61- Love That Aches
lone.
The wind kept howling outside the cave when I woke up. The snowstorm had not subsided. I raised my hand to my face to rub the rest of the sleep from my eyes, only to realize that I couldn’t. My stomach sank as I heard voices behind me.
“Looks like the craven is awake,” a man said snidely.
Some others laughed, and my eyes bulged as I tried to move but to no avail. I was still on the ground where I had been sleeping, but now, both my hands and feet were bound
My captors had found me again. I swallowed a hard lump in my throat and tried to think of a way out. But I was so filled with fear that I could not form a single coherent thought.
“The Alpha will have fun sending your pieces to your family,” another chuckled darkly. “I had always wanted to know if it is as easy to cut through a craven as it is a pig.”
They all laughed again in unison, the sound sending a chill down my spine. I had thought that I would be safe, but how wrong I had been. I had gotten lazy and overconfident. I should have just kept walking, but it was far too late for that now.
I resorted to the only possible thing I could do in the situation. I swallowed bile that coated my tongue as the thought itself disgusted me.
“Please, let me go,” I begged. “I have done nothing to deserve this.”
They all went silent at the same time. I heard footsteps approaching me where I lay. My stomach dropped, and I tried to no avail to escape my binds when a hand grabbed me by the hair and yanked my head up. He brought my face close to his mouth, and I fought my fear and revulsion. I could smell the beer on his breath even before he spoke.
“You and your other craven folks are a plague on this earth. It is your fate that you and your kind are slaughtered and made extinct.” The malice in his tone was laced with the bitterness of the beer on his breath.
The other men spat in disgust. “You dare ask with your filthy mouth what you have done?” they demanded.
They were not listening and they would not. Werewolves, as I had learned a long time ago, were unreasonable creatures.
The man pulled on my hair harder and sniffed my neck, a wave of nausea so strong that it could have knocked me off my feet washing over me like a
torrent.
“What are you doing?” I tried to demand, but my voice was shaky.
“What?” he demanded, pulling even harder on my head and forcing me to face him. “What’s wrong with a hunter sniffing his catch?”
My blood ran cold when I read the look in his slightly unfocused eyes. It was lust.
His red eyes grazed my body, and he whistled. “You are pretty for a craven,” he commented. He looked up at his colleagues. “Come take a look,” he invited.
The other men staggered forward, they all came in front of me to look at me, their gazes predatory and hungry.
One of the men passed the others a skin of beer, each of them taking a gulp. They were getting drunker and drunker. They would only turn into far more unreasonable creatures when intoxicated. With fewer inhibitions, these men were far more dangerous than when they were sober.
“It is cold,” one of the men said. “It would be nice to at least warm ourselves.” My skin crawled as their gazes continued to assess me.
“Her mouth would be warm,” the man holding me said before dropping his head to kiss me. I turned away quickly, but he would not relent as the others watched with anticipating grins on their faces.
I continued to dodge him until I could no longer take it. I bent my head back and used my forehead to hit his, hard.
He let out a pained grunt, his hold on me lessening, but it was for less than a moment before his hold became harsh again.
“How dare you?” he growled. He raised my head high by my hair and slammed me into the rough cave ground without mercy. I saw stars, and my head throbbed like bees inhabited my skull.
Then he slammed my head again and again, until I began to bleed profusely. Each hit felt like a nail was being driven through my head. It was pure agony to the point that I could hear my teeth rattling in my mouth. Then it stopped, and he tossed me down.
“You need to be taught a lesson,” he grunted. He was not entirely steady on his feet, but his eyes were red and alight with rage. He raised his head to the rest and nodded to them. It was like a secret communication, one that I could not understand.
They laughed, seemingly pleased with what they had been told to do. They all left me bleeding and confused, my vision hazy and my head about to explode. There was barely a moment of reprieve before they were back again, but this time with sticks.
Without warning, they attacked my bleeding and weak form. Every strike made my nerves scream out. I could not even fight back and could only lay there and take it as they beat me with the sticks without mercy. I screamed and begged until my voice went hoarse.
They only continued, laughing as if they were relishing my torture. They were enjoying every moment of my screams and agony.
Suddenly, the sound of the howling wind was interrupted by the loud echo of footsteps approaching the cave entrance. The men stopped mid–laugh, turning toward the noise. A tall, almost menacing figure shrouded in darkness, appeared at the mouth of the cave. The men exchanged glances, their drunken bravado faltering.
“Who the hell are you?” one of them slurred, gripping his stick tighter.
Setting
21:05
61
Love That Aches
The man came into the light, and I recognized him in an instant despite my daze. Alaric.
The men suddenly looked relieved and moved towards him. “Your high…” But that was all that they got to say.
