CATRINA

It's the next day I assume when bright light floods into our cell but this time the cell guard doesn't enter the cell. He opens the door and lets someone enter. I wait for the person to make his appearance and am not disappointed when Lance enters the cell door.

"Good morning, my little pet," he greets me making me shiver in disgust at the nickname that he's given me. Rhea is not at all interested in Lance as she's just sitting on her cot and absent-mindedly caressing her belly with her eyes closed.

"Oh, she is not my concern here and she's off-limits so I don't bother her," chuckles Lance making me curl up my lips in disgust. Just because she's off-limits, he's not touching her. Otherwise, is every wolf a subject for him?

"I'll ignore your disrespect only once, my pet but don't make the mistake of insulting me. Even by an expression," he warns and then walks forward towards me. I keep my legs planted on the floor but I am terrified on the inside. I want to run away from him but I know that he'll catch up to me and then he'll hurt me more so I standstill.

"Good girl," he chuckles and then lifts his hand to tug at my hair.

"Tut-tut-tut. Your hair is dirty. You shouldn't be dirty. Come on. I'll take you out of this cell. Xanthos doesn't have much work of you now so you are all mine, my darling," he whispers in my ear making my skin crawl.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," I manage to say without any tremble in my voice.

"Are you sure?" he asks, tilting his head to the side, his eyes narrowing a bit. I stifle the shiver and standstill.

"You will come. Or I've got a nice present for you," he smirks signalling the guard outside with a click of his tongue. The guard moves around outside and then after a few minutes, someone else enters the room. The sight makes all the breath leave my body in a loud gasp.

"NO!" I whisper-scream when I spot my twin.

Not wasting any time, I take a step towards my brother when Lance gets hold of my elbow obstructing me from moving.

"Please," I whisper, trying to be still so that he'll let me go.

He smirks at me knowing that I'll do anything now and then let's go of my hand. "Only 2 minutes. Then you will do as I say," he says smugly but I ignore him and turn towards my brother.

"Cayden. What have they done to you?" I whisper the last words, rushing forward towards my brother who's being held by two guards. He's beaten, badly. His knees are resting on the ground now but the lifelessness in his body is so apparent that it's clear that my brother is not able to support himself.

"If you want your brother alive, you'll do as I say," speaks Lance and from the tone of his voice, I can make out his smug tone.

"You bastard. You'll rot in hell," I scream, turning to look at Lance and taking a step toward him but a loud crack reverberates through the room making me stop in my tracks. I turn my head to look at my brother whose arm is now hanging loosely by his side.

"No, please." Tears run down my cheeks as I feel helpless about this situation. I can't say anything. I can't do anything.

Mutely, I take a step towards my brother and when Lance doesn't comment anything on that, I take another step and another till I am standing just in front of my battered twin.

I go on my knees in front of him, my hands trembling as I lift them and move his hair, away from his face. My fingers find blood first, making a sob escape my lips. I stifle it and clamp my lips shut as I shift Cayden's hair aside and watch his face. His head has a bruise and it's already black.

His head has been hit brutally, blood trickling down his face and sticking to his hair.

"Cayden," I whisper, making my voice soft to not startle him.

"Don't test my patience," rumbles Lance from behind me but I ignore him. Cayden is more important to me.

I wait for Cayden to respond but when he doesn't, I call him again. Initially, he doesn't react but I know he heard me when his breath leaves him in a whoosh and he takes in a breath, whispering, "Catrina."

The moment he does, I lift my hands to hold his face, lifting it, my heart fluttering, giving me hope that he's conscious enough to know his surroundings. His eyes open, only halfway but they do, giving me hope that he can recover. He can fight this.

Making a quick decision, I land a small kiss on his head where it wouldn't hurt him and squeeze his hand a bit.

"Stay alive for me," I whisper hoping that he understands me.

"Don't break," he whispers in reply and another sob threatens to break free.

I know why he said that. He knows that we in the rogues' hands. These are our father's people and they are not known for their kindness.

Instead, stories of their barbaric activities keep the children in their beds at night and the girls in their houses for the whole day.

Me being in this place is a bad thing, and when Lance has especially beaten Cayden to make me bend is an even worse thing.

"I won't break, brother. I promise."

Come on, time's over," yells Lance, pulling me up, roughly. I balance myself quickly and wait. The guards move out of the cell, carrying Cayden with them and then Lance starts following them, pulling me with him.

Not wanting to be away from my brother, I quickly follow behind Lance, not even sparing Rhea a glance. She'll be much safer than me and Cayden, I am sure of that.

We walk through the dark corridor and a series of steps. I can't see properly, only glimpses and from that, I figure out that we are not anymore in the castle. This looks like a cave. The huge rocks, acting as the inside wall of this cave has small grooves in it where the small candles are placed. The candles give out a very eerie glow to the cave looking straight out of a horror movie.

They take us into one of the small carved rooms where Lance stops and motions towards another small groove like thing.

"Get a bath," he orders but I shake my head.

"No, I don't think your plans require me to be clean, so be done with it," I say bravely but on the inside I am terrified.

