Chapter 4
Chapter 4
“Girl. Hey, girl.”
My eyes open and my head lifts up with the immediate surge of pain in the back of my n*eck.
This floor is uncomfortable.
“Mgh!
“Girl!”
I look at the man next to my cell.
“What?” I bark.
The light is still dim but there is light now coming from the small barred windows on the top edge of the walls. Because of this, I can tell that it is
morning.
The other man, the one that was lying down yesterday is now sitting with his back against the wall but facing in my direction. His scrutinizing eyes make me
feel uncomfortable.
The other man that speaks to me–who now I can see just a bit more- smiles.
He has a nice smile for a grungy–looking man and I can see a hint of blond hair under all that dirt and brown eyes.
The other man who sits staring at me has dark hair but what stands out the most are his marble green eyes, the little amount of light hits just right.
I can see scars on both men’s bodies. Deep scars. The ones that come from torture and silver weapons. Wounds made from those types of weapons on our kind leave scars. But the green–eyed man seems to have taken the brunt of it. He has a deep scar on his cheek and another over the eye but his eye seems to be intact. The other two men that are at the cell in front of them look just the same as they do. They all look to be in their twenties but older than me.
I look away from the smiling man.
“Oh come on. We don’t bite,” he says.
I fight the urge to look back at him.
“Well, maybe a little.” He chuckles. “Hey, do you know of a way out of here?”
Now I have to look at him. My eyes dart in his direction. My eyebrows knit and I squeeze my eyes, squinting.
“Is that a no? Or do you just don’t want to tell us? We are nice guys, promise.” He puts up his hand and smiles.
For a guy who is imprisoned and is probably going to get tortured and killed, he seems chipper. In fact, the four of them do not seem worried at all.
The other two men in the other cell laugh but not the green–eyed man. His expression stays stoic and it seems to me that he hasn’t stopped staring at me.
The smiling guy doesn’t stop talking. “I’m Dash and by the way, that’s some pretty hair. Curly hair is so pretty and it looks great on you.
If I am honest, I feel flattered. No one has ever complimented me. At least not that I remember.
“What’s your name?” he asks.
I look away and don’t answer.
“Curls it is.
My eyes dash to him again. I open my mouth to complain but as my eyes then immediately dart to the green–eyed man, I close it back. He scares me but I can’t deny that I am intrigued by him in a way.
We suddenly hear the echo of the dungeon door opening. The steps of someone walking our way carries through the hall.
From the hall, a guard walks in with a lantern. He passes by the cells, counting.
“Three…five… six.” He then turns when he reaches the last cell and walks over to
mine. “Come. Bathroom time.”
I look at the old latrine toilet in the corner of my cell.
“Unless you want to use that right here in front of everyone?” he says.
“No. I’ll come.” I say. I get up as he opens the cell and follow him. He takes me to the hall where a doorway without a door leads to a small ugly bathroom. I go in as the guard stands in front of the door giving me his back.
“Hurry it up. I am only doing this as a favor to James.”
I am so grateful to James right now.
I do hate that the guard is still right in front of me but it is better than having all those men seeing me like this.
I then remember that Niles is one of the guys who is sometimes assigned to the dungeon.
I am definitely peeing myself if he is ever the one on duty cause I am not going anywhere with him.
I do what I have to do and once I am done, the guard takes me back to my cell.
“I’ll only come to do this in the mornings. So you are going to have to hold it the rest of the day or go in that.” He points to the toilet in the cell.
Oh, I’ll hold it alright.
“Do we get princess privileges too?” Dash asks.”
The guard stares him down and if not for the bars in between them, I can see. that he would get a beating for that.
“Guess not,” Dash mutters as the guard turns around and leaves.
“That mouth of yours is going to get you in real trouble.” One of the other guys
says.
I look at the hall where the guard left.
And that is the only and last time we see anyone else today.
“They’re going to starve us,” one of the men from the other cells says.
“Shut up, Quinn,” Dash snaps at him.
It is already night and no one ever came to feed us.
“He’s not wrong.” The rogue says. “That’s what they do. They’ll starve you until you are on the brink of death. Maybe they’ll even torture you and once they are completely done with you, they’ll take you upstairs where they’ll display you.”
My stomach hurts. They haven’t even given us water. But all this has not stopped. Dash from talking or rather trying to talk to me.
“So are you going to tell me what you did to get yourself thrown in here, Curls?” He asks.
I sigh because he doesn’t stop.
I come to the conclusion that maybe answering him will make him stop talking.
“I punched the Alpha’s daughter…” I mutter.
I am sure I would have gotten punished for that anyway but I know it is what I said that really hurt the Luna.
He suddenly starts laughing. “No way! You have balls.”
I sigh again and lie on the ground, closing my eyes and ready to sleep. I feel very tired, hungry, and weak. Dash and the others continue talking until everyone finally falls asleep.
