I blinked, standing to stare at a ghostly image touching my cheek, creating a wave of warmth that washed through me.
“Stand up, Braelyn. You are stronger than this. I know you are because you are the daughter of Fenrir. His blood courses through you, and your pain is almost over. Be strong as I taught you to be. You are the light in the darkness, and no matter what happens, I am proud of the woman you became. Loki be damned! He cannot have you. You were meant to rule! The gods are meddling to see that of which you’re made. So stand up and do not falter. Help is coming.”
I heard the scraping of metal as my knees bowed, and I used what little strength I had left to push myself back up. Time held little meaning, and I couldn’t tell how many days had passed since Carleigh had carved my flesh, hung me up to die, and the torture I’d endured. Days, maybe weeks? I was at the last of my strength, and even though the cuts had stopped bleeding, new ones from the razor wire continually drained me.
The doors swung open, and my vision swam from the intense light entering the container, blinding me, pushing me toward unconsciousness. Voices echoed, and my body slowly sagged as they cut me free from the wires. Someone grabbed me, screaming at the people behind them, and everything swam around me. Warmth washed through me as if my mother was still here, giving me her strength.
“Mommy,” I whispered. “I’m ready to go with you, please.”
“Jesus, fuck. Stay with me, Brae. Just fucking stay with me.” Saint’s angry tone filled the container as blood dripped onto my bare, bloodied feet.
Chapter Fifteen
Saint – A few hours earlier
I stood in the hallway, outside one of the many medical wards that held families uniting with their loved ones. Eryx stood across from me, speaking with a medic that had spent countless hours in the last two weeks tending to the children we’d found on the mountain. I’d spent a week here when we’d caught a lead on another smuggling ring and handled it before preparing to head back up the mountain.
I’d needed the time away from Braelyn to let the anger I’d felt dissipate. I knew what everyone wanted and what was required. Putting Brae down, though, the idea left me cold and dead inside.
She’d known about the killing fields, which meant she’d fucking known it was filled with boxes of victims. Fucking children that were helplessly awaiting torture. It would be endless with their immortality kicking in; even as young as they were, they’d heal if their tormentors didn’t take shit too far.
It had knocked me back, knowing she’d been aware of the children buried inside the containers. Seventy-nine children and thirty-one women were recovered, ranging in age from six to thirty-one. That didn’t include the ones I’d left her with, unwilling to identify the bodies of the deceased until I could stomach pulling out their remains.
Pulling my phone out, I dialed Lucas to check and make sure Brae wasn’t trying to escape again since he’d said she had caused hell by doing so earlier. He’d ensured me he had handled her rebellion easily and that she’d stopped fighting him with no harm to her person.
“Hey, what’s up?” Lucas asked, answering the call on the second ring.
“How’s Chaos?” I enquired, dancing around what I really wanted to know.
“He’s good. He is out with the men, tracking deer as you instructed. He stopped asking where Braelyn was and if he could see her a few days ago. You were right; keeping him busy is helping to keep his mind off of her.”
“Good, that’s good. Has Braelyn asked to leave the room again?” I watched as Eryx turned, staring me down.
“Nah, we stopped that by threatening to put her back into that storage container,” Lucas laughed, but there was something in his tone that made me pause. “All is good here.”
“That’s good. I’ll be home in the next couple of days or so. Did the pack get enough meat stored away?” I nodded to Eryx, who walked closer, listening to Lucas speak. He swiftly explained total deer caught, salted, and stored before asking about Carleigh, who had shown up here trying to get me back into her bed, to no avail. “She’s around here. Has Brae eaten?”
“Yeah, sure. I fed her,” Lucas murmured, causing Eryx’s eyes to narrow on the phone I held against my ear. “She’s been a good prisoner. No problems from her this week.”
Eryx frowned, nodding that Lucas spoke the truth. Eryx could read people’s tones, minus Brae’s, which we’d learned early on as children. She was harder to read, which we chalked up to her lineage, and being the daughter of Brenna Fenrir Haralson. Brae’s emotions were the same, meaning she could easily shut everything off.
