Page 72 of Blood and Reign

She’s the only one Luka and I cared about here. The only one that treated us like people instead of pariahs.

“You need to hurry. Luka’s in trouble.”

Luka’s in trouble. I remember my heart fucking stopping when I heard those three little words just before I ran as fast as I could with Luna to find my brother.

I move forward, trying to catch up with them when the world around me spins and tilts, but this time when I open my eyes, I’m inside little me, watching the memory unfold as a passenger.

But one who can feel everything, just like that day.

I run to a metal door that looks like it grew from the forest surroundings, most of it covered in dirt and vegetation.

“I can’t… I can’t go in. I’m sorry, Jax.” Luna gives younger me one more frightened look before turning and running away.

I didn’t blame her. Not for running or not helping. She was better off staying far away from all this, anyway.

My younger wolf picks up a scream. A scream that sounds all too like my twin, the pain in it alone making me rush forward.

A strength I didn’t realize I had, rises up inside me. I act on instinct, snapping the lock, and move inside.

My heart rate picks up speed as I try to figure out where to go in the dark. My wolf senses my struggle, coming to the surface so I get a good look at my surroundings.

I’m in a long hall with a gray floor and white walls similar to a hospital. There are a couple of doors along the way, but my wolf senses don’t pick up any sound from them.

I keep moving, following the murmurs and screams and trying to stay as quiet as possible. The best way to get Luka away from whoever has him is by catching them off guard.

The hall leads to an open room. A room that’s nearly as dark as the hall outside, but in the middle of the room there’s a metal table, one with Luka strapped down with ropes.

Our so-called fucking uncle Cillian is there standing over him with a dagger in his hand, mumbling a language I’ve never heard before.

I slink closer to them until the stench of blood assaults my senses and a haze of red enters my vision.

Before I know it, I’ve shifted and my wolf is on top of Cillian, ripping a chunk out of the fucker’s neck.

Thinking the fucker is dead, I shift back and turn to my twin.

“Brother, it’s me. It’s me. I’m here.” My voice breaks as I try to get Luka to see me, to hear me, but he’s so lost in his pain he can’t.

My hands shake as I reach for the ropes, flinching back when they fucking burn me. My eyes whip to Luka’s face and then back to where the ropes touch his skin, where they’re leaving it raw from whatever spell is on them.

Gritting my teeth, I place both my hands on them and pull. I pull and pull until my hands feel like I’ve placed them in open flames. I keep pulling when the burn turns sharp, slicing into every nerve in my hands leaving them raw red. I pull until eventually they tear and break, freeing Luka.

By the time it’s done, Luka has stopped screaming, his eyes in a daze as he glances around him like he’s not really seeing anything.

“I’m here, brother. I’m going to get you out of here.” I help Luka off the metal table, placing his arm around my shoulders and basically carry him out of there, spitting on the piece of shit on my way out.

“Jax?” Luka’s voice is barely a whisper, his voice raw from screaming so much.

I swallow hard before speaking while I keep us both moving forward and far away from our so-called families. “It’s me. I’ve got you.”

I grit my teeth, supporting Luka’s frame while heading out of the torture chamber he was in. “Where are we going?”

We start through the forest, going in the opposite direction I came.

“We’re leaving. Now. And we’re never coming back here. I’d rather be homeless than…” Than letting anyone hurt him again.

Luka nods before wincing.

“What’s wrong?” I cringe when I realize how stupid of a question it is. Every inch of his body is probably in pain.

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