45: Battle with Hunger

Quincy St. Martin

The light from outside streams in as the door swings open. Then the wooden stairs creak under heavy footsteps. Alpha Maddox descends the stairs, followed by Delta Roche and a burly guard. He walks straight to my cell without sparing Jorden a glance. His cold eyes are fixed on me.

Danger. The newly awakened part of me is wide awake and is on full alert.

Alpha Maddox is in his late twenties. He looks nothing like his father except for his hard eyes and the cruel way that he rules the pack. His father looked at me with lust, while Alpha Maddox always seems to be filled with mild annoyance on his best days and something close to hatred on other days. I think he hates it that I’m bad at following orders and that I’m too stupid to feel and submit to his alpha’s superiority and authority like everyone else in this pack.

He’s not exactly brimming with love when he’s looking at me now. He’s furious. His eyes flash like he’s close to phasing into his wolf to tear me to pieces. But as he gets closer, something about me must have amused him because his stern lips lift up into a little sneer.

I’m suddenly aware that I am still crouching close to the steel bars with my arms around my knees. My position now is that of a submissive. The guard produces a set of keys that jingles as he unlocks my cell room, and I see Jorden, in his own cell, start moving back and forth like a caged tiger.

I quickly climb to my feet and stare back at the alpha. I know he hates that. It’s disrespectful, and you don’t stare at the alpha in the eyes unless you’re issuing a challenge. When the big alpha steps into my tiny prison, Jorden is gripping the metal bars like he wants to rip them apart.

“You’re just a tiny human,” says Alpha Maddox. His eyes are watching me, assessing me like he’s looking at a puzzle. Measuring.

Tiny human or not, I can see that I got under his skin. His eyes narrow, and the tightness of his jaw indicates that he’s gritting his teeth. Different expressions chase one after another on his face, anger then intrigue, but mostly loathing, revulsion, and contempt. This man hates me.

“I can’t believe an insignificant little human like you could wreak havoc on my pack. First, you disappeared, causing my father to go berserk. I had to send my men all across the country to look for you. Then you did this!”

“I didn’t ask for anybody to come looking for me. You should have left me alone,” I say.

“What did you do to my father? What poison did you give him?”

“I didn’t give him anything,” I yell back at him. “I didn’t do anything to him!”

“Liar! If you didn’t do anything, he wouldn’t be in the hospital fighting for his life right now!” he roars.

So the bastard is still alive. Good. I can’t wait to kill him.

He grabs my shoulders and shakes me like a ragdoll. “Tell me what poison you gave him!”

“Nothing…” I try to answer, but he’s shaking me too much. My teeth are chattering. Then he throws me against the wall.

Owwww. That hurts! But instead of feeling mad or scared, I feel elated and gleeful, so I laugh. The old bastard is still alive! My thoughts are suddenly so clear and precise.

That newly awakened part of me is playing a movie in my head, all featuring me torturing Old Maddox in a thousand different ways as a prelude to killing him. I lick my lips. I do so crave the sight of more of his blood.

Alpha Maddox stalks to where I’m sitting, slumped against the wall. “Tell me, what did you give him? If he survives, we might let you go free, but if he dies, you die.”

Liar.

They need to know the type of poison so that they can find a way to cure the former alpha. That’s the only reason I’m still alive right now. Once they know, they won’t need me anymore and they’ll get rid of me. So, I’m dead either way.

He must be desperate to come down here himself. He must love his father or need him in some way. I smile up at him.

“I hope your father gets better soon,” I tell him sincerely.

That seems to piss him off even more. He grabs me by the neck and roughly hauls me up.

“You filthy human! Tell me!” he yells. His big meaty fingers are crushing my windpipe.

Vaguely I hear Jorden’s voice cursing and yelling at the alpha to let me go.

“Alpha,” says Delta Roche. He whispers something into Alpha Maddox’s ear, and the alpha releases me. Both of them are now looking at Jorden. My eyes seek Jorden’s in alarm, but now he seems a lot calmer than he was a second ago.

All of them move away from my cell to Jorden’s. The guard closes and locks the door of my jail with a clang then hurries over to unlock Jorden’s. The alpha glances back and flashes me an evil smile. No. No, no, no, not my cousin!

I jump to my feet and grip the cell bars closest to them. I will kill them if they touch Jorden. All of them! When the alpha steps into Jorden’s cell, my breathing starts to get ragged. My chest burns. A burst of pinkish red spreads through my vision.

“If you touch him, I will kill you!” I yell wildly, yanking at the steel bars. Both Alpha Maddox and Delta Roche laugh.

Both of them stop laughing when someone opens the door of the cell room and enters in a hurry. Another guard. He approaches the alpha and whispers something in his ear. The alpha’s eyes widen for a second, and then he looks at Delta Roche. Delta Roche raises his eyebrows in question.

Instead of answering, Alpha Maddox turns to me and says, “The next time I come back down here, I will kill him…slowly. Be prepared to watch your cousin’s pain and hear his scream.”

He bares his teeth into a cruel smile.

“When we’re done, we will toss his mangled corpse at your feet, and you’ll know that you’re responsible for it.”

The alpha turns and walks away, followed by his men, while the guard locks up before he hurries off after his alpha. The fire in my chest intensifies at his words. It spreads all through my limbs, and my whole body shakes. Everything around me turns a deeper red.

“Quincy! Are you okay?” Jorden’s voice penetrates through my haze. “Quincy, look at me. Quincy—”

I turn my red gaze toward him, and he winces and doubles over like he’s being punched in the gut. He struggles to stand upright, and his expression turns fearful. I can hear his heart beat like thunder in my ears.

“Q, it’s me. It’s me,” he says. “Q, it’s me…Jorden.”