I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t answer. My hand unconsciously went to the dog collar that still rested against my neck. I hadn’t been able to bring myself to take it off. Alpha Jaxon’s eyes narrowed as he saw my gesture. It infuriated him for some reason because he paused what he was doing and strode over to me, dropping the whip and reaching behind my neck, tearing the collar in two and dropping it to the floor.
“You’re not an animal” he snarled as I looked up blinking and he grabbed the whip again as though he had merely paused to take a break.
The collar was gone. It felt odd. I had gotten used to the feel of it around my throat and now it was disquieting to have it gone. Damien’s eyes were cold as he glared at me. But his face was also contorted in pain. “Riley” he wheezed looking at me pitifully “Riley please stop him” he pleaded.
He wanted me to stop Alpha Jaxon? I looked at him incredulously. I did not possess that kind of power. I was only here because Alpha Jaxon was punishing me. Not because he cared for me. But Damien seemed to believe otherwise and at those words, Alpha Jaxon let out a chuckle.
“You think your sister has some sort of power over me?” he asked cruelly.
Damien’s eyes widened as he saw Alpha Jaxon put down the whip and survey the trolley.
“Mates or not, I will not be dictated to by another shifter” Alpha Jaxon commented, picking up a dagger and examining it closely.
I wasn’t sure how much more of this I could take. He had only tortured Damien a little and still had to get to Father and already my body was beginning to feel dizzy and faint. I put a hand up to my head, feeling lightheaded and Callum noticed.
“Jaxon, you’ve proved your point,” he said sharply and Alpha Jaxon turned on him.
“I will say when I’ve done enough” he thundered and we all felt his aura pushing out.
It was powerful, forcing us to bend to his will, causing even the strongest amongst us, besides Jaxon, to respectfully bend our heads and submit our necks. Alpha Jaxon looked satisfied as he lightly touched the blade of the dagger. I swallowed hard. My stomach was churning. I couldn’t bear to watch. Not any longer. I didn’t care what he did to me. I couldn’t watch another shift suffer, even if they deserved it. I wasn’t made that way. I wanted my revenge against my father and my pack, but I didn’t have the stomach to torture them before killing them. I wasn’t that type of person. Did that make me weak?
I heard the agonizing scream as the danger was plunged into Damien’s thigh and smelt the scent of burning flesh which caused me to gag. My father was silently watching, no doubt anticipating his turn. I got to my feet, my hand going over my mouth as I fought back the urge to vomit, my body stumbling slightly.
“Sit down” Alpha Jaxon was quiet, but his voice echoed in the room nonetheless and there was no doubt it was intended for me.
I ignored him. He could punish me, I didn’t care. Not anymore. I could not sit by and be forced to watch a minute longer. It was all I could do to keep breathing. Tiny spots were appearing in front of my eyes and I could barely make out anything in the dungeon.
“I said sit down” his voice was sharper.
I fell, heating the heavy thud my body made as it hit the ground, felt the blinding pain in the back of my head and closed my eyes as I let the darkness surround me. I wanted to be anywhere but here and it seemed for now, I had finally got my wish, even as I heard the sounds of Callum and Cody exclaiming loudly in the background and felt somebody pick me up in their arms, tingles running down my spine.
Alpha Jaxon POV
“What do you mean Damien managed to escape? How is that possible? He was practically near death” I roared as Cody and Callum shot each other uneasy glances.
“The guard that was left behind while you um” Callum paused trying to find a delicate way to put it “While you took Riley upstairs after she fainted dead away, got a little too close and Damien managed to overpower him.”
I narrowed my eyes, trying not to think about Riley who had been in my arms unconscious, the guilt I’d felt extreme. What kind of man forces a woman to watch her own brother being tortured?
“Where is the guard now?” I asked tersely, glaring at them both.
Cody sighed. “He’s dead Jaxon. The poor bastard was only young and too innocent for his own good. Callum and I take full responsibility for assuming he was up to the task of observing the two prisoners.”
I thumped the table in anger “Goddamnit. Whose out there searching for him?”
Cody shot a glance at Callum “We have our best trackers and warriors searching the grounds and surrounding territory for him, but we weren’t alerted to his escape straight away” he said grimly “so there’s no way of telling how far he’s gotten or how much of a headstart he had.”
I exhaled. Pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes, barely keeping my composure. “He had to have had help. Somebody had to have helped him get past patrol.”
“That’s what we think as well but everybody declared their loyalty to you” Callum said evenly “and we can’t figure out who would take such a risk, knowing that they would be forfeiting their life for the bastard.”
“What about the father?”
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