“How much has she eaten? I don’t imagine it’s much after being locked inside that car for a full twenty-four hours.”
“She was picky at first, but she started eating well enough. You know how women are,” he droned on. “Besides, it’s not like it matters if she eats, she’s a dead-wolf-walking, right, man?”
Eryx shook his head, glaring as I promised to return home shortly to help finalize the winter preparations. Ending the call, I slipped the phone into my pocket, staring at him.
“He’s lying about something. His voice didn’t hesitate on Braelyn being a dead wolf, though. Something isn’t right, Saint.”
“Let’s go,” I growled, heading toward Xavier, who leaned his head against the glass window of the room full of unclaimed children yet to be identified. “We’re heading up to the mountain. Lucas is lying about Braelyn, and I need to know why he’s lying.”
“We’ll head back with you. I need to review some of the footage of Jane Doe. Dyson said he found some new videos, some with voices. It might help me figure something out. I need to put her to rest, one way or another. She’s out there waiting to be found, or they killed her because her uses ran dry.”
“Grab Xari, and we’ll head back up. It’s an hour-long flight, and we’re wasting daylight already. I need to be certain the pack has enough men out hunting before the snow gets too deep,” I admitted, scratching my neck as the others gathered around.
“Problem?” Ezekiel and Enzo asked together, which creeped me the fuck out with their twin shit.
“I don’t know yet. Something is off, and I’ve been gone too fucking long. I didn’t plan on breaking up another ring while we were away. The asshole I left in charge of Braelyn seems off, and I think he might have helped her escape before the snow hits. He was her friend.”
I watched as Carleigh approached. Her eyes were sharply focused on me while I studied the way her hips swayed. She smiled brightly, pushing her hands into her back pockets. “Problem?” she asked, and Eryx started to answer, but I slapped him on the shoulder.
“Nah, we’re just going to go chase down a lead. You able to stick around and watch the kids?” I asked, dragging my gaze down her body with a heated look that made her smile turn seductive.
“Sure, but you owe me big time for doing it. You can buy me dinner and a drink when you get back,” she announced.
“Sure thing, Car,” I murmured, noting the others were watching me with hawk-like gazes. “The rest of you assholes get to the helipad. We don’t want to miss this one or mess it up,” I announced as Carleigh stared me down.
“Something wrong, Saint?” she asked, her instincts on point. They should fucking be; I’d trained her myself. She stepped back, the smell of fear filling the space around her.
“Grab her,” I demanded as Phenrys and Bowen clutched her arms. “Put her in the bird and don’t let her out of your fucking sight. I don’t know what the fuck you did, hellhound, but it better not be what I think it is.”
She smirked, her eyes dancing with laughter as she held my stare. A sick feeling entered my stomach as I turned, heading toward the helipad and the sound of the blades starting up. My mind whirled with what could have happened. Lucas had been a hard sell in turning against Braelyn, but he’d taken it deeper. He’d made it personal, which almost seemed too fucking easy.
Carleigh would probably help him f
ree her so that she could get back into my bed. Hellhounds were territorial, and she’d made no secret about her intention, even after I’d turned her down repeatedly. Hell, I’d even invited Eryx to join me with her, and she still hadn’t gotten the message that we weren’t exclusive.
It took an hour and a half to reach the lodge, and the moment we landed, Toralei was there screaming at me. I watched her marching up to me, poking her finger into my chest as her rage filled the air between us.
“Where is she?” she demanded, hair wild and messed as if she’d been running her fingers through it in anger. I slid my gaze over her face, noting the way her nostrils flared, and her pupils dilated.
“Where the fuck is who?” I countered, watching her face turn a mottled shade of red.
“Braelyn! What the hell did you do with her, asshole?”
“She’s in her fucking room, Toralei. Point that finger at me again, and I’ll fucking rip it off.”
“Liar! She is not in her fucking room.”
“Bullshit! Lucas ensured me she hasn’t left it,” I argued, watching her chest rise and fall with her anger.
