Dawn’s POV
Weeks had dragged by since Corbin decided to turn my life into a living nightmare, and his attitude toward hadn’t softened even a fraction. Whatever had crawled up his ass and died there was still festering, because he refused to explain himself. Instead, he just barked commands at like I was so kind of dog he was trying to break.
The confusion I’d felt in those first days had long since burned away, replaced by a white-hot fury that grew stronger with each passing hour. I was beyond caring what his problem was anymore. Now I was just plain pissed off.
Every single day, he dragged through hell. The obstacle course beca my personal torture chamber, followed by endless hours in the shooting gallery where my arms ached from holding weapons steady. Then ca the combat training where sotis I wasn’t even fighting back, just dodging whatever projectile he decided to hurl at that day. And if I thought I’d catch a break after that, I was wrong because then ca hand-to-hand combat in the gym where he pushed until my muscles scread for rcy.
But sothing interesting was happening through all this tornt. My body was changing, growing stronger, more agile. My reflexes were sharper than they’d ever been. I could feel power building in my muscles, and apparently Corbin noticed it too because that’s when he stopped engaging directly in fights.
Instead, he started making everything more complicated. The obstacle course that had nearly killed in the beginning suddenly sprouted new challenges overnight. Additional barriers appeared, the timing chanisms got trickier, and the physical demands increased exponentially. But despite all these modifications designed to break , he still expected to complete the entire thing in under ten minutes.
It was impossible, and we both knew it.
I’d watched other recruits tackle various courses around the facility, and I’d learned that the instructors typically allowed people to get comfortable with a setup before imposing strict ti limits. Each course had its own reasonable completion ti based on difficulty level. But Corbin didn’t give a damn about standard protocol.
He wanted to finish this nightmare course in less ti than it took most people to complete the basic version. He was setting up for failure, and the sadistic bastard was enjoying every second of it.
This wasn’t training anymore. This was pure torture, designed to prove that I didn’t belong here.
Asher had tried to intervene multiple tis, his protective instincts kicking in whenever he witnessed Corbin’s latest creative cruelty. I’d watched his hands clench into fists, seen the dangerous glint in his eyes as he prepared to charge across the training ground and tackle Corbin to the ground.
But I stopped him every ti.
I told him I could handle it, that I wouldn’t give that son of a bitch the satisfaction of breaking . Asher had to force himself to step back and watch from the sidelines, though most of the ti he couldn’t stomach it and would disappear to handle other business while I endured my daily punishnt.
I’d actually encouraged him to leave. Having him witness my humiliation made everything worse.
The bastard had even started ssing with my al schedule. Since he kept training from dawn until well past sunset, I missed most regular al tis. But Corbin never missed a al himself. Oh no, he made sure soone delivered his breakfast, lunch, and dinner right to whatever training area we were in.
And then he’d sit there, making eye contact with while he slowly devoured every bite, completely indifferent to the fact that my stomach was eating itself from hunger.
That particular kind of psychological warfare might have been the cruelest part of his whole twisted ga.
Today started like any other nightmare day in the shooting range. I was working through target practice with those dart guns we’d been using for weeks, trying to ignore the way my empty stomach was cramping with hunger, when I heard footsteps behind .
I turned to see Asher, Koa, and Nico entering the range, each carrying the sa type of dart weapon I was using.
"What the hell are you guys doing here?" I demanded, a spike of anxiety shooting through .
"Making a stand," Asher replied, his voice calm but his eyes blazing with determination.
"You have to leave right now. You’re going to make this so much worse for ," I said, panic creeping into my voice.
"There’s no possible way this could get worse for you than it already is. We’re helping whether you like it or not," Koa said firmly.
Before I could protest further, all hell broke loose.
Within minutes, Corbin was sprawled on the floor with three different darts protruding from various parts of his body, completely unable to move. The tranquilizer effect was imdiate and effective.
Asher approached Corbin’s motionless form while I stayed back, keeping about ten feet of distance between us.
"Now you’re going to leave Dawn alone," Asher said, crouching down so his face was level with Corbin’s. "She never did anything to deserve this kind of treatnt, and we both know it. If you don’t back off, I’m going to report you. And I don’t an to the Captain because everyone knows you’re his little pet. I’ll go straight over his head. So leave her the hell alone."
Sothing strange happened as Asher delivered his threat. Even though he was speaking in low tones and I was standing far away, I could hear every single word with perfect clarity. How was that possible?
Koa and Nico tried to pull from the room, but I found myself frozen in place, staring at the scene unfolding before . They had to physically drag away from Asher and the incapacitated Corbin.
They hauled straight to the ss hall, arriving just before the dinner rush when the place was still empty. For the first ti in weeks, I piled my tray as high as it would go.
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