As we made it down to the stony stream where the water burbled along with the moonlight glimmering off of its surface, I turned to run along its bank.
My pack were racing to keep up with me as I ran at full pelt, my paws digging into the dirt and leaving prints in the damp soil as I went. The pups were howling and baying behind me, none of them mentioning that it was so late and that Aunt Bianca would scold us for running for so long. But I didn't care. I was too anxious over Roary and too filled with heartache to sleep anyway and running was the only thing that even came close to making me feel better.
A scent caught my nose on the wind and I turned my head sharply as my ears pricked up. My gaze raked over the trees on the far side of the river and as the deeply tempting scent filled my nostrils again, I found myself slowing.
The pups behind me were all howling now and a deep sense of unease spilled beneath my skin as my gaze was tugged across the water and that scent urged me to cross over out of our territory.
I took a step before I could stop myself, my foot splashing in the water and the icy cold feel of it snapped me to my senses.
I pulled up short, my lips ripping back in a snarl of warning.
But the other pups weren't listening to me and with a jolt of fear, I realised that they weren't holding back, all thirteen of them charging into the water and bounding towards the bank on the far side of it.
My heart lurched with panic and I released a firm bark of command, ordering them all to halt.
Seven of them did, the Alpha tone in my command impossible for them not to obey. But the other six kept running, either unable to hear me over the splashing of their feet in the water or maybe they were just too caught up in whatever the fuck smelled so damn good in those trees beyond the far bank. I didn't know, but the fact that they were crossing the boundary at the edge of our land put fear in me unlike anything I'd ever felt before. An Alpha was nothing if they couldn't protect their pack.
I shifted back into my Fae form in the blink of an eye, turning to Fabrizio in his rowan Wolf form as he hesitated by the stream. "All of you run back to the house and wake Aunt Bianca and the rest of her pack. Tell them something really fucking bad is happening out here and get them to come help."
I shifted again before waiting for him to confirm my order and the seven of them who were still under my control turned and raced back towards the house.
I bounded forward, leaping over the river and shivering as I felt the moment I crossed through the magical boundary kept in place to protect us. Gabriella and Luigi were still in sight at the edge of the trees and I raced towards them, barking fiercely as I commanded them back.
I slammed into Gabriella as she took another step towards the trees and she whimpered as she came to her senses, turning alongside Luigi and racing back across the water to safety, leaving me with four more pups to wrangle under my command before whatever the fuck was going on came to light.
I dove into the trees, my instincts screaming at me to turn tail and run as the taste of danger lined the air and made my hackles raise along my spine.
Cristina and Ivan weren't too far ahead, their similar grey coats easy to pick about between the darkness of the trees. They were running towards that heavenly scent, but I was easily the fastest Wolf in our pack and with the determined fury of an Alpha protecting her own, I quickly caught up to them.
Snarls were exchanged and teeth bared, making me sink my fangs into Ivan's flank as he tried to argue against the clear command in my tone for a moment before I forced the two of them to bow to my superior strength and position.
Cristina whimpered in apology, her ears flat to her head and I barked savagely, commanding them to run home.
The moment they turned and raced away to follow my order, I ran on, my heart pounding with fear for the final two members of my pack as I caught the scent of other Wolves on the wind.
One Wolf in particular. A Beta who had stolen an Alpha position through force and luck, but who had none of the true makings of a leader. The fact that he was the most terrifying Fae I knew and the only man I'd ever truly feared wasn't enough to make me slow. Because if Felix Oscura was here then Giovanni and Lucia were in serious trouble.
I knew my father had been kidnapping Wolf pups from other members of our Clan to make their parents fall into line with him and fight on his side of this war and there was no way I was letting him take two members of my pack. A true Alpha would fight to the death to defend their own and those kids were my responsibility, my family, my pack. I would die for them in a heartbeat.
I burst through the trees into a large clearing and my heart sank as I spotted Giovani and Lucia shifted back into their Fae forms, shaking and trembling as they were circled by two huge, full grown Werewolves.
Felix was standing on the far side of the clearing in Fae form too, fully dressed and smiling like the devil himself as he spotted me.
I didn't slow my pace one bit, baring my teeth and launching myself straight across the clearing, but instead of going for the Werewolves like most Fae would have expected me to do, I raced right past them and launched myself at my father.
Felix's delighted mask slipped as he threw a blast of water straight at me, meaning to knock me off course, but I was ready for him. Years of being subjected to his so-called training before Dante and Aunt Bianca had forced him to relinquish me into their care meant I knew full well the moves he made when he was up against an adversary and I was ready for them too.
I leapt aside before the water could hit me, ducking beneath a second blast and bounding right over the spikes of ice he launched out of the ground.
Before he could throw any more magic my way, I was on him, all teeth and claws and fury. My jaw snapped tight over his arm and I bit down as hard as I could, relishing the bellow of pain that escaped his lips as blood flowed, flesh was torn and bone snapped between my teeth.
