I don't know when I finally pass out from sheer exhaustion, but it takes hours. I lay there as the time crawls by, my body radiating pain as my mind goes over and over everything that was said and done.

Could I have fought harder?

Should I have given Myth the answers she wanted?

Would it have mattered?

Endless answers cycle through my mind, but when really factoring in who it is I'm dealing with, it all leads me back to where I am or in a worse situation. Doesn't matter what I could have done, she had the numbers on her side from the beginning. Always has. She's just driving her point home.

Sometime before I had fallen asleep, I had heard my parents return home, but not once did I hear them inquire as to my whereabouts. Were they in on it, or at least aware like my brother? Did they even care I was down here? Are they punishing me too for the perceived 'shame' I cast on them? I weep silently as I curl up as much as possible, conserving as much body heat as I can.

Jay is right outside in the bedroom, I hear it when he begins snoring lightly. For him to have gone to sleep, I know it has to be really late. Wonder if my parents even know he's here. I try shifting my arms around, but my dislocated shoulder nearly has me screaming out when I move it wrong. Instead, I lay there and think of just what it is they plan on doing with me. After sending myself into panic fits multiple times, my brain finally has enough and sends me to sleep.

Don't think I'm out for long though when the door is shoved open, which causes my eyelids to shoot up. My heartbeat is like thundering hoofbeats in my eardrums as Jay walks in, rubbing his face. I can just make him out when turning my head. My hair obscures my vision, but I can picture him well enough as he moves to the toilet next to the tub I'm in.

Hearing him fumble with the closed lid, I stay absolutely still. He didn't turn on the light, so if I'm lucky he'll forget I'm in here, do his business and leave.

"Ready for today, Runt? Mythine has quite the day planned for you. I knew she had a mean streak, but she seems to really have it in for you. Not that I mind, you see, we keep her happy and give her what she wants, and she gives us what we want. While I wouldn't mind a piece of her ass, she's determined to get her hooks into that supposed Alpha. She mates with him then we sit pretty, understand?"

So much for remaining invisible. Hearing his stream splashing against the water bowl, I want nothing more than to close my eyes, but his words have me going on the alert and defensive. My eyes won't open completely, jaw is swollen, nose filled with the scent of my own dried blood, and my body is stiff, but my insides still manage to clench in trepidation.

How does Mythine know Faust is an Alpha? The royalty claim could have been garnered from someone eavesdropping on us, but not at any point was it brought up that he was an Alpha. Has she seen his mark and knows what it means? If she has, why is he so sure it was me that spilled his secret? Especially if she's seen it, they both had to have been in an intimate setting?

The thought is not only disturbing, it seems to hurt. I keep saying they're welcome to each other, but whenever I picture them in that way, I can't help the visceral pain that seems to twist my gut. I want nothing more than to turn my head away as my eyes start to fill with the burn of tears, but I bite my lip in anger. To hell with them both. Ever since I laid eyes on him, my life has been nothing but misery.

The flushing of the toilet startles me so much I jerk, regretting it instantly when it pulls on my arm and jars the rest of me. Not even a minute later I'm being grabbed and pulled up which has me crying out since he grabs my busted arm. Falling into him when I'm upright, he catches me easily. Since he's over six foot himself and well over two-hundred pounds, at least half of that being muscle, I know he can break me easily enough if he tried.

"No hard feelings for the bite yesterday. I actually kind of enjoyed it, but couldn't very well let on that I did, you know? Being kinky is one thing, but showing any kind of favor towards you in any manner is instant grounds for a serious social mauling. The only ones I've known to not suffer for knowing you are Markus and Leilan."

Jay is steadily dragging me out into the basement, his arm wrapped around my shoulders as he forces me to walk. Think the wolf likes to hear himself talk, since he hasn't shut up since he stopped pissing. I can barely walk, but since my legs weren't bound, they're in much better shape than my upper half. My attempt to pull away from the male just has him tightening his grip around me, near hugging me to his side.

