“Again.”
Left, right, left. Punch duck, punch, kick, dodge, and repeat. I repeated the instructions in my mind as I moved. My lungs burned as I struggled to catch my breath. Sweat poured down me and dripped onto the thick exercise mats beneath my feet.
When I woke up this morning, the living room had been turned into a kind of exercise room for me. The furniture had been moved away and mats placed down in the middle of the room along with some small equipment I was told to use.
David hadn’t returned home last night, but I learned that he was helping to restore some houses that were destroyed. He was supposed to find out about Abby.
A punch to my hip made me stumble backward. I tried to block the next hit but failed. My back hit the mat hard enough to knock what little air I had from my lungs. I blinked up at the ceiling as pain shot through me. How have I never noticed how unfit I had gotten?
“You need to concentrate!” Devon yelled. “Letting your mind wander during a battle will get you killed or seriously injured, Val.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and willed the tears that suddenly filled my eyes to go away. I ached. My body ached everywhere. I could feel the start of a headache forming. Devon was still talking but I blocked him out.
I knew the importance of learning to fight but the least he could do was just give me a little break. I especially knew how important it was for him to know that I’d be able to defend myself if I had to. What I needed to know was why they were so set on me learning now. Was it because of the attack?
“Fuck.” Devon suddenly hovered above me. “Are you okay? Val? I’m sorry I didn’t mean to hit you so hard. Val, look at me.”
“I’m fine,” I whispered.
He placed one hand on my hip and the other moved damp strands of hair from my face. “Look at me.”
I hesitated and then slowly opened my eyes. Our eyes instantly locked. He searched my eyes before glancing down at my stomach. I flinched when he probed the place where his fist connected. It was tender and I was sure a bruise was already forming.
“I’ll call a doctor.”
“You don’t need to.” Reaching up, I cupped his cheeks and tugged his face down to mine. “I’m okay.”
“I hit you hard—”
I leaned up and pressed my lips against his. Devon instantly fell silent. His lips parted, but he made no move to take over the kiss. I kissed him until we both had to break away to suck air into our lungs.
Devon stared down at me with a look I couldn’t place. He pushed my knees apart and settled between my legs with his elbow next to my shoulder to keep the weight of his body off me. I leaned into his touch when he cupped my cheek. For someone who was injured only a day ago, he seemed fine. He’s not human, Val, that little voice inside my head whispered.
“Valeria,” he breathed. “I—”
There was a loud knock on the door and a second later the door was thrown wide open before Devon could tell the person to enter. Devon tensed, and let out a loud, warning growl.
A strange sound reached my ears. I turned my head slightly to glance up at whoever had entered. My eyes widened. He wasn’t a man, nor was he fully animal. Dark eyes locked with mine for a second before darting over to the man hovering above me.
“Wrin,” Devon muttered, making no move to get off me.
“Devon,” the man answered.
His voice sounded slightly slurred, or maybe it just sounded that way because of the way his jaw was formed.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” The man-wolf closed the door and made his way towards us. His nostrils flared. “I can smell the sexual tension from a mile away.”
Devon’s chest vibrated against mine when he growled again. He pushed himself up onto his knees and sat back between my legs. I stared at him as his eyes trailed over the man-wolf called Wrin. What a strange name.
“I heard about the. . .” Wrin trailed off. “Also about your announcement of taking a mate.”
“Word spreads fast.”
“Father called me.”
His words made me frown. Devon stood and leaned down to help me up. He tugged me against his side and wrapped an arm around my waist. I glanced up at Wrin again. I had a good view of him now.
He wore a pair of cut-off jeans that just about reached his knees. His face was shaped in the form of a wolf. Thick brown scruffy fur-covered almost every inch of his exposed skin. He gave me what I guessed to be a smile. It looked really scary with his sharp teeth on display.
“Val, this is my stepbrother, Wrin,” Devon softly introduced us. “Wrin, this is our mate, Val.”
“Our?” Wrin moved into the kitchen. “Father mentioned something about you and David mating her. I was sure he must’ve heard wrong.”
Devon tugged me behind him. “Do you have a problem with that?”
He held his hands up. “You know I don’t have any problem with any of it. You’re just looking for a reason to start a fight.”
Devon slowly relaxed. I excused myself after a few minutes of intense silence to go take a shower.
As I entered the bathroom I glanced longingly at the bathtub. A nice long bath would be great to soothe all my aching muscles. I took a quick shower instead and dressed in some winter wear and my new favorite boots. When I walked out of the bedroom, the men were nowhere to be found. A note against the fridge informed me that they went to check on David.
I bit my lip as I stared down at the note. Now was my chance to sneak out and head to the clinic to check on Abby. I remembered the way to the front door of the house. You don’t know where the clinic is. I pushed that thought away. I’ll ask around and find my way.
With a nod, I scribbled a note and placed it on the fridge. I pulled on some gloves and then a thick jacket. After wrapping the scarf around my neck, I headed towards the door.
Fifteen minutes later I walked out of the house. The front yard was deserted, but the further I moved from the house, the more people I encountered. They gave me strange looks as I passed. I had to stop twice to ask for directions to the clinic before I finally found it. The building was bigger than the house and it smelled of medicine and disinfectant.
