Chapter 6

Chapter 6 

Cass 

The guards lead me inside the cemented structure, and the first thing I see is three guards standing in front of Green Eyes, who is strapped to a chair. He looks like he’s been beaten a bit, but nothing he doesn’t seem able to handle.

“Why am I here?” I ask.

I don’t want to see him like this.

“By order of the Luna, you’re to be our little helper today.”

“What? What do you mean?”

One of the guards suddenly swings a hammer at Green Eyes’ hand, smashing his fingers.

He screams in pain, and I scream too.

Without pausing, another guard strikes him with a small whipping stick that has strands tipped with blades.

“Stop!” I scream.

“Stop?” the guard laughs. “These are enemies. Our job is to get information from them in whatever way we can.”

He grabs my arm, pulls me toward Green Eyes, and shoves a pointy metal tool into my hands.

“By order of the Luna, you’re supposed to help.”

“No!” I scream. 

They force me in front of Green Eyes. I look into his eyes, and he looks into mine. There is calmness in those green seas. He doesn’t look afraid, but I am.

One of the guards grips my hand around the tool and drags it toward Green Eyes’ fingers.

Green Eyes hisses when the metal pierces his skin, but I pull back with everything I have. The guards are too strong. I manage to free my other hand and scratch one of them across the face. The guard jerks back, and I break free. I throw the tool on the floor.

“NO!” I shout at them.

The guard I scratched swings his hand across my face, slapping me hard.

“This is your punishment. You’re to experience what happens to those considered enemies of the pack. The Luna said that if you didn’t do what you were told, you’d be punished even more severely.”

I rub my face and glare at him. Usually, I would try to hold myself back, but this time I let my anger lead me.

“The Luna can go and fuck herself for all I care. Hurt me if you want, but I will not cause him pain. No one deserves this kind of treatment.”

One guard gasps, but the other two just look at each other. “What now?” one asks.

“I suppose we'll just make her watch. We don’t have much time tonight, so let’s hurry.”

I shake my head and step back, but one of them grabs me from behind and forces me close enough to see everything happening to Green Eyes. I shut my eyes, though I can still hear it all.

“STOP!” I scream, struggling against the guard’s grip. They don’t stop.

“Talk!” the guard torturing Green Eyes shouts.

Green Eyes stays silent and takes everything they throw at him. He sometimes screams or groans, but he doesn’t budge. He still looks calm, as if this is something he’s used to.

Tears spill down my face. I hate this. I feel desperate to help him, but there is nothing I can do.

“You feel for this man? He is the enemy,” the guard holding me says.

“All I see is a man. No faction, no color, no good or bad. Just a man,” I mutter.

The guard torturing Green Eyes points a knife at me. “Naive little girl. You have no idea what these people are capable of.”

“You’re right. But that’s because all I see is what this pack is capable of,” I snap.

“She’s just a sheltered little girl who knows nothing about the world,” the guard holding me says.

“Sheltered?” I laugh, sounding almost crazed. “Are you serious? This pack is my world. And all I’ve ever known is pain. Yet I will always choose not to do to others what has been done to me.” I spit at the feet of the guard in front of me.

He steps closer and slaps me again. If the guard behind me weren’t holding me, I would have flown across the room.

Green Eyes growls and tries to lift himself from the chair, but the straps are too tight and he’s too weak.

“Take her back,” the guard who slapped me says. “She’s useless here. I don’t know what the Luna wanted her to learn, but…” He steps close as I lift my head, tasting blood. “…she will hear of this.”

“Good,” I say and spit in his face.

“Fucking—” He raises his hand to strike me again, but Green Eyes lets out a growl that echoes through the room and rattles the chair, snapping the guard’s attention back to him.

“Take her back,” the guard snaps, turning toward Green Eyes.

The guard holding me drags me out and leads me back to the prison cells, not gently.

Dash gets up the moment he sees me.

The guard locks me in my cell and leaves.

“What happened?” Dash asks.

I put a hand to my cheek, rubbing the swollen area, and my eyes go to Quinn and Peter. I look at their bodies, focusing on the wounds from being interrogated, and I feel awful that they had to go through that.

“I’m so sorry,” I say.

