Chapter 2 – Land Ho!

KELLEN

The pull of the boat had my guts sloshing around again as I felt it come to a slow and begin to turn. The heavy creaking sound of the metal and the crash of shallow waves made the large transport sway, and in turn, my body was tugged left and right, making my restraints rub harder on my sore joints and dug into the bleeding wrists more, as I attempted to stay upright and on my feet.

 Darrius unlocked my cage and, wearing a thick pair of gloves, produced two pairs of silver, thick cuffs with spikes on the inside of them.

I immediately recognized what they were. Lamia and Mike had given me detailed descriptions of the spiked cuff things they used to restrain Lamia and keep her wolf subdued.

He clamped them first around my ankles, making sure they were tight. The heavy chain connecting the two cuffs rattled as he placed them.  

The spikes pierced through my skin and the silver burned. He tightened them more until I could feel those sharp points digging into my bone. I bit back the hiss that threatened to leave my lungs as the foreign objects made pain radiate from my ankles.

He then released my arms from the hook that the metal chains were shackled to.

Pulling my arms behind my back and securely fastened similar spiked restraints on my wrists. My already raw skin began itching and burning from the contact with the silver. The prongs, penetrate through the bone like hot skewers.

No sooner did Darrius have the new restraints fastened tightly on me, than he then brought out a needle ready to inject me with a liquid that held a slight green tinge to it, otherwise clear.

I bucked my body and swiveled around, trying to avoid being pricked by it. My movements were still limited and he overpowered me easily. I threw a head butt at him when he grabbed my arms, managing to bust his nose, but he recovered quickly and stuck the needle into my neck.

I dropped to the floor like my body had suddenly been weighted down. the heaviness of my limbs growing by the second and my head began to pound and my sight dazed.

I wasn’t knocked out but I felt like a zombie-like I was jacked up on copious amounts of belladonna and alcohol.

“Fucking ranked wolves,” I heard Darrius groan viciously, hand over his nose, retreating from the cage and mumbling something about not being paid enough.

I slumped into the corner, drained of energy, with a depleted life force. I was utterly screwed and I was losing hope.

My thoughts again, go back to Lamia, and the time when she had been kidnapped by Silas. Recollecting how long it took us to find her and the fact that we only found her due to a lucky break. They had to find me, right? I mean how does a King go missing and no one notices? Someone had to see or know how I got on this boat.

I just hoped Mike would figure out where I was soon before it was too late. Because Goddess knows, I have no clue where I am or even what continent we will be docking at.

I couldn’t make sense of any of this.

A little while later, after the boat had been still for a while and I could see the beam of light begin to fade, the sound of heavy clanking footsteps reached my ears again and the dim lighting from the single bulb began to give out a low yellow glow.

“Get the cage open Darrius, the sooner this wolf fuck is off my boat, the better.” The man with the stained shirt and stale breath huffed to my tormentor.

“Aye Pete, with pleasure.” Darrius crowed.

So that was his name, Pete. I thought, finally learning the name of the other grotesque piece of shit. If I live through whatever the fuck this shit is, I promised myself right there, that I would come back for Pete and Darrius.

Darrius unlocked the cage, coming in with his thick gloves, and grabbed the metal chain that linked the two cuffs on my wrists. Yanking me harshly to my feet, after a few stumbles and dragging me out of the cage I had been in for the past few days, I managed to find my footing.

He pulled me out of the hull and into a long corridor; he then pushed me towards the metal set of stairs that sat in the middle of it. “Up” he gave the command, pushing me again to walk up the steps.

At the top stood two men, holding what looked to be; long cattle prods. Ready to corral or tase my naked ass if I thought of stepping out of line or fighting back. I highly assumed these prods carried a much higher voltage than that of the ones I have known of and would most definitely put me on my ass in an instant without the presence of my wolf.

I was led up and out through a gangway and onto a metal walkway that connected to the docks. The fresh air was heaven to my senses and I gulped it up. Briefly letting my eyes close before, I was prodded in the back and shoved forward.

My skin relished the warm night air, the slight breeze made me acutely aware of my open wounds, but I didn’t care, I was happy to be out of that cage.

The docks were quiet this time of night, the usual hustle and bustle of cargo loaders and workers, I assumed had gone home for the night. I had only visited a port once when my father took me with him on a business trip. We had gone to a large harbor city to oversee some export goods that were being shipped out and my father had some business to take care of with one of our import/export companies.

Darrius pulled me along until I was standing next to four other men and a group of around eight women, who were huddled together, equally as naked. I lifted my nose and scented them discretely. They were a mixed group; at least 3 wolves, 2 cats, and a bear. The other two held the scent of humans.

The four men smelled like wolves but were weak, so I assumed they were Omega’s, lesser-ranking wolves.

I bit my cheek in anger, wanting to lash out at the fuckers who had kidnapped these women and men. Without Conri, it was no use, I would just be putting myself and the other captives in harm’s way if I tried anything. Despite not being able to punish these fuckers, I was still seething. It made my blood boil.

If I ever, no… when I got out of this mess I would personally see to having this type of bullshit stop. I would shut it the fuck down. I was honestly not just bat shit angry but disgusted that this type of thing, trafficking, was happening in my kingdom.

As we were made to walk along the dock, the women, men, and myself being corralled that way by pushing, shoving, and threats, I noticed a few men standing ahead, by some transport trucks. At first, I didn’t pay much attention, but as we neared the men and trucks I recognized the man who called himself Jack.

