Chapter 50

Dominic dragged me to the middle of the room where a long chain hung from the ceiling. He tied my forelegs with the chain and pulled it so that I was lifted off the ground.
“I am going to whip you so that you can feel what I felt when my legs got destroyed,” said Damian. “I want you to feel my pain too.”
“No,” I whimpered. “Let me go. None of this is my fault.”
Damian ignored my pleas. He reached behind him and brought out a leather crop. Dominic went behind him and pushed his chair forward until he was very close to where I was tied up.
I heard the sound of the leather whip flying through the air. It landed on my back with full force and my fur wasn’t thick enough to protect me from the pain. I cried out and the brothers chuckled with satisfaction.
“Stop!” I screamed.
“I haven’t even started,” said Damian and he continued to flog me.
The pity that I felt for him disappeared immediately as he continued to assault me. How could someone who looked so vulnerable be this wicked?
I lost count of how many times the whip landed on my back. It kept coming again and again in quick succession. My flesh stung with each flogging and I could feel my blood running down my hindlegs to the floor.
I passed out. When I woke up, I was alone but there was a lot of noise coming from upstairs. I wondered what was happening.
My back was sore from the whipping and my bones ached from being in the same position for hours. When will this nightmare end? Who will rescue me from this prison now?
There was no Hycinth or Sahid to save me anymore. I have burned those bridges beyond redemption. I began to cry. Who will save me now?
Rowan!
The name flashed through my mind like a bright light. It was almost as if the imaginary light brightened the dark underground cell.
Why did I keep thinking of Rowan? We didn’t even to each other when we met. But…
I sighed. It was simply wishful thinking on my part to assume that he was my third mate. Besides, was I truly ready to be intimately involved with the son of the Alpha who once abused me?
Oh, well… welcome to my life. Nothing about me is ever straightforward. I just need someone to save me from this horrible place right now.
“Is anyone down there?” An unfamiliar male voice asked from the stairs.
“Yes!” I screamed. “Help me!”
I heard hurried footsteps approaching the basement. I could smell the person even without seeing him yet and I was certain that I didn’t know him.
“What the fuck!” He exclaimed.
He must have seen my back and I’m sure it’s not a pretty sight.
“Who is that?” I asked.
The man circled me and came to stand in front of me. When I saw him, a scream bubbled up from my lungs but I swallowed it down.
I must be losing my mind due to all that beating. That was the only sane explanation for why this person was standing in front of me right now.
“Am I imagining this?” I asked myself aloud.
“Who did this to you?” He asked me. “Was it the Alpha brothers?”
“The important question is, how is it possible that you are here right now?” I asked him. “How come you are still alive?”
“Huh?” He looked confused just like me.
“What are you doing here Antonio?”
*********************
He blinked a few times and then smiled. “I am not Antonio,” he said. “I am his older brother, Andrew.”
“What?”
“Come on. We’ll talk about that later,” he said and began to untie my chains. “I have to get you out of here.”
“I don’t understand,” I said, although I was grateful to be untied. “What’s going on?”
“We launched a surprise attack on the triplets, well, twins, if you may,” he said.
“Who is we?” I asked.
“The River Pack. Some of our pack members were captured recently and locked up in cells here. We’ve freed the ones we found.”
“And the others?”
“Dead.”
I sighed. “I really want to leave this place with you but if I do, the Alpha brothers will accuse me of masterminding this attack somehow.”
Andrew scoffed. “Those buffoons act like a pair of possessed creatures. There must be something in the water here because anyone who becomes the leader of the Woods Pack always finds reasons to terrorize other neighbouring packs.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. Alpha Vin was a mean bully who preyed on our pack until he was finally mated to his beloved Luna. That kept him distracted until he was killed.”
“I see,” I said, following the story closely.
“Then came Alpha Barry who was making all that noise about going after a bunch of Gypsies who were never found. Then he faced our pack but somehow, Antonio managed to wiggle his way into a friendship with him. That kept him away from us throughout his reign until these three bullies showed up.”
“I still can’t get over the fact that you’re not Antonio,” I said. “Was he your twin?”
“Did they flog your ears too?” He laughed. “I said, I am his older brother. Come on, let’s go. I’ll carry you.”
“I can walk,” I said.
“Nah, I can’t let you slow me down.”
He carried me in his arms before I could protest again.
“Where are the Alpha brothers?” I asked.
“The crippled one got pushed down the front palace stairs,” he said casually. “I doubt he’d survive that fall.”
“Damian,” I said. “He was the one that flogged me.”
“Then he deserved that horrible death,” said Andrew with a smirk.
“And the other one?”
“He’s somewhere in the courtyard, fighting off my warriors with his Betas. We’ll escape through the backyard.”
Above the basement, the palace was a complete mess. Everywhere was scattered. There was blood splattered on the walls and on splashed on the ground.
Andrew navigated a windy path through the palace, dodging dead bodies of men and wolves. It was a sickening sight.
“When will this war end?” I asked him.
“When the Woods Pack finally becomes our colony,” he replied.
“What? Why would you want to do that?”
“Why not? It’s what they’re trying to do to us. We are simply going to beat them at their own game.”
His explanation didn’t sit right with me at all. This was my childhood home. It wasn’t a place that was filled with happy memories for me, but it was the only place I know to call home.
“This was where I grew up,” I said softly.
“Really?” He asked and I nodded.
“Were you happy here?” He asked me, looking into my eyes.
I shook my head slowly. “No,” I said.
“And that is my point exactly,” he replied. “Trust me, you will be happy living in Riverland. You’ll see.”
I smiled in response.
“What is your name?” He asked me.
“Jade,” I said.
“It’s a pleasure to be at your service, Jade,” he said with a grin.
I laughed. It was the most unthinkable thing to do under such horrible circumstances but Andrew had made me laugh. It was a good feeling and I was glad that he came to rescue me at the time that he did.
Maybe my cycle of bad luck was finally coming to an end. Maybe he was my third mate. Maybe I was overthinking the situation. What if he didn’t like me like that?
Oh, well!
“Retreat!” He yelled to his warriors.
The order was repeated by the ones nearby to the others who were still in the palace and courtyard. Andrew carried me past the vegetable garden where Brianna had made false promises to me in the past.
They had broken the fence, so we passed through the wide gap instead of the small hole that Brianna and I had wiggled through eight years ago.
Damn! How time flies!
Once outside the Apex Woods palace, we ran toward the left instead of going straight as Brianna and I had done back then. We were a mixed group of werewolves in their human and wolf forms.
Andrew was leading the pack with me in his arms. It felt good to be favoured by the Alpha of the pack. I was created to be mated only to Alphas. It was my destiny and I liked this part.