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Disrespect

***

The Bloodlust Alpha

Show & Tell - Melanie Martinez

Warning: violence. Like, there's eye stuff there too so disclaimer y'all.

"How long have they been down there?"

Isaac looks over to Noah, noting how the Beta sat there silently, staring at the door leading down to the interrogation chambers. The look on his face was hard to read.

Calm but raging.

It's been the longest streak of silence Noah was able to sit through. No small talk, no jokes, no teasing with Weston -who also sat beside him the entire time- absolutely nothing. Then again, in a situation as fucked as this, no one would be able to say anything light hearted. There was no room for jokes. No room for anything else.

Not when every so often the sound of shrill screaming would echo down the hall.

"Six hours."

Noah mumbles, glancing at his watch.

"-and forty-seven minutes."

Adds Weston.

"And Locksworth?"

At that, Noah's mouth tilts up the slightest bit as he turns to Isaac,

"Being a wonderful hubby, of course."

His grin turns mischievous,

"He's there supporting his wifey."

___

The faint, rhythmic sound of blood spattering should be something I'm well acquainted with. The crunching of bones and tearing of skin, the feel of hair ripping out of one's scalp should be secondary to me. The chilling pitter patter of nails falling to the ground one by one after being pulled out from the roots of someone's fingers should be familiar.

It was, after all, all part of a routine.

A standard.

The sight of liquid red filling in the crevices of the stones beneath where he sat should be something I've grown immune it.

And in truth, I was.

At least to some degree.

I had no hesitation when dealing with rogues. No second thoughts before swiping down silver into someones back. I had no issues with those like Fio or Val. Those who long before had it coming and was part of the job.

But this?

Goddess.

This is entirely different.

The others before were tasteless. Unimportant to a fault. It was simply professional. Business. No real driving emotion or motivation other than extracting information and getting the details I needed. It was a necessity than it was indulgence.

This however, was personal.

And because it was personal, there was a little bit of indulgence.

I walked over to where I'd been heating up silver. The metal lighting up from dull gray into bright orange as I watched flames lick onto the blades. It would hurt. I knew it would. Silver by itself was pain unlike no other, but heated?

That was inhumane.

"If I didn't need you to speak, I would've cut that tongue of yours by now."

I walk around him, curling around his seated figure, dragging the tip of the scorching hot silver blade across his chest and around his back. I didn't press hard enough to cut too deep, but it was enough to draw blood.

The line I traced cutting into his flesh had blood gathering together in small clumps. It rolled down his skin slowly, almost excruciatingly slow.

It was sort of fascinating in a way.

Red painted his pale flesh. Bruises and marks scattered across his abdomen from the beating he took from the paddle. Stringing him up to the ceiling by his wrist as Isaac and Emerson took turns beating their fists into his sides with brass knuckles had weakened him more.

The already broken ribs breaking more.

Bone shattered.

He had slipped in and out of consciousness more times than I can count but we had him coming back each and every time.

It was a game.

A game of wills.

One I was sure he'd be losing.

Benicio hissed as soon as the metal touched him, squirming against the chains binding him to the chair. His wrist and ankles were bound to the arms of his seat and the legs. There were no chances I was willing to take. Foolishness was not an option.

The last thing I needed was to tie his restraints loose enough for him to slip free. Missing arm or not, it wasn't safe to let down your guard. Underestimation was deadly.

The process of restraining him had been a major issue. That was a given.

Having to force a full grown Beta into a chair was difficult, but we'd managed. There was a lot of thrashing, cussing, snarling and mid-shifting going on, but the sedatives Ivory had given him lulled his wolf enough to prevent a full shift.

That, and the fact he was still recovering from the missing limb.

The smell of burning flesh wafts into the air, but I don't flinch. I don't pull away when he starts to dig his feet into the ground. The way he grits down on his teeth and the ticking of his jaw was enough to let me know he was being stubborn. Then again, when was he never? It was his stubbornness that got him here in the first place.

"Tell me, what do you know about Xeneron? Why didn't you help Duskfall? What is it that you're hiding?"

I bend over, staring him straight in the eyes. In all my years I've been too small, too insignificant to him, and yet here I was finally at eye level. I was more than he ever was.

More than he ever thought I was.

"How did you know about Lila?"

Benicio's lip tugs up into a smirk, bloodied teeth on show as he shook his head. He's tired and worn out, but he still had the audacity to smirk.

Sweat had drenched his hair and body. His putrid smell lingering in the air but slowly becoming stagnant the more my rage spilled over. My patience was wearing thin but I restrained myself.

Benicio chuckles- dry and broken.

"So strong yet so clueless."

He continues to shake his head in amusement. Desperation pours off of him, but he's holding onto his pride. He's forsaking any chance of surviving for his reputation.

Or at least, the shambles of it.

"You disappoint me, Selene."

His tone is mocking. His words meant to insult and condescend, but when you've lived through years of the same treatment, the same words being thrown at you time and time again, it means nothing in the end. It's nothing but words. There's no substance to it. Nothing to take from it.

