Chapter 33

Odhran

It was the assault of scents that roused me, but still I couldn’t wade through my thoughts, couldn’t grasp my full consciousness. This was the same shit they pulled when transferring me out of the shitty cell they’d placed me in. They pumped me full of drugs, ones that made me groggy and feel half-dead.

After the first time they tried to take me out of the cell and I’d killed three guards, they made sure I was damn near comatose before coming near me.

My body ached, my limbs feeling as if they weighed too much, were far too heavy for me to move them. My head throbbed, and with each passing second as the reality of what had happened filtered back into my mind, I remembered where I was.

I remembered why I was here.

Tae find her.

After I’d told Adryan to take his mate out of the Assembly”s underground facility in Vermont, the rest was a foggy, smoke-filled blur. I was pretty sure I passed out at some point; whatever fire had been burning in those tunnels filled the place with so much smoke I hadn’t been able to see my hand in front of me, let alone sift through smells to find my female.

But I’d felt her down there with me, and I refused to give up until I’d been lying on the floor, knowing that would be my coffin.

But then I”d woken up in a cold, dank cell and was suffering from a massive dose of Groundhog Day, as it seemed to be the same shit day in and day out. They ran tests on me, took samples, and kept injecting shit into my body that made sure I couldn’t fight them.

I didn’t know how long I’d been here, in the Assembly’s hold. The minutes turned to hours, the hours to days, and the fucking days turned into weeks. Time had no meaning here, no windows to let light in, no clocks to tell time. But I didn’t know if I was even in Vermont anymore—or hell, in the damn States.

But it didn’t matter. I only wanted her.

For the most part they’d let me be, let me be weak and helpless on the cold, hard floor in my cell. But now they were taking me somewhere, to do something, no doubt heinous, horrendous acts of degradation. This was what they were good at.

My wolf was trying to shake off the discombobulation, but my strength was returning little by little. Yet I wouldn’t fight the ones who held me. I wanted this. To come here, be captured… to see if my female was here.

Gods, the very thought of her trapped by these fuckers for all these years had me howling in pain, that agony taking root in the center of my chest, an ache I was all too familiar with.

I felt my body lurch forward. My arms were jerked upward, cold and hard metal wrapping around them. My legs were kicked apart, the same bounds going around my ankles. I felt cool air brush along my battered body, and as much as I tried to open my eyes, they felt sealed shut from whatever drugs they’d been pumping into me.

I could hear the growls coming from me, my wolf trying in vain to gain control. But I was far too weakened in my state to do much more than make hoarse noises. I heard the humans laughing, their voices muffled, garbled. Then I felt pain when someone slammed their fist into my side, next to the center of my chest, finally ending when they punched me in my jaw. My head kicked back, colliding with the stone.

“He’ll be fully awake soon. Let’s get everything situated. They’re all waiting.”

With each passing second, I was coming back online. I lifted my head and shook it to clear my mind and spit out a mouthful of blood, finally peeling my eyes open and taking note of the scene before me.

I was in some kind of room barren of most things except an examination-style table in the center and a metal rolling tray off to the side. The flooring was white-tiled with a massive drain in the center.

The room smelled of antiseptic and something else. Pain. Death.

There was an entire wall made of glass directly across from me, but it was too dark to see what was on the other side. But I knew I was being watched, not just because I noticed a security camera mounted to the corner at the top of the ceiling, but because I felt eyes on me that were coming from the other side of that glass partition.

And as I grew stronger with each passing moment, I tested my bonds. But there was little give, the metal digging into the skin of my wrists and ankles, tearing the flesh. I knew it had to all be mystically enforced in order to keep a Lycan bound. And that pissed me off even more, that these bastards extorted us in the most gruesome way yet had no qualms about using that same magic to hold us prisoner.

I bared my teeth and snarled as I pulled as hard as I could, trying to rip the bonds out of the walls.

I felt this tightening of my skin, the hairs on my arms standing on end. Something big was coming, happening, the precipice of an epiphany. Was it my female? Was she here? It was this itch underneath my skin, claws gouging me from the inside out.

I strained even more until I froze at the sight of the lights flaring just behind the glass wall. I felt a feral sound leave me at the sight of all the sets of eyes locked on me.

There were sixteen chairs broken up into rows of four, each one slightly more elevated than the row before. They were humans, that much I could tell, and I snarled.

Aged males wearing pressed suits. Women doused in jewelry. Some had wide eyes, others showing excited expressions. And then there were the ones who grinned in malicious eagerness.

I’d learned enough about the Assembly while in the States and within Adryan’s territory to know what these sick fucks were into. Torturing species of the Otherworld, murdering, raping, and whatever other heinous, crafty things they could come up with to create demonstrations, exhibits for these fucking humans who had enough money to pay to watch.

Some of the viewers leaned forward in their chairs, their grins widening, and I realized why when I heard the heavy sound of multiple feet coming my way. Thump-thump, thump-thump, their steps were sure and heavy. Human males, big ones who could handle or take down one of my kind.

