Chapter 14
TRISTAN
Michael and I were visibly confused by the whole thing. The show that Ryan and Kilian put on was simply cruel.
When Ryan told me that Catherine had been abused in a perfidious way, it made me speculate, but I didn't dare ask any more questions.
'Come on, we have to find the guy,' I said to Michael and ran out of the dungeon with him.
"Wow, what was that?" Michael asked me after we had left the room and were out of earshot.
"Apparently Arnor punished Catherine like that.
"Excuse me?" Michael stood there startled, the color gradually draining from his face.
"That way?" he asked again and I nodded.
"Moon goddess ... that must have been cruel ... No wonder she's in such a funny mood. I mean, we haven't said a word to each other since she got here," Michael finally said.
I shrugged my shoulders. 'She doesn't warm to Maya and Cynthia either,' I finally said.
'Maya? Are you still asleep?
'Mhm yes babe, where are you?' Maya grumbled sleepily.
'We had to take care of Arnor and are now going to look for his beta. Can you keep an eye on Catherine while Ryan is down in the dungeon?
'Yes, of course I will,' she finally said.
We knew by now that Catherine was Ryan's mate, even if he didn't make a big deal of it and kept everything to himself.
Everyone in the pack had already noticed that Ryan had changed, at least most of those who lived in the pack house, and there were well over 30 wolves here.
The rest of the wolves were scattered around our territory, living in houses.
'Emergency, all male wolves to the training ground please. I ordered all the wolves here. I explained to them that we were looking for the beta of Arnor. Everyone knew what James looked like and he was also known to be a bad wolf.
What led Ryan to mess with James? Maybe he had something to do with it?
We all turned and ran for the border.
We searched every corner for James. The territory of Arnor was huge, it would take time.
Several hours later, I caught the scent of a wolf.
'Careful, I think there's someone here'
I said to the others and crept closer to the camp.
I saw three wolves and one of them was James. The other two must have been wolves from his pack who had managed to escape that evening.
'I want you to surround them. We can't let him get out of our fingers.' I instructed them.
We were outnumbered by fifty men. They formed two circles around the camp. An inner and an outer one. The forest was thick with trees and bushes. We couldn't afford to lose him.
I looked around me. Everyone was so far. We were so silent that they still hadn't noticed us.
'Go' We all ran on command and charged at the wolves.
James hadn't expected this and immediately turned into a wolf too. His wolf was also white like Arnor's. He himself was a big man, you could see the years of training. If you compared Arnor and him, you would think he was the alpha among them.
Michael and I pounce on James, but he dodges our attacks with ease.
'Is that the best you can do?' James joked about us.
'This is just the beginning,' Michael growled at him and lunged at him. They both fell to the ground and wrestled with each other. I lunged at James too and bit his neck. He howled in pain and tried to fight me off.
He dug his claws dangerously deep into my stomach. I cried out in pain and tried to pull myself together.
The fight continued. Reinforcements rushed in as our men had caught the two wolves and were now surrounding the three of us, giving James no chance. James looked around like a wildcat and saw that he had no chance of escaping.
I approached him with a snarl.
'You don't stand a chance, even if you did, we'd keep hunting you until we found you. Your alpha is in our captivity. One word and he's dead.'
James growled dangerously at me 'You won't do shit.' he said, trying to lunge at me.
He bit my flank and I tried to free myself from his grip. Our wolves pounced on him and managed to pull me out of his grip.
The wound was massive and it hurt.
When I saw that he was tied up, I turned again and kept my hands by the wound.
Michael came running towards me.
'Damn, we have to get back to tend to you. This looks like shit. Come climb on my back' he said and sat down so I could climb on top of him.
Eventually we all ran back to the pack. I was losing more and more blood and noticed how my vision was clouding over.
'Michael, I can't take any more. I mumbled, resting my head on his soft fur.
'We're almost there, hang in there,' he said.
I could feel my wolf trying to heal me. But my eyes closed and I was gone.
When I woke up, I found myself in our bedroom.
Maya was over my head, looking at me worriedly. "What the fuck are you doing Tristan, I thought I'd lost you!" You could tell she had been crying.
I smiled weakly. "It's all right, sweetie, I'm back now," I said and gently pulled her to me.
"Did you have to go on this rampage?" she asked me and I nodded.
"They hurt our Luna-" I paused. "I mean hurt Catherine, Ryan wanted us to look for him," I said to her and she nodded in understanding.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine," I said to her. She leaned towards me and gave me a kiss, which I returned.
I gently pulled her into my arms and held her tightly.
'Did you take care of that asshole?' I asked Ryan.
'Thank God you're awake, damn, you scared the shit out of me!' he said to me.
'I'm fine, I'll be fine, don't worry about me.
'You're not just my beta, you're my brother, damn it, of course I'm worried about you!'
I had to smile and looked at Maya.
"Is everything okay with Catherine?" I asked her and she nodded. "She's been in her room all evening and hasn't come out. She's probably still asleep."
RYAN
I was reassured that Tristan was feeling better. Our rowing doctor had done everything he could to treat him, especially as his vital organs were affected.
