Chapter 82: Saturday, November 30th Pt. 2

“To teach the kids that the food comes from him he insists on putting the plates on the table. I’ve watched him on several occasions use an eye dropper to put several drops of a blue or yellow liquid into the food. Sometimes it’s just one plate other times it’s several. He moves the plates around so you can’t keep track of which ones it was added to. He normally adds it to the biggest portion of food to offset the bitter taste of it. We’ve all had it, I just don’t know what it is.”

She goes silent as she finishes leaving dad and I wondering what that has to do with tonight.

“He gave it to Caiden and Caitlyn tonight. While everyone gets spanked every day it gets worse when you’re sick.” She whispers after a long silence.

“How?” I mange to whisper without choking.

“You get spanked if you can’t make it to the toilet. While there’s multiple bathrooms all over the house there’s only one working toilet and that is the only place you’re allowed to throw up. If one spec gets on your clothes or anywhere in his house he strips you bare and chains you to the bed. You get more lashes if you throw up while he’s lashing you and you’re not allowed up until he lets you.”

“He’s making them sick just to have an excuse to beat them more.” I breathe the statement out slowly. “We can help, Avery.”

I steady my voice into something soft and soothing as I move loose strands of hair out of her face. She flinches every time I touch her but so far she seems accepting of the contact.

“No one can help us.” She responds as she stares blankly at the wall.

“We are a certified sanctuary pack. We were the first one to receive it as we have operated as a sanctuary pack for decades before such packs were recognized. My father is the third or fourth generation of Black’s to keep the sanctuary alive. He is very active in saving lives.” I lean back with a sigh.

“I nearly killed Mr. Jacobs.” I continue talking without the expectation of her answering.

“Why?” She somehow squeaked.

“We don’t know why I kept losing control of my wolf. After dad administered my punishment for causing him grave harm we had a long discussion and concluded that the individuals I had attacked must have had some contact with you after you had been assaulted.”

She tenses up when I finish leaving me uncertain which part concerned her.

“It was while Declan was in the hospital that dad found out about the heinous activities occurring within the borders of your pack. Your Alpha was rumored to be targeting families with young children. A test he was performing on those who desired to become his next Delta were given an address and told, essentially, to kill the families. While Declan witnessed the brutality my understanding is he didn’t kill anyone. Instead if a child managed to get away and run back to him, Declan took the child to your alpha. We agreed to help get the families out of harm's way. It took months before the first family arrived and I was ill equipped for meeting them despite my training. The father had been poisoned with silver as well as the mother and two of her four kids. The father was in the worst shape and died within a few hours of getting to our hospital wing but the mother and four kids…”

I pause as this was very emotional for me. I suck in a deep, sharp breath as her finger tips ever so slightly touches my jaw.

“The mother and kids made it through the madness the torture physically and mentally created. They lived with us for six months until we knew they were healthy enough to leave. Research found that the mother had distant relatives in the original pack that made up Blue Ridge. All of us, including my twin sisters, went to the house they were living in and helped them pack everything they gained while being with us. We packed dad’s charter bus with their belongings and our driver took them back to the Blue Fang pack in Ohio. He checks in on them. The last update I received claimed they were adjusting slowly and in intensive therapy.”

“But you said they were healthy enough to leave. That they made it through the madness.”

“Yes. They made it through the worst of it here but what happened to them, what happens to you and the children you care for, it takes years of therapy to process all of it.”

A sudden crash from inside the house causes her to jump out of my lap.

“I’ve got to go. He’s getting worse.”

Is all she manages before blowing out the candle and darting out of the shed, disappearing into the hell house that should never be considered home.

Thursday, January 30th 2020

It’s been two months since Avery allowed us to be together without shifting. To keep her comfortable I returned to our normal routine the next time we got together. It’s been a rough two months at the hell house. Alrik is keeping her so injured and distressed that she easily agreed to stop shifting until things got better. Running into Cohan and my old pack of guards six weeks ago turned into the greatest blessing as Alrik has been both denying the orphans food and poisoning it at the same time. Just like two years ago, Cohen encouraged everyone to hunt down rabbits, voles and even the occasional deer was hunted down and carried to a hidden area where she would dress and package the meat before placing it in a secret underground container to keep it cold.

Yet tonight is different. I’m walking through my territory, carefully but with purpose. She contacted me through the channel trying to catch me before I ventured too far from the pack house. She was in tears so intense that I could barely understand her but what I could understand was she needed help. The youngest child in her care has been intensely poisoned. After a little research I found that ingesting wolfsbane can kill a human in as little as six hours; werewolves take half that time. By some miracle this little boy has hung on for the day that it’s taken to get him and his sister into Declan’s care. Dad received word of Micah’s condition right after dinner but Declan can’t move him towards the border without Alrik coming after him until the cameras enter update mode at 11pm.