“Oh, I’m sure, I have the right witch,” he said. He leaned in and grabbed my hair. I leaned away but I couldn’t swat him away or anything because my wrists and ankles were still tied. “I’d know this head of hair anywhere.”
“Then why do you think I was being held hostage?” I asked.
“Well, you see, I was reclaiming sothing that rightfully belonged to . Sothing that had a very untily disappearance,” he said. He dropped my hair and took a few steps back.
My jaw dropped as I realized he was talking about . He thought I was his property!?
“I don’t belong to anyone! I’m a rogue!” I snapped.
“Hmm... that’s not how I rember it. I made a very large purchase from Saboreef. I paid top dollar for you as well,” he explained.
I gasped and leaned away from him as much as I could in the confined chair. My mind was working quickly as I put the pieces together.
“When Saboreef offered a last minute exchange... well, I wasn’t too happy about that, seeing as I’d agreed to sothing much better than what I was given,” he explained.
“Y-you’re Alpha Chandler... of Norwind...” I gasped again.
Alpha Chandler chuckled and nodded. “I am indeed. You are a smart girl, aren’t you?” He grinned through the darkness, seemingly in a good mood.
“I stand by what I said, I don’t belong to anyone,” I muttered.
I tested the ropes again and sighed. There was no point in trying to escape. I already knew that. Hopefully, I could keep him going until Soren ca to get .
There was no doubt in my mind that he would. Especially since he’d need for the artifact, once he found all the pieces. I wasn’t going to give into Alpha Chandler but I’d be less resistant if it kept alive longer.
He’d already revealed that he was after for a specific reason. It wasn’t just about finding a younger, prettier companion. He was buying won to cover his tracks but it was really he was after. Otherwise, a last minute exchange wouldn’t bother him so much.
At least I knew he wouldn’t kill yet. I was safe from death but it could still be a while before Soren could co to get . I didn’t want to give Chandler an excuse to be uncourteous with .
I took a few deep breaths and cald myself down. The goal was just to keep him talking and if I argued with everything he said, he’d clam up and leave here alone, eventually. Once I had what I needed, I could form a better plan for escaping.
And waiting for Soren.
Sure, he’d show up eventually, but I needed to think of sothing in the anti, in case I had to act before Soren made it to .
“Alpha Chandler, I think you’ve made a mistake,” I said, becoming more friendly and pleasant. “I’m just a rogue. I don’t belong to Saboreef. I’ve been on my own my entire life. That’s why I was with a band of rogues.”
It wasn’t a lie, not exactly. I had never felt like I belonged in Saboreef. Now that I knew the truth about who I was and my family, I could confidently say I never belonged with Saboreef.
“Whatever deal you had with Saboreef, you should be talking to them, not . I’m not one of them,” I insisted as pleasantly as possible.
Chandler shook his head.
“Nice try, young lady. However, that’s not going to work for ,” he said.
“It works for ,” I countered.
Chandler chuckled again and nodded appreciatively at .
“Now, to make both of our lives easier, hand over what you found in Miltern,” he said firmly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I muttered, looking away from him.
“Don’t play dumb with , girl! Hand it over!” he thrust his hand out, palm up.
I stared at his open palm and then looked down at my tied hands.
“Do you expect to hand it over with tied wrists? Where do you think I’m hiding it, in my shoe?”
For so reason, I’d decided to leave my backpack in the Jeep. I hadn’t wanted any of Soren’s n going through it at the camp. At least the spellbook was safe in Payne’s Jeep and the map was safe with Soren.
Chandler growled and lifted his lips, showing his teeth.
“Now, you’re trying my patience,” he hissed.
I smiled sweetly at him. “Well, if you tell exactly what you’re looking for, maybe I can try to think through everything I’ve seen and tell you if I have what you’re looking for.”
Chandler narrowed his eyes on . “I really hoped we could do this the easy way.”
“What is easier than you telling exactly what you’re looking for?” I asked.
Chandler sniffed and snarled again. He didn’t like being challenged or called out.
Maybe I shouldn’t have pressed him so much but the more I pushed, the more I thought he’d reveal. I just had to be careful and not push him over the edge. Now that he was threatening , I had to pull back a little.
“Looks like we’ll be doing things the hard way,” Chandler growled.
He clapped his hands and the door behind him opened.
I leaned over as much as I could to see if I could catch a glimpse of what was outside the room. Maybe I could see how many guards were out there.
I saw nothing as two, burly n forced their way through the door and slamd it shut quickly. The lock clicked and now I was locked in this small room with three n.
“What can we help with, Alpha?” a familiar voice asked.
My eyes snapped to the two new n. I recognized them imdiately.
One of them had a tattoo across his face and the other was missing an eye. His beard was still scraggly but it was gray now. The man with the tattoo was balding slightly.