When the wolves arrived, James was taken straight to the dungeon on the other side of the building. I didn't want Arnor and James to be together. To shut down their communication, I had put a silver bullet in both of their thighs.
Damn it, that was one hell of a long night. After Arnor passed out, I retreated to my office with Kilian.
Two glasses, one bottle of bourbon.
Kilian and I only had to exchange a glance and then emptied the glasses at the same time.
"We really went through with this shit," Kilian said.
I nodded and ran my fingers through my hair.
"I don't want to imagine she had to go through that every day. My conscience is struggling with that act alone."
"Well, Arnor is a stone-cold asshole with no compassion whatsoever. Why are you surprised? Ice, that says it all," I said to Kilian.
"We'll beat the fire into them, just wait and see." he huffed angrily.
"Shall we continue with number two?" I asked Kilian.
"We'll definitely castrate him," Kilian said.
I had to laugh and shook my head "That's too nice, I mean we'll just cut his tail off and stuff his mouth with it so he doesn't scream."
"That sounds mean..." said Kilian and grinned.
I poured myself another bourbon, I was too angry about the whole situation and couldn't think rationally.
"Well, let's go then, before we end up falling asleep drunk here." Kilian said and took the glass from me.
I sighed and rolled my eyes.
"So you weren't serious about cutting off the tail, were you?" Kilian asked me, giving me a dirty look.
I looked at him seriously. "Oh yes, I was serious," I replied and marched off.
"B-but he won't survive, will he?" Kilian said again.
"I want him dead." I stopped and looked at Kilian.
"Don't you think that would be too easy for him?" he asked me, raising his eyebrows.
I nodded. Yes, we would be doing James a favor. I remembered what Kilian had said about the Russian roulette.
"Very well. We'll start with darts," I said, raising my left eyebrow.
Kilian grinned. "Well, that sounds much better!" he said.
Before we went to James' cell, I stopped off in the armory. I took out a set of many small knives, which were damn sharp. We finally made our way to James.
Three wolves were at the door, guarding the cell.
They let us in and locked the door again.
James was already being picked on by my pack members for what he had done to Tristan.
"You're looking good, James." Irony off.
He was chained up, was on his knees and trying to look up at me. "I can't say the same for you," he said, spitting at me.
I wiped his spit off my face and punched him hard in the jaw, causing him to lose his balance and topple backwards. Too bad the restraints forced him forward again.
"We're going to play a little game with you, James. The game is called darts," I said.
Kilian pulled at the restraints so James had no choice but to stand up.
I opened the set and placed it on the small table in the room. I picked up the first knife and looked at James.
"Well, you don't know why you're here yet?" I asked, frowning as I raised my left eyebrow at the same time.
I shot the first knife at him. It landed on his thigh and he screamed.
"YOU ASSHOLE, YOU'RE GOING TO HURT ME," he screamed.
I looked at him and laughed, "Unlike Arnor, at least you have a kick, I'll give you that." I smiled at him.
"Tell me James, what the hell has gotten into you? I heard you rape women? Is that true?"
He looked at me and his eyes turned almost white. You'd think he'd seen a ghost.
I took another knife and handed it to Kilian. "You can certainly shoot better than me," I said with a shrug and moved behind Kilian.
"Of course brother, rapists must be punished." He took the knife and aimed it at James' heart level. His shot was precise.
Because the knives were so short, they hurt a lot, but they didn't reach deep into the internal organs, so the hours of torture would drag on.
James cried out in pain again. "I'm going to kill you." He growled. I walked up to him and yanked his hair back.
"The woman you raped also wants you dead," I hissed in his ear.
I looked at Kilian, "Listen, I don't have much time. Whoever gets him unconscious first wins," I said and grabbed the nearest sharp knife.
I shot at him and hit his shoulder. Kilian grabbed the next knife and hit him in the lower leg. James screamed angrily and tugged at the restraints.
'YOU ASSHOLES! That was the bitch's doing! He exclaimed. Kilian and I threw more knives at him.
Blood ran down his body.
James' screams echoed in the dungeon, but there was no one to help him. Just like no one could help Catherine back then.
The thought of her made me even angrier at James.
I couldn't stand the pig's screaming any longer. I walked up to him and punched him straight in the face, making me hear bones breaking and knocking him unconscious a few punches later. Kilian grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me back.
"Damn, you disfigured his whole face," Kilian said with a laugh.
I no longer felt like laughing. On the contrary, I was shaking with rage.
The only thing I wanted now was to take a hot shower and lie next to Catherine again.
"Clean up here, please ... I have to go," I said to Kilian and stormed off.
I went straight to my room, into the bathroom and ran the hot water. After undressing, I stood under the shower and let the water fall over my face.
I really needed that now.
I sighed in frustration and enjoyed the warm water for the first time.
After I'd finished showering, I turned off the water and got out of the shower.
I dried myself off and grabbed some fresh clothes. I put on a pair of pyjama bottoms and the matching top, leaving the buttons undone.
I made my way back out of the door and went into Catherine's room, who was still asleep.
She seemed restless and tossed and turned in her sleep.
I lay down next to her and pulled her into my arms and eventually sleep overcame me too.