They’re confused, of course, and try to ask what happened, but I don’t feel like talking.

I lie down and try to sleep, ignoring them, but I can’t stop worrying about Green Eyes. I don’t know him at all, and I’ve barely spoken to him. He might be a bad man, but deep inside I don’t feel like he is.

My eyes close. It’s hard to fall asleep, but eventually I do. In the middle of the night, though, I’m woken by the guards again. They open my cell and throw Green Eyes inside.

“Clean him up since you’re so fond of him.”

I gasp when I see the blood on him. Even though I can see the pain on his face, he still looks like he’s in control.

Another guard brings in a bucket of water with a few rags, then they leave, though they stay in the hall.

Dash lifts his head. “Are you good?”

“Yeah,” Green Eyes says, as if it’s nothing.

Dash nods and goes back to sleep.

I take the rags and look at him. I’m a bit scared having him in my cell this close with nothing to restrain him. For all my talk about not caring that he was the enemy, I’m suddenly very aware that this man is part of the Dark Fang Pack.

He leans his back against the bars and slides down until he’s sitting, looking exhausted.

Taking a deep breath, I kneel in front of him and examine his wounds before touching anything. His hands and fingers are bleeding. He has multiple cuts on his chest and stomach. Not deep, but painful. His face took a few more punches after I was taken away.

Our kind heals faster than humans, but wounds like these will still take a few days, especially if there are broken bones.

I dip a rag into the water and squeeze it out. “I’m sorry if I cause you more pain,” I whisper.

He just stares at me. I don’t know what to make of it, but I don’t feel like he’s a danger to me right now.

When I’m about to start treating him, I freeze as the realization hits me—he’s naked. Completely. Right in front of me.

I look away, and my eyes water a little from embarrassment. I know it’s stupid to worry about this now, but I can’t help it. I’ve never had real sausage and eggs flaunted at me like this. I didn’t even know it would look that big up close. I mean, I know what they look like from books and because we’re werewolves—I’ve seen my share of naked men and women. I see them all the time when they shift, but…never this close.

I can’t do this if he’s like that. I grab one of the rags and toss it over his exposed junk. For a moment, I think he’s holding back a laugh, but I quickly look away, mortified.

Clearing my throat, I take his arm, which he gives easily. I start cleaning his wounds carefully, and he doesn’t flinch.

This man has been through a lot. I notice the old scars as my hand passes over them, so many of them, far worse than the new ones.

We stay silent while I tend to his hands, but I know he never stops staring at me. I can feel it. I don’t look up once, and the awkwardness is suffocating.

“W…what is your name?” I don’t know how I manage to ask, but I need to fill the silence.

For a few seconds, there’s nothing. I finally look up and meet his eyes.

“A-Alexis,” he says.

I nod without looking at him again. “Alexis.”

As I move my hand to his chest to clean the wounds there, he suddenly catches my hand.

I look up at him. His sudden intense gaze sends chills through me.

“Why…” he says.

I wait.

“Why do you give me…such kindness?”

The question surprises me, but all I can think about is how unkind my own pack has been.

“Because…I’m not shown much kindness either. And it’s free, so it’s all I have to give.”

He looks surprised by my answer. He releases my hand, and his fingers gently lift my face.

As he holds my chin, he studies every inch of my features, as if he’s searching for something. Now I’m really nervous, but before anything else can happen, the pain in my chest hits again.

I scoot back until I’m pressed against the bars, holding my chest and trying not to cry out. I know he saw it. There’s no way he didn’t.

I open my eyes and see him staring at me, wide-eyed.

“What…” He stops, almost as if he realizes exactly what’s happening. “Who…is doing this?” he asks, his voice has a dangerous edge.

I take a deep breath. He noticed. I can’t hide it now.

“Is it…not obvious?” I whisper, wincing.

He stays quiet long enough to make me nervous, then finally speaks. “Your mate.”

I close my eyes and nod.

“Hm.” His eyebrows pull together in a scowl. “Why does he do this?”

I wait for the wave of pain to pass before answering, then look into his eyes. “Because he doesn’t want me. He hates me.”

Our eyes stay locked. I don’t know why I can’t look away. It almost feels like I’m under a spell.