Page 47 of Alpha Scorned

The cave wasn’t big, but four of us hung from metal loops that had been bolted into the rock above our heads. Lengths of chain looped through them attached to the manacles around our wrists. The metal loops were on a pivot, allowing for us to turn, or for our captors to turn us. On the far wall, near the metal door, a string of lights illuminated the space, and in the distance was the gentle hum of a generator.

“Oh.” Shane turned to face me as best he could. We were both totally naked, as were the other males, who looked in a worse state than Shane. “Have they explained why they’re doing this?” he asked, his brows dipped, his hands fisted and his muscles coiled. He was pissed. That realisation gave me hope. My attention dropped to the angry puncture marks on his neck. Even with the abuse they’d inflicted on him, he hadn’t hit the pits of despair.

I peered up at the hook in the ceiling. It was a solid, new hook. I yanked down with all my strength but it didn’t budge. “Yeah, they said I’m going to help them break the alliance between Connor and the vampires…”

“But that makes no sense. Theyarefucking vampires. Just not like any I’ve ever met before.”

“I’m afraid it does. Connor’s alliance is with Count Balthazar Rossi. The Count is the most powerful Original vampire in Europe, next to the dying Vampire King and his heir. I don’t know who these guys are, but something tells me they’re fighting for Balthazar’s enemy, the vamps who want to eradicate the Originals. If the alliance between shifters and vampires is destroyed, it will make Balthazar and the vampire heir weaker.”

Shane’s gaze was clear and sharp. “So they took me and killed my alphas because they wanted to lure you here?”

Grunting was the only answer I could give, I was busy yanking at the hook set in the stone above my head, though I didn’t need to look at Shane to know he was royally pissed off. “‘Fraid so, man.”

“Why haven’t they killed you yet?”

I met his gaze, but kept my voice calm. “They want to make a show of it. They will make sure Connor can see it’s vampires that are killing me. And then those fuckers will go after my brothers and your…” I checked my words and corrected them. Shane had been the pack’s alpha, but those shifters were my responsibility now. “Ourpack. They want Connor to be so angry he will start a war with every single vampire in existence, including Balthazar.”

“But Connor’s too savvy to be sucked into that kind of plan.”

“Normally.” I yanked again. “But kidnapping you meant he’d send me here. And they knew he wouldn’t send me alone, Rawson, Stone, Lionel and Zander are here too.”

“Shit. So they’re planning on killing the King’s right hand male—his best friend and Beta, and then they’re going to target his flesh and blood brother, his shifter brothers, and his people?”

“That's right.” I yanked again. “They want a war. And massacring a whole town of innocent people, as well as the insult of killing half of his council, including those he considers his family, will definitely put Connor in a position where he has to retaliate.”

Shane growled, his wolf surfacing in his eyes. He panted, his body going through waves of partial changes. In the end he collapsed, exhausted and dangling from his restraints. I watched him closely. There was no use trying to calm him. His fury was thick in the air.

“The tranqs stop us from changing?” My voice was steady, but my chest constricted. For the first time in my life, a lick of fear invaded my heart. Not for me, I’d die fighting if that was my fate, but the desire to save my mate and son from the danger that awaited them was scorching.

“Yeah.” Shane breathed heavily, deep drags of air meant to try and calm his anger. I understood it, that violent need to fight his way out of here. “They tranq me at least once a day, sometimes before they drink my blood, sometimes after. I think they only leave the drugs off sometimes because they enjoy me fighting back. The fuckers usually beat me before three of them hold me back, then one of them feasts on my blood.” The snarl that curled his lips and the hate in his eyes was familiar. It was a look I knew well from the prison. If he ever got a chance he’d rip the hearts from his attackers’ chests.

My skin crawled in realisation. Being dominated and helpless like that for an alpha shifter was the ultimate humiliation; a humiliation that would soon be mine, and there was a real possibility the vamps would make it worse for me. Being immobilised while any supernatural being sank their fangs into a shifter’s neck, regardless if they abused your body, was tantamount to rape. Biting was something reserved for the one you’d chosen as a life mate, and only them. I blinked slowly, swallowing down a whole heap of shame for my species. Shifters, alphas especially, abused their ability to compel others and claimed other shifters against their will far too often. Disgust rolled through me. Not just for the crime, but because as a council, we hadn’t yet addressed it. I’d ignored my knowledge of that crime to hunt demons. But now I faced the real possibility of becoming a victim, just like Shane, I knew I’d do everything I could to stop it from happening to someone else. My gaze flew to Shane’s, wondering how he was even still functioning. He’d been bitten, and violated countless times. Something of my feelings must have shown on my face because Shane’s jaw hardened.

