On a scale of one to ten, I'd say I was definitely an eleven on my scale of emotions.
Life was just not in my favor these days. First of all, I get out of the looney-bin just to be assaulted by a wolf-lady. Then, a group of crazy, model-like human beings tell me that I am one of those wolf-things, and that I am eternally bounded to one of them (not that I'm complaining). I literally just start to get settled into the new lifestyle when my freaking parents kidnap us, and hold us hostage. I finally get to see and be in contact with my mate again, but he has to be annoying and snap my neck while marking me, so now we can't see each other anymore. Now, Jale is apparently talking about shipping my mate and his small pack over to the council's custody all the way in freaking Germany. GERMANY.
The thought of it literally had me hyperventilating. It made me want to vomit. I could quite actually imagine myself laying on the floor screaming, crying, murdering anyone around me, and just basically throwing a fit.
Now, of course, this was only a rumor. Something that I've been hearing murmurs about around the pack the past four days. I never actually heard anything about it from Jale, Eli, Alex, or Greyson, but something tells me that they wouldn't tell me any way. The only reason that I've been told for the custody switch being that the three of them, mainly Kieran, isn't exactly held in captivity very well.
In the past week, Marilyn twisted a guard's neck, Bolton dislocated a guard's arm who was trying to give him some food, and broke another guard's rib for reasons that I'm not sure of, and then there's Kieran-oh my beautiful Kieran. Seven. That's how many guards were hurt in some way by him. The one almost quite literally died. I don't even know how Kieran managed to do it, but he literally ruptured the poor man's spleen. How does someone do that?
Eli explained it to me that Kieran was feeling my strength through the bond. It's like how I feel his emotions, but he was feeling my wolf. Apparently, he was using my wolf's power to give him more strength. That explained why he was able to continue howling all night with silver pumping through his system. In all honesty, I don't think silver bothers Kieran much. I don't think Eli does, either.
Kieran, Bolton, and Marilyn's psychotic behavior in the past few days has caused a major increase of guards on the cellar which lead to a decrease of guards watching the border. Eli tried to tell Jale how dangerous it was, but he wouldn't listen. I could see just how much it upset and angered Eli. It angered me, too. The build up on guards in the cellar meant that I was unable to see Kieran.
There was no way I could get down there without being caught.
I've also come to the conclusion that my wolf just hates everyone. She sees mom, she growls. She hears Jale, she growls. She smells Eli, she growls. I literally told my dad bless you the other day, and she screamed at me. The volume of the shout radiating through my mind caused me fall to the floor. My vision blurred while my legs completely gave out. Everyone in the house went into a panic thinking I was going to shift and kill everyone.
I hated to say it, but in a way I wish I did.
I wished that I could shift into one of those big wolves that every other werewolf can. I wanted to feel normal, but I wasn't. I was not a normal human, and I was not a normal werewolf. I wasn't normal. I was a lunatic, and that was the end of it. I couldn't shift. If I could then I wouldn't waste time trying to break Kieran, Marilyn, and Bolton out, but I just couldn't. I was defective.
Anger controlled my actions for the past three or four days. Furious energy was building up within me for this exact moment. I didn't even see it coming when I ripped open the door to Jale's office.
His tall, muscular body was seated at his large desk. A pen moved swiftly in his hand across a piece of paper. He didn't even look up at me as he continued writing on whatever was in front of him.
"Well, come in, I suppose," Jale said loudly with a bit of anger underlying in his tone. My lip curled up in a snarl. The feral noise that emitted from me sparked his attention. His eyes flitted up to meet mine in anger. "You want to do that again?" He threatened lowly making the human side of me mentally flinch away.
Kill him. I wish.
Jale hadn't made a move to get up. I had a feeling that he wouldn't hesitate to if he needed to, though. I was in front of Jale's desk in record timing. My wolf was wanting to push through so badly, but I held her down. There was no way she would be able to make it out of a fight with Jale alive. My hands slammed down on the desk. Jale didn't move a muscle by the action. It was almost like he completely expected it.
"What the f--- is happening with my mate," I seethed matching Jale's glare. I refused to look away from him. We were having a staring contest, and I did not plan on losing. Jale did not like that very much.
"Submit," he growled out, so me being the douchebag I am decided to growl back even louder.
"F--- you. What the hell is going on?" At this, Jale's chair slid back as his large body was towering over me. His steely, grey eyes darkening to a terrifying color.
"I'd suggest you look away, pup." My human side betrayed me again and flinched. This time it wasn't mentally, though. Jale's harsh tone literally sent a pain through my mind that had me cowering away. My eyes connected with the floor for a split second before they were staring back into my brother's.
