Chapter 45
**Roman’s POV**
Time doesn't exist down here, sometimes the door in the ceiling opens and there is sun shining in, other times I catch a glimpse of the stars that I miss dearly. Most of the time down here though I am lost in the throes of pain at the hands of Todd, or Greta and I just sit in silence both knowing that nothing we say can bring comfort to the other. So we sit, with our only company being the thoughts in our head till we collapse from exhaustion or pain.
“Come on Roman, if you just tell us where the safe house is on your pack lands, Todd here can leave you alone” Samira sings as Todd burns through my left pant leg, my skin singed with a red hot fire poker. I grind my teeth together to try and suppress my reaction to the fiery pain. Everytime they come down here they throw question after question at Greta and I hoping we will break and let something slip.
Everytime though this is the question they always come back to, where is the safe house, where do we hide our most vulnerable pack members when under attack. I will die and I know Greta will too before we ever disclose that information, knowing that in doing so we are feeding our pack members to the wolves.
“You just need to point to it on the map and all the pain stops, it’s simple really” Todd says with a smile dancing on his lips as he digs the hot iron into the soft flesh of my thigh, past the first layer of skin and into the muscle. His promise makes no sense though, again each of my hands are attached to a chain, shackled above my head leaving me no movement to point at a map. As much as Luna Samira wants information, Todd just wants to hurt me in revenge for his brother. I clench my hands into tight fists and hold my tongue; however, over and over again, they will not break me.
Eventually they tire after getting little reaction and no information out of either of us, although they both have an air of superiority and confidence surrounding them, I can tell that Samira especially is starting to wear a little thin. I feel that this is the last piece of information she needs out of me till she is ready to take down Silver Eclipse.
Thankfully the pain begins to fade sooner rather than later, and it gets me thinking. I don’t remember the last dose of wolfsbane, unless it happened while I was passed out. I do not recall getting pricked with a syringe of the toxin, and I have been extremely careful of what I have eaten while here.
Meals have been sporadic, a mix of porridge, stale bread and fruit that is wrinkled and over ripe. The only food Greta and I have consumed though is the fruit, not trusting anything else. The fruit though is a rare treat and the effects of malnutrition are visible all over our bodies.
All of our meals are delivered by Qiang and even he seems to be slowly deteriorating every time he comes down. Every time I see him I ask what he is going through up there, but he never says a single word, just leaves our food and rushes out.
Even with losing muscle mass and my bones being even more pronounced under my skin I feel my strength building and my wolf buzzing under my skin. Relief and hope finally begins to spark within my chest. “Greta, Do you still have that knife hidden somewhere?”
“Yeah Pup, I’m waiting for the right moment to plunge it right into Todd’s heart” she growls out, and I do not doubt her promise for revenge.
“Well get ready, I can feel my wolf and they are slowly healing me, if they leave us alone for a few more hours I might be able to break us out of these restraints”
………….
Time slowly passes but not enough, I feel stronger than I have in, I have no idea how long but it’s not enough. My skin still feels raw, and my muscles still ache, but time has run out and the ceiling door slams open.
“I am running out of time boy and I was thinking, maybe you just needed a little motivation to get some answers out of you. What better way to inspire an Alpha than to endanger his pack members” Samira marches down the stairs holding Qi close to her chest with a knife against his neck. Todd follows behind unlocking the cell door so the three of them can get right up close.
“Can you smell his fear, Roman? Can you hear his heart beating? Do you want to see his life leave his eyes? or do you want to tell me where the safe house is hidden?”
Luna Samira was right though, every wolf has something that motivates them and an Alpha must protect his pack. The anger and adrenaline flow through me and I allow it to overtake me. I vision sharpens as my wolf takes complete control and I can see the realisation of her mistake in her eyes as mine go black.
With one strong tug, the cement attaching each of my shackles to the ceiling buckles, pieces of it crumbling around me freeing my arms and with the ability to move properly I charge for Dark Claws Luna. she drops her hold on Qiang as I wrap my bony fingers around her neck and use my body weight to pin her to the ground.
I press my thumb on her airway even as she uses one hand to claw at my grip and with the other Samira drives the dagger that she was using against Qiang into my chest. Even as my blood drips down the olive skin of her wrist onto her mauve dress, I refuse to loosen my hold on her.
That is until I’m shoved off her while a crazed boy with a cruel smile sits above me, or maybe its two boys. My vision is starting to double and the room is spinning as I think Greta’s voice echoes around me.
‘Qiang, help me out of these damn chains then run!” I am sure that is Greta speaking as Samira is sputtering on the ground beside me. I hear chains rattling but my attention is held by the face that keeps multiplying while hovering above me; I feel the knife twisting deeper into my chest and breathing gets harder as the blade scrapes against my rib bones.
“Get off my Alpha!” the boys are gone from my vision, now it's just the swaying and flickering light hanging from the ceiling. The sounds of fighting and choking and yelling begin to quiet, even the pain begins to fade, replaced with warm sparks dancing across my flesh.