Chapter Three

Ellie

I never understood why Dante felt the need to pin my hands behind my back every time he took me to Zagan’s office. It wasn’t like I could escape.

I mean, I could have tried, but I wouldn’t have gotten far.

If he caught me, he’d beat me to a pulp. It just wasn’t worth it.

I knew I was about to get a beating soon, but this was different. This was scheduled. I doubted Dante would be the one doing the beating. At least, I hoped not.

Dante wouldn’t stop. He’d be thrilled to see my broken, lifeless body on the ground. I was certain of that.

The dungeons were located beneath the pack-house. Thick stone steps led up from the dungeons to a large metal door at the top.

The walls were all stone, including the room where Sammy and I were kept. It wouldn’t have surprised me if the dungeons were carved straight out of the rock; everything was that sturdy.

Our tiny barred window was our only connection to the outside world. But it was too high up to see out of. Just big enough to see the sky and the moon at night.

Sammy always used to say that the Moon-goddess hadn’t forgotten us, even if everyone else had. I didn’t believe in the moon-goddess. Why would I?

My life had been anything but blessed, let alone by some ancient deity.

When we passed through the metal door, the ground beneath my feet changed from cold stone to warm wood. I could feel every texture with my bare feet.

I sometimes thought that if I closed my eyes, I could still tell where I was by the textures I felt. Maybe it was my wolf senses. A leftover from Nix, before she vanished.

Or maybe it was just my imagination.

Neither Sammy nor I had shoes. The clothes we wore were barely more than rags. We’d grown a lot in two years, so they had at least given us something to wear.

Even if they were worn-out hand-me-downs. I wondered who the previous owners were. If they knew that there were two pups living beneath them. Maybe they chose to forget about us.

Out of sight, out of mind.

I was jerked to a stop. I hadn’t even realized we’d reached the wooden door of Zagan’s office. I often let my mind wander. Let my imagination take over.

It provided some relief from the hell I was living in.

I watched as Dante knocked on the door. Then I heard Zagan’s voice growl.

“Enter.”

Dante opened the door and roughly pushed me inside, still holding my wrists behind my back with one hand.

Zagan sat in a large swivel leather chair, his massive desk the only thing between us.

I glared at him, knowing it would annoy both him and Dante.

It did.

Dante grabbed my hair and yanked my head down, forcing me to look at the floor.

Then his foot connected with the back of my knees, forcing them to bend as he shoved me into a kneeling position on the floor.

“Show your Alpha some respect, mutt,” Dante growled.

His hand was still wrapped around my wrists, and he pulled them upwards.

It hurt like hell, but I refused to make a sound. Refused to give them the satisfaction.

I clenched my jaw.

“He’s not my alpha,” I hissed.

Dante let go of my hair, then I felt his hand smack the back of my head, hard.

I closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened them again, Zagan had walked around the front of the desk.

He glanced at Dante, who still held my hands in place.

Zagan grabbed my chin, and tilted my head upward, so that I was looking at him.

“Still trying to be the little rebel, eh?” Zagan smirked, “still waiting for Gabriel to come and rescue you. When are you going to learn he doesn’t care about you?

“Even more so now that he has found his mate. I bet they’re making new pups to replace you, even as we speak.”

I glared at him. Pushing any emotion back. That was why my so-called Daddy had left me here to rot in Zagan’s dungeon.

I watched as his eyes darkened, and his jaw clenched. I had pissed him off...good.

Zagan narrowed his eyes.

“I will ask you once again...daughter. Are you ready to join the pack?” he growled.

I sneered at him.

“Zagan,” I hissed, “hell will freeze over before I join your pathetic pack. You're even too much of a coward to beat your own prisoners, you don’t deserve the title of Alpha.”

I gulped as I watched his eyes change color, from their normal blue to gold, not the black I was used to seeing in others.

“Get out!” he yelled at Dante, as his hand locked around my throat.

Dante let go of my hands, and fled. It was just me and him now. I thought for a horrible moment that I’d miscalculated. He was going to kill me here, in his office.

He lifted me by the throat and slammed me into the back wall.

With my hands now free, I grabbed onto his wrist.

It was like holding onto a piece of metal. Then I felt the back of his other hand connect with my face. Then the taste of blood, as it trickled down the edge of my mouth.

“You pathetic, ungrateful little halfbreed runt,” he growled, “you will respect me, and you will respect my pack.”

I felt his hand release, as he threw me to the floor.

I landed heavily, gasping for breath. My vision blurred, but I forced air into my lungs. Now wasn’t the time to black out. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.

