A Wolf's Pride

by Jennifer T. Alli

  Unconcerned with Ryan’s predicament, Harry turned to his daughter, smiling in relief as she continued to sleep on, oblivious to Ryan’s condition in her own state of unconsciousness. His eyes fell to her upper thigh, fully expecting to see a new ugly wound against her skin but there was nothing. No wound, no blood and no sign of pain from Chloe as she continued to rest, slowly recovering her strength.

  “Well what do you know,” Harry began, “the mutt is capable of telling the truth.” He turned to Ryan, eyes aflame. “Now, that Chloe’s safe. I want you to give me a little bit of information.”

  “I have no intention of saying another word to you. I’ve made sure my mate is safe, that’s all that matters to me.”

  “You’ll tell me what I want to know, or suffer the consequences.”

  “And what exactly do you want to know?” Ryan drawled, fully aware that whatever it was wouldn’t be beneficial to him in any way.

  “I want you to tell me where your clans are. Your species needs to be exterminated, only then will mankind truly be safe.”

  “It’s really strange,” he mused, his voice thoughtful as he quickly changed the tone of conversation. “How did a raving lunatic like yourself, manage to raise such a wonderful daughter? One day, when Chloe and I have kids, I’ll be sure to keep them away from you. Lunacy is contagious and just because Chloe managed to escape it doesn’t mean it’ll happen again.”

  “You’re never going to be allowed within a mile of my daughter now tell me what I want to know!”

  “I’m not telling you anything about the clans and if you think that you can keep me from my mate then you really are insane.”

  Harry leaned down into Ryan’s face, his breath hot against Ryan’s skin, his spittle flying into his face. “You will tell me exactly what I want to know. Killing you will kill Chloe so I won’t do that. I love my baby girl but I’m going to hurt you in ways you can’t even imagine. I’m going to make you wish that I could kill you before you eventually tell me what I want to know. And then, when I’ve got the information I want, I’m going to keep you alive and Chloe will forget you and go about her life as though nothing had ever happened. Once that happens, I’ll keep you as my own personal pain testing pet. Now, tell me what I want to know.”

  I’ve only got to make it through the next two days. What damage can he do to me in two days? “No.”

  Harry stood up and turned to his sons. “Take her back to her room, have some people watch the door and then come back here. We have some serious work to do.”

  Chapter Forty Six

  “I want to see him Christian,” Chloe pleaded as her brother led her back to her room.

  It had been a full day since she’d been brought with Ryan to this bizarre place and it had been almost as long since she’d seen him. The pain that had ravaged her body had gone almost as suddenly as it had come and that was what worried her. She knew with an unswerving certainty that the wounds she’d sustained hadn’t been hers. She had seen Ryan get shot and it was only then that she began to hurt. She hadn’t been shot, bullets had sung through the air but none had even grazed her. Something had happened to her mate and her family was lying about it. They never left her alone except when she was within the four walls of her room; strange, heavily armed men patrolled the halls, all deferring to her family as though they were royalty but never speaking a word to her. She could just about wrap her mind around the idea of the small army that lived within the walls of her gilded cage but she couldn’t come to grips with the lie she knew was about to flow from her brother’s lips.

  Christian rolled his eyes, silently impressed by his sister’s tenacity though he wished she would direct her efforts to a more worthwhile cause. “He’s not here Chloe. We apologised,” he coughed, the word sounding forced. “For shooting him and he left. He said he wanted nothing to do with you. I’m sorry, but you’ll move on. You’ll find someone better than him.”

  A month ago, she might have believed her brother’s words. She might have wondered why would a man like Ryan want to stick around for a woman like her? But those thoughts belonged to the Chloe of the past; the Chloe of the present was a completely different case. With the same certainty that she knew air was necessary for life, she knew Ryan would never leave her. He might have been brass, stubborn and on occasion blind to the logic of common sense, but above all else he was loyal. Ryan was still here, that was a fact. Her family was lying to her under a misguided assumption that she would swallow the falsehoods meekly. Once upon a time she might very well have done, but things were different now.

