Chapter 70 I'm Straight
The elite training ground had turned into a place of grim spectacle. The midday sun beat down without mercy, turning the packed earth hot underfoot. The pack had gathered in a wide circle, wolves from every rank standing in silent witness. The air carried the sharp scent of blood and sweat, and the only sounds were the crack of the whips and the labored breathing of the punished.
Darius and Samael hung from separate wooden posts, arms stretched high, backs bared to the lashes. Their tunics had been stripped away, leaving them exposed. The guards wielding the whips were elite themselves, their faces set in stone as they carried out Fernando's command. Seventy lashes each for questioning the Alpha's decision.
The first whip cracked against Darius's back. The leather bit deep, drawing a line of blood that welled instantly. Darius did not cry out. His jaw clenched, muscles rippling as he absorbed the blow. The second lash crossed the first, tearing flesh further. Blood ran in thin rivulets down his spine.
The elites watched in silence. Some shifted uncomfortably, others stared with grim acceptance. This was the price of defiance.
The lashes continued, steady and relentless. By the twentieth, Darius's back was a lattice of open wounds, blood dripping to the ground. He breathed through his teeth, eyes fixed ahead, refusing to give voice to the pain.
Samael endured beside him. His massive frame took the blows with grunts, but no screams. The whip carved into his skin, each strike drawing blood. By the thirtieth, his back was raw, flesh hanging in strips.
The count rose. Forty. Fifty. The guards alternated, arms tireless.
Darius reached seventy first. The final lash landed with a crack that echoed across the yard. Blood sprayed.
Darius's eyes flashed gold. His body rippled, fur bursting across his skin as he transformed into his wolf form mid-hang. The silver ropes burned, but the shift gave him strength. He snarled and tore free with a violent twist, chains snapping like thread. He landed on all fours, a huge black wolf with eyes burning rage.
He rushed to Samael.
The guards tried to hold him off, raising whips. "He has not completed his punishment!"
Darius changed back in a flash, standing naked and furious, blood streaming down his back. "If anything happens to Samael, I will burn this pack to the ground. I do not mind being a traitor."
He tore the remaining ropes from Samael's wrists with bare hands, the silver burning his palms but he ignored it.
Samael sagged forward, barely conscious.
Darius gently tapped his cheek. "Look at me, brother. Stay with me."
Samael's eyes fluttered. "Darius..."
Darius tried to lift him, but his wounded leg gave out. He collapsed to one knee with a roar of frustration. "Help! Someone!"
Kael and Lucia rushed forward from the crowd. Kael draped his jacket over Darius's naked form to cover him. Lucia supported Samael's other side.
Together they carried Samael toward his quarters, Darius limping but determined.
In Samael's room, they laid him on the cot face-down. Lucia fetched water and cloths.
"What happened?" Lucia asked, voice soft with worry.
Darius sat heavily on a chair, breathing hard. "Samael was poisoned when we were young. There is no cure. It acts up every month, weakening him, bringing fever and pain. If I had not interfered, the lashes would have killed him before the punishment ended."
Lucia cleaned Samael's back gently. "You saved him."
Darius nodded. "He is my brother. We trained together since pups."
He opened a hidden shelf in the wall, pulling out a small vial with two pills. He popped them into his mouth, then leaned over Samael and kissed him, transferring the drugs carefully.
Samael swallowed weakly.
Lucia watched. "The medicine?"
Darius nodded. "It eases the poison's grip. For a time."
Lucia smiled faintly. "Are you two... into each other?"
Darius smiled despite the pain. "I am straight. Samael is a brother to me. Nothing more."
Samael stirred, eyes opening. "Darius..."
"I am here," Darius said. "Rest."
Samael's quarters were quiet except for the shallow rasp of his breathing and the occasional groan of pain as the poison worked its way through his system. The room smelled of blood, herbs, and sweat. Darius sat on a stool beside the cot, his own back a mess of fresh scars from the lashes, but the wounds had already begun to knit, skin pulling tight over healing muscle. Kael and Lucia stood nearby, Lucia wringing a cloth in a bowl of cool water, Kael watching with concern etched on his newly healed face.
Kael finally spoke up, his voice low. "Darius, take care of your wounds too. You are bleeding still."
Darius glanced at his back in the small mirror on the wall. "They have healed up."
He opened his tunic to show them. The deep gashes from the whip were closed, pink scars forming where blood had flowed freely hours ago.
Lucia leaned closer. "No wonder you were named beta. Stronger after the Alpha."
Darius smiled faintly. "Samael is stronger than me. The poison just affected his wolf seriously."
Kael nodded. "He pushed through seventy lashes with that curse in him. I do not know how he stood."
Darius looked at Samael's sleeping form. "He always does."
Lucia dabbed Samael's forehead with the cloth. "Will he be all right?"
Darius nodded. "The medicine helps. He will sleep it off."
Kael shifted. "I want to sneak over and check on Alberto. The Alpha forbade everyone, but the keeper saved my life."
Darius shook his head. "Not yet. Fernando is still raw. Wait until he cools."
Lucia agreed. "The Alpha's anger is fresh. Give it time."
While they spoke, a wolf rushed into the room, breathless. "Beta Darius! Come quickly! The healer and the Alpha are arguing in the ward. It is serious. The other healers have stopped tending the sick."
Darius stood immediately. "Stay with Samael. Mindlink me if anything changes."
Kael and Lucia nodded.
Darius rushed out with the guard, boots pounding the corridors.
The pack buzzed with tension as word spread.