Lance smirks at me his eyes gleaming evilly but I curb the urge to shudder. I will not give him the satisfaction of seeing me cower.

He walks over to me in slow measured steps when I don't cower and I keep my gaze steady on his.

"So, you won't get into that bathroom?" He asks pointing towards, what I now know is the small bathroom. I shake my head in a negative, keeping my shoulders straight with a lot of effort.

"Feisty, aren't you?" He whispers and then bends to look at me in the eyes. This close I can see the yellow flecks in his amber eyes and that's when I know true fear. The look he gives me, filled with pure mischief chills me to my bones but somehow, I do not whimper, not even when my knees start trembling.

"I said get in the bath," he orders again but this time his voice is indulgent. Watching him as he assesses me, I try my luck and try another way to deal with this rogue.

"I want something in return."

"Oh, so the dormant has claws," chortles Lance. I wait for him to reply to my bargain, not giving up.

"Tell me."

"Heal Cayden. Stop the bleeding," I say pointing towards my brother's head wound. He's not hurt anywhere else but from the looks of it, he's bruised everywhere with his arm broken but what scares me is his head wound. It's bleeding and from the hazy expression of his eyes, I know that he's having a concussion.

"Ahh! But that's not my call," says Lance toying with me now.

"I'll go in the bathroom, get cleaned as you wish," I say once again knowing that Lance isn't allowed to touch me sexually. I had heard Xanthos instructing Lance when he had claimed me for his experiment. As if remembering the same thing, Lance narrows his eyes at me, his upper lip curling in disgust.

"Fine. But if you don't listen to me at the first call, I'll have his skin peeled off," he threatens me. Knowing that he'll carry on with his promise, I nod my head.

"Heal him and don't hurt him anymore. I'll do as you say," I whisper sealing my fate. I watch as Cayden's head jerks up and he eyes me through his lids, his disapproval clear.

But I don't have any other option. I won't have him killed just because of my stubbornness. I know that Lance won't kill me but I don't know if they'll spare Cayden. Alive is always better than dead.

With that mantra in mind, I take a deep breath. Only when Lance orders his guards to lay Cayden on the nearby cot, do I take a step towards that improvised bathroom.

Even then, I make sure that Cayden is being looked at gently before entering the bathroom.

"Take this," orders Lance when a young battered-looking girl walks in with a dress in hand.

I take the dress since it looks surprisingly clean and modest. Walking into the bathroom, I quickly rinse myself not bothered about this cleaning yourself agenda of Lance. All I am concerned about at this moment is Cayden and whether they are healing him and not poisoning him. I don't trust Lance at all. In the short amount of time that I've known him, all I've ever felt is disgust and fear.

After washing myself, I dry my body quickly, squeezing out the water from my hair and tie it up in a knot. I pick up the dress that Lance ordered me to wear but before that, I wear the underwear which has been provided with the dress. There's no bra so I just put on the one which I was wearing earlier. I don't care if it's dirty, I have big breasts that tend to move when I walk. I don't want these sick people to watch me.

Getting dressed in two minutes, I walk out of the bathroom and watch that they've placed Cayden in this cavern itself. Quickly, I make a beeline towards Cayden's cot. He's lying on his back, only in his pants and it's only now that I get a clear view of his blood coated upper body. There are claw marks over his chest. They are healing right in front of my eyes but his expression is not relaxed. In fact, he appears to be very worried.

"Don't worry about me, Cayden. I'll be fine," I whisper, walking towards him when he raises his hand at me. Taking his hand in mine, I squeeze it and wipe the blood off his lips with the other. The wound is healing but the blood that has trickled down hasn't been wiped off.

"You shouldn't... have listened to him... He's one of the devils... He's the one who did all the dirty work-" coughs Cayden mid-sentence.

"Shh. Don't speak. I'll be fine, okay," I whisper. Cayden shakes his head and then winces. I hold his hand but his hold on mine gradually weakens and I watch as his eyes close, panicking now at the fear of losing him.

"What's wrong with him?" I ask the nearby guard who has been watching us this entire time.

"He's sedated. He'll be sedated for the time you are compliant. The moment you stop being compliant, the master will wake him up and he'll be punished. And you'll watch," says the guard, Odin, monotonously. I remember him.

"But I want to talk to him. He's not fine. He needs medical-"

"ENOUGH."

I flinch, turning to look at Lance as he enters the room and briskly makes his way toward me. He assesses me from head to toe, his gaze lingering on my breasts for a second too long and I feel sick all of a sudden.

He doesn't say anything but just takes hold of my elbow and then pulls me forward. I resist at first, which makes him turn around and raise a cynical brow at me but I don't move. After a moment, he sighs and then starts dragging me roughly away from my brother.

"Stop please," I whimper as my feet rub against the rough floor.

"Move or else, I'll wake him up," threatens Lance looking at Cayden which makes me mutely walk beside him.

God, please get us out of this mess, I pray mentally hoping that Fenris finds us soon. I don't know how Cayden came here or if he was also tricked like me. I don't even know where I am. I just hope Fenris finds us. 

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