Chapter 4

Alpha Jaxon’s POV

Scarlett was pushed by Cane through the door, with a tight grip on the back of her neck. She wobbled inside, her eyes glancing around the room, starting from Jasper, to Thierry my gamma and finally to me. Her two green orbs swirled with disgust as she briefly looked at me. I could see her nostrils flaring making my lips stretch upwards in a smirk.

Her dress was tattered all over, exposing her dirty stained skin. Her hair was a mess of knots on her head, in need of a thorough washing. I continued my brief inspection, taking in the obvious swelling under her green eyes. Her back was bend, her tiny hands clutching her stomach tightly.

Cane pushed her on the metallic chair, but not even once did the girl wince. I had hidden admiration for her despite how hard I tried pushing it away. She had tolerance to pain and I couldn’t wait to see how far she would keep up the act. I broke rogues in this very same room, I maimed them, reduced them to nothing. I reminded them how useless they were through pain.

“What are you planning?” Thierry pulled me out of my thoughts, taking a step closer to me. I wasn’t stupid, I saw the amount pity he had for the girl. After all he was the one who found her at the edge of the eastern border. He was willing to incur my wrath by treating her like a guest, instead of the trespasser and the outcast she was.

“What do you mean?” I turned to him, raising my eye brow.

He was stiff, that much I could tell from the way his shoulders squared up. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from the girl, from head to toe. Thierry was a tough man, I mean he was my third in command after all, but he always had a soul in him. His humanity still remained, apparently even for people who didn’t deserve it.

“Are you, are you really going to kill her?” he whispered the last part but with my powerful hearing, I still got it loud and clear.

“Of course you fucker! Do you think we are here to play games?” Jasper nudged him, looking straight at Cane. Scarlett flinched at his voice, but her eyes remained downcast. I focused on her heart beat, but strangely enough it was calm and steady.

Had she been in a similar situation in the past?

I thought, trudging forward until I was a few steps from where she sat, tightly tied up. I took my time to inspect her, to fish out any ounce of fear inside of her. I pushed my beast out, willed us to work together as one. We relished in the fear of our victims, the more terrified they got the more torture we dished out.

I held her by her disheveled hair, pulling her head backwards. She didn’t dare meet my eyes, but there was a fire in them, a determination I hadn’t seen in any of the werewolves that passed through my hands. She was so young but yet different, my wolf was proud of her resilience.

“Damn she doesn’t look scared for her life at all.” Jasper mind linked me, shaking his head.

“By the time I am done with her, she will be more than terrified.” I tightened my hold on her hair, straining the roots. Slowly, my claws extended on my left hand and my lips pulled upwards in a smirk as I sliced through her skin, just below her neck. It was deep enough to draw out blood, but it would soon heal.

She winced but other than that Scarlett didn’t appear affected. I was beginning to feel agitated by her behavior. I was Alpha Jax, the most powerful alpha in the country. My name alone instilled fear among both rogues and packs. No one dared mess with my pack because they knew what I was capable of. Yet Scarlett sat in my pack, calm, with her eyes closed.

“Bitch!” I kicked her left shin, my beast and I taking her behavior as a challenge. She opened her mouth but no sound came from her as her face contorted in pain. Her upper chest continued bleeding out, its metallic scent slowly wafting in our noses. The site of blood woke a part of me that only I could contain.

I snaked my tongue out licking my lower lip as the addictive smell of iron seeped inside my pores.

“Hold her,” I instructed Cane, walking towards the corner of the small room. There was my duffel bag of tools, placed on top of a wooden table.

***

Scarlett’s POV

I swallowed whimpers as the alpha rummaged through his bag, probably fishing out something that was going to inflict a lot of pain. I had already made peace with my mind and soul, I was ready to die. I had been in so much pain my entire life, growing up in the hands of Alpha Silas.

I just wanted to get away from all these and that’s why when he strode back with a piece of metal in his hands, I didn’t cower. Blood was still trickling down my chest, my shin still burned but this could never compare to what Alpha Silas had subjected me into, before I escaped. It was the one thing that I was genuinely terrified of, the power he had over me, the way I had felt useless under him.

“Thumb,” he instructed once again in his timbre voice. Jasper moved forward and from the glimmer in his black eyes, he was thoroughly enjoying this. He held my hand, while Alpha Jax secured my thumb between two small metal bars which had a screw under them. I had no idea what they were doing but when the screw was fastened, my mouth opened in a loud scream.

I attempted to thrash, to double over but the restrain on my entire body occluded any movement.

“Not so strong now eh?” I looked at him through blurry vision, the urge to spit on his proud smirk crowding my mind. Even through the pain and the dull atmosphere my mind drifted back to my pack. Was anyone missing me? Were they looking for me because I was a part of them?

I knew the answers to my questions, no one missed me except my mother. She had no idea what had happened to me but by now I knew she had an idea why I escaped. I hated Alpha Silas for separating us, for forcing us to work for him.

A crushing pain pulled me out my thoughts shuttering my brain. I gasped for breathe, my chest tightening. I could feel the warmth of my tears as they streamed down, mixing with my sweat. Every part of my body ached, my muscles strained, tightening.

“I am just getting started,” he chuckled, clutching my chin tightly between his thumb and index finger. My heartbeat accelerated, pounding inside my tight chest. I could feel blood rushing in my ears, making my head feel heavier.

“Get me the breast ripper,” he ordered. A shudder dipped past my back, and for once real fear gripped me. I didn’t see the instrument because a blinding pain, worse than the one I had experienced gripped my mind. It wasn’t crushing, no, it was sharp impaling itself in the deepest part of my consciousness.

“Alpha! What’s happening to her?” I heard Thierry’s panicked voice from a far, like a loud whisper.

“Goddess!” My lungs burned as I screamed, attempting to break free from the chains. The back of my neck burned, it was as if something was pushing under the skin. I thrashed on the chair, scraping along the concrete floor. I couldn’t see anything, couldn’t hear a thing except the sound of my heart racing and the sound of someone in the room as they cursed.

“Fuck! Untie her!” I toppled over, squirming on the floor in loud screams. My throat burned, my breath came out in short puffs.

“S-t-o—op,” I managed to sputter the words, with my hands on top of my head.

“Fight through this Scarlett! Fucking fight!” A voice washed over me, with it another wave of pain coursing through me.

“Hey, listen to me, beautiful, embrace it, feel the pain, let it guide you.” I was able to determine that it was Thierry who spoke, just as everything paced and thrashed out of control. My back arched just as I kneeled down on all fours. The sound of cracking mixed with my screams filled my ears.

First it was my hands getting mangled then the rest of my bones. They snapped, lengthened and popped in and out. I didn’t know how long I thrashed on the floor, or how long my entire body hurt. I didn’t know how long my face contorted, or how jaw extended. I had no control over the situation and soon the pain was all gone, replaced by a giddy feeling.

“Impossible!” I could hear gasps just as the alpha squatted in front of me. His face had me salivating, wanting nothing but to jump on him. My eyes met with his just as a heavy feeling filled my mind. I could feel myself sleeping into unconsciousness but not before I saw his mouth moving.

“Mate.”