SEVEN

Rey was jolted awake by the sound of her cell door opening the next morning. She remained huddled against the farthest corner of the cell, her back against the cold, hard wall.

Two guards stepped into the cell, their expressions menacing as they sneered at her, evident disgust etched on their faces.

She eyed them warily, her back taut, alert and ready to defend herself if it came down to it. They exchanged glances, almost like they were having a silent conversation.

And she frowned, curious as to why they were there in the first place.

One of them stood by the open cell door, his back pin straight, while the other began to stomp towards her, his boot-clad feet resonating against the cement ground like thunder ripping through the clouds.

"S-stay away," she stuttered, her hand gripping the chain around her ankle as he bounded closer.

He ignored her, reaching for the chain around her ankle and ripping it off in one go.

She gasped in horror as the metal bit into her skin sharply, leaving a biting pain behind, but she clamped her mouth shut, determined to not show weakness in their presence.

From her little experience with the beasts, she realised that they fed on fear, revelled in it even, pushing them to unleash unspeakable horrors.

He gripped her arm, pulling her to her feet with a grunt, and she winced, the sudden movement causing her injured leg to flare up.

She cradled her broken wrist to her chest, protecting the swollen limb from further damage.

He began to pull her towards the exit, almost begrudgingly, like he could be doing something better with his time than escorting a weak human while the other guard followed a few paces behind.

She was dragged into a long passageway that was flooded with bright fluorescent lights, causing her to hiss as it blinded her momentarily.

She was given no time to adjust as the guard's hold around her arm tightened to the point that she felt like her arm was going to fall off. She bit down on her tongue, not making a single sound as they hurled her across the brightly lit hallway down to the last door on the right.

They stopped in front of a white metal door that had rust marks all over the hinges and the rim. The guard shoved the door open with a grunt, and Rey groaned softly when her bare feet came in contact with the freezing cold floor.

Her teeth chattered as her eyes swept over the room; it was huge, with tiny white square tiles lining the walls and brownish grime stuck to the edges. Rows and rows of shower heads were placed high up on the walls as far as her eyes could see.

It was some kind of a bathhouse, she realised grimly, but there were no stalls or curtains separating each shower space from the other.

"The hose," the guard barked to his second before he shoved her against the grimy wall of one of the shower spaces.

Before Rey could get her bearings, she was sprayed with freezing cold water, and she gasped as the icy water quickly drenched her.

The guard hosed her down for a complete two minutes, ignoring her gasps and the loud chattering of her teeth.

When he finally shut off the water, she was huddled against the wall, her clothes soaked to the bone as she trembled violently from the cold.

They knew humans were more susceptible to the cold than Lycans and were more likely to die from it yet did it anyway.

"Come on, slave." The guard gripped her forearm again and began pulling her stiff limbs out of the bathhouse.

Rey's teeth chattered from the cold as she felt like her insides were turning into a popsicle. She vaguely heard the sound of a door opening, and then she was shoved into a room, her legs giving out as she slammed face-first into the carpet.

Her trembling didn't ease even as the warmth of the room enveloped her senses, but she almost moaned at the warmth the carpet underneath her provided.

Before she could get comfortable, she was pulled off the floor by the same guard, wincing as he manhandled her.

"Careful, Ronan, she's already broken as is," a feminine voice chastised, and Rey's eyes blinked open, her senses going on high alert as she slowly scanned her surroundings.

Her eyes quickly adjusted to the dim lighting of the room to see a plump woman standing there with her hands propped on her hip and a frown pulling at her chubby cheeks.

There was a mirror covering almost half of the wall to her right with two chairs in front of it, and to the back of the room were curtains that obscured the other side of the room.

"You can wait outside; I'll get her ready in no time." The woman nods at Ronan, who grunts and reluctantly lets go of her forearm before making his way to the door and stepping out.

The woman sighed in relief when the door shut behind the Lycan guard before turning to Rey with a bright smile.

"You have to get out of those wet clothes," she said, her eyes raking down her body and noticing all the bruises and dried blood, not to mention her swollen wrist that had turned an ugly shade of blue.

She nodded slowly, using her one good arm to peel the soaked dress off her body. She sighed in relief when it dropped to her feet with a barely audible thump.

She stood there naked and trembling while the woman disappeared behind the partitioned side of the room. Rey hugged her chest as she felt helplessness sink into her bones; she had to constantly remind herself that she could endure anything they threw her way as long as Beau was safe.

The woman walked back out, a blanket in one hand and a similar dress to the soaked one in the other.