The man who seemed to know me and had been one of Lamia’s tormentors.

I gave him a sneer and leered at the other men. The one standing next to Jack looked familiar, even with his back turned to me, and I got a sense of déjà vu, a tedious familiarity from him.

The man turned around and I recognized him immediately. I could never forget his face; it was ingrained into my brain. All the time pouring over reports and files on this guy, trying to track him down, countless pictures of him, yet I had never found him.

My eyes were wide and my mouth slack. I had been looking for him for three years, more so recently after the royal pack was attacked and my parents died. At first, I was in disbelief that I would find him now, then it turned to raw unadulterated anger.

Not only could I not get my hands on him and squeeze the life out of him, but I was also in these damn cuffs because of him.

“You mother fucker!” I growled at the man next to Jack. Oliver.

I pulled on the chains, stepped out of line, and made a move toward him. I didn’t care, I just wanted to hurt him. Any way I could.

“I will fucking kill you! You piece of shit!” I screamed, trying to get to him.

Oliver looked unphased, not even a tremble. He turned his head towards Jack, “Are we sure his wolf is dormant?” He asked. Jack chuckled at his question.

“All good Ollie, no worries,” he told his comrade.

“Do you hear me, Oliver? I will fucking kill you if it’s the last thing I do!” I began to shout, still tugging on the cuffs and chains that linked them. I lunged forward “You piece of shit cowar…. ARGGGHHHH”

The unpleasant sting of what felt like 100 volts ripped through my body, my teeth clenched together and my body began to convulse. It was like lighting ripping through me and setting every nerve on edge all at once.

I fell to the ground when they did it again. My limbs stiffened and my mouth dried up, the excruciating pain shooting through me shook my brain like a lone peanut in a jar.

“Prince-ee, why you got hate Ollie, he’s just doing the job he was paid to do.” Jack crouched down next to me, the fucking smirk back on his face. He enjoyed watching my torment. “Awe you’re just pissed because he got the better of you.” He began to laugh.

I looked towards Oliver. His hazel eyes trained on me. For a second, I thought I saw fear in his eyes before they flashed to a yellowy-orange, and then it was gone. Now he looked at me with no expression, his hands behind his back and facial features relaxed. Just watching the show.

I swear to the moon goddess, I will kill him.

“Ughhhh” I was shocked by the prod again. This time my vision became blurry and dark. My tongue felt like it swelled ten times larger and became slack.

I heard Jack’s voice “Get him up and in the truck. The sooner he ain’t our problem the better.” He sounded a million miles away, but I knew he was still standing beside me.

My body was hoisted up and someone began to drag me. I felt two men lift my stiff and useless frame up and then toss me onto a hard metal floor. They closed the doors and everything went black.

I tried to adjust my eyes, but my body gave out and I must have passed out again.

When I came to, I was still shrouded in darkness. The rumbling of an engine let me know I was in the back of one of those transport trucks. I groaned and tried to sit up straight, my body still feeling stiff.

“Man, you are awake. I thought for sure you be dead after they hit you with those prods, many times.” A voice with a thick accent came from the darkness, some words rolling from his tongue, his dialect close to the shifters who come from the jungle of Tolba, a territory south of the cat kingdom.

“I would have liked to have seen him break out of these cuffs.” Another man’s voice piped up. “I was hoping you would.” He said, his accent sounded more like my own.

I sat up straighter, leaning my back against the side of the moving vehicle. For a twenty-year-old, I felt like I was seventy. Everything on me hurts.

My voice was gravelly and rough when I spoke, probably due to the cattle prods and lack of fluids. “Where…” I shook my head, trying to get my thoughts right. “Can someone explain to me, how we got here and where we are going?”

I was hoping at least one of these men could tell me. Give me something, anything.

“You’ve been sold young wolf,” The man with the thick jungle accent told me.

“Sold?” I questioned, not to him in particular, more to myself.

Sold, I was still trying to wrap my brain around it, make sense of it. Oliver kidnapped me and sold me. But how?

“My name is Ajani. I was Beta of the Hallow Rock Tribe. They took me when I was out patrolling. Shipped me down south.” He explained. “You are a ranked wolf; I can smell your power and feel your aura.”

“Do you have your wolf?” I asked surprised because honestly, I could scent their ‘were’ race, but other than that I had lost all other senses and hadn’t felt Conri since before I woke up in the hull of the boat.

“You must have caused some problems for them to fuck you up like they have.” The second man said. “Your senses will come back; it took me a week before I could even speak with my wolf.”

My head shot up looking for the man in the darkness, his words piquing my interest. “Your wolf came back?” I asked excitedly and hopeful.

“Yeah, I can feel him, but that’s it. I’m not ranked, so I don’t communicate with him much anyway.” The man said in a nonchalant tone. “But my sight and smell came back as strong as before.” He said with a little more pep.

“What is your name, young Wolf?” Ajani questioned me.

“Kellen,” I rasped, “King Kellen of the New Moon and the Royal Pack of werewolves. Knight to the Queen of shifters” I said proudly, then dropping my tone when I realized that meant nothing right now. “Or at least I was.”

“Your majesty, it is a great honor to be in your presence,” Ajani said.

I scoffed out loud, leaning my head in my hands, feeling helpless. “It doesn’t mean anything right now, though, does it,” I said more to myself than the men in the dark.

“If only I had my wolf…” I sighed. I was starting to feel defeated.