CHAPTER FOURTY ONE

Ruby's POV
The place was silent, my mouth was dry, and my lips chapped. My head also hurt and it felt heavy too. The place seemed creepy as I struggled to open my eyes.
I sat up once I was wide awake and conscious and looked around the darkroom, trying to get accustomed to the darkness. When I tried to move, a sharp pain shot through my wrist. I winced and felt the rope that was used to tie my hands… it burnt my palms and I pulled back immediately after realizing the rope had silver in it.
I tried to loosen the rope used to tie me up even though it burnt me continuously but the pain only increased and got too much to bear and the rope was too thick and tight to be loosened…
I began to get frustrated with every failed attempt. I cried and coined my feet on the dirt as fury began to pile inside me.
I hate being trussed or imprisoned, the silver in the rope hurt like hell and all I wanted was to get it off me… suddenly the door to the prison flew open and someone that obviously looked like a guard came in towards me. I tried scampering backward to get away from his reach but it was futile as he picked me by my neck and pulled me to a stand.
I tried to fight him in case I found any weapon on him and perhaps be able to escape with Rayne when I found her but he overwhelmed me and threw me to the floor with a thud.
A grunt escaped my lips as I tried to stand on my own but the wire hurt again. I winced and fell back on my back so the guard pulled me up and grabbed me by my neck "no more funny games or the alpha will have your head" he shrieked and pulled me out. I followed him quietly, my courage to fight now out of the window once I heard the alpha could have my head.
We got to a door and the guard stopped, opened it, and pushed me in making me scrape my knee hard against the floor.
I hissed and sent him a glare but he is closing the door already. I turned around and I'm shocked to see Rayne on a chair and chained to it with her body limp and head bent.
I quickly crawled to her and touched her "hey Rayne, it's me Ruby'' I whispered and she raised her head abruptly with her eyes wide "Ru?" She asked weakly and I couldn't help but let a gasp escape my lips when I saw her face.
Cuts and bruises with stains of blood painted all over her face including her body. "Oh, my Goodness who did this?" I asked and tried to touch her face but the rope burned me again and I winced then she began to sob "I'm so sorry Ru, I'm so sorry. I insisted we leave, and now here we are, I shouldn't have pushed you, Ru, I'm really sorry" she kept on saying nonstop and I hugged her; resting her head on my shoulder "shh you didn't force me, we had to, or we will probably have been dead by now. Don't apologize, Rayne, it wasn't entirely your fault" I consoled her as she sobbed on my shoulder.
The door opened at that moment and three people stepped in. They look powerful but reeked of evil. From the expressions on their faces, I knew they wouldn't be up to no good. At a closer look, I confirmed it was the infamous Alpha Gilbert, Jenny, and Lucas.
"Now I'll make you watch how I punish people that defile me"Gilbert announced and laughed before turning on a switch on the chair.
Fuck!! It was an electrocuting chair. I wondered how much Rayne had suffered in the hands of these psychopaths during the few days that we've spent in this pack. Right here and now, I vowed to myself to kill them one after the other through painful methods, just like they were putting Rayne through.
Gilbert grabbed a knife and dug it into Rayne's thigh making her scream and plead for mercy over and over again but he only laughed and continued digging the knife deeper and the sound of her flesh tearing resonated through the room and bounced off the walls into our ears.
It was too gory for me to watch so I turned my gaze away as tears slipped down my face in agony for my best friend.
Jeny grabbed me by the chin and forced me to look while she laughed. They activated the chair and Rayne sat there, helpless as she vibrated for minutes on the chair, her eyes wide and full of pain as she tried to plead but she came to speak.
I mind linked with her and begged her to please hold onto her life… if not for anything, the promises we always make to ourselves…Vengeance. It was bad enough that her wolf powers were subdued.
" Please don't kill her. She is all I've got"I begged but it was as if nobody heard me.
Alpha Gilbert stopped electrocuting her after a while and dropped the knife into a bowl of water where he also washed his hands.
He spares one last glance at Rayne and smiled
"you're quite lucky I decided to stop," he said and walked out majestically while Lucas and Jenny followed suit like a fool. I quickly rushed over to Rayne once they were gone and touched her, but she didn't move. I called her again, but still no answer.
I picked her arm and checked her pulse and, OMG!
"Rayne" I screamed at the top of my voice, my voice cracking at the edges…
Regret seeped through me as blood flows through my veins. If only Edward had been able to keep his promise to either of us. And now to make things worse he was away in Italy for a business meeting. I know if he is around, things wouldn't have gone this bad, because Edward, the beta of the midnight pack is my mate!
Rayne's POV
How it happened…
"Something isn't right. Someone must have planted it there. I swear on my parent's grave that I didn't steal from you."