He stared at me, his eyes still glowing a golden color.

Then the door burst open.

Two warriors stood there, I had never seen them before. I’d seen a few when we had been forced to train. Forced to fight. But not these.

“Take her to the courtyard, and bring the other whelp as well,” Zagan growled.

This was it. This was what I had hoped for. I just hoped he didn’t intend to hurt Sammy as well.

Fear gripped me as the warriors dragged me from Zagan’s office. I could tell by the smirk on Zagan’s face that he could smell it.

He must have thought I was terrified of what he was about to do. But that wasn’t the case. That wasn’t what frightened me.

He probably didn’t even know I’d been whipped before. He was never the one to dole out the punishment. He’d just command it, or Dante would. He hadn’t seen the scars on my back.

I was scared for Sammy.

Sammy had been my anchor when I first came here two years ago. He was the one who soothed me in the darkness, after a beating. That was until I toughened up.

Gabriel had softened me with all his kindness. I had to be strong before I crossed the border, and I became strong again. It hadn’t been a walk in the park.

Zagan and Dante’s punishments weren’t just physical, they were mental too.

I discovered that in the early days. Sammy had pleaded with Dante not to beat me. He’d begged to take my beatings. Dante had just smirked, and beaten me even harder.

Because hurting me had hurt Sammy. Not physically but mentally. We both learned the art of reverse psychology. If I could barely stand another beating, I would beg for him to beat me and not Sammy.

So then he would beat Sammy, and I would get a break. Other times Sammy did the same. We could sense each other's limits. We didn’t do it too often. We didn’t want Dante to catch on to our game.

We’d bonded over the two years. We were more like siblings now, watching out for each other. I felt a deeper connection to Sammy than I did to Jackson. Not really surprising.

Sammy and I had shared more. A bond forged from pain.

I could have pleaded with Zagan not to hurt Sammy, but then if I did that, I knew he would. So I let him think I was scared for myself. He would enjoy that. It was what he craved. He thrived on it.

He was one of the monsters Jackson had warned me about.

By the time we reached the courtyard the entire pack had assembled. Dante held Sammy by the back of the neck, facing the center of the courtyard.

He shot me a glance, a look of terror on his face as he realized what was about to happen. I frowned and shook my head, hoping he would stay silent, let everything unfold.

The warriors tied my wrists to the post, arms stretched above my head. I’d seen it before. When my legs gave out, as I knew they would, I would still remain standing.

After he was done, I would either be dead or unconscious. Then someone would cut the ropes.

I felt someone grab my hair and jerk my head back. I knew from his foul breath that it was Zagan. I didn’t need my wolf to recognize the stench.

“I’m going to break you, mutt,” he whispered in my ear.

“You can't break what’s already broken,” I shot back.

He shoved my head forward. My forehead hit the post. Pain tore through my head, but I ignored it. I didn’t make a sound.

I knew there would be worse to come and I didn’t want to give Zagan the satisfaction of knowing that he'd hurt me already.

“Samuel,” Zagan growled.

I closed my eyes. This wasn’t good. He never called us by our names. It was either mutt, whelp, or runt.

“You will carry out the punishment,” he ordered.

Just do it, I mentally urged him. If he refused... I didn’t even want to think about it.

“No,” Sammy yelled, “I won’t.”

I heard his voice crack, and my stomach twisted.

“You’re disobeying your Alpha?” Zagan smirked.

There was a silence, then I heard the words I dreaded.

“Yes, I am,” Sammy replied.

“Then you can share the same punishment,” Zagan hissed.

I was terrified and proud at the same time. Sammy knew what would happen if he disobeyed Zagan. I realized now that Zagan knew we didn’t hate each other.

He knew that Sammy could never do what he’d asked. Now he hoped that Sammy would blame me for his punishment. Divide and conquer. He just didn’t realize how much Sammy and I had bonded.

I opened my eyes to see Sammy being tied to the post opposite me.

He looked scared. He’d never been whipped, I knew that. Our beatings usually meant fists and boots, not whips.

Our fingers touched as Dante tied him in place. I looked into Sammy’s eyes.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

He shook his head, “we’re in this together... sister...”

I nodded, “brother...”

I felt the shirt being torn off my back. I closed my eyes as the tips of our fingers interlocked.

Then I heard the swish, and felt a burst of pain as the leather hit my back. I heard a scream, and realized it had come from me, then another which came from Sammy.

Any thought of not giving Zagan the satisfaction of hearing me scream was gone as each stroke of the whip hit my back.