Chapter Twenty-Four

Cal

My body is in a tidal wave of pain, but I can barely feel it. I've gotten almost completely numb. The two guards are dragging me through the corridors, as the harsh clatter of metal against stone reverberates through the silence around us. I want to ask them where they are taking me, but I know it would serve no purpose. I will find out soon enough.

My body feels like a ragdoll, as if my limbs aren't even attached to my body with tubes of arteries and capillaries, but rather a few pieces of thread that will fall apart at any moment and I will no longer be whole. However, despite this state I'm in, I still have a flicker of resilience inside me. They can destroy my body, but they can't destroy my spirit.

As we navigate the tangled passageways of this place, my gaze keeps focusing on the surroundings, in hopes that I might find something to help me. I know that Rock will come for us. But Elena is still locked up in that dingy cell. What if something happens to her before Rock comes? I will never forgive myself.

The cold, unforgiving walls seem to close in on me, but I keep clinging to the few remnants of strengths that still course through my weary form. I doubt if I would have any strength to shift if I were given the chance for it. I am too beaten, too battered. My legs are barely keeping my body straight. However, despite these physical constraints, I focus my mind. I need it to remain sharp. That is the only thing I can use now to fight our enemy. Silent determination keeps fueling my thoughts, a quite resolve that whispers promises of resistance, that pushes me forward because I know there is someone who is counting on me. With every step that they drag me through, I draw upon my reserves of strength inside of me.

We finally stop at a chamber, and they forcefully push me into it. I land on the cool, hard ground, taking in my surroundings. I realize now that we've been underground this entire time. The cells, this chamber, it is all underneath the camp. I wonder how long it has been here. We never even knew of its existence. Then again, we don't usually delve into this part of the woods, preferring to keep to ourselves.

I look up at the flickering torches lining the uneven stone walls, casting erratic shadows that dance across the ancient surfaces. The air within the chamber is thick with an earthy scent, hinting at the subterranean depths in which it is concealed. The ceiling, low and oppressive, adds to the sense of confinement, almost like a tomb. I wonder if that is what this place will become for me.

"Majestic, isn't it?" I hear a voice, but it's not either of the two guards. They have silently withdrawn and now, I am alone with this demonic voice.

A moment later, a figure emerges from the darkness. I immediately recognize it as the leader whom we saw during our first scouting of the camp.

"I've seen better," I spit.

He looks around, as if he's admiring the place. The chamber's boundaries are defined by worn stone, bearing the marks of age and utter neglect. The uneven floor echoes with even the slightest of noises, the sound exploding in the enclosed space. In the center of the chamber, there is a solitary pillar, a weathered testament to the mysterious purpose of this hidden underground enclave.

"But have you seen this particular one?" he asks, nearing me, with his hands behind his back. I wonder if that is because he is hiding a weapon he intends on using on me.

"No," I admit.

"Ah," he grins, revealing a set of perfect teeth, with the canines slightly protruding from the even row."And you've been living here for how long?"

"Not here," I reply.

"But close," he corrects me.

"Fine," I snap back, getting up. Instantly, I become disoriented, but I manage to keep my balance. "What do you want with me, and with El?"

"The girl in the other cell?" he asks. "Is that her name?"

"Why do you care?" I snarl, a surge of protectiveness washing over me at the mere mention of El.

He shrugs seemingly indifferently, but that is all a ploy. "I should know the name of my mate."

"Your what?" I growl at him, trying to break loose from the chains, but they are too tight.

"My mate," he repeats, as his words drip with a veneer of friendliness that thinly veils a sense of foreboding. Even the shadows that dance on his face seem to add to his demonic quality.

"That will happen over my dead body," I hiss at him venomously.

He nods, seemingly musing. "I have to admit, I was hoping that it won't have to come to that. I was hoping we could… see eye to eye." He pauses, then chuckles through his next words. "Or arm to arm."

He finally shows me his arms. In the wavering torchlight, a scar immediately becomes visible, a jagged mark etched into his skin. I suffocate a gasp, which takes all of my conscious effort. It is a scar exactly like my own. The revelation sends a shock through me, freezing me in place as a chilling realization settles over him.

"How…" I start, but that is all I manage to muster.

"Haven't you ever wondered about it?"

I keep my mouth shut. Of course I have, but he is the last person I would ever tell that.

"Silence," he nods. "It is your choice, of course. Allow me to do the talking then. You see, Cal…" He talks and I wonder how he knows my name, but I don't say anything. I just listen. "The scar isn't just a mark. It is a symbol of your origin. You were once one of us, taken from our clan under circumstances that history has conveniently forgotten."

The words hang in the air, mingling with the shadows that dance along the chamber walls. My eyes widen in disbelief, my mind struggling to comprehend the gravity of the situation. I look down at my arm, at my scar, which now bears the weight of a forgotten past.

