Page 69 of The Wolf She Shouldn't Desire

“But I’m not yet yours officially. I still belong under my father’s control. Not yours. And you just took something without his permission. He’s not too keen on things like that. He tends to get himself in a hissy fit when his things are taken away from him without his permission. You just made a grave mistake that I hope he makes an example out of you.”

“He gave me permission when he said I could marry you.”

“And yet, I still fall under his command and his possession until we areofficiallymarry. So, I say again, you’re the idiot who just crossed the line that will cost you everything.” I flash a shit eating grin at him. “Thank you for finally giving me what I needed to finally end this farce of an arrangement you and my father made to marry me off to you.”

His smug smile slowly melts off his face and turns into cold anger and frustration as he slowly realizes that I am right. Or maybe its because I’m telling him this and popping his little bubble of him always being right in his mind. Either way, he’s pissed. “Youwillmarry me, and I will have everything I’ve earned—”

I snort. “Earned? Really Zander? You really are delusional.”

He moves toward the door of my cell and glares at me. “That mouth of yours is going to be your downfall.”

“And your ego is going to be yours. Say hi to my father when you see him next. No doubt sooner than later once someone figures out you have me locked up here.”

“Your father isn’t going to do shit to me. I have him by the balls, and I’ve seen how he becomes irritated with you. He’ll thank me when I beat you into submission and teach you to not talk back.”

“What do you mean you have him by the balls?” I ask confused. Does it have to do with why he would marry me off to the likes of Zander when there are a multitude of other suitors who could add to the coven’s power and reach unlike Zander?

“It doesn’t concern you. Just know that your father isn’t going to do shit over me bringing you here for our little lessons I have planned. Speaking of.” He nods off to the side and then to the lock on my cell door. A male comes into view in front of my cell door with a set of keys and unlocks the cell door, allowing Zander in. The male locks the door behind Zander, immediately cutting off any idea I might have come up with to get past Zander and simply run the hell out of here. “I think it’s time we get started with your first lesson.” He cracks his knuckles.

Quick as lightning, his fist slams into the side of my face. I grunt slightly. A hallow laugh escapes me. “That the best you got? That’s child’s play.”

Zander’s anger spikes again, and he lashes out. He beats me with his fists and then kicks me but none of it causes me to whimper or cry out for it to stop. He’s weak and nothing he’s doing intimidates me. I’ve been through it all.My father made sure of that for situations like this. Bet he never thought it would be an ally though that would be torturing me.

“Hand me the tools!” he yells. I’m briefly confused but quickly realize he’s talking to the male outside who throws a bag through the bars. The bag hits the ground with a thud, and from the sounds of it, it contains a lot of metal tools inside. Oh, goody.

“Now the real fun can begin,” Zander says with sadistic glee.

He tortures me with the tools in various ways from cutting me several times in the same place until the skin becomes red and soon heals slower and slower each time to nailing my hands down and then ripping the nails out. His thrill with everything he does to me increases and soon he looks likehe is becoming high off of the pain he is inflicting. However, a furrow remains between his brows when I don’t scream or beg for mercy. Soon my vision becomes fuzzy from the blood lost, and when he stabs me in the abdomen, followed by a kick to the face, I lose consciousness.

***

I find myself again struggling to open my eyes sometime later. This time though it isn’t due to a drug. It’s due to my eyes being swollen from Zander’s fists. Soon, I become aware of the searing pain all over my body and not just my face. I’ve lost track of how many times Zander has tortured me,lost consciousness, and then started the cycle all over again. I have no clue how many days Zander has had me or how many days he has spent trying to “break” me as he keeps repeating like a broken record. He’s determined to get me to yield or beg for him to stop but he’ll be waiting forever.Its never going to happen. I’d rather die than beg him for anything.

My body shifts slightly to try to roll onto my side, but I quickly stop at the fire that lashes at my skin and muscles. Every inch of me aches from pain from the wounds I have yet to fully heal from and the soreness in my muscles coupled with the ache in my bones from the cumulative torture Zander has inflicted. I can tolerate the torture, but there is only so much my body and my healing capabilities can handle before they stop fully healing. Loss of blood and the lack of replacing said lost blood will contribute to that.

I grit my teeth in frustration. I’m getting tired of this ridiculous game Zander is playing and the glee he is getting out of beating on me. It’s time to find my way out of here. Moving my head, which even that hurts like hell to do, I look around the cell trying to see if there is anything to help get me out. With a sigh, Irealize that’s wishful thinking. There isn’t even a blanket in here for me to lay on let alone anything that can help me bust my way out of here.