"I'd suggest you not challenge someone who doesn't have many limits," I fired back feeling my voice come out as more of a growl. My wolf wanted through, and the fact that I wouldn't let her was making her even angrier. Jale growled before his hand shot out to grab my arm. My body was pressed against the very far wall of Jale's office in less than a second. Jale stood at the edge of his desk looking at me with large eyes.
No hurt. I promise. My body moved swiftly behind Jale at inhuman speed as my wolf gained control of my body. I was actually terrified.
"Want to tell me your intentions with my mate?" The words bellowed from my mouth before I could stop them. My wolf was too strong for me to actually stop her. Jale turned around to look at me, but I was already across the room before his eyes could reach me. "Come on, Alpha. Keep up," my wolf taunted. Jale whipped back around to narrow his eyes on me.
"What intentions?" He asked making my wolf scoff.
"Must I remind you?" She deadpanned. "For an alpha you aren't very smart, are you?" That comment earned me a menacing growl. "I'm surprised that mate of yours has even stuck around this long," she continued to taunt. I don't think she expected Jale to be in front of us so quickly. His large hand wrapped around my neck as he lifted my body off of the ground and pushed me into the wall.
"She loves me," he snarled. His eyes darkening even more. My wolf did the one thing I definitely did not expect her to do.
She laughed.
She literally just straight up laughed.
"Does she? Does she really?" She questioned laughing wildly. "Or is she here because of something else?" Jale suddenly went tense.
"She's here because she's my mate. She loves me."
"Did she always, though? Or did she stay for another reason? Because she was scared of you? Because she was scared of what you would do? Or was it because of someone else?"
"Stop it!" Jale shouted as his grip on my neck tightened. I could hardly breathe, but my wolf made no effort to move.
"She loved Eli didn't she?" My wolf squeezed out. A sadistic smile displayed on my face.
"No! She loves me!"
"But she didn't."
"Shut up!"
"He still loves her, and you know it." The words barely left my mouth. Jale's hand was wrapped so tightly around my throat that no air was coming in. I was a goner. That was until he dropped me.
As soon as my body came in contact with the floor, I regained full control of my body. I laid on the floor in a heap as I gasped for air. My chest burned the from lack of oxygen. I just continued to hack on the floor as Jale towered above me looking down. Anger was the most obvious emotion emitting from his tense figure, but I could feel the betrayal he was feeling.
It all made sense. I was just surprised that my wolf caught on before I could. Eli talked so fondly of Stiletta the other night. He seemed so upset by the fact that not only was she Jale's mate, but that he couldn't help her as much as he wanted to. The glint in his eyes as he spoke of her said it all. He loved her. He loved his brother's mate.
"You call my mate a monster," cough, "but look at you." cough, "Kieran would never hurt me." cough, "You held her here against her will. You threatened her." cough, "Kieran would never," I choked out eventually. His dark eyes watching my every move as I held a hand over my painfully burning chest. "Want to know what's worse than a shredder? An alpha who can't control his damn self." Jale's jaw clenched angrily as his nostrils flared. I obviously hit a nerve.
"You want to go see that shredder? Fine," he spat taking a step away from me. "Go! Go get yourself killed, Grey! Please! Be my f------ guest!"
So, I did just that.
Jale held me by the back of my shirt as he shouted at guards to clear the area before opening the cellar door and throwing me inside. He slammed the cellar door shut as I was faced with the familiar view of a hall with cells on each side.
"What the f---?" Marilyn.
"Is that Arden?" Bolton.
"My Arden?" Kieran.
My ears picked up on their hushed conversation as I sprinted down the hall to their cells. Normally, I never heard their words until I was directly in front of them, but this time I did. This time their whispers sounded like they were shouting the words into my ears.
"Kieran!" I shouted as my eyes connected with his dark, green ones. They widened which I didn't understand. Did he not want me here?
"Arden, what are you doing here? Why are you crying?" He asked worriedly taking in the tears rolling down my cheeks as I stood in front of him. I didn't really have an answer for why I was crying. For one, I was terrified of my own brother who almost just killed me moment ago. Two, this could be one of the last times I get to see Kieran if Jale does have them shipped away. Three, I really missed him. Like really missed him.
"You don't know?" He shook his head, no. They didn't know what Jale was planning.
"They're taking you away from me!" I cried.
"Arden, you need to calm the hell down, and tell us what's going on," Marilyn stated from the cell behind me. Stress filled her voice.
"I'm trying!"
"Arden, baby, please. I need you to stop shouting. They can hear you," Kieran begged quietly. I wasn't used to seeing this side of Kieran. He sounded desperate, and I knew it was because I had just told him that they were taking them away from me.
"Okay," I choked out trying to put a stop to the tears. "Okay. I'm okay. I'm okay."
"Come on, Princess," Bolton encouraged as I continued telling myself that I was okay. My emotions were going haywire from the moment that I stepped into the cellar. Not to mention, now I was feeling all of Kieran's stress and worry. I was a bit of a mess.
