She stepped closer, making a beseeching gesture. “I think she’s asking us not to” Callum whispered.
Riley looked irritated, grabbing a small whiteboard from behind her and a marker. She began to scribble on it. “Please spare them from torture” I read from a distance.
Who was she to ask such a thing from her Alpha? Even if she was my mate she was still an omega, nobody important. She had no say in what went on in the pack. I had not made her Luna and I had no intentions of doing so. What Alpha Maxwell had attempted to do and his son was punishable by death. The fact she was asking them to be spared from torture spoke a lot about her character, considering she could have died from the poison she had ingested in order to save my life.
Did I owe her? Was that why I felt hesitant? Her eyes were shiny now, as though she was blinking back tears and Callum glanced at me uncertainly. I had paid my debt, I thought, giving my blood to save her, so we were in a sense, even. Then she made a mistake. She wrote something down that had my blood boiling. My rage increased to massive proportions.
Please we are mates. If that means anything to you, please don’t torture them.
I let out a massive growl. The look of shock on Cody and Callum’s faces expressed that they knew Riley had gone too far. Reminding me we were mates for the sake of helping her family was her undoing. I glared at her and saw her cower back slightly, the whiteboard dropping from her hand and falling with a soft thud to the floor.
“You think because we are mates you can order me to do things for you” I thundered as she flinched and looked down at the ground “you think that will make me soften towards you?” I demanded, moving closer to her and seeing her body trembling in the face of my wrath.
“You stupid girl,” I said, even as my wolf tried desperately to take over, to stop what he sensed I was about to do. “I keep you only so that you strengthen my wolf, not because I want you” I shouted, causing her to blanch and a tear to trail down her cheek.
I looked at Callum. “Open the door” I growled, nodding to the other part of the dungeon.
He hesitated. “Open it” I roared.
He scurried over, looking unnerved and uncertain, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing the key as he obeyed my command while Cody looked wretched.
I stormed over to Riley, taking a rough hold of her arm.
“You just earned yourself a front row seat to their torture, congratulations” I said between my clenched jaw as she looked at me stunned, trying to pull away without success “this will remind you of who you are dealing with in future” I added, as she looked up at me hopelessly. I ignored the tears on her face, the looks on my friend’s faces as I began to drag her over towards the open door. I could not afford for her to think that I was weak or that I was vulnerable when it came to her. I shoved her through the doorway and watched impassively as she fell to her knees, her eyes slowly rising as she looked upwards and saw her father and brother, her pallor turning so white she was practically resembling a ghost. I gave her a sickening smile “Cody get a chair for Riley” I said without turning around “I have a feeling she won’t be able to stand for long.”
Riley POV
My body was shaking. I felt somebody gently help me up onto a chair as I stared at my mate who resembled nothing but a monster, even as my eyes glanced towards my father and brother, both hanging from hooks in the ceiling, their arms suspended above their heads, restrained with silver chains and cuffs, their ankles also tied together. My mouth was dry. Both of them were awake, their mouths gagged with dirty fabric wrapped around their heads. They were still wearing the same clothes I had seen them in before I chose to drink the poison. They glared at me, their eyes filled with hatred and condemnation as I fought the urge to shrink back.
Why was he doing this to me? How could he be so cruel as to make me watch him do this to my family? I might not like them, I might hate them, but I had no desire to watch them be tortured right in front of me. Alpha Jaxon had a sickening smile on his face as he glanced towards me, while his Beta and Gamma looked revolted. He strode over to a trolley clad with various torture implements, deliberately picking up a pair of gloves and putting them on with a dramatic flair as I watched, my heart beating loudly in my chest, my eyes wide with horror.
“Jaxon, you’re going too far” Callum spoke evenly, glancing at the paleness of my face “she didn’t mean to upset you. Let me take her back to her room” he suggested.
“No” Alpha Jaxon snarled “let her see exactly what a monster her mate is” he growled, picking up a whip with silver strands and gently whipping it through the air. He nodded to Cody who reluctantly opened the cell and strode in, tearing the shirt off of Damien first as he struggled in mid-air, kicking his legs uselessly, his ankles bound together.
“Take his gag off” Alpha Jaxon spoke casually, glancing at me as I stiffened “Let her hear their screams.”
I shuddered, wishing I had the nerve to get off the chair. My breathing was shallow. Cody reached up and yanked the fabric down and Damien immediately started to yell.
“You little bitch, this is all your fault, you whore, you aarrgh” he broke off as Alpha Jaxon hit him hard with the whip, causing large gashes across the bare skin of his back, Damien’s mouth opened in a silent scream of agony.
“Brave words coming from a man who tried to kill me” commented Alpha Jaxon casually, bringing the whip back and sending it forward, the muscles in his arms rippling as he used all of his strength to strike my brother who gave a howl of pain “I wouldn’t be using such words to describe my mate” he snarled and Damien’s eyes widened as he looked at me, his body violently shaking from the pain he was experiencing.
I glanced away but Alpha Jaxon wasn’t having it. “Look,” he said icily and I forced my head to turn back and my eyes to look at where he stood “if you look away, I will add another strike to the amount I’m giving him.”
Tears pricked my eyes. I didn’t understand how he could be so cruel or so callous. My father was trying to wriggle free and kick out but he was too far away to help and his eyes were glacial as he glared at me, blaming me for Damien’s pain and suffering. My lip quivered as once more Alpha Jaxon brought the whip back and then let it fly forward.
Damien’s scream was chilling. I could see the whip marks across his back as his body moved slightly back and forth on the hook, swaying, his flesh burned from the silver, blood trickling down from his wounds. His face was devoid of color. Alpha Jaxon was expressionless, as though he had tortured many men before this and this was just a typical day for him. Another strike had Damien howling and cursing. Tears began to trail down my cheeks. Callum closed his eyes, looking sympathetic towards me. Cody looked grim.
“Why do you cry?” Alpha Jaxon taunted, turning to look at me, his eyes dark and wild “do you cry because you feel sorry for him? I know that he abused you, as did your father and yet you feel sorry for him?” he sounded disbelieving and furious as I tried to shake my head in denial, a smirk appearing on his face.
He moved and struck Damien across the front of his chest, a bloodcurdling scream emitting from my brother as I flinched. “This is nothing” Alpha Jaxon spoke, staring hard at me “this is basic torture. How many times did they beat you?” he growled as I stared at him, too frightened to look away, knowing he would only torture Damien more if I did and wondering why that mattered “how many times were you whipped Riley?”
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