After his remark about the Alphas-in-Training, he halts in front of the overstuffed recliner that had been stored down here, standing me in front of him. We're still in the back area of the basement, behind the stairs where we can't be seen by anyone unless they come all the way down and walk around a bunch of boxes that weren't there a couple weeks ago, but are in preparation for the newest move.

"Leilan, Markus, and now this Faust. What is it about you that has them circling you like a bitch in heat?"

I frown at him as he moves my hair behind my ear, loosening the gag so it lays around my throat. Just as the female werewolves tend to look striking and beautiful, males have an animal magnetism all their own. Tall, handsome, and naturally toned with muscle, I've never seen an outright ugly werewolf. Off-putting maybe or not to my particular taste, but never one that wasn't pleasing to the eye in some manner. However, just like the females, just because they look good on the outside, doesn't mean they're good people.

"Excuse me?"

My slowly moistening mouth seems to go bone dry. I go from being clutched to his side to him falling back into the chair and dragging me into his lap. My eyes widen as I lean back, my legs forcefully getting straddled over his lap as he pulls me closer, but he leans his face into mine. Fear spikes through me for a moment, but it's quickly overshadowed by anger. Hearing him inhale next to my neck, I shudder as another male's words again play through my mind.

"Your defiance amuses but gets you nowhere. Did you know your fear scent can spark arousal? You smell quite delicious, and so small too. Dominating you would hardly be a challenge..."

A small sound starts in the back of my throat, at first sounding like a whine then bleeds into a growl. Jay's hands are on my hips, holding tight, preventing me from jumping back, so I go forward. Leaning forward, I guess he forgot why I had the gag on to begin with. I start aiming for his ear, but he seems to pick up on something going very wrong and manages to knock me off course just enough. I don't get it, but I do latch on to his shoulder.

I end up regretting it almost instantly when he grabs my dislocated arm and yanks me back. Crying out has me releasing him instantly, but there's a bloody imprint of my teeth on the swell of his muscular shoulder. He hisses at me while holding me away from him and looking at the damage. He's not wearing a shirt, and him yanking me back just helped in shredding his skin even more.

"Ahh, you crazy bitch, that's not very nice. How you expect me to explain this?"

He scowls at me, but where I'd thought he'd start yelling, screaming, or even hitting me, he doesn't. He just sounds minorly inconvenienced. Really getting a look at him, I can tell he's already healing. I thought I'd done more damage, but my jaw didn't get a good placement and his muscle is too thick. Minorly inconvenienced indeed.

"You were just told to watch me, not get handsy. I was well within rights to defend myself."

He glares at me with cocoa brown eyes before he starts laughing and shrugs and I can feel the difference immediately. I'm not sure what it is about him that changes, but my senses instantly go on alert and my heart starts pounding.

"Have it your way."

I'll come to regret having it 'my way', as for the next several hours get spent with me taking a beating. He ended up putting my gag back in, not to keep me from biting this time, but to keep my screams to a dull roar. The only time he removes it is when it's preventing me from vomiting properly so I'm choking.

I didn't know there was a way to beat someone, to cause so much pain, and not break anything within them. I almost wish he'd do that instead. I get a small reprieve when he allows me to use the bathroom so I don't piss all over the floor, but even that is a torture in and of itself since he watches me the whole time. And I'm not allowed to clean myself, he does it for me.

He's sure to remind me that we're doing it 'my way', so he doesn't get handsy or overstep, but it's still way overstepping boundaries, even for a werewolf. When he asks if I want some water I think it's a trick, and he does make me 'ask nicely' for it, but by this point I'm beyond caring about pride. I know it could be worse, and I keep thinking that to myself the whole time. While the water was nice, all it allowed for aside from wetting my tongue, was something to vomit up not even ten minutes later when his tortures started up again.

I'm almost grateful when hearing the basement door open. It heralding my sister's voice is no surprise, nor are the ones following her. The very same as the day previous. Jay had cleaned his shoulder and donned a shirt, so all evidence of my having gotten up close and personal is all but erased. When catching a glimpse of the clock, I see what had kept them. Today's a school day, and it had let out about an hour before. I've been getting beaten for the past six hours, at least.