"Yeah, I think so too. It's funny how I thought you were different and that you are the one. When I first saw you, I felt so elated and bridled with joy. For a moment, I felt fulfilled and complete, and I thought I would be the happiest man on earth if I eventually got mated to you. But now, I'm happy things turned out this way. I'm happy I didn't get to be mated with such an unfortunate and disgusting person as you. To add to your very blunt physique is a very low IQ. You are the most senseless and selfish person I've met, and I feel grateful to the moon goddess for not having me spend the rest of my life with a person as pathetic as you," Alpha Gilbert asserted with venom oozing out of his mouth.
At this point, he looked so different from the Gilbert I met on the ball night. He looked different from the person that had taken me to his friends. He looks different from the person that invited me to watch him train. Not like I blame him though, it is all me.
Gilbert, I'm sorry. I don't mean for you to get pissed. I swear I didn't steal anything; It wasn't me" I cried bitterly, hoping he would see the honesty in my tears.
"Then what is it doing with you? It was seen in your possession. You didn't take it, then how did it get here?" He howled so loud that I was surely more than half of the people in the packhouse heard him. They all must think and see me as a liar and a thief
"I don't know how it got here; please believe me," I begged, fiddling with my fingers. "I have never stolen in my entire life. I never take something that doesn't belong to me," I begged, but Gilbert or his friends won't have any of what I'm saying.
"Oh, shut up. Do you think all of us are stupid? You think you can act all pitiful and charm us with your fake innocence. I know your type. Poor, wretched, a thief, an orphan, and now a spy. Who knows, maybe it is your bad deeds that turned you into an orphan," the blond from the training ground spat.
"Or maybe she was the one that killed her parents," Gavin contributed.
"Are you a witch? Huh, did you kill your parents and drink their blood? Maybe you are a vampire or a rotten corpse," Lucas interjected, and all members of their gangs erupted in a burst of deep laughter.
"Gilbert, please believe me. I didn't…."
"Oh, keep shut! Save it. I don't want to hear your pathetic excuse. My friends warned me against you, but I turned a deaf ear to all of them, but what did you do in return? You dare steal from me. You are not only pathetic, but you are also a liar, a thief, and a cheap, dirty, and shameless whore!" Alpha Gilbert snarled at the exact moment the door bursts open to reveal Ruby and Edward.
"What is going on? What's the emergency?" Edward asked. Ruby didn't waste time rushing to me on the floor.
"Ray, what happened? Why are you crying?" Ru asked repeatedly, but I couldn't find my voice or the will to speak. I felt broken to my core.
"She stole from the Alpha. And went about spreading a false rumor about him," The blonde replied.
"No, no way. Ray would never steal anything. She is not a thief" my best friend and advocates defended me. "There has to be a mix-up somewhere."
"Wait, Gilbert, are you sure? Did you conduct a proper investigation?" Edward asked.
"What's the need when what I was looking for was seen in her possession. This little piece of shit fucking stole from me..."
"What did she steal?"
"The royal pack seal"
"No way. What the hell does she need it for? Please, your eminence, I ask that you investigate this issue," Ruby pleaded
Gilbert let out a dry laugh before he replied to her. "Oh dear, I'm sorry, but your best friend is a piece of shit."
"Gilbert!" Edward called warningly.
"Not just a piece of shit but a whore, a gold digger, a liar, and a cheat," Gilbert chanted between gritted teeth. "You dare hatch a conspiracy against me? After all, I did to help you?"
A fresh wave of hot uncontrollable tears broke out from the corners of my eyes, and I cried bitterly. Through my tear-filled face, I saw the blonde, Gavin, and Lucas all wearing triumphant smiles. What did I do to make them hate me so much?.
"What punishment would she serve?" Gavin suddenly asked, and my ears arched to hear what he had to say. What punishment could be worse than what I've already suffered?
"No, you can't punish her. She has done nothing. Can't you see that she is telling the truth? Read her or something," Ruby ranted, desperately trying to get Gilbert to see my innocence. "Edward, do something," and now she is dragging Edward into my mess.
"As the Beta of the pack, I demand that further investigation be done to confirm if this accusation is true. Someone might have planted the missing seal in her bag for all we know. Give me a little time to investigate this issue. I feel deep in my guts that something is wrong somewhere."
"What other proof do you need other than this," the blonde asked.
"Quite Jenny. I'm sure I diverted my question to Gilbert, not you."
Oh, so the blonde's name is Jenny.
"You can go ahead with your investigation if you must," Alpha Gilbert started, and I felt like a heavyweight had been lifted from my shoulders. "But until she is proven innocent, she has been reduced to the position of an Omega and from henceforth, would be treated as one. If you don't prove her innocence in the next three days, she will be banished from this pack."
And then I woke….another dream of how I found myself tangled in this mess. If I end up having these mares every night, I might just end up dead before Gilbert and his clique of fire-headed wannabes kills me.
If Edward hadn't begged that I wasn't banished after he couldn't prove my innocence. Maybe—just maybe I'd have been living a better life in a faraway land.