The leader's behavior, once so mockingly polite, now exudes a sense of ownership, a claim rooted in the shared history of that scar.

"You and I… Abonos and Cal, as they named you, we are twins, we were together in our mother's womb, attached by the arm," he explains, and my mind immediately becomes a blur of shock.

Twins? It seems too insane.

"You belong to us," he declares, his eyes piercing through the dim light, "and I've come to reclaim what was taken."

The revelation reverberates through the chamber, as I grapple with the unsettling truth that my current existence is intertwined with a past I have been completely unaware of. The scar, once a source of mystery, now stands as a tie to a clan that seeks to reassert its claim on me. I feel the boundaries of my identity blurring little by little, but I know where I belong.

"If you are my brother, why didn't you come forward?" I ask, showing him my chains. "Why did you have to chain me to tell me the truth?"

"I didn't know how you would react," he explains. "Those are for me as much as they are for you. I didn't want any of the guards present while we talk. This is a private conversation, just between the two of us."

"Unchain me then," I demand.

He shakes his head. "I can't do that."

"Why not?" I ask. "If you are my brother…"

"We may share the same blood, but brotherhood is so much more than that," he tells me. "I know you are loyal to the leader of the Ursidae clan."

"Yes," I say without a second thought.

"But we are your family," he reminds me. "We want you back."

A part of me wants this. I can feel this desire blossoming inside of me. I want to know who I am, where I came from. I want to meet my mother and my father. I want to know everything that has happened before the moment I became a part of the Ursidae clan. But that all depends on the price I have to pay for that knowledge.

"What do I have to do for that right?" I ask.

He grins. "What makes you think you have to do anything?"

"These," I show him the chains. "You want me to prove myself to you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have spent hours in that cell. I wouldn't be in chains."

He laughs loudly this time. The chamber echoes with the sound of his amusement.

"I may have underestimated you, brother," he smiles. "You are smart."

"Smart enough," I reply. "Now, what is it you want?"

He locks his eyes with mine. I can't even begin to imagine what he wants of me. If he wants me to give up El, then he's got another think coming. I will never give her up. I will fight for her with my last dying breath. But as it turns out, it is not El he wants.

"Bring me the other leader's head." He says it as if it's the most normal thing to ask of someone.

I gasp, shaking my head. "Are you fucking mad?"

"No," he mirrors my action. "I could have had him brought over here instead of you, but where is the fun in that?"

"This is all fun to you?" I growl, rage rising inside of me again, completely drowning out any desire to be anything to this monster.

"Words are one thing, but actions are the real proof of someone's loyalty," he explains. "My closest allies and friends have all had to prove themselves to me."

"By taking lives?" I ask incredulously.

"Of course," he nods. "That is the bear shifter way."

"It is not," I shake my head. "You choose your own way."

"Spoken like a true coward," he grimaces in a disgusted manner at me. "A hero has only one choice and that is to fight. Cowards give themselves more choices, allowing them to choose the easier one."

"It is easy to kill," I snarl back at him. "It takes courage to be merciful."

"It seems we don't see eye to eye," he concludes. "I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. You have our blood coursing through your veins, but you have been softened beyond repair by these human lovers."

"I have not been softened," I correct him. "I have been taught real values, something you obviously can't understand."

"The bear shifter way is nature's way," he clarifies. "Only the fittest survive. If you aren't that, you will get eaten up alive. And no one will eat me up alive, trust me."

Something assures me that he's right. He can't understand mercy and morals. I realize that whoever took me from their clan and brought me to the Ursidae has done me a lifelong favor.

"You are no brother of mine," I tell him, showing him the scar. "This means nothing. Rock is more of a brother to me than you could ever be. He knows that nature nurtures, it heals, it saves. It does not destroy. Even if it has to, it is only to leave a new form of life in its wake."

"Bah!" He waves his hand dismissively at me. "I don't even know why I bothered with a weakling such as you!"

"If I am a weakling, why did you chain me up?" I ask boldly. "Are you afraid of what a weakling might do to you?"

He frowns. "I have given you a chance to survive the bloodshed that is to follow. But now, you will die with the rest of the bear shifters you chose to call family."

"I would rather die the worst death by their side than live a million lives by yours!" I exclaim theatrically. Now, it is my words echoing throughout the chamber.

"Good," he grins menacingly. "You can die knowing that I will take your mate for my own. I have to say, I kinda like her."

"You bastard!" I shout at him, but at that moment, the doors swing open, and the two guards appear, grabbing me by both arms. They proceed to take me out and back towards my cell.

I keep shouting louder and louder. "You won't get away with this! You'll see! Rock will come and when he does, you will be fucking sorry!"

I know he can hear me, and I hope that he underestimates Rock, so Rock can show him what the Ursidae clan is really capable of when you decide to poke the wrong bear.