Footsteps echo down the hallway becoming louder as they approach my cell. Soon, Zander stares back at me through the bars and flashes a slimy smile my way. “We ready for the next round, sweetheart?”

“Fuck you,” I grumble. God, I hate the sound of the word sweetheart coming out of his mouth. I’m greeted with a chuckle, and then, the sound of him unlocking the door. The thud of his tool bag hitting the floor once more almost makes me flinch not in fear but weariness of another round of torture, but I force myself not to react. I may be able to tolerate the torture. Doesn’t me I enjoy it though. He always brings that damn bag in here with every tool and device one can imagine to help torture me.

Well hell. The tools. I can use those to help me get out of here if I can get my hands on them. A plan starts to formulate in my mind and it takes effort not to smile.

“You know what Zander? You’re shit at this. I don’t even feel like I have a scratch on me. It’s kind of pathetic. I wonder if your men around here know what a limp wrist you have in doling out punishment. I think if we marry, I’m going to overhaul your whole coven and step up and show them what a competent leader looks like.” I laugh loud and hard, ignoring the pain it causes in order to drive the nail deeper. It works like a charm.

His eyes go red and black veins creep out under the skin from his eyes. It takes a lot for vampires to have such a visceral reaction if you aren’t newly made or in the transition stage from adolescent to adult vampire in the case of naturally born vampires. They either have to be on the verge of starving to where they go out of their mind and lose control from severe hunger or they have to be in a fit of extreme rage. And when Isay, extreme I mean it has to be extreme. In Zander’s case, it’s definitely extreme rage. His ego and picture of power he tries so hard to get everyone to see and respect is his weak spot and clearly a sensitive one if that is what causes him to go into a fit of extreme anger. He hisses at me violently before launching himself at me. I gather all of the strength in me that remains and roll out of his path at the last second towards the bag he left on the floor. I quickly grab a metal stake, spin around to where I hear Zander coming at me, and stab the stake upwards right into Zander’s groin. The impact reverberates through my arm as it makes contact with what I assume is his pelvic bone. My ears ring with Zander’s scream that is filled with agonizing pain as it echoes throughout the cell. I smile up at him as I stare at his stunned expression mixed with pain. Blood seeps through his pants quickly and runs down my hand. The heat of the blood and the shocked pained expression on Zander’s face causes a thrill of sadistic satisfaction to thrum through me instead of Zander this time. I yank the stake out and stab him again, this time in the chest where his heart resides. The crunch of cartilage and muscle the stake pierces sends an additional thrill of satisfaction in me causing me to smile even bigger. The bastard deserves this, and I have no feelings of regret or remorse. Zander slowly slumps to the ground. As I look in the bag once more, and more thoroughly this time, I listen for any guards who may come running after Zander’s blood-curdling scream. No one comes, which is a sign of how dumb Zander and his coven are to not have someone on lookout or backup in case something goes wrong with a prisoner, especially this prisoner.

Finally, I find a saw that suits my needs. Better to be safe than sorry.

A few minutes later, I walk out of the cell with the keys Zander graciously gave over without a fight, along with Zander’s head hanging from my hand by his hair. I’m not taking anychances that one of his coven members will try to reattach the sucker. It doesn’t have a high success rate, but in some cases, it is possible. With my luck, Zander and his coven would pull it off despite the odds.So, better safe than sorry.

I check every cell and dark corner to make sure there are none of Zander’s men lying in wait or any other prisoners that need releasing out of here. I get halfway down the hallway when alarms start going off, and I can see red lights flashing down the stairway at the end of the hallway that likely lead to the main floor and is my only way of escape. Shit, there must be cameras in the hallway outside the cells. I mentally slap myself for being so careless. I pick up my pace and make it to the bottom of the stairs when I hear soft footsteps coming. It’s barely audible, indicating they are trying to catch me by surprise.

Retracing my steps, I slip into the closest cell and press myself against the wall in the shadows. I wait for the footsteps to creep closer with high hopes they will walk past the cell I occupy now, so I can slip out behind them as they move towards the cell I was originally in. I see a group of men creep past and slowly make my way to the door as they move further down the hall and away from the stairs.

“She’s not down here,” one of them whispers. The tension in me releases, and I sigh. They all whirl around towards me. “Speak of the devil and she shall grace you with her presence.”

“Boys,” I smile. Danny, Asher, and Nolan all stare at me with relieved expressions. “It’s good to see you, but I had it all under control.” I hold Zander’s head up in front of me.

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