Berlin

I ran my tongue across my lips for what felt to be the thousandth time in a desperate attempt to moisten the deep cracks. I don't know when I was last given water or food, my stomach stopped growling days ago. 

It wasn't me I was worried about though. My mind was consumed with the little bundle of joy that was growing inside of me. Although I'd slowly began to give up any hope of rescue, my baby was the one thing that reminded me that I can't just think of myself anymore. I'd never allow myself to die knowing that I took the life of Osias and I's child with me.

I'm going to be a mommy, and it's time I started thinking and acting like one.

"Ouchie..." A pain-filled whimper escaped my lips as I tried to shift my position on the dirty floor, the cold cement digging into the slowly healing lashes that went across my back. When Max found out about me carrying he put a stop to the whippings and physical torture, but the mental torture of knowing if my baby was going to be safe or not overpowered anything he could ever do to me.

My eyes shifted to the door as I heard the latch being undone from the outside, a flutter of fear piercing through my tummy at the familiar sound as I wondered what was in store for me this time. My arms unconsciously wrapped around my stomach in a protective manner as I curled up in a ball, ignoring the stab of pain in my back. Heavy, uneven footfalls trailed from the door until I sensed a presence in front of me, although I didn't dare to look up.

"Princess! Rise and shine!" Max's cheerful voice filled my ears, and I winced at the artificial happiness that it conveyed. Anyone with a brain would be able to tell that anything he said wasn't genuine in the least.

When I didn't move from my spot, Max's heavy boot met my ribs in a harsh kick. I coughed out in pain, as my throat was much too dry to scream, but wasted no time in gathering up whatever energy I could to push my weak body up to a sitting position. I didn't want him to kick my stomach next.

"Oh good, You're already awake!" he chuckled with a giant smile on his face as if he hadn't just kicked me hard enough to bruise pretty badly. "We're getting married in three days time, so you have to meet the parents!" I blanched as he finished, staring up at him with an incredulous look that he somehow took as a one of excitement.

Married?

He had to be joking.

"I knew you'd be excited, princess! Now, lets go. Hurry the fuck up." he grumbled in a sudden change of mood, yanking my naked body up from the floor by my arm. I stumbled to my feet, falling forward suddenly when my atrophied muscles protested to the sudden movement. Max screamed out in anger, and before I knew it he'd thrown me over his shoulder. I couldn't even protest against the action with my body being so weak. Sometimes I wish that I at least tried to build up some type of muscle like my brothers, but alas, my small body was definitely not made for bodybuilding.

I closed my eyes in defeat while the demon dragged me down a long hallway before turning to the right and into a room of some sort. I didn't open my eyes at first, but the putrid smell that invaded my nostrils almost forced my eyes to open. With my first glance around the room, I didn't sense anything wrong about the area except for the Incubi's presence, of course.

The long dining room table was lavishly set for at least a group of twenty, although a few chairs were definitely squished in to accommodate a couple more people. I was surprised that the table was filled to the brim, each seat taken by a group of people that patiently waited for whatever it was they were waiting for. Or at least that's what I assumed, as every single one of them looked like they were frozen in place with a plate of food in front of them.

My brow furrowed at the unusual actions of the people, although my attention was diverted to the pain in my bum when the demon practically body-slammed me into one of the two empty chairs at the table. He sat next to me a moment later, but I couldn't even complain when I caught sight of the layout in front of me: a golden plate piled high with an array of foods right next a cup dripping with condensation from the cold water.

I licked my cracked lips with fervor at the thought of being able to indulge in the feast after many days with no food or water. More than anything though, I thought of my baby growing in my womb. I'm sure that this food would be more than enough to sustain them, and that revelation was enough to make me look up at Max's face that was now owned by the demon.

"U-um... C-can I eat this?..." I muttered softly while averting my gaze from his eyes, knowing that if I just dug into the meal without permission that I'd probably be whipped again. I learned that lesson on the first day kept prisoner here, and it definitely wasn't something I wanted to repeat.