"My love,"

I call out, never once taking my gaze away from the Beta.

"Get the gag."

Benicio's eyes flicker up to Raizel, clear panic and distrust in those blue eyes as Raizel walks over to the table across the room. I moved away from him and turned to the table where all the other equipment was laid across.

It was hard to pick what else to use.

Nothing seemed to work.

I had to commend him on that.

But maybe... maybe this time I should think a little less dry.

I had wanted to be left alone. To deal with my father as I wished with no interference but Meredith had protested. She'd shaken her head, telling me I wasn't conscious enough to make clear choices and that someone had to be with me. That I needed a support system.

A pillar.

Someone who would be enough to pull me back from bloodlust if I got too aggravated and intense without angering my wolf. Someone who was in the shape of my mate.

"What are you doing?"

Benicio's question goes unanswered when Raizel walks passed him and to me. His sleeves are drawn up, thick arms flexing as I take a minute to watch my mate walk to me. He leans down, kissing my forehead gently to which I relished the warmth and allowed myself a moment of peace. I close my eyes and breathe him in.

His scent was always enough to calm me. That inviting warmth that bubbles up in my chest whenever he touched me. His fingers graze across the line of my jaw, heat igniting the sparks rumbling from my stomach. He's silent but the gesture is loud enough for me to understand.

I'm not alone.

I open my eyes.

I stand away from Raizel and step directly into Benicio's view,

"I'll ask you again: What. Do. You. Know?"

Benicio simply glared at me, eyes darkening with such heated hatred that I began to wonder how any father could hate their child like he did. How any wolf could stand to direct such poor treatment toward his young. But I guess that was a worthless thought. He was the lowest of low. There was nothing he wouldn't do for the sake of power and authority.

Benicio scoffs, turning away and deciding to remain mute. I could feel the itch to rip into him again. Maybe take his other arm or leg to set an example. Sighing, I clench my jaw.

Well, I tried.

Without a second more, I grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled back sharp enough to make him wince. His scalp undoubtedly had began to burn the tighter I held on. The more I dragged his head down the higher his tone of panic goes. Pain flickers on his expression but he quickly tries to hide it under a scowl.

"Hold his jaw open."

Raizel rumbles from across me,

"We can't have him biting his tongue when the water gets too much."

Blue eyes open wide as they slide over to Raizel when realization hits him.

I'd ordered the guards to strip him bare. To leave him in nothing but his undergarment. Humiliation always makes one more vulnerable. It always makes one careless when too in deep of anger. And to dear ol' dad, his reputation and how he looked to others was always his biggest concern.

I gaze over his body, assessing any other weak points we needed to hit.

Healed scars and new gashes riddled his body. The noticeable scarring from his missing limb glaring back at me. The reds, pinks and utter destruction of his shoulder remind me of what I did. Of what I took from him.

I grin.

"You should've answered when I gave you the chance."

I use my other hand to hold his jaw open. Prying his mouth apart so he wouldn't go and try to off himself by biting his tongue, I forced myself to hold back on my strength. My grip is tight and unyielding and I have to admit the deep satisfaction settling in my bones when he starts to fumble under my hold. His sounds of panic and pain as Raizel nears to strap the gag around his mouth only serve to fuel my thirst.

It's a reality check.

Raizel doesn't falter when he shoves the gag in Benicio's mouth. He tightens the straps until he's sure the Beta won't be able to get it off and steps back. He looks at me, eyes soft but observing. Then he dips forward, lips grazing over my ear as he whispers,

"He's all yours, doll."

Oh, I know.

Benicio glares down at me, eyes watching carefully when I look over to the cauldron at the corner of the room.

The cauldron filled with iced water.

Slowly, I bring my attention back to him. He catches my eye and freezes. I let my smile show and laid my hand on the back of his chair. The second he had an inkling on what was next, he fought harder to get loose. He tried to yank and pull his arm free. Legs tried to free themselves from the binds. All was futile though.

I don't care for the scrapping of the chair, the sound of his cries muffled by the gag go through deaf ears as I drag him toward the cauldron. The squeaks of the wood against stone bounce off the walls but neither Raizel or I say anything about it.

Abruptly, I stopped in front of the cauldron and stare into it.

My reflection looks back at me.

Then I forced his head in.

He struggled to breathe, moving around frantically as his muffled screams fall into the chaos of splashing water and rattling chairs. I hold him in hard, feel him stiffen in panic before yanking him back out.

Benicio gasps out into the air, choking and coughing and forcing himself to breathe normally again. He's shaking so hard from the cold. His skin radiating the bitter bite of the chill from the ice. I know he wanted to yell at me.

To curse me.

To say anything he could possible think of to hurt me.

But he struggled with the gag around his mouth so the only thing we really hear is the sputtering and choking around the ball.

His eyes meet mine and I'm struck with the need to dunk him in again.

So I did.