Anger boiled in my blood and I strained against the ropes. I clenched my teeth, grinding them. I just stared at the n, not showing the anger on my face. I remained quiet and still.
The last ti I had seen them, they were robbing the dead mbers of my pack. They’d been responsible for killing everyone! I didn’t have proof of that but I knew it. I knew that Alpha Chandler had ordered them to search my pack mbers and their destroyed mansion. That ant Alpha Chandler had ordered them to be destroyed in the first place.
Right from the start, he’d been behind it all and I would never give him what he wanted! I was going to have revenge against these two creeps and against the alpha that had destroyed it all!
My mind wandered back to what they said in the dream.
*“I don’t even know why all the alphas are so obsessed with it. I wondered what it could do?” the one-eyed man said.
*I heard it can raise the dead and give endless power to those who are alive. I think our Alpha may want it to resurrect our dead Luna,” tattoo-face said.*
I glared at the two n as they ca in, their words from my dreams echoing in my head. They wanted the artifact to bring Chandler’s dead Luna back to life.
Was that even possible? I thought they were all crazy.
But it didn’t matter what they wanted the artifact for. These guys killed my parents. They killed my pack!
Chandler and his n had to die!
“Do what you must to break her... Just don’t spoil her for ,” Chandler ordered.
I saw the disgusting gleam leave the grotesque man’s single eye. I should have felt relieved for that small rcy, but I knew what this guy was capable of.
All I could think was that I was going to kill him the mont I got free.
“Report back to once she’s in the mood to talk,” Chandler said, smirking.
One-eye chuckled and nodded. “Oh, I’ll loosen her up for you.”
I shuddered at his words. The implication was nasty. Thankfully, Chandler had forbidden him from taking liberties with .
Chandler nodded and left.
One-eye smirked and looked at .
“Alright, let’s do this,” tattoo-face said.
One-eye held his arm up. “You watch. This bitch is the daughter of that witch who refused to speak... Yeah, it’ll take a lot to break her. I’ve got this.”
“Argh. Whatever, but I’m not just going to sit and watch the whole ti. You get first crack at her,” tattoo-face grumbled.
One-eye rolled up his sleeves. “I’ll only need one...”
I snarled at one-eye as he ca closer to . I knew he couldn’t kill but there was a lot more he could do to .
One-eye thrust his palm into my chest, knocking the wind out of .
I coughed and sputtered as the chair I was tied to slamd into the back wall. The chair shattered and I crumpled on the floor, gasping and heaving for air.
Catching my breath, I watched as he pulled out a knife next.
Leaning over , he grinned, showing his pitted, rotten teeth. His sour breath washed over .
I wrinkled my nose, gagging and trying not to breathe in his sll, but my lungs had only just started letting breathe again and I needed air!
Slowly, he pulled a knife out and waved it in front of my eyes. My eyes widened and I struggled against the bindings on my wrists.
My legs were free now that the chair had broken but I wasn’t at the right angle to kick him.
“Now, we’re going to have a little chat about a certain artifact,” he said.
He dove at with the knife.
I cringed and curled in on myself but the knife never struck .
Opening one eye, I saw him leaning over my back, slicing into the ropes at my wrists. When he was done, he stepped back and I could move my arms again.
I brought them around my body, rubbing my wrists and rolling my shoulders trying to ease the ache from being tied up.
“What you do that for?” tattoo-face asked from the corner.
“It’s not fun if she doesn’t fight,” one-eye said, laughing.
“Whatever, I’m going to get so lunch. Want to bring you anything?” tattoo-face asked.
At the ntion of food, my stomach growled. I looked down and covered it with my hands.
“No, but bring your lunch back here. I want her to see and sll what she can’t have,” one-eye ordered.
As soon as we were alone, he turned back to , his one eye gleaming.
“So, you’re hungry?” he asked. “Don’t worry, if you ask nicely, I’m sure I can find sothing to stuff that little mouth with.”
Laughing, he motioned to his groin.
My stomach turned and I groaned, looking away from him.
“Hey!” he snarled. He grabbed the back of my head, pulling my hair.
I bit my tongue to hold back a scream as pain shot through my head. He craned my neck back so far I thought my spine would snap!
“Don’t turn away from , slut! We’re going to have a lot of fun together. I took so much pleasure in breaking your mother,” he snarled in my ear.
Gasping, I shook my head.
“But... you didn’t... break her,” I reminded him.
“Oh, you’ve got a mouth on you, don’t you!” he snapped. He threw my head forward and my face smashed off the wall.
Blood spurted from my nose and dripped down my lips. I pinched the bridge of my nose and squinted my eyes shut.
“Don’t worry, you’ve still got all your limbs attached. That ans we’ve got a long ti to spend together,” one-eye chuckled.
He placed the edge of the knife blade at the base of my pinky.
“So, are you going to talk, or do I start chopping?” he growled.
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