to warm us in between the purging of our ire. Our stomach is long past hungry, the pains now quiet from being ignored for so long. Our throat no longer craves water, and our body, in both forms, is growing weaker with every bout of snarling fury we discharge.
I’ve heard people watching me from the other side of the door. They seem to only come so that they can set me off again. But my wolf and I caught on. We realized quickly that they might be trying to wear us down on purpose, so we started to steep in our vengeance, waiting to react until it’s the right time.
Burke’s words splash around in my mind, shattered, useless, rabid. I chew on some of them, slowly growing accustomed to the truth of their taste. But I also know there’s more to it. He thought he’d rule over me, and now he knows that will never happen.
And yet, here I am, still alive.
I’ve wracked my mind, trying to anticipate what he’s going to do to me. I think it will be something public and obviously painful in front of the pack. He’ll use my current state to his advantage and try to teach the others a lesson. For some reason, I feel oddly okay about that. Probably because it will be an opportunity to break free and slaughter anyone who’s stood by and allowed this monster to run our pack.
That’ll be fun.
A distant clang has my wolf and me perking our ears and listening to the heavy footsteps that cautiously approach our cell. I chuckle inside at the smell of their trepidation wafting beneath the crack of the door. Satisfaction moves through me at how easy it is to make these big strong wolves so uneasy. I hear one of them messing with something, chains maybe, or some other kind of equipment. I refuse to react, not wanting to take the bait to rage and weaken ourselves any more than we already are.
A latch on the door slides open, but it doesn’t allow any light in, and I can’t see what’s going on. Every muscle in my body tenses as silence once again envelops the space, and we lie in wait to see what they’re going to do. A familiar pop fills the cell, followed by a rush of air, and then a dart sinks into my shoulder. I snarl, fangs jutting out from my gums as I reach up and yank the needle out of my arm.
The drug starts to work immediately. The concoction makes me feel both heavy and weightless while my senses dull and everything around me becomes muted. I work to calm my wolf and to try and steady my heart rate, stopping the shift. Getting angry and losing it now will only help to spread whatever they just shot us with faster. I want them to have a false sense of security. I want them to open that door so we can rip their heads from their fucking bodies.
My wolf warms to that idea and stops pacing inside of me. I sag against the cinderblock wall as my limbs go numb, and I pull back on the change, keeping control of my body. I try not to worry about where we’ll wake up next, confident that we will at least wake up.
After all, Burke has to save face. He has to reinforce his weak control over the pack by picking on the girl that almost tore him apart. I wonder if anyone knows the truth of how he got his injuries. I wonder if any of the betas will get together behind closed doors and discuss when and where to challenge the alpha who’s so clearly unworthy of the title. I know some of them must be itching for more power. Their wolves have to be clawing their insides, just begging for an opportunity to lead.
I wait for unconsciousness to creep over me, but it doesn’t. The door to my cell opens, but by the time it does, I can’t move a limb, no matter how much I want to. I close my eyes against the light that floods my dark prison, but I can’t turn my head away from it. Male pack members in their human form pour into the cell, tense and ready. Someone holding chains approaches me, the links of the metal clinking from the shaking hands holding them. I’d smirk if I could move my lips.
A deep warning growl resonates in my