  Even if her mind wasn’t absolutely certain that he wouldn’t simply have left as Christian was saying he had, her body knew better. Since Ryan had claimed her, she was aware of his body when it was within the proximity of hers. Her heart beat faster, her pulse raced and her entire body thrummed in anticipation. The closer they got to her room, the more aware of him she became. He was close, she could feel it. In fact, if her newfound sense of awareness was anything to go by, he was right beneath her feet.

  An idea began to form within Chloe’s mind and a mischievous smile touched her lips. If they can lie, why can’t I? “Is he really gone Christian?” She struggled to inject just the right amount of sadness into her question, a hard thing to do when she knew that Ryan hadn’t gone anywhere.

  “Yes, Chloe. He’s gone and he’s not coming back. What did you expect? He’s a werewolf, they aren’t exactly known for being faithful, they’re filled with an animalistic lust, he was bound to stray at some point.”

  She barely resisted the urge to correct him. A werewolf was very similar to an actual wolf and mated for life though unlike a true wolf, he wouldn’t move on if his mate died. Ryan gave a whole new dimension to the word monogamy. “He’s not coming back is he?”

  “I’m sorry Chloe but no, he isn’t.”

  They reached her bedroom door. “I really thought he might be different.” She hoped she’d managed to inject a believable quiver into her voice.

  “Don’t think about him anymore Chloe, he isn’t worth the time.”

  “I’m just going to sleep, maybe when I wake up I’ll find out that meeting him was just a horrible dream.”

  “Maybe.”

  “You know there are plenty of perfectly eligible men here, I could try and set you up with one of them…”

  “Thanks for the offer Christian but I just want to be left alone.”

  Christian regarded his sister sadly for a moment hesitating for a moment before mumbling, “I know you would probably rather do the man bashing thing with one of your friends, but I’m here for you Chloe, we all are. We could…I don’t know watch a girly movie or something.”

  Her jaw dropped in shock. Her womanising brother was offering to sit through a chick flick with her, there was definitely something going on. “Thanks for the offer Christian, but I just want to be left alone.” She turned the door handle and slipped inside her room, “Goodnight.”

  The closed door now a barrier between her and anyone that might try and interfere with her plan, Chloe sprung into action. She ran her fingers gently over the bite marks on her neck, shivering lightly as anticipation thrummed through her. The mark seemed to act as a beacon, causing her body to react more intensely the closer she was to Ryan. It was as though it were trying to prepare her for his lusty desires. While Christian had been wrong on most accounts about a werewolf, he was right about one thing. Ryan did have an almost animalistic lust, he was insatiable at times but all that energy was directed at her. She walked the perimeter of the room caressing her flesh, gauging the strength of her body’s reactions. The closer she got to the centre of the room, the more intense the pleasure became. She fell to her knees, fingers still running lightly over the seemingly engraved initial on her neck. The sensations wracking her body grew stronger the closer she got to the floor and she knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was directly beneath her feet. Her family were lying to her and it was about time she found out why.


  She looked towards the door but the memory of the many men who had lined the hall made her quickly dismiss any notion of leaving that way. Violet eyes landed on the open window, her heart speeding up as she reached a decision. Her room was a hunter’s paradise, mounted heads and ancient shotguns everywhere but those weren’t what she was looking for. As her eyes landed on a thick length of rope, she let out a silent cheer of triumph. Her hands were nimble and quick as she rolled the rope, testing its length. Satisfied that she wouldn’t run out of rope on her trip down, she strode to the heavy bed, looping a sturdy knot over the frame. One day, when this is all behind us, I must remember to thank dad for teaching me how to make strong knots, it might just save my life. Her steps were steady as she walked to the window, it wasn’t until she opened it, throwing the rope out into the night that doubts began niggling at her.