When I wake up the next morning, my head hurts and my eyes are heavy.
The day passes quickly and this time, Dash is not talking much. I take a glance and see him lying down with his arm on his eyes, resting. The green–eyed man–to whom I still don’t know the name– is sitting just like the previous day just watching.
Looking at the light that comes from the small windows, I sit up but I feel like I am about to faint.
“Lie back down.” A husky baritone voice says. It took me a few seconds to realize that it was the green–eyed man.
I look at him with a questioning expression.
He speaks again. “You are smaller than us. You need to conserve all the energy
you can.”
I look at Dash and I am sure that he tired himself out already. I realize now why the green–eyed man has been so quiet and still, this whole time unlike Dash and the others.
I do as he says and suddenly my eyes open again and it is already dark outside. Everyone now seems to be sleeping but this is when I suddenly feel a stabbing pain in my heart. I hold my chest and whimper but I quickly put my hand over my mouth. My hands shake and I am just too weak to completely hide it however I do my best.
I hear muffling sounds and realize that the green–eyed man is watching me. I quickly turn around, giving him my back, and hold in as much of the pain as I
can.
I hate him. I hate him so much!
When I first found out that Ezra was my mate. I was scared and angry but also,
hopeful. Deep inside I had hope that maybe it could be. I’d let the mate bond do what it does but after so much pain and humiliation, I have learned to hate him.
As the pain now subsides, I close my eyes again, and now, I can’t seem to wake. up, even when the light of day hits my eyes. It takes all that I have to open them.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” Dash asks with a weakened voice. He lies, staring in my direction.
I feel ten times worse than yesterday and I am sure that it is all thanks to Ezra.
I try to open my mouth to answer Dash but I can’t. All I can do is close my eyes. again.
How long have I been here? Crap, maybe the Luna IS going to leave me here. forever!
I hear shouting now. That handsome green–eyed man shouts and Dash also speaks but I can’t make out anything. Then, there is silence.
Suddenly, a bright light hurts my eyes.
“Casseopea?”
A woman’s voice speaks my name..
I attempt to open my eyes and they feel less heavy now. I take in my view and realize that I am in the pack hospital and the woman who speaks to me is the
doctor.
“There you are.” Dr. Turner says. She looks relieved.
Lauren and James are here too.
“W…wa.” Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.
“Water?” Dr. Turner asks.
“I nod.”
The doctor nods too
“That is exactly what you need but you are getting fluids.
now so we will get you rehydrated in no time.”
Lauren sits next to me with a glass of water and helps me drink.
James sighs, standing next to her. “Prohibiting food and water is something that they do to weaken enemies before interrogation and to keep them from busting through the cell bars.” He says and then mutters. “Damn idiots did the same to
you not taking into consideration that you are much smaller and weaker than most werewolves who see those cells.”
I am sure the Luna knew exactly what was happening.
“If not for the same prisoners, you would have died.” He sees my confused expression and continues. “They called for the guards nonstop until someone listened and came to check what was all the commotion about.”
I feel so grateful. I can’t believe they did that. Risking getting punished to save me, a member of the pack that is their enemy.
After taking a good sip of water, I am able to speak just a bit.
“Can…I go home…now?”
Lauren closes her eyes and shakes her head.
“You need to stay here for a few days but after…” She pauses and sighs. “The Luna said that your punishment is still ongoing. She said that you’ll stay in the dungeon for a month.”
My eyes widen as she says this but she quickly adds. “But you will get fed regularly this time. And as part of the punishment, you are to clean the cells and take care of the prisoners.”
“It’s ridiculous but the Luna said that watching what becomes of those that don’t follow the rules will be good for you,” James says.
“At least you are not getting whipped,” Lauren says trying to look at the bright side but the thing is, I actually don’t mind staying there if they won’t starve me.
I quickly look up at them, realizing something. “Did…they feed the prisoners?”
I find myself feeling concerned for them.
James looks confused but he answers me. “I…I am sure they did. They usually leave them without food and water for three days.”
I feel just a bit relieved about that and I do hope it is true.
Throughout the next few days, I find myself thinking about them and hoping that they are okay. I know they are the enemies but… I feel bad for them and plus, they saved me. They can’t be all that
bad if they saved me. Or maybe I’m just being stupid and naive.
After two days, I am finally feeling much better. When the Luna is made aware
of this, I am taken back to the cells. I quickly take a look at all of them and see that they are all alive and I am so grateful though, the two guys that are in the cell in front of Dash have new wounds that seem to be healing. They look a bit more beat up than last time.
“Well well. Look who’s back. How are you doing there, Curls?”
This time, I can’t help but give him a shy smile but then I look away from him. and my eyes meet those green eyes.
Now seeing him just a bit better, there is something about him.