“Don’t worry, they haven’t broken me yet. I’ve been through too much shit in my life to be broken by some weak-assed vampires. They might take what they want from my body, but my wolf and my spirit are mine, and only mine. I learnt that a long time ago.”

Respect for this strong male flowed through me. He’d been through as much, if not more, than me, in the prison and since, and still he remained strong and unbroken.

“Good, then we fight this, we fight them, until our last dying breath, because I am not going down without a fight. I have a mate to get back to.”

Shane grunted, spinning to look at me again. “About that… What’s the deal with you and Selina?”

I tensed, debating whether to discuss my mate with the male who’d wanted her in his bed. Except she hadn’t wanted him, had she? I fixed him with a stare, and the fucker just smiled and held it. Yeah, Shane was submissive to no one, and I couldn’t exactly accept a challenge strapped to a ceiling hook like a lump of damned meat. I growled low in my chest, my wolf fighting to get out.

“Hey, man, I’m not pursuing Selina, she was never a mate for me, and right from the start, we both knew it. I have enough female company. But sheisa friend, my only one if I’m honest, and I want her to be happy. She hasn’t been happy since you left years ago, not really.” He kept his piercing gaze on me. “Did you know she became my Beta to ensure an equal voice for the females in this pack?” He paused and his brow dipped. “No, not just the females, anyone who’s been abused, harassed, or bullied in the past. She made my pack a safe haven for so many; for that I’m grateful, and will always respect her. She fought off some strong males to get that position, and to keep it, and she did it all without ever using her wolf to rip out their throats...” He paused, his eyes widening. “Holy shit! That’s it, isn’t it? I’ve never even seen her wolf!” He shook his head. “Gods, I’m a blind idiot. That’s why she wanted to keep you at a distance...”

I snarled, knowing full well the possible implications for Selina if it got out that her wolf had abandoned her. “Yeah, you are an idiot. You were her Alpha, did you never even wonder about her wolf?”

Shane frowned, shaking his head again. “I-I didn’t even think. Gods, she was always so strong and capable, I never even considered I’d never seen it.” He dropped his gaze. “I failed her.”

I didn’t sugar coat my words. “You did. But if we get out of this alive, she’ll need your support. Shane!” He lifted his eyes to mine again. “You feel me?” I held his gaze. “She needsoursupport. You’re her friend, and I’m her mate. She has to know we won’t abandon her.”

“Of course, man.” But he continued to shake his head, his face dark. I couldn’t bring myself to reassure him it was okay, because it wasn’t. He was right, as her Alpha, or even her friend, he should have picked up on the fact that she never shifted.

“Shit, I’ve fucked up big time with her. I never even considered that she and her wolf were not connected. The way she kicked ass, and fought those males, I never even considered...Fuck me…” His voice petered out, and I knew that he would berate himself for a long time, as he should. But part of me knew it wasn’t entirely his fault. I was her soulmate, and even when I hadn’t been as close to her as I was now, I should have been able to sense something was off. We had been in the middle of a fucking war but even so… Our conversation ceased. Shane remained quiet. I didn’t speak either. He needed some reflection time. So did I. My mate was obviously frightened of the consequences of admitting her disconnection, and I understood why. Shifters who couldn’t shift had always been ostracised. But Lina was different; she had suffered gross trauma at the hands of those demons. None of us knew what had been done to her or her wolf. Anger flashed through me, tightening my chest and making it hard to breathe. My fingers curled into fists above my head, and I had to work to stay calm. Lina had suffered enough. I needed to get out of this damned cave and find her, protect her from these evil fucks, and I needed her to understand that no matter what, I was hers, that I would always be there for her.

Tensing my muscles, I pulled down on the hook, over and over, ignoring the pain as my skin scraped off on the shackles and blood dripped down my arms and torso. Shane remained quiet and watched me. When I was shaking and panting from my efforts, the hook had only moved minutely.

Needing a break to get my breath back, I studied the shackles, wondering if I could force a shift, but my wolf’s paws were almost as large as my hands; I doubted they would just slip from the rings. I still tried to let him push through, but the drugs in my system were too strong, and all I succeeded in doing was exhausting us both. My eyelids drooped and my body shook. Fighting off my body’s need to sleep was impossible and I felt my limbs relax, my shoulders screaming under my weight as I passed out. When I awoke, it was with a jolt. Shane’s eyes were closed. I didn’t like the way his skin was ashen and covered in a light sheen of sweat. I hoped he was just sleeping and not unconscious. Taking a breath, I yanked hard at the fixings and chains that held me in place. Fine bits of dust fell on my upturned face, and my heart jumped. Gritting my teeth, I kept trying until, once again, exhaustion overwhelmed me, and I was forced to stop.

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