  The darkness of the night sky made the fall seem infinite, the chances of success slim. “I can’t do this,” she mumbled, stepping away from the open frame. “I’ll fall and this time Ryan won’t be there to catch me.” She was shaking with fear, remembering the way she’d flown through the air when Lucinda had thrown her, how her stomach had jumped into her throat, how the ground had seemed unbelievable close. It was the memory of Ryan’s strong arms catching her that calmed her. It was the memory of his voice soothing her fears even as they plummeted to earth that made her grab the rope and it was the memory of his broken body, blood pooling all around him that made her jump. He had risked his life to save her, how could she not do the same for him?

  She had always thought her arms to be weak, lacking in strength but there were apparently no limits to what she would do for him, what her body was prepared to go through to see him. The thick rope chafed against her hands but she held on tightly, locking her legs around its length. Increasingly certain of her position, Chloe began to lower herself down the rope. Though her progress was slow, she was moving. There was a light directly below her. Ryan had to be in that room. Minutes passed, sweat beading on her forehead from the strain but she was in front of the window. An angry curse slipped past her lips when she saw that it wasn’t fully open but only slightly ajar. Her arms were beginning to feel weak, trembling slightly from having to carry her weight. She contemplated just climbing back up the rope and waiting for Ryan on the outside, after all her family couldn’t keep her in this strange place forever, but then she saw him. He lay, still as stone, against what looked like a table, dripping blood onto the floor.

  Her heart was racing now, her strength rejuvenated. Ryan was hurting. She needed to get to him and the window was an obstacle that needed to be removed. Things were that simple. She swung, slowly at first but quickly gaining speed. Her fingers reached out for the window’s edge but she missed by mere millimetres. Quickly wrapped her arms around the rope again, she swung with more determination, reaching out almost blindly for the window. Her fingers touched the frame, curling as she dug her nails in, pulling herself closer. It was surprisingly easy to lever body into the room now that she was no longer concerned with her own fears but her terrified for her mate’s life.

  She ran headlong towards the table, not even checking to see whether anyone had seen her fantastic feat. Mindful of the puddles of blood, she approached him, gasping in horror at the state of his body. Tears welled in her eyes and she chocked back a sob. “Ryan,” she whimpered. His wrists and ankles were bound, the skin around his shackles burnt and blistered. Knives covered what looked like every inch of available skin on his arms and legs and there was a piece of metal held between his teeth, his mouth as burnt as the skin on his ankles and wrists. Reaching forward slowly, she caressed his cheek gently. “What have they done to you? Why have they done this to you?”

  The very idea of waking to the pain that filled every inch of his body was beyond abhorrent to Ryan, unconsciousness offered an escape from the pain but awake he would feel everything. Nevertheless, he could feel his body stirring, his mind waking, his wolf snarling in agitation. The scent of strawberries penetrated his mind and he was awake instantly. He grunted against the pain, only to inflict more upon himself as his tongue came into contact with the silver bar one of Chloe’s brothers had forced ruthlessly into his mouth. His gaze met Chloe’s watering violet eyes, the tears streaming down her face crushing his heart even as her hand touching his face muted the pain. He cursed the metal in his mouth, he wanted to talk to her, plead with her not to cry especially if those tears were for him. Her hands left his face and he growled angrily until they moved to his mouth, pulling the accursed bar free.

  “Chloe,” he purred. “Don’t cry. Please don’t cry. I can withstand anything but your tears.”

  “Ryan, what’s going on? Who did this to you?”

  “Would you believe me if I said it was your family?”

  “They wouldn’t, not after I told them how I felt about you.”

  “Angel, they shot me. There isn’t anything they wouldn’t do to get what they want from me.”

  “What do they want? Whatever it is, give it to them!”

  “I can’t angel.”

  “Why not? This is your life we’re talking about.”

  “And the lives of my family, my clansmen are at stake. They want me to tell them where the clans are so they can exterminate us. They’re talking genocide Chloe. I can’t allow it. I won’t.”