"I'm okay." Kieran's eyes were trained on me as I repeated myself. His entire body was tense, and he looked like he was about to rip the cell apart in two seconds. I'd finally managed to calm myself down. My teeth began to chatter. A person may have thought I was cold, but I was actually very hot. The palms of my hands were sweating. "Jale wants to hand you guys over to some Werewolf Council thing. I don't know what to do. I keep trying to tell them that you aren't bad, but you guys keep hurting people," I said in just above a whisper. My voice cracked as more tears threatened to spill. My mate-my Kieran. They wanted to take him away from me. He did. Jale.
"Arden, I need you to trust me when I say no one is taking me away from you," Kieran stated. His green eyes softened knowing just how panicked I was over this. It was stupid, but I couldn't help it. I knew there was a fire building up in the corners of his mind, but he kept up his calm bravado for me. "It's both of us or nothing, baby."
"And me. You're stuck with me for a long time, Princess."
"Bolton, don't ruin their moment," Marilyn hissed. "They deserve this. The least you could do is shut the hell up."
"What do I do?" I asked as my voice continued to crack. "Tell me what to do, and I'll do it." Kieran shook his head.
"Arden, I-"
"Kieran, I-I'm trying. I am. It's just-I just-I don't know. I don't know what to do. It's like I want to hurt them, but I can't. I can't kill them, Kieran. That's my family. They just want me safe." Here come the water works. Silent tears rolled down my cheeks as I tried my hardest not to yell or even move my voice above a whisper.
"Hey, hey, hey. Stop that. Stop crying. I would never ask you to murder your own family. I know what that's like," Kieran mumbled. My eyes grew.
"You murdered your own family?" I said a bit too loudly. Kieran flinched before returning his eyes back to mine. I could feel the sadness rolling off of him in waves.
"Yes, Arden. Okay? You wouldn't understand. Keegan was a god damn animal. My mother didn't do shit about it, either. He didn't love anyone. Not his mate, not his son. No one." His words sent a pang to my heart. Although he admitted to what he had done, the words just wouldn't sink in. Kieran murdered his own family? Murdered-Kieran's a murderer. I could understand with the red-head who tried murdering me first, but his mother? His own father? I mean, some days I'd like to smash a lamp over Alex and Greyson's heads, but I would never kill them. They're my mom and dad.
"I-I-" I stuttered stumbling backward. Hurt flashed through Kieran's beautiful green eyes as he took a step forward.
"Arden, please. I love you. I would never hurt you," Kieran pleaded. "Everything I do is for the safety of you and this pack."Â I froze. This pack.
"What do you mean by that?" Kieran seemed confused immediately. His eyebrows furrowed together as he watched me in bewilderment.
"By what?"
"You always say that everything you do is for my safety and your pack, but there's only the four of us. Me, you, Marilyn, and Bolton. Why would you need an alpha, a beta, a gamma in a pack of four? It doesn't make sense." I interrogated in a whisper. "There's more aren't there, Kieran?"
"Where's this all coming from?" Kieran countered becoming almost defensive.
"There's more aren't there? And, they're here aren't they? You're their alpha. All of them." Kieran's face went void as all emotion was wiped away. His eyes turned hard, and his lips formed a thin line. "That's why you keep howling. You're calling them."
"How do you know?"
"Don't worry. No one else knows. The only reason I know is because I met one of them. Not formally, but it did make itself known."
"Arden, promise me you'll stay out of those woods," Kieran begged monotonously as his big, green eyes bored into my grey ones.
"Why?"
"Arden, please-"
"Tell me what's going on," I demanded. He let out an irritated snarl. His hand combed through his dark, dirty hair while he paced for a moment.
"Arden, do you trust me?" Kieran asked making my jaw clench. Of course I trust him! I love him.
"Yes, but that doesn't mean I trust them. Why are they here?" I repeated making Kieran sigh. He must understand that he's really not going to win this argument.
"We'll be out of here by the end of the week." I knew exactly what he meant by that. I knew what he meant by it before he even said it. The shredders were here because their alpha was in trouble. They were on a mission to set him free.
"Kieran, no one's gonna get hurt, right?" Kieran refused to meet my gaze at the question. I already knew what his answer was going to be just by the simple action.
"I can't promise that." I stayed quiet for a moment as my gaze shifted around the cell in front of me. I chewed on the inside of my cheek.
"Promise me one thing," I whispered so quietly that I'm surprised Kieran even heard me. His eye brows raised silently questioning me. "You kill Jale first."
My wolf hummed in content, and I could see a glimmer of pride shine in Kieran's eyes at my request.
He truly does inspire my inner serial killer.
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What the frick Arden
Stay awesome Gotham. 9/18/16