more than you could imagine. It’s hard to believe you turned into such a person while I wasn’t looking. If I can’t help you be a better person, I have failed as your friend, I do not wish to continue with the position. From now on, I would like to discuss pack business with you. Nothing else."

Drew stood up and walked to the door before he left. Damien asked him a question,

“This is about more than fighting for a woman you haven’t met.”

“Yes! My own mate would be ashamed of me for not calling you out on your bullshit months ago. I can have her hate me for rejecting her, but I cannot let her think that I stood by and watched such vile things happen around me.” With that, Drew walked out, and Damien knew he wouldn’t be coming back.

Drew’s words affected him, but not in the way Drew wanted. He hated mates even more for taking his best friend away. What Drew did only set out the idea he had, mates, did make you weak. He wanted to make sure Casey paid for making him lose Drew.

It had been three days since he’d locked Casey in the dungeon. Daryl had disappeared in his head; he was getting weaker. He decided to go get her. The minute he entered the dungeon, Daryl shoved him to the back of his mind and took control. Daryl shackled him into a mind trap he knew it would take a while to get out of.