"Here, put this on, and then you can keep this over your shoulders to keep warm," she said, and Rey wasted no time to snatch the dress from her. She quickly slipped it on, as fast as she could with one arm, before draping the blanket over her shoulder.

She held back from moaning at the feeling of warmth that quickly enveloped her. She realised a second later that there weren't provided panties, but she shrugged off the thought as soon as it came.

"You look pretty banged up," she huffed, helping Rey into one of the chairs gently. It was the kindest gesture she'd ever received from anyone ever since her village was burnt to the ground and she was captured.

Rey bit back a groan of pain when the movement caused her wrist to ache painfully.

"You're human," Rey stated, her voice hoarse and scratchy as she watched the woman rummage through a cabinet a few feet away from her.

Her expression remained passive as she retrieved a small plastic box and walked back to where Rey is seated.

"Yes, the name's Nora," she smiled softly, quirking a brow as she waited for Rey to introduce herself before pulling open the box that she quickly realised was a first aid box.

She said nothing, watching Nora pull out some gauze and antiseptic wipes before looking back up to meet her eyes. Rey still didn't understand how it was that she looked healthy, but what surprised her was the way she'd spoken to the guards. A mere human slave wouldn't dare.

"You're not a slave, are you?" Rey whispered in a low tone not wanting the guards outside to get wind of their conversation, and her lips quirked up in a half smile, but that was her only reaction to the question. Instead, she pushed the material of the hideous brown dress to the side and began to dab carefully at the open gash with an antiseptic wipe.

"You could get yourself killed if you're not obedient and submissive to them," she whispered, and Rey's eyes narrowed.

She understood how it was. Nora looked healthy and almost free, except she was in invisible golden shackles; she was no different from the malnourished humans she'd seen the day she tried to escape.

"Is that how you gained their favour and became their favourite little pet?" she spat, clenching her fist tightly, but Nora only sighed in response as though she'd heard that a thousand times to actually feel anything before dumping the used wipe in the bin. Then she proceeded to carefully apply some ointment.

"Tell me, how does it feel being the one mending the things they break and discard?" Nora winced at the taunt, her movement faltering slightly.

"You know nothing about me," she snapped in response, and Rey chuckled lowly, shaking her head as she regarded her with pity.

"You're right, I don't, but I do know you're human, and that's more than enough," Rey whispered, pain coating his voice.

She didn't know this woman, but she felt betrayed by her. The Lycans had far too much power over them, but the least she believed they could do was look out for each other.

"This is the only way to survive," Nora whispered with conviction, covering the gash with a clean gauze before straightening to her full height.

Rey realised that she may have judged her too quickly, for Beau she would do anything, so who was she to condemn Nora for trying to survive?

"I'm sorry," she whispered in a broken voice, but Nora only held her gaze for the longest moment before mustering a small smile.

She eyed Rey's broken wrist tentatively, frowning at the gory sight of the swollen limb.

"You need to get that checked by a doctor as soon as possible," Nora whispered, and she looked down at her wrist, silently agreeing to that.

"Also, you will need to change the dressing on the gash and clean it from time to time," she advised, and Rey nodded.

The repetitive bangs on the door caused Rey to jolt in fear, and Nora rushed to the door to pull it open, revealing Ronan, who has an impatient scowl painted across his hard features.

His eyes zeroed in on Rey, and he huffed, pushing past Nora to grab Rey's arm roughly and hurl her off the chair.

"Careful, Ronan, she's hurt!" Nora gasped, and the lycan stopped abruptly, his head snapping back to Nora's, whose eyes widened in realisation.

Before she could blinked; he had her pinned against the wall by her throat, her feet barely touching the ground.

"You must have forgotten your place, slave," he spat in a condescending tone while Rey stared wide-eyed, unable to do anything with the other guard standing there and watching the whole thing play out.

Nora's face had turned red from lack of oxygen, but he still didn't let go even as she pleaded with her eyes.

"Shall I remind you?" He grinned manically, his other hand shoving her thighs apart.

"No, please!" Rey screamed when she realised what he was going to do to her, and the other guard sighed in annoyance.

"Let her go, Ronan; the Alpha's waiting. We don't have time for this," he said, and Ronan paused, then sighed.

"I'll be back," he growled at Nora before letting go of her without remorse. She fell in a heap on her knees, coughing and wheezing.

Rey's eyes were wide with concern as she was pulled out of the room. She didn't protest and followed without a word as she realised just how easy it was for these beasts to violate a human.

She was scared, so scared. No one was safe from these beasts; she'd sooner slit her own throat than let them lay their filthy hands on her.

She was scared, but she would fight until the last breath leaves her lungs if it means protecting Beau and taking him far away from these animals.