Max gave me another of his twisted smiles, the kind that made me want to run away screaming. "Of course you can, princess. I wouldn't want our baby to die just yet!" he chuckled out like it was the most obvious thing on planet earth. "But first, meet my parents!" he held out his arm across the table, gesturing to the people sitting in the seats across from me.

It was my second glance around the entire room as a whole, and when my eyes made contact with the two people across the table I wanted to vomit. Of course, I already met Max's parents when we were together, however this time was definitely different. The demon giggled like a little girl, clapping his hands together when he saw the look on my face.

"Do you like them?!" spittle flew across the table with his question, but for once he wasn't the most disgusting thing in the room.

Across the table sat Max's parents, with maggots digging through their purple scalps and eating away at the decaying skin. Regardless of the fact that they were most definitely dead and had been for quite some time, they were dressed to the nines. If they were alive, I would have guessed that they were going out to the most fancy restaurant in town, not meeting their demon son's naked prisoner and apparently, soon-to-be husband.

That's when it hit me.

My eyes scanned across the entire table, and I must give myself props for not upheaving my guts onto the table. Each person was dressed in extremely fancy clothing, similar to Max's deceased parents. My heart began to palpitate hard in my chest as the puzzle pieces all began to fall into place. These are the 'toys' the demon was always so excited about, and the reason that they were so still was because they were all there permanently.

Dead.

My breath caught in my throat when I looked to my left, met with the empty stare of the Gus guy that pushed me down at the coffee shop. With another quick glance I noticed that his head hung at a weird angle, and I wish that I never saw the stitches weaving throughout his skin in a jagged pattern, straining to hold it atop his neck. His fingers were also sewn on with red thread, some twisted up and upside down on the table.

I covered my mouth with my hands to keep my sob of terror from escaping. Even though every fiber of my being wanted to get as far away from this entire place as possible, somewhere in my mind I knew that I'd never get far. I jumped in my seat when an arm wrapped around my shoulders, absolutely repulsed by the feeling of the Incubi pulling me close to him.

"Oh, don't be scared! Soon, you'll be joining them!" he exclaimed like he was proud of being a serial killer and that I should be happy to be his next victim. "We'll scoop out that baby from your stomach as soon as possible, and then I'll have something new for my collection!"

Max reached for his goblet, taking a deep swig and smacking his lips like it was lemonade on a hot day. It didn't take a scavenger hunt to notice what was in it.

Blood.

I couldn't hold back the tears of horror as they slid down my face like a waterfall.

Please, Osias...

Please...

Osias

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN, HE WASN'T THERE?!" I screamed out, my voice cracking at the effort. I had never screamed at Ortiz before in such a harsh manner, but I was absolutely fed up. One little thing could set me off, and I was already well past my breaking point days ago. The wince that I saw on his face was testament to the jarring tone of my words, but I didn't have it in me to apologize. I'd waited too damn long.

Seventeen days.

Seventeen fucking days my Angel has been away from me, swooped up from right underneath me by that stupid ass motherfucker.

When I got my hands on him, I'd torture him until he fucking begs me to end his pitiful life.

And then I'll just torture his sorry ass some more.

I hadn't been getting any sleep these past couple of days as I worked with the higher ranks to create a plan to get Berlin back. I ordered the pack to be on lockdown the second I knew that Berlin was definitely gone. The only ones that were allowed to come and go as they pleased were our top four tiers of ranks.

It took a huge deal of work to convince Berlin's parents to stay home as well, especially that little spitfire of a dad he has. While he was usually timid and shy - much like Berlin - around large men (excluding is beefy mate), when he found out his son was missing, I couldn't even count the amount of curses that were spat from his lips as he demanded to have him back that very instant.

We may be an abnormal specie, but I was definitely not a witch, and I couldn't snap my fingers and bring him back. I'll never get involved with those crazy sons of bitches.

His mate wasn't much help either, as he just stood there with his arms around the smaller man and grunted. I could tell that he was trying to stay strong too, though.

We plotted numerous plans down to the millisecond, but the problem that arose was the simple fact that we had no clue where they took Berlin. Every time that we though that there was a lead, it ended up being a dead end. There was no scent left behind and no trail whatsoever to follow.

