Tyson
My entire body ached as I woke, every muscle. Every cell throbbed as my wolf healed me, he was weak but had enough strength to heal my wounds. Sitting up, I find my mother resting with her head on my hand. My father is asleep next to Ace. I could smell the saltiness of my mother's tears in the air.
"Mom?' I say shaking her shoulder, her head snapping up to look at me. I couldn't see Ryker and I desperately wanted to check on Reika. Thank her for saving us, we would be dead if it wasn't for her. My brother would be dead if she didn't get to us so quickly.
"How do you feel?" My mother asks, cupping my cheek.
"I'm okay mom, has Ace woken yet?" She nods,
"Yes for a few minutes but passed out again, do you remember what happened?" She asks softly. I swallow and nod. Tears welling in my eyes. I thought he was going to die, thought my brother was going to die right in front of me.
"Yes, we were running, wait, where is Reika? She was hurt pretty badly," I ask my mother. She looks at me confused.
"Reika?"
"Yes mom, where is she I need to see her, is she alright?" I ask worried when she looks at my father. He leans forward looking at me.
"She is in the cells for attacking you, Ryker is with her," My father says, his eyebrows bunching up confused. Why did he look confused? The cells, why would she be in the cells. I get up throwing my legs over the side.
"Wait, you're still not healed," My mother shrieks. I shove past her, my father blocking me and I barge through him. My thoughts on Reika. If she was in the cells, that meant she was being punished. I race down the stairs to the basement door, my father on my heels.
"Son, what are you doing?" He asks when I twist the doorknob. It was locked, backing up. I ran at it, dropping my shoulder and barreling straight through it. My shoulder sears with pain as the door bursts open and I manage to grip the railing before falling completely down the stairs. I could hear crying making adrenaline pump through me, hear her screams making me run down the stairs.
All I could smell was blood, urine, and wolfsbane making me gag at the pungent smell. I see the far cell door open and race toward it. Freezing at the sight of her chained, hanging limply drenched in her own blood. My brother twirled a knife between his fingers. Rage hits me and Terian, my wolf forces the shift. My brother spins around with shock on his face.
"Tyson, you shouldn't be here," he says, and I lunge at him. Our teeth ripped into him and knocked him backward. He growls, shaking his head as it knocks on the table leg. I get up, my entire body trembling in rage. I move to Reika trying to lift her down but her wrists are padlocked, I pull the gag from her mouth. My fingers burn from the wolfsbane it is doused in.
"Tyson," she murmurs. My eyes follow the chain and I see it tied to the wall. I walk over ripping it off and Ryker jumps to his feet. I turn quickly, catching her before she hits the hard cement floor.
"What are you doing?' He screams enraged. She whimpers as I place her on the ground, her skin burning mine and I could smell the wolfsbane covering every inch of her flesh. I hiss at my sizzling skin. Ryker grips my shoulder and I spin growling at him, my wolf eyes peering back at him and I feel my canines elongate.
"You fucking monster, she is your mate," I tell him, tears brimming in my eyes at the state of her.
"She knew the consequences of attacking you," He bellows back.
"She didn't fucking attack us, she fucking saved us," I scream back at him. Her hands were clutching me, shaking violently as she tried to remain upright as I held her against me. Ryker's face falls, the color draining from it completely and I hear his heart palpitate in his chest erratically.
"What are you talking about, there were no other scents in that forest Tyson, you must be confused."
"It wasn't her, he snuck up on us, we didn't pick up his scent either, not till it was too late. He attacked Ace, he didn't even have time to shift to fight back. I shifted attacking him and he ripped us to pieces, Reika saved us, we would be dead if she didn't come back, we were chasing each other through the fucking woods Ryker. She ran ahead and the man came at us from the side, we didn't see him till he walked out from amongst the trees, if she didn't hear us and come back we would be dead," I tell him. My brother looks like he is about to throw up and my father rushes over to me helping me to sit her up, her naked body shaking violently.
"Shh it's okay Reika, I won't let him hurt you no more," I tell her before scooping her broken body up with my father's help. Her skin burning me and my father.
Turning I see Ryker frozen on the spot, his eyes on his mate and what he did to her. "I hope she fucking rejects you," I spit at him.
"I thought, I saw her standing over your body Tyson, how was I supposed to know?" He says.
"You could have fucking asked her," I tell him walking out of the cell.
"Help me get her to the bathroom, we need to get the wolfsbane off her," I tell my father, he grabs her and she screams. I glare at my father did he partake in her torture. I grabbed her off him, she wasn't very heavy being underweight and I felt my wolf lend me his strength, forcing me to heal quicker as her skin burns mine.
"Wait, I don't understand. If it wasn't her, who was it then, we found no one else, Tyson," My brother asks, I turn to face him.
"Some man with one fucking eye," I tell him before walking up the steps. I hear him gasp but ignore him walking up the steps with Reika. I walk to the downstairs bathroom, my father opening the door and I hear my mother racing down the steps to see what is going on. I placed her in the bottom of the shower stall. Grabbing the showerhead, I turn it on, adjusting the shower temperature as she leans heavily on the tiled wall before passing out.