Chapter 37

“Found this vagabond sniffing around our borders last night,” Warrick says.
Ezra looks up but his eyes are swollen shut. He has been beaten up and his face is almost unrecognizable. He is barely conscious.
“W…what does this have to do with me?”
“You tell me?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know this man.”
“Okay, so that means he can die instead of the brat?”
“Why does anyone have to die?!” I shout.
“Just how things are here.”
“No one has to die just because I can’t use my power when you want me to. It’s something I have only done once or twice. I need time. I’ll get it.” Some paragraphs are incomplete if you are not reading this novel on ALLMACWARE.com. Visit ALLMACWARE.com to read the complete chapters for free.l quickly glimpse at Colt who is tense. I can see him trying to act normal but I know him now. He is on the edge and he might just do something about this.
Warrick paces in front of me. “One thing you have to learn, Casseopea, is that I don’t have patience.” He says. “But I do have a knack for getting results from my methods.” He looks at the guard that holds Ezra. “Kill him.”
I gasp. “DON’T YOU DARE!” I growl out when the guard takes out a dagger but just as he takes it out, he lets it go.
“How…” Warrick mumbles and stares at me with wonder and confusion at first but then straightens up and composes himself. “Congratulations. You’ve saved your mate.”
I glare at him with shock. “You…you knew?”
“Of course. He told us everything and I was surprised by all that I learned last night. You lied to me. You said you didn’t havea mate.”
“I didn’t…lie. He was not a mate to me. and I was never marked.”
“Mh…yet you save him.
“He doesn’t deserve death for not wanting me!”
“He came all this way looking for you. I am sure that he wants you now.”
I look at Ezra and I still feel nothing for him other than pity now.
“He can’t talk now but he had a lot to say last night. On that note…” Warrick looks at Colt.”
“Alexis, to think that I had my enemy’s son right under my nose all this time just like they had my daughter under their nose. It makes me feel dumb and I don’t like it.” Oh no. Ezra! What did you do?!
“I…I am here. I came to be with you.” Colt says trying to convince him. “I-”
Warrick puts a hand up.
“Because you were commanded to. We’ll have a deeper talk later. Just like I had with your brother.”
“I knew he was scum,” Beck mutters with a mocking smile.
I am panicked. He is going to torture Colt. What do I do?
This is bad. Why the hell did Ezra have to go crazy now?! He…he’s going to kill them both… isn’t he?
“Mh, this day has turned out to be fun.” Warrick mutters and then suddenly, the kid next to him is dead with just a swing of the dagger in his hand.
“No…you said… no one had to die!”
“I lied. I was going to kill him either way.” Warrick says as if it was nothing.
My eyes flicker watching the young man on the floor bleed out, his eyes still opened.
“You…you…AAH!”
Without thinking, I pick up the dagger that the guard dropped on the floor and throw myself at Warrick. He immediately holds my hand as I wrestle to plunge it into his heart. No one in the room moves a muscle to try and stop me but they do look shocked. Warrick laughs. “Haha!
There’s that fire! You are definitely your mother’s daughter!” He says with excitement. “But enough.” He twists my arm. I have to let the dagger go as he almost breaks my wrist and then he slaps me. I fall back and immediately a guard holds me.Behind me, I can hear Colt growl. Victor and a guard hold him down.
“Don’t touch her! Colt shouts.
“Aww, she is all you care about, isn’t she?!” Warrick sits on top of his desk with a smile and looks at me. “So let me get this straight. You are sleeping with your mate’sbrother? The man who brought you to me. The man I ordered to bring you to me.” I am confused as he says this.
“The man I ordered to woo you so that you had something to keep you here.”
“It’s not like that Cass!” Colt shouts.
“You…you lied…” I say as my eyes find Colt’s.
“I…no. I love you! I do!” He sounds desperate. “He did order me to- to romance you but that was when I came back. I already had feelings for you. I love you, Cass!”
“But…you…were ordered to bring me here?”
“I…I’m sorry. My orders for these three years were to find you, his daughter. Once I did…I didn’t want to bring you back and I never intended to. Since I was so far away from him, the command didn’t seem to work well. But once we got caught, once we were so near him…I had no choice.”
“Ahh, yes…one of the downsides of our power.
Prolonged distance.” Warrick mutters.
Colt continues. “Cass, I swear! It was never my real intention to bring you here.
“But you did. “Warrick says. “I spent years believing that you-my daughter- were still alive even if your mother wasn’t. Alexis…Colt, spent three years searching for you under my orders.
And do you know what the funny part was? I didn’t know who he really was until now.” Warrick laughs.
He motions to the guards holding me to let me go. It feels like all my strength has left me.
“So…you all lied to me right from the beginning?” I ask.