Except this time, I held him in longer. I held him until I felt his throat constricting from drowning.

Forcing him in and out of freezing water took some time. I spent roughly an hour and a half dunking his head in and pulling him out. The process getting harder and harder as he spent longer and longer in water than he did air.

When I peel off the gag at last, he's still choking.

He must've thought I would end there.

I headed over to the table, pulling out the tiny sharp silver hooks I had specially made. The sound of Benicio struggling to catch his breath fill in the silence of the room. But soon, it would be joined with his screams.

It wasn't easy.

But it worked.

Hooking his eyelids open, I made him watch.

One by one, I inserted thin silver poles into his skin.

I made him watch how his blood pooled around his only arm. I made him feel what it would be like to go paralyzed. Enough silver in his arm would be able to momentarily paralyze him.

But he would still feel the pain.

He howled out, screaming as loud as he could when he felt another jab a sharp silver pierce through his back. I made sure to hit his spine this time. And another was put in. And another. And another.

He was a mess.

He'd soiled his underwear. His stench filters around us. I wish I could say I felt pity. Some sort of sadness for someone who I wished had noticed me more, but there was only a hollow emptiness.

A disappointment, almost.

I couldnt really decide on what to do next. I had taken the time to pull out each of his fingernails and stuck two inch silver plates in its stead. He's screamed a lot, then. I'm sure by now he'd strained his vocal cords.

His voice turned rough and scratchy from overuse but he still screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

I'd taken his arm, taken his mate mark.

What else could I strip him of?

My eyes flared up with excitement.

"I wonder."

Benicios groggily lifted his head, his eyes red and bleary and tired and defeated as the hooks continue to force his eyelids open. His breathing is hollow and I can't help but engrave this moment in my head,

"How would a wolf feel to lose his tail?"

___

Meredith blinks slowly, taking in Selene's mother for what she was worth. She couldn't see the resemblance.

She really couldn't.

Yes, she had looked similar. Yes, she had the same facial structure. The same lips, the same hair color, the same skin tone and yet, they were completely and utterly

different.

There was no fire.

No determination or self-respect that Selene had.

There was not a single trace of Selene inside that woman. She couldn't see it. And believe her, she tried to find it.

They'd all taken refuge at the Capital as they awaited the news of Beta Dixon's betrayal. All Wolves present remained. They wanted answers. Each and every wolf felt uneasy about how an Alpha like Landon allowed a traitor to have such high position in his pack. How foolish the young Alpha was.

The same young alpha who was detained at his cell.

"Disappointing."

Meredith sighs, tilting her head to the side as she looked Sophie up and down,

"I expected more."

Sophie doesn't have the time to respond because Hestia, the little pest, had stood up in anger, glaring at the ex-Alpha with intensity. Sophie's displeasure had spiked in the air, despite the fact she was chained with two guards beside her, keeping her posted.

Yet, she didn't say anything.

Like Meredith thought:

Different.

"Don't disrespect my mother, witch."

Oh?

Meredith grins, sardonic and mocking. The willowy blonde was trying to keep her reputation up? She was trying to salvage something non-existent at this point? With the way her eyes had been glancing over the wolves and other Alphas around them, it was clear as day Hestia was trying to gather at least some bit of respect. How pointless.

The only thing she was doing was making herself look that much more pathetic.

"Disrespect?"

Meredith echoes, standing to her full height and managing to bring forth her wolf just a little.

She did not take to challenges kindly.

Not when they came from a conniving, backstabbing bitch. Hestia stumbled back but held firm, trying her best not to cower or shake away. She was an ex-Alpha yes, but she was older. Surely, Meredith wasn't going to be too strong for her. She'd lost face after Selene and her fathers throw-down, but it wasn't too late.

No, it couldn't be.

"Disrespect would be to spit on your mother's face, grab her by the hair and throw her to the ground."

Meredith steps closer to the blonde, willing her wolf out just a bit more. Enough to overwhelm the naive female.

"Disrespect would be to call your mother out what she is publicly: spineless, a coward, self-absorbed, heartless, weak, disgraceful, unworthy of being a mother- an utter disappointment."

Meredith was merely a few inches from her. Her face directly in front of Hestia as that smile stayed unwavering,

"Disrespect would be to compare you and your sister, because frankly, I don't see how any of you could be related to that girl."

She finally pulls back, smiling sickeningly sweet at the way Hestia's eyes watered with humiliation. Her hackles lowered, and Meredith sat down again,

"That would be disrespect, little Luna. But what I said? That was fact."

-

A/n:

See I wanted Fio here but likeee I couldn't figure out how to make this even worse.

In all honesty I was debating on maybe shoving a metal rod in Benicios ass but I thought that was too much. I even thought about castration but like... I'm an evil bitvh but also a sensitive bitvh.

You feel?

Idk man I wanna do more torture stuff but idk what's "taking it too far". I'm pretty sure I'm gonna add some more stuff at one point when I'm comfortable enough for the torture but we'll see for now.