“Hi,” I greeted the nurse behind the desk. “I’d like to get some information on a patient. She was brought here with a few women and children that were injured. Her name is Abby. I don’t know her surname.”
“I’m sorry. We can’t disclose any information about our patients to non-family members.”
I hesitated. “My name is Valeria. I’m Alpha Devon and Alpha David’s mate.”
The woman scoffed. Her eyes trailed over me. She sneered before turning her back on me. I clenched my fists and glared. The announcement was made in front of the pack. Those who weren’t there would’ve already heard about it. I called out to her, but she continued to ignore me. My fists clenched. How dare she?
“Luna?”
My head snapped to the left. My anger disappeared when I recognized Mattie. I moved towards her and gave her a small smile. She bowed her head and kept her eyes focused on her feet.
“You can look at me, Mattie,” I said softly.
Her eyes snapped up to mine. They were wide with surprise. “You remember my name.”
“Of course I do.” My smile widened. “How are you doing?”
“I’m doing good, thank you for asking, Luna. What can I do to help you?”
“I’m here to visit Abby.”
At the mention of the little girl’s name, her eyes lowered to her feet again. She grasped her hands in front of her and shifted from foot to foot. I frowned at her when she muttered something under her breath that I couldn’t hear.
“In what room is she?”
“I’m sorry, Luna,” she said softly. “I thought Alpha had already informed you.”
“Informed me of what?”
Her eyes darted up to mine for a second. “Abby didn’t make it. She died on the way here. I’m sorry.”
My knees weakened. She didn’t make it? Why didn’t David tell me? Does he know? I managed a small smile and a muttered thanks before spinning on my heels and exiting the clinic.
Tears filled my eyes, but I refused to let them fall in front of these people. They shouldn’t see me as weak. They were already having trouble accepting me as their Alpha Female. I glanced around and caught sight of a path that led into the forest to some other cabins. I hurried towards it. I just needed some time alone.
***
The stream was frozen.
I stared at the icy surface as I clutched my knees to my chest. I was freezing, but I didn’t feel like moving. Wondering into the woods wasn’t a wise thing to do after an attack like the one we had suffered.
Pain made my chest ache. We lost little Abby. I tried to remember if I had written a letter to her parents but I couldn’t remember a thing. She was so young and she had her whole life ahead of her. But now she’s gone without truly living.
The pain was suddenly replaced with such anger that it surprised me. The urge to kill the person who had hurt her was strong enough to make my body tremble. Whoever it was had probably died during or after the fight, but that thought did nothing to ease the anger or the pain of her death.
Devon said that they had a prisoner. I stood and wiped the snow from my pants. Spinning on my heels, I made my way back down the path from which I had come. The Alpha of my old pack had the cells for the prisoners built far from the packhouse. Maybe Devon had done the same. I needed to speak to the man. I needed answers.
After threatening one of the guards who I had encountered on my way back, he led me back to the packhouse. We turned in the opposite direction of the elevator and walked down another hall. After turning a few corners we came to a stop in front of a door guarded by another man.
“She demands entry.”
The man frowned. “By whose order?”
“No one’s.” I stepped forward and tilted my chin up. “I am your Alpha Female therefore I have the authority needed to demand entrance to see the prisoner.”
He pursed his lips. My eyes narrowed. With a low irritated growl, he gave the man behind me a nod and turned to unlock the door. He entered first and then waited for me to enter before closing and locking it behind us. The moment the door closed, darkness surrounded us.
“Mind the steps,” he muttered after gripping my arm.
My heartbeat increased as we slowly made our way down the narrow steps. He had to unlock another door before we entered the basement. The smell of blood and decay was strong enough to knock the air from my lungs. My eyes watered and my stomach turned.
“It’s not a good idea,” the man next to me muttered. “This is not a place for a woman.”
I squared my shoulders and glared up at him. “Take me to the prisoner.”
“The Alpha is going to have my ass.”
There were small cells on either side of us as we walked. They were dirty but empty. A few more feet and we entered another room. My steps flattered when my eyes fell on the man in the middle of the room.
Two thick chains were wrapped around his wrist and tied to hooks on the ceiling. The man was naked from the waist up. Dried blood clung to his skin from old wounds. Fresh wounds made blood drip onto the floor beneath his feet. My eyes trailed up to his face. I couldn’t see him clearly because one side of his face was hidden in the shadows, but from what I could see of the other half of his face, I could tell that one eye was swollen shut and the other only half-open. I glanced at his hands again. Bile rose in my throat when I saw the strange angles his fingers were bent in. Some of his fingers were missing fingernails!
I took a step back but at that moment someone stepped out from the shadows. He had a long steel rod in one hand. The end was shaped in some kind of symbol that was glowing red. He paused a few feet in front of the prisoner and raised his hand.
“Start talking,” he growled.
The man whimpered. “I . . . don't . . . know . . . anything,” he gasped out.
“Liar.”
The man turned slightly as he raised the rod. It was enough for me to get a clear look at his face since he stood almost directly under the light bulb. The color drained from my face. His chest was bare and covered in blood. I must’ve made a sound because his head suddenly snapped in my direction. His eyes widened. I took a step back when he moved towards me.
“Val.”
I shook my head and spun around. David was the one torturing the prisoner.