  “I’ll talk to them,” she suggested. “They can’t get away with doing this to you.”

  “No Chloe. They can’t know that you’ve been up here, that you’ve seen me.”

  “Why? What they’re doing is wrong. They can’t think that they’ll get away with it.”

  “Angel, if they see how loyal you are to me, they might turn on you. You can’t say a word to them, not one.”

  Her lips trembled. He was right and they both knew it. “Fine, let’s get out of here then. If you just break free of these restraints, we can leave. There’s a rope outside the window, I managed to climb down it and I think it’s strong enough to carry both of our weights. I think we might be able to get near the ground, we can jump and run away.”

  “What on earth were you thinking?” he snarled angrily, his teeth sharpening into the beginnings of fangs. “You could have been really hurt. Are they hurting you? Is that it? Were you trying to run away from them?”

  “No Ryan,” she began, her voice heavy with guilt. “Compared to what they’ve been doing to you, they’re treating me like a Queen.”

  “There’s no pain?”

  “No.”

  “Are there any scars? Any reminders of what happened?”

  “No.”

  “You’re eating okay?”

  “Yes.” Her answers were short, monotone before she snapped angrily, “Ryan, what are you doing? I’m fine, you can see that. I’m not important, you’re the one that’s being tortured!”

  “If I could stand I would give you the most delightful punishment for saying that angel. There’s nothing and no one more important than you.”

  “Ryan, focus! You can be mad at me later. Right now we have to think about getting you out of here. Can you break free?”

  “If I could have done I would have. The shackles are silver, if I pull against them my skin burns away and the nerves beneath are damaged so I can’t move. The blades are made of silver too, having so many in me is infecting my bloodstream, my heart is weakening me with every beat it takes.”

  She looked at the knives, they were dealt with easily enough. Her squeamishness had died right around the time, half of Ryan’s organs had littered the ground by her feet. It was the shackles that were the problem and her eyes wandered to the thick metal hurting and constraining her mate. “The key! Where’s the key?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What do you mean ‘I don’t know’?”

  “I was a little too busy to notice where your father put the key what with him torturing me and all.”

  “Ryan, I…” She trailed off, how could she respond to that?
>
  “I’m sorry angel, it’s not your fault.”

  “Yes it is. You warned me and I chose not to listen.”

  “They’re your family, it’s to be expected that you want to think the best of them.” He stopped, his wolf’s snarling bringing his attention to an unwanted problem. Her father was coming, his superior hearing could hear Harry’s distinct footsteps as they climbed the stairs. If he wanted to escape this place, he would have to be quick. “Chloe,” his voice was sharp, authoritative. “Listen to me. Will you help me get free?”

  There wasn’t even a moment’s hesitation. “Of course I will.”

  “Do you have access to a phone?”

  No. “Yes.” I’ll get one for him even if I have to steal it from the devil himself.

  “I want you to call Tobias –”

  “Tobias?” she questioned. “Why not Sebastian?” Her brows drew together in confusion. Why would Ryan want his daunting cousin rather than his gentle brother?

  “Tobias isn’t just my cousin, he’s the King. No one will dare question his word. Chloe, your father is coming. Listen, call Tobias and tell him what’s happening. He’ll find us. He’ll help us escape.”

  “What’s the number?”

  “866 852 7319. Repeat it to me Chloe.” Apparently fear was very good for the mind, she recited the number perfectly. “Angel, you need to put the bar back in my mouth and then leave. Quickly.”

  Her heart stopped, remembering the burnt blisters the silver had created around his mouth. The inside of his mouth was probably in just as bad a state but she knew he would never say anything. Ryan always bore his injuries stoically around her as though any sign of weakness would encourage her to leave him. She knew he wouldn’t say anything should she replace the pain inflicting metal. What her family were doing to him was torture and she wouldn’t participate in it. “I can’t Ryan. I can’t do this, I can’t hurt you and I won’t just leave you here to suffer.”