“It was quite easy really. You are such a naive little thing. So pure. Even fell for Alexis’s sweet talk.”
“No! That was real!” Colt shouts. “Cass! That was real!
Please believe me!”
I feel so betrayed.
Everything was a lie but I feel even more stupid because I still believe Colt now. I know it was real. I know it. I can feel his emotions even now but I am angry. He lied. He could have told me all of this a long time ago and I would have played along. I would have helped in any way.
I look at Warrick and I feel much more anger now. This man is trying to ruin me. He is trying to take what little I have left in me to fight. But I am not letting that go. I am going to cling to it until the day I die.
“Garret, take Alexis….wait, I keep calling him that.
Take…Colt to the black room.”
Garret nods and proceeds to take Colt away.
“Cass! Cass!” Colt shouts as he is dragged out of the room.
I can’t look at him right now but I force myself because I care for this man and I don’t
know what is going to happen to him.
“Don’t give up on me, Cass! I love you! I really do!”
I give him a nod even though I am angry at him but this seems to relieve him just a bit.
“As for this one, take him to one of the doctors before he dies.” Warrick motions to Ezra. “He is still my daughter’s true mate and not to mention, a bargaining chip against my enemies.”
Bargaining…
“And so is Colt!” I quickly say.
“So is Colt…it would be stupid to kill him.”
Warrick smiles. “Oh, I know.”
I almost feel relieved because I am sure he is not going to just kill him but…I am afraid of what he is going to do to him.
“I’d be more concerned with yourself, daughter. You tried to kill me. You wouldn’t be the first one who wanted me dead. I am sure everyone in this room wishes my demise one way or another. But you are the only one who has had the balls to try it. I am impressed but, that is not going to save you from punishment.”
I get my composure back. I am done trying to act obedient. I am not afraid of this man anymore, I am angry.
“You are horrible. A monster and I am ashamed to be your daughter! I wish I had never known!” I scream.
He entangles his hands in my hair and lifts my head up but doesn’t pull.
“I am going to break you.
You will learn to follow in line.”
I give him a defiant smile.
“You can try. Give it your best shot.”
All my life I have been punished for just existing. There is nothing that I can’t take.
His smile falls and looks just a bit worried for once.
“Victor, take her to the stage.” He says. “Treat her just like every other who has been punished there.”
Victor nods and with one of the guards, he lifts me up and takes me out. I taken to the small wooden stage where there are poles standing tall with a few people chained around them. They are naked and bleeding with marks on their backs. “Clear the stage,” Victor says to the guards.
The poor souls are taken away and I am now chained to the pole alone. The chains are about three feet long so I can move freely just a bit but I am unable to turn away from the pole and look out to where the stage audience should be. I do look back but there is no one spectating. There is no one to spectate since everyone here is being punished just like me.
Victor comes close and checks the shackles on my wrist. He looks at me as if he wants to say something but then looks away. I swear almost saw some remorse there but his stoic expression comes back fast. He steps behind me and suddenly, my clothes are ripped off until he leaves me completely naked.
I know I am getting whipped.
There is a pause from him. I look back and see him staring at my back, at my scars.
“Do your worst,” I mutter.
He moves the hair away from my back to my front.
Somehow, I am not afraid. I have been through this before and I know eventually, it ends, though I am pretty sure this will be worse than all my other beatings but I will survive it.
I am used to this.
I look back and see one of the guards hand Victor a wire cable instead of a whip.
It is like a whip but made out of wired metals that I am sure are intertwined with silver. This is definitely different than all my other whippings.
I wrap the chains around my hand and hold on tight. Closing my eyes, I mentally prepare for it. I inwardly talk to myself and my wolf.
It’s going to hurt…but you can handle it. I can handle it.
I’ll get through this. We are strong…
The crack of the whip invades my ear before the pain even registers. My body jumps and I hiss.
I am strong! I scream in my head.
Another swing comes down.
“Ah! Mh…” I give a quick scream and immediately muffle it.
I am okay! This will end. This is pain and pain always ends. This…this doesn’t scare me anymore. I…am strong.
Suddenly, that seems to click in my head.
I… I am strong. I can handle this. How many people can really say this?
I suddenly start laughing but the pain of another swing stops me though it doesn’t detear my thoughts.
They won’t break me. They can’t! All these years, I have been built for this.
I laugh out loud again. I am sure that I look like a crazy person right about now. But
I don’t care because this is it.
This is the moment I realize how strong I am. I will not break. I am not fragile anymore. I haven’t been in a long time. Nothing will take me down now, I can take whatever they throw at me. They all have no idea what they have created. Let them whip me, punish me, hurt me, scar me, let them try to make a fool of me.
Will. Not. Break.