“Lucas left the week after you did, asshole. He left with your bitch, and no one has seen him since! No one has seen Braelyn since Eryx marched her into the woods, and no one will tell me anything! I am her beta. Do you have any idea how fucking insane I feel not being able to feel her? You don’t think—where the fuck are you going?”
I was moving toward the lodge, rushing through it as my stomach churned and tightened. I didn’t stop running until I was standing above the container, smelling death and blood. A lot of fucking blood. Eryx helped me lift the doors, and I jumped down, staring into the darkness. Others landed around me, lighting flashlights as the blood left my body.
Braelyn was balanced on a barrel precariously. Her body was covered in blood that continually dripped from the razor wire slicing into her body. Her big blue eyes were unfocused, and her lips were moving. Braelyn was filthy, covered in blood, and her hair was matted and caked in something I couldn’t identify.
The air left my lungs as she whispered, “Mommy. I’m ready to go with you, please.”
“Jesus, fuck. Stay with me, Brae. Just fucking stay with me,” I growled, grabbing her as she started to fall forward, causing the razors to slice deeper into her tissue.
“What the actual fuck?” Eryx snarled, helping me push her up. “We need wire cutters, now!” he shouted, holding her upright while staring at the frailness of her body and the blood that covered her from head to toe.
“I want Lucas found, and I want his fucking heart,” I snapped. “Carleigh is to be held in a room, and she doesn’t leave it until we know what the fuck they did here. They were the only two with keys to the lock I placed on the doors.”
“She’s bleeding out,” Ezekiel announced as if we didn’t fucking know it already.
“And she wants to go with her mommy,” Enzo stated, flicking a blade open as he cut through the wires that were inside the skin of her thighs. “Someone wanted to kill your mate. This wire is set to cut her to pieces, including her fucking throat the moment she fell.”
I looked at the wire and frowned at the way it was rigged. I’d seen it used many times, where cold-twisted bastards placed bets on how long the victim could remain upright before the wires cut them into pieces, ending the life of even an immortal. Someone had tried to murder Brae while I was away, and I was willing to bet it was Lucas and Carleigh.
Braelyn mumbled more words to her mother, begging her to take her away from the evil, causing nausea to burn the back of my throat. I’d left her here, intending for her to spend one fucking night in the box since the children had been in it for weeks. I’d remained gone to help find their parents. Never had I assumed Lucas and Carleigh would leave her in the container, let alone strung up to die a death like the one the razor wire promised.
“Braelyn, stay with me,” I uttered, watching as the last of the wire was cut away from her body, but she remained upright. Eryx helped me bring her down from the barrel, staring at the wounds that hadn’t healed due to her body sustaining too much damage. “Her head is split open, and someone cut her up enough that she shouldn’t have been able to remain standing, let alone live long enough for us to get back here.”
“Judging by the way her wounds look, she’s been hung up for days, if not longer.” Xavier covered his nose as he pointed to the wounds on her inner thighs in varying healing stages. “That looks like it was done days ago. The edges look more like scars than wounds, but it can’t heal with the amount of blood she lost. There are white marks on her calves, which I’m guessing were cuts as well. She’s a fighter, Saint. If she weren’t, you’d be returning to a corpse.”
Braelyn lifted her head, but there was nothing in her gaze. The vacant look she gave me said she didn’t even recognize me. Her lips moved, but the sound was so soft that I couldn’t make out the words. Leif stepped closer, touching her chin to lift her eyes toward the light.
“It’s not Loki, little Princess. He can’t have you, and he knows it. It is forbidden for Loki to take one of our kind from this world or the afterlife. Brenna, wake her,” he stated, turning his head toward the dark corner of the room. “Either wake her or take her away from the pain, Brenna Haralson. Your daughter suffers because you’re holding her to you. She cannot be inside both words.”
I peered around at the others, shrugging at their confused expressions. Braelyn gasped in air, her eyes regaining focus before a mask covered her features. Her eyes moved to mine, holding them before she stepped back, faltering, then stood proudly, with no pain visible on her face. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was one of Harold’s victims.
