Gainey

Even with my eyes closed and my head pounding, I know exactly where we are. I can smell about ten different wolves in close proximity, along with mould and a disgusting, eye watering mixture of putrid body odour.

And death.

I can scent death very clearly and I'm almost too scared to open my eyes in case I match the scent with the scenery of what my mind is conjuring up.

But even with the mask of all of these smells together, it does not hide the scent of a place I never wanted to see again in my entire life time.

The place that haunts my nightmares. Stalks my memories and plagues my thoughts day in and day out.

The place I was born. My home pack. My birthright.
Hill pack. The pack that has belonged to my fathers family for one hundred generations of Alphas.

I blink slowly, ignoring the scorching pain that shoots through my temple, as I attempt to get my eyes to open and focus on anything but the pain I can feel everywhere. Both physically snd emotionally.

I turn my head in small motions from side to side, letting the grim surrounding sink in slowly. Bars and concrete. Tiny dust covered window. No air flow. Dank and depressing. We are in a basement of sorts, hidden and dark. Bars separate small partitions. No wonder the smell is  so stale. There is no fresh air here, doesn't seem to be more than one way in or out.

A small bump on my legs has me tipping my head forward and a sticky, warm liquid drips down on to my already filthy pants. I lift my hand up to my head and feel around to where it is hurting most and bring my hand away when it feels damp. Definitely bleeding, which is odd because by the small amount of light filtering into the room, it's early morning and I should have healed from whatever happened to us last night.
An accident. Or, considering where I am, perhaps not so accidental.

The small bump to my leg becomes a large bump and a low moan has me looking to a puddle in front of me that I can now make out more clearly. Two bodies are piled on top of each other and seem to contributing to the growing bubble of deep red ooze that is spreading beneath them.

I shuffle slowly towards them, noting my limbs all seem to be working and the pain seems to only radiate from my head wound. Small win there.

I reach my hands out and slide the top body off of the other, he doesn't move and as I flip him over, I can tell from the colour of his lips and face, that he hasn't taken breath for some time. A quick sniff tells me he is wolf and not of this pack.

As I switch my eyes to the body on the bottom, my breath leaves in a gasp and i shoot over to his side as fast as my pounding head will let me.

Benji lays face up, his right arm is at an angle to his body that should not be possible and his legs are just visible through his clothes, bloody and scraped, his pants in tatters around him.

But it's the torn shard of metal that protrudes from his side that has me hurling my guts up to my side.

His face is battered and swollen and his eyes are squeezed shut. I rip what is left of his shirt open to see his wound and immediately wish that I hadn't. It's dirty and bloody and worse than I had first assumed. His flesh is torn open in such a crude manner, it seems as though he was ripped from whatever impaled him in the first place and this is the result.

If I can't get this thing out of him, in a hurry, he won't have a chance to heal. Going by the puddle of his blood we are both sitting in, I don't know if he will even survive me trying.

My heart sinks. Our last words were harsh to each other. He might die on the bloodied floor of our former home and we spent our last day together fighting over my mate.

The fates are seriously trying to kill me.

I search the dim room for anything I can use to help me through this but all I can see is a few bodies and filthy rags, I can't even be sure if the still bodies are alive or other. In the same section as Benji and I is the dead body from before and another man that has not moved a muscle this entire time. I reluctantly leave Benji and slide across the small space to check and as I reach the man I can already tell by his colour and smell that he too has passed.

These bastards. Leaving us here with dead bodies.
What kind of hell are we in?

A low moan comes from Benji and I rush back over to him, moving his head to the side so that he can see me. His eyes flutter open and he swallows hard but he doesn't focus on anything. Fuck. I don't have water or anything. He is going to die and I can't do a fucking thing to stop it. 

I place my hand on his head, his eyes are closed again and I assume he has passed out. It's probably better that way. At least he isn't in pain.

I pull his head into my hands carefully and slide around, placing his the weight of his head into my lap and bracing my hands on his shoulders.

I lean my back and head against the wall behind me and internally scream. At the world. At the goddess. At myself.

I should have refused this mission. Left Gia to her bullshit. Stayed at home with our pack.

We should be home. With Ellena. With our people.
Tears escape my eyes as my head throbs as I think about all the could haves and should haves in my life. As I drift off to sleep, only one face remains in my minds eye and for once, it only brings me peace.

*********

A loud boom from the only door to the room opening suddenly startles me awake and I make sure my hands don't jolt and wake Benji. He has not moved at all and I assume he has been out cold this entire time. The room is darker now and I think we must have been asleep most of the day. His stillness is eerie and my gut tells me it's not a good thing.

Footsteps echo behind me and I place Benji's head down carefully before turning around to try to get an early glimpse of whoever is coming my way.

I scent her before I see her and my hackles immediately rise. My wolf is bursting at the seams. He wants blood. Hers. He always has.
A woman who I never wanted to set eyes on again, stalks down the stairs, her nose in the air, her see through robe barely hangs on her back. She looks just as she always did. High and mighty. Just ask her. She is identical to the last time I saw her, the day I left this place and never intended on returning. 