I kept hold of his arm even as he threw a fist coated in ice into my ribs and pain splintered through my body so brightly I wanted to scream. I started shaking him as hard as I could, following the natural inclination of my Wolf and ripping him off of his feet so he was tossed back and forth in my jaws like a rag doll.
I knew my momentary advantage wouldn't last much longer, but as the two members of his pack turned away from the pups and launched themselves at me, victory sailed through my body.
Felix threw another blast of water at me and I was launched off of him, tumbling across the woodland floor and barking out a fierce command in my most powerful Alpha tone to the two pups who were now unguarded and free to run.
They followed my command instantly, shifting and racing away into the trees before the two full grown Werewolves could take chase.
My heart soared as I realised I'd done it and I pushed myself upright with an excited howl even as I found myself surrounded by Felix's pack.
But I didn't care that they'd caught me, because my pack was safe. And if their safety cost my life then I was okay with that. A morte e ritorno.
"You deceitful, treacherous little bitch," my father snarled as he stalked between the Wolves who were circling me like I was a fresh kill they were just aching to rip apart.
I glanced between all of them, accepting that there was no way I was escaping unless the pups brought Aunt Bianca and the other grown Werewolves to help me soon and I shifted back into my Fae form so that I could speak to him.
I held my chin high as I stood before the man who had brought me into this world. Who had let me suffer in the care of the woman who called herself my mother and then plucked me from her arms once he decided he wanted to try and make a weapon out of me. I'd suffered in his supposed care for too long before Bianca had found out about me and insisted I come and live with her here, rescuing me from the horrors he was exposing me to in aid of moulding me into a creature in his own image. But I would never be like him. I had the blood of a true Oscura and a real Alpha running through my veins. There was no way I'd have ever been the obedient pup he wanted
me to be.
"I'm not the one who turned against our true Alpha," I snarled, taking satisfaction from the wince on his face as he pressed a hand to his fucked up arm to heal the damage I'd done to it. That had to sting, letting an un-Awakened Fae get close enough to hurt him like that. I was just some kid, his kid, and I'd gotten past his defences as easy as breathing and taken a chunk from him right in front of his pack. The taste of his blood lingering on my tongue was amongst the sweetest things I'd ever experienced. But I could see by the look in his eyes that I was going to pay for that.
"The true Alpha is the one who is strong enough to lead our pack to victory,” Felix growled. “Dante won't even strike against our enemies unless they strike at him first. He goes to school with Ryder Draconis and has made no attempt to kill him in his sleep like he should."
"Dante would never perform such a cowardly act," I spat. "When he decides it's time to destroy the Lunar leader, he will challenge him like a true Fae and defeat him in an honest fight. But of course you don't care about honour or proving you're the strongest Fae, because we all know you aren't."
He backhanded me across the face so hard that I saw stars before I'd even hit the ground and the taste of my own blood filled my mouth.
The familiar howl of Wolves racing towards us made my heart lift for the smallest of moments as I recognised my aunt's voice, but before I could even get my hopes up, the world twisted and spun around me.
I gasped as the stardust deposited me on a cold concrete floor and I blinked around in confusion as I found myself in an old barn which I recognised as being on the outskirts of Felix's estate. I knew it because he'd brought me here and made me watch as he'd tortured countless members of the Lunar Brotherhood to death.
The sides of the huge building had new additions to them though, lines of metal cages like dog kennels running the length of the space, each of them holding at least one of the kidnapped pups he'd been stealing with little more than a thin blanket and a bucket in each of them.
His pack shifted back into their Fae forms around me as I remained on the floor, trying to seem unthreatening as I looked around at the place and tried to figure out an escape plan, or at least my next move. The naked adults moved over to a heap of clothes at the side of the concrete space I'd been dumped in and started getting dressed. I flinched as a shirt and pair of pants were tossed at me too before taking the hint and quickly dressing in them.
"It's funny that you should have talked so highly of my soft hearted nephew, daughter," Felix growled as he moved to stand over me, the light in his gaze flaring with his inner Wolf as he held my eye, trying to force me to look down in submission. But I just stared right back at him, a little surprised at exactly how easy it was not to back down to him despite the fact that I knew he had me over a barrel. I had no magic, I was surrounded, I was small and thin and young. But I was strong. He was the one who had started making me take part in fights and I hadn't stopped when Aunt Bianca had rescued me from him.
I might not have had my magical power yet but that just meant I spent every damn moment I had spare training myself physically to be as lethal as possible without magic and I could even take on full grown Fae in a fist fight now and win. I'd proven it more than once. And despite how much my father terrified me, I wasn't going to be forced to bow to him. I'd long since found he would only hurt me more if I did anyway.
"Why is it funny?" I asked in a low tone.
"Because I'm planning on visiting him tonight. A new friend of mine is going to use their considerable power to take out the wards protecting Dante's precious academy and I'm going to head over there while he's sleeping and gut him like the pig he is. Then I'll take out Ryder Draconis too and finally rid Alestria of the Lunar Brotherhood once and for all. The city will be mine before dawn."