Turning my head into the floor, I weep silently, my hair covering my face. Jay moves to meet up with them, but I don't have the energy to move. My clothes are bloody, torn, and smell of sweat and fear. While the others talk of their day, I work on collecting myself, not wanting to give my sister the satisfaction of seeing me so shattered. My body may be mangled, but my spirit isn't broken.

"Hey there, Runt. Faust didn't show up today. I'd asked around and no one has seen him, which means you were probably the last one to do so. You going to tell me what he told you?"

My whole frame is radiating pain, but nothing is broken, so I can move. I choose to do so, even though I know I'll end up regretting it. My arms are still bound behind me, so it's awkward, and I get laughed at, but I'm not trying to stand. Shifting my legs around, I haul my body up until I'm sitting awkwardly, legs bent to either side of me so my balance is centered better. My long hair is damp with sweat and limp as it hangs around my head and in front of my face, so I peer at them through the thick pale strands. Some of my blood has bled through it, giving me the appearance of red streaks.

"Oh, wait, she can't very well speak through the gag now can she?"

Jay snickers as he makes the remark and comes stepping up next to me. I flinch, which has them all laughing as if some joke was just told. I cough when it's removed, licking my dry and chapped lips. The male steps back once more, and from the corner of my eye I see him kneel down and eye me in warning.

My throat feels swollen, the whole of my neck aching as soon as I attempt to speak. Croaking at first and coughing again in pain which sends them through another fit of laughter. I turn away and grit my teeth, but Mythine's patience seems to be at its end. Guess she wasn't one of the ones laughing.

"Jay, get her some water so we can get on with it. This is taking forever."

Those who were imitating hyenas quiet down to sneers and snide remarks. Glancing over, the females are the same, but the male is different. One of the girls has her arms wrapped around him, while he eyes me with disdain. Meanwhile she presses her head into his side before raising her face to kiss his jaw.

Nice, new date experience; take your lover to see someone get tortured. How lovely.

When a cup gets shoved in my face, my eyes look up at Jay who's kneeling in front of me, a look of annoyance in his eyes as he lowers it to my lips. Amazingly enough, he's gentle about it, keeping his eyes level with mine the whole time as he has it tipped just enough to trickle the liquid in my mouth without drowning or dowsing me. The melted chocolate of his eyes reading the same as they did before he started his torture session. When I make a small sound in my throat and pull away, he in turn does as well, his gaze dropping to my mouth as he pulls the cup away.

"Well? You going to answer me today?"

Jay doesn't move from his position in front of me but I look over to my sibling as she takes a step forward. I can feel my eyes harden in hatred. I don't think I've ever hated anyone in my life, but I hate her. I don't even hate Jay as much as I hate her. I tried to come up with some forgiving or redeeming trait of hers, something that would hold the familial bond between us, but laying in that tub all night after her beating me yesterday, both physically and mentally - I couldn't come up with anything.

I can see Jay stiffen in front of me, but I don't make a single aggressive move as I smile at her. She blinks then frowns harshly. My voice finally slips out, though it's low and ragged, abused and torn.

"Mythine, you are the most pathetic creature I've ever seen. I've said more than once that I wanted nothing to do with Faust and that you were welcome to him, but you persist in seeing things that aren't there. If you know what he is, then you should have spent more time on him and less on me."

She screeches and launches herself at me, managing to slash her nails across my face with Jay still in front of me. Then he moves, preventing her from going at my face anymore, but once he stands and side steps, urged by her screaming at him, she's once again flying at me, this time all flying kicks and girly punches. Her designer shoes hurt more than her punches. Even girly as they are, she still has wolf strength backing them.

I attempt to curl down to keep her kicks from hitting the center of my body, but that just enables her to get free reign on my head and sides. My arms soak up most of it and when she hits my screwed up arm and gets me to cry out, that's where she aims all her rage. A piercing scream is emitted before I get it cut off, but she takes one more kick at my head. Not sure if it's the angle or if she just manages to hit that hard, but everything goes black seconds later.

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✰ \(‾▿‾\) 𝔇𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔤𝔢𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔳𝔬𝔱𝔢 (/‾▿‾)/ ✰