Her smug smile makes me believe she didn't have the same thought. She always said the next time she saw me, tables would be turned.

And it seems she was right.

"Gainey, isn't this such a lovely surprise. My oh my, haven't you developed into an upscale replica of your father. Maybe even better." Her voice is nails on a chalk board. High. Nasal. Full of sullen promises. She stops in front of the cell and her eyes rake me over, widening as she gets to my hips. It sickens me to the core to see want in her eyes as they drag up and down my body, the scent of arousal in the air. Nausea threatens to over take me as I take her in.

"Amarette." I seethe. I can't believe she is here. In this room. Though I shouldnt the surprised. She was always playing the long game. And Benji and I were always just her pawns. Replaceable players in her game of power.

Her eyes flick over my shoulder, widening ever so slightly as she notices the crude piece of metal cutting into Benji's flesh.

"Seems my son has had a bit of an accident. Poor pup. Shame. He was always a foolish boy. Useless." She bites out as she continues her vile speech.
" But he doesn't have to die. I'm not as heartless as you believe me, Gainey. We have medical facilities here. A doctor even. I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement." She purrs, her tongue slipping out to lick her top lip.

I literally cannot believe what I am hearing. Is it me, or is she suggesting sexual favours in turn for saving the life of her biological son? From the way she prowls around the outside of the cell, I know it's not just me.

I'm raging. My wolf is clawing at my insides, begging to be released.

"What the fuck are you saying to me? Will you help your son or not? What game are you playing this time?" I manage to growl out, only just keeping my wolf at bay. If I had any food in my system and was in any condition to fight, I would let him out to slay her right now.

Do us all a favour.

"You know what I'm saying Gainey. Don't play coy with me. You know I always liked them young and fit. My son can have the attention he needs, if I get the attention i... need." She slinks around to the left hand side of the cell, allowing her thin red robe to slip open a little, showing me that she has next to nothing underneath. She stops in front of me, placing her red pointy toed shoe in between the bars, her knee bent. As she leans further towards the cell, the movement sends the flimsy fabric sliding up her thigh, effectively flashing me her very naked and very bare to me core. When she notices where my eyes have gone, she slowly opens her leg to the side, giving me a view of all of her.

The vomit rises on my throat and threatens to leak out at any second.

I force my eyes to meet hers and stare at the very reason I hate all mates, the very real reason I refuse to enter into any sort of relationship beyond one or two nights.

She is what is wrong with all of it.

"Are you suggesting I fuck the woman who has not only screwed my own father, and bared my brother, but most likely anyone with a cock and some sort of power ? Because I'm pretty sure Benji would tell you to go fuck yourself before he ever allowed me to consider touching your evil old ass just to save his." I spit in her face to emphasise my point and shift back to sit with Benji.

A loud, echoing scream barrels out of her throat and out into the small cells, causing a barrage of loud footsteps to sound on the stair case before three large male forms appear before us, guns in hands and faces searching frantically for the cause of the sound.

A deep voice sounds from behind them and has Amarette shuts her mouth immediately, closing her robe around herself and moving away from the cell, her mouth a cruel scowl as she takes me in before she moves out of my sight.

"What's the fucking noise about this time mother?" He says, grabbing her by the arm hard, pinching her and pulling her to him before she can escape up the stairs.

"Nothing, nothing at all. I was just upset that Gainey wouldn't let me see Benji, that's all." The change in her voice and demeanour is impressive. Gone is the devouring temptress, replaced instead by a demure and delicate female.

"Is that right?" He says, moving slowly passed the three guards, dragging her, whimpering softly, with him as he approaches.

The years have been both cruel and kind to my brother. His size has tripled. The once thin and gangly boy has turned into a hulk of a man. His hair is dark like Benji but his frame and skin tone is similar to mine.

But his eyes remain the same. Still devoid of any life or light. His face shows no emotion and I wonder now looking at him if he has ever actually felt anything other than what the monster in his arms has told him to.
He takes me in as he approaches, looking over me and then at Benji as though he is looking at an empty room.

"Is that true brother, can my mother not come in and check on her son? Are you going to tell me what you said to make her so upset." He beats out, his voice even and monotone. No emotion. Just words.

Amarette looks at me, her eyes assessing whether I am going to go there or not.

I show her a smug smile.

Oh, I'm going there alright.

"Depends brother." I say, standing to move closer to the bars dividing us. We stand at the same height now. Equal. But we couldn't be any more different if we tried.

His face twitches ever so slightly as he lets go of his mother to place his hands on the bars in front of me.

"On what." He says slowly.

I smile, knowing what comes next is going to hurt. But it's going to be so fucking worth it.

Besides, what have I got to lose. I have already lost it all.

" On whether you want me to tell you your mother showed me her cunt before or after,  I tell you how she asked me to fuck her in return for helping her own son."

I don't see his fist before it hits my face.