I grinned in anticipation of them trying.

The door was pushed open, and I was already snarling as one, then two big fucking males walked in. The first grinned, the second keeping a cold expression. They stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the door, eyeing me up.

I pulled at my cuffs again and growled, letting my wolf rise, allowing them to see how feral I was, how I had nothing else to lose in going after them.

Everything that I was, that meant the most to me, had been taken away, ripped from my heart and soul.

And then they stepped aside in unison, and my heart stopped, my wolf stilled, and for the first time in far too fucking long, the meaning of my life was in front of me once more.

And then that happiness, that elation vanished as I took in the fact that she was being dragged into the room, her slight body clearly unconscious, her long black hair hanging around her face so I couldn’t see her features well. But I didn’t have to see her face to know she was mine.

Larkin.

I snarled with more aggression as they laid her out on the table, strapped her legs and arms down, then pushed her hair out of her face.

Oh gods. I’ll kill them all ten times over.

She had a bruise on her cheek that snaked up to her ear. I felt even more primal that they’d dared touch my tiny nymph mate, her species so fragile and gentle, kind and naturally sweet. She’d never hurt anyone, never say a word that would harm another. But here were these soon-to-be corpses, touching what I held most dear.

I looked at the two males who’d come in first, promising retribution, a slow, painful death. One had the intelligence to take a step back, fear crossing his face. The other, a cocky motherfucker, just smirked.

“Welcome, esteemed cardholders,” a voice from an overhead speaker announced, and the humans watching through the glass perked up.

The soft female moan that came from Larkin had me snapping my head in her direction and straining against my bonds.

Get tae her. Gods, please let me get tae her. Tae hold her. Tae tell her everything is okay now, and I’ll never let anyone take her from me again.

“Ah, my sweet lass,” I wheezed out, my chest too tight, my heart breaking over and over again as I watched her wake up and fight through the clear confusion. “I’m here, darlin’.” I bared my teeth as a fucker stepped forward. “Ye’d do best tae stay away from her.”

He paused and cocked his head. “Don’t think you’re much of a threat, Lycan.” He grinned and reached out, grabbing a lock of her hair and rubbing it between his fingers.

My eyes flashed as I stared at him. “Ye signed yer death warrant before now, but now that ye’re touching my female…” I felt a surge of power move through me. “Now, I’m going tae make sure I kill ye nice and slow. I’m going tae fooking enjoy tearing yer throat out and offering it tae my mate as a prize.”

There was a round of cheering from the humans on the other side of the glass, the scent of their disgusting eagerness seeping through the cracks and filling the small medical room.

“We have a special attraction for our VIP cardholders. We are so honored to be able to invite you to witness the connection a mated pair have, and when one hurts, the other does too. A mating like no other.”

There was a round of laughter from men, some of them nudging the others with their shoulders, winking, the grins becoming salacious.

There was a deep chuckle from the overhead speaker before the male voice said, “Now, now. It’s not one of those kinds of sessions, although if you’d like to see one of our more adult-catered exhibits, please see one of the attendants on your way out to reserve your seat.”

Larkin opened her eyes—her bright blue eyes. I remembered those eyes all too well, ones I saw every time I closed my own. But that hazy expression changed as she realized where she was, a frantic look covering her face.

She knew where she was. She knew what was about to happen… because it’s happened tae her before.

She started pulling at her bonds, but despite being an Otherworld species—her kind, a water nymph—she was far too delicate, her strength that of a human.

My sweet little mate was far too weak to break free from her restraints, even if she weren’t clearly drained of energy, hurt, and malnourished.

“Lass.” The word was nothing but a brutal croak from my throat. I wanted to be strong for her, to show her everything would be okay, but I couldn’t break free to get to her. I couldn”t protect her… again.

And when one of the humans stepped closer and gripped her hair hard enough she cried out, I roared, the chains rattling against the wall as I pulled on the cuffs so hard my skin broke open and rivulets of blood poured down my forearms.

“No more. No more, please,” she murmured hoarsely over and over again, and I didn’t think my heart could break any more.

What had they done to her?

“Awe, my sweet Larkin. My sweet girl.”

She turned her head in my direction then, her blue eyes so big and wide with fear, her body tight as she anticipated pain.

She’s used tae this. Aw gods, she’s used tae this.

Her vision cleared, her eyes flaring for another reason as we stared at each other. Recognition.

“Od—Odhran? Is that really you?” She was crying now, big tears streaming down her face, her pale skin streaked with dirt.

It was then I truly took in the state of her, how the gown she wore was tattered and ripped, the skin I could see dirty, her feet bare, bruising covering her legs and arms.

They’d hurt her. Repeatedly. All these years.

I was a growling feral mess, never taking my gaze off her, my chest feeling like someone ripped it open and tore out my heart.

“I’m here. I’m here, baby, and I’ll take ye away. I’ll protect ye this time.”

The deep laughter in the room had me slowly looking at each man, memorizing their faces, knowing I’d kill every one of them.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the voice over the speaker announced, “enjoy the show.”

The End.