Without a word, Alaric lunged forward with lightning speed, taking the nearest man by surprise and sending him crashing into the cave wall with a single punch. The others barely had time to react before he moved to the next man, disarming him with a swift kick and following up with a brutal elbow strike to the face.
Panic spread among the captors as they attempted to fight back, but their drunkenness made them slow and clumsy. Alaric fought with precision and ferocity, each movement calculated and devastating. One by one, the men fell, their cries of pain echoing off the cave walls like mine had done just a few moments before.
The man who had held me by the hair tried to scramble away, but Alaric grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the ground effortlessly. “You dare lay a hand on her?” Alaric growled, his voice low and menacing. This Alaric was devoid of his normal easygoing attitude. He looked like a man that could kill. He slammed the man down, then proceeded to inflict punishing blows on him that left him unconscious and bleeding on the cave
floor.
I watched in a daze, my vision blurry from the beatings and blood loss. Alaric moved swiftly, incapacitating the remaining men with ruthless efficiency. This had not happened all those years ago. He had not needed to fight his men to get my trust. From the moment he had saved me from the wolves, he had had me fooled. I had brought him through the castle walls myself soon after.
Within moments, the cave was silent again, the only sound the howling wind outside and the labored breathing of his defeated men.
He turned toward me, and his eyes softened as they met mine. It was Alaric that I had fallen for all over again. My heart sank. I didn’t want his help, but there was nothing I could do now. He knelt beside me, his eyes filled with concern despite the coldness I knew he could show.
This was a ploy, him rescuing me included. He was willing to do anything to infiltrate the castle, even if it meant beating up his own men. Who was to say that them beating me had not been his direct order?
“Ione,” he said gently, reaching out to touch my face. “Are you hurt?”
I wanted to push him away, to scream at him to leave me alone, but I couldn’t muster the strength. “I don’t need your help,” I muttered weakly, trying to sound defiant. I coughed, hacking out blood.
Alaric’s expression didn’t change. He carefully untied my hands and feet, lifting me into his arms with a tenderness that belied his earlier ferocity. “You don’t have a choice,” he murmured, holding me close. “I told you not to go.” He sounded frustrated.
I tried to remain cold, to resist leaning into him, but my body betrayed me. I was too weak, too exhausted. Despite myself, I found comfort in his arms, the warmth of his body contrasting sharply with the coldness of the cave. My eyelids grew heavy, and I fought to stay awake.
“I won’t forgive you for this,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.
Alaric’s grip tightened slightly, but he didn’t respond. He carried me out of the cave, into the biting cold of the storm. The wind seemed to ease slightly as we stepped into the open, the first light of dawn breaking through the clouds.
Despite my best efforts to stay awake, the exhaustion and pain overwhelmed me. I found myself leaning into Alaric’s chest, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat lulling me into a reluctant sense of safety. My eyes fluttered closed, and the last thing I felt before sleep took me was the gentle rise and fall of his breath as he held me close.
When I woke again, the storm had calmed, and we were inside a small, warm cabin. Alaric had set me down on a bed and was tending to the fire. I tried to move, but pain shot through my body, making me wince.
Alaric turned to me, his eyes immediately scanning my face. “Don’t move too much,” he said, coming over to my side. “You need to rest.”
I wanted to argue, to tell him I didn’t need his help, but the truth was, I felt weak and helpless. “I don’t want your help,” I said, my voice wavering.
“You don’t have to want it,” he replied calmly. “But you need it.”
I glared at him, trying to muster some semblance of defiance, but it was hard when my body was screaming in pain. “Why do you care?” I asked, my voice barely more than a whisper. His act was too convincing, it felt too real for my still–healing fragile heart. I needed to know.
Alaric’s expression softened slightly, and he sighed. “Because despite everything, I can’t watch you suffer.” He even dared to sound genuine. The old Ione would have swooned, but his words left me with a hollow feeling in my soul. I still loved Alaric. At least, the man he had presented himself to
- be.
His words struck a chord in me, and I felt tears welling up in my eyes. I hated that I needed him, that I was too weak to push him away. But for now, had no choice. I leaned back, letting my eyes close. “I still don’t trust you,” I muttered.
“You don’t have to,” he said softly, adjusting the blanket around me. “Just rest. I will take you back to your family.”
As I drifted off again, the last thing I felt was the warmth of Alaric’s hand resting gently on mine. Despite my best efforts to stay angry, a small part of me felt grateful. For now, I was safe. And for now, that was enough. I knew that our next stop would be the castle. I knew that I could not resist him and I was going to once again lead the enemy straight to my family. The nightmare would repeat itself. But I never really stood a chance, did I?