Even my mating bond with him was dwindling, and that that terrified me to my very core. I only felt the faint aftershocks of his pain, meaning that he was definitely being hurt. The thought of my mate in pain when I swore to protect him brought tears to my eyes, but after the first three days of wallowing in self-pity, it dawned on me that crying my body dry wasn't going to bring my baby back.

So, instead I ordered people around and jumped into action.

Corey leaned against the wall in the corner, the same stoic expression on his features as his eyes remained glued on his mate, who stood in front of my desk. During my time with the unusual couple, I'd noticed that not only was Corey extremely doting to his mate (even while his expression read murder), but he was also extremely protective of Ortiz. His biceps even flexed in my peripheral vision when I yelled at Ortiz, looking like he was ready to put them into action if I so much as breathed on the man.

"I-I'm sorry, Osias." Ortiz spoke, his voice filled with genuine sorrow. "I really hoped that this was the one, but when we got there it was empty." he explained. I had sent a group of men to ambush an area that we thought could've been Max's hideout, but apparently we were dead wrong. Again.

I bit back a growl in my throat that was forming, mostly from York's anger. He'd been awfully quiet these past few days and although he tried to remain macho, I could tell that the separation from Casey was really taking a toll on him as well. He even whimpered once.

I'd definitely use that against him later, but now was definitely not the time.

Just as I opened my mouth to respond to Ortiz, I was cut off by the vibration of my cell phone as it rang on my desk. I raised an eyebrow, as I specifically told the upper ranks only to mind-link me for convenience and the rest of the pack not to contact me at all until my angel was back in my arms. Rolling my eyes in frustration, I ripped the phone up from my desk and tapped the green, 'pick up' button on the glass screen.

"I specifically said NOT to call this fucking phone!" I yelled out, gripping my hair in anger at the blatant disrespect of Alpha's orders. However, the soft breathing at the other end of the line made me pause.

It couldn't be...

"O-O-Osias..." came his weak, breathless voice from across the phone line. My knees weakened and I fell back into my leather desk chair, unshed tears from the days past tumbling down my face in one swift moment.

"A-angel?" I choked out, in utter disbelief that it was really him who was on the other line of the phone.

I motioned to Ortiz frantically, telling him to immediately track the call through the mind link. He didn't disappoint, jumping into high gear and typing away on my computer to get through the encrypted phone line.

"Y-yeah..." he replied, sobbing out a moment later and seeming in almost as much disbelief as I was. I wiped the tears from my eyes as fast as possible as I tried to stay on task even though my entire being was telling me to just comfort him as much as I could.

"Baby, you have to tell me where you are. Give me landmarks. I've been looking for you for days now... I promise I will get you out of there, I just need to know your location." I told him, trying to make my words as comforting as possible.

There was shuffling at the end of the line and Berlin's scream of pain sent a shock of fear down my spine. That motherfucker...

"NOPE! That's cheating, mister!" the demon on the other end of the line cackled like all of this was just a game and he was in the middle of playing Monopoly with some friends. Then again, I never know whats could be going on in that fucked up head of his.

"If you ask that one more time, then I get to whip Berlin's little back again! Say it again! Please! I love when the red water flows down his pale skin..." he let out a groan of pleasure from across the line before chuckling again. "Here's Berlin! Make it quick!"

"O-Osi..." Berlin choked out, and I knew that he was sobbing terribly from the mere sound of his weak voice. "P-please get h-here as s-s-soon as possi- AHH!" I heard a loud slap and Max's joker-like voice hissing in the background before Berlin sniffled and continued softly after a long, agonizing moment of hesitation.

"I'm pregnant, Osi..." - "Alpha, I've got the location!"

Berlin and Ortiz spoke at the same time, and I didn't know whether to jump for joy or scream in fear of what that demented asshole could do to both my mate and our unborn child.

But one thing was for sure.

I was going to get my baby back, even if I had to crawl on my hands and knees to get to him.

And it was going to happen today.