“I didn’t mean for this to happen.” I watched her closely, noting she didn’t even look in our direction. She looked through us as if she were alone inside the container. Blood dripped from multiple incisions and tears on her flesh. I moved closer, and she stepped back, uncaring that she stepped into the mushed corpse of a victim. “Let me help you, Brae.”
“I do not need your help,” she whispered, barely loud enough to be words. Leif looked over her head, catching my attention briefly before turning to the corner, staring at the air.
“Seven days of standing on a barrel, waiting to die,” Leif announced, still staring into the shadows. “Your mate, she’s an entirely different breed of woman. You got yourself a fucking Valkyrie, lucky prick. Brenna, a pleasure seeing you again. I’m sure you’ll be waiting with a blade at the ready when I enter Valhalla. I look forward to it, shield-maiden. You raised a rare one, with silent courage and one hell of a pain tolerance.”
“Who the fuck are you talking to, asshole? Brenna Haralson has been dead and gone for fifteen years,” I grounded out, watching as Leif pointed his thumb toward the shadows, causing a shiver to rush down my spine.
“Brenna, obviously. I’m guessing she returned to keep her daughter standing until help arrived. Sprits that are in the afterlife can only return when their bloodline is on the brink of extinction. I’m not crazy, Saint. I died, which means I can see beyond the veil that this world can see. We should get Braelyn to the lodge before her mother, who really doesn’t like you, accepts her pleas to join her in death.” Braelyn moved on her own. I watched her moving toward the light that was fading as day gave in to the moon’s demand for dominance over the world.
Fear at how feeble and weak Braelyn appeared, gripped my heart. I hadn’t wanted her to suffer any pain. Discomfort, certainly. Those she’d left out in the bone-chilling cold, to starve and sit in their own shit, had suffered more than the twenty-four hours I’d intended for her to spend here. I watched her leap for the ledge, landing hard on the ground while everyone remained away from her.
They knew she wouldn’t want help, which burned me inside, watching as she fell to the ground, unable to reach the edge to leave the storage container. It took Braelyn multiple tries before her fingers caught the edge, and we
all stared in silence as she hefted her weight up and over the edge. One by one, the others went up until I stood alone, peering into the shadows that Leif had been speaking into, sliding my eyes around it.
“You can’t fucking have her yet,” I whispered, shaking my head. Something touched my shoulder, forcing my eyes to close as warmth washed over me. “She’s my mate, and until I decide otherwise, you don’t get her, Brenna. You left her with a monster which turned her into one, too. I have to decide what to do with her, and until I do, she is mine.” Pain slid against my forearm, and I looked down at the marks that covered it. Leif wasn’t crazy after all. “Thank you for keeping her alive until I got here. Now back off and let me see if I can save her.”
Chapter Sixteen
Braelyn
I could hardly walk, but I wouldn’t allow anyone to help me. It wasn’t pride or something else forcing me forward. It was that I wanted nothing to do with any of them. Saint abandoned me in that container, choosing to give others the responsibility for my care. I thought Lucas was my friend, but I was so very wrong. He watched me being strung up to die, cut multiple times, and returned to continue the torture. The alphas I’d spent my entire life focused on protecting and providing for stood idle while I was left in a dark hole to die.
We passed through the gates, and my gaze slid over the wolves that watched us with curiosity. After a moment, they turned, giving me their backs, albeit hesitantly. My heart clenched, knowing that whatever Saint was selling, they’d bought it. Turn your back on an alpha was a show of disrespect, saved for those who had betrayed the pack.
Fuck them, too, then.
My attention shifted to Toralei, who watched me with horror-filled eyes. I could imagine how I looked. The short, white, silky nightgown was stained brown, with crimson patches from where fresh blood was soaking through. The thin material was ripped in multiple places, revealing the damage to my body. My feet were bare, covered only in the stockings I’d been wearing the day they’d marched me to the storage containers. They were stiff and sticky, covered in blood.
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