"You're a coward," I spat. "You should fight Dante like a real Fae, not try and sneak up on him while he sleeps. That's why you'll never be a real Alpha. You're pathetic."
This time when he punched me, I blacked out. I felt a blast of agony racing through my skull and then all I knew was darkness.
***
A crash of water over my face woke me and I found myself laying on the cold, metal table which I'd seen more members of the Lunar Brotherhood die on than I could count. Their blood had coated this very place, their screams filled this room and their pleas had stained my soul with marks that I knew would never scrub off. Men, women, children, Felix had never cared so long as they were Lunar. The only small mercy he'd ever shown me was in not making me participate. I just had to watch and learn. I was pretty sure the reason he'd never made me wield the blade was because he was too addicted to causing the screams to allow someone else to take them from him.
My heart leapt and thrashed as he moved to stand over me and I found myself tied down by vines that one of his Wolves must have cast to hold me still while he played with me.
"I don't take pleasure in doing this to someone of my own blood," Felix breathed in my ear, leaning down close so that his overly long, grey hair slipped forward and brushed against my cheek. "But you really made your own bed. And what use is a traitorous daughter to me anyway?"
"You can have my screams and you can have my death," I hissed. "But you will never have my heart, my love or my respect. And you'll never be a true Alpha, no matter what you try to convince yourself."
My words were strong and filled with venom but inside I was a weeping little girl, still wondering why I'd been cursed to be born of this monster. Still pathetically wishing he might love me just a little. But the look in his eyes as he pulled his fancy ass torturing knife out of its sheath made it clear to me that he was as incapable of love as I was of changing my loyalties from Dante to him. I swear he loved that blade more than me. It was made of sun steel, and fuck only knew how he'd gotten his hands on such a thing because they were rare as all hell. It was the only known substance that could cut a Fae open and cause a wound which was impossible to fully heal. If he cut me with that thing then the least I could expect were scars. Of course, I doubted anyone would be healing me so that I could scar. More likely I'd be dead before the sun came up.
"I'll do you a deal, daughter," Felix said as he slowly rolled my shirt up until my stomach was bare to him and a shiver raced along my flesh.
I may have been an Alpha and I may have been able to look him in the eye and shoot venomous words his way, but I was still just a girl inside. And he might have trained me in pain and survival when I was younger and taught me to withstand more than most Fae ever could, but laying on this table beneath that blade terrified me. I was going to die here. And it would be slow and it wouldn't be painless.
The man who I refused to think of as my father looked into my eyes as he touched the sun steel blade to my left side over the curve of my ribs and every muscle in my body tensed in anticipation of the agony I knew was coming.
"If you're still alive by the time we have to leave for the academy to kill your beloved cousin, I'll bring you with us. That way, you can see what we do to him and maybe I'll even give you one final chance to change your mind and join me. But if I do decide to be that generous, you'll still have these scars I'm about to give you. You'll wear them forever, decorating your pretty flesh and reminding you that despite your expressive words and hateful looks, you're still my girl. My pup. My bitch. And you'll always be that no matter what else happens."
My lips parted on what I was sure was meant to be a string of curses, but the only thing to escape them was a scream of agony as he drove the sun steel blade into my side. It burned like the fires of hell as it cut into me and the pain was unlike anything I'd ever experienced, stealing my breath away and blinding me in an endless pool of agony.
My back arched against the metal table as I pulled against my binds with all of my strength and the low howls of the pups in the cages around the edges of the room filled the air as they shared in my torture and tried to lend me some strength to survive it.
I fell back against the ta
ble, panting and whimpering, blood running over my skin and tears streaking down my face. The pain of it was too much to bear, too much to take and yet as Felix moved to press that hell blade down on a spot a few inches above the last cut, I knew I was going to have to endure it over and over again before he was done.
I closed my eyes and tried to pretend the screams echoing around the room weren't mine as I built up a wall around my heart and hid inside it where I could focus on the love I felt for the people in my life who truly mattered to me. A morte e ritorno. I'd been willing to die for my pack and now I was walking to the brink of death and looking it in the eyes. I just had to wonder if I really would be returning from it or if Felix would cut and cut and cut until the girl he brought back wasn't the same anymore because so many pieces had been carved away. And there was nothing of me left to return.
I woke with the most desperate urge to go to Elise, my heart beating solidly against my ribs as I sat up amongst the furs in my rooftop tent. I snorted a laugh as I spotted the damn Lunar King asleep beside me, a deck of cards scattered between us which we'd been playing a few hours ago. It was past midnight and the itching beneath my flesh wasn't going away. So I prodded Ryder and he lurched upright, throwing out a hand to throttle me. I caught it before he could and I took in the panic in his eyes before the tension ran out of his posture as he realised it was just me. The horrors of his past might always be with him, but I hoped in time they wouldn’t haunt him as deeply as they did now.
"Fuck, why am I here?" he muttered, shoving the covers off of himself.
I laughed at him, getting to my feet and stretching out my arms with a yawn. "I don't know, but I think the stars want me to go and see Elise. You in?"
Broken Fae Page 55