A Twisted Anthology: A Twisted Design Book

The Torturer and the Assassin Part 6

Tim came back with a cloth and handed it to me. I cleaned up and tossed it into the hamper on the other side of the room. He climbed back into the bed and laid next to me.

I rolled over and propped myself up on one arm. He looked a little embarrassed. I trailed one hand up and down his chest and stomach.

“Was that okay?” I asked.

He laughed. “You don’t have to ask that all the time.”

“I haven’t felt this unsure about myself since Kingston took me in and started teaching me English.” I chuckled.

“You didn’t speak English?”

“I didn’t speak at all. I made wolf-like noises. My parents spent their lives in wolf form. That was how I learned to communicate all the way until I was seventeen and Wolf came.” I admitted.

“What made you decide to give up the wild life?” Tim asked.

I shrugged. “My parents only hung around for about a year after I got Wolf. I was lonely. I’d grouped up with natural wolves, but always felt like something was missing. I was out hunting one day when I came across Kingston. I saw him take down a moose. Those things are massive and deadly. He let me have some of it. He shifted into human form and started talking to me. I didn’t understand any of it. I tried shifting, hoping it would help me understand the sounds, but I didn’t. He felt like a leader. More of a leader than the alpha of the natural wolves I’d been following. So I followed him instead.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Sometimes. Before I met you, definitely. Now that I have you, I don’t. This feels like home.” I told him. “Tell me what happened to you.”

He sighed and looked up at the ceiling for a little while. I didn’t know if he was actually going to say anything. I moved my hand up and cupped his chin, turning his gaze toward me.

“My mom craved wolf’s bane while she was pregnant. My dad tried to stop her, but he couldn’t watch her every moment of every day and night. I was born a month late because of the difficulties it caused with her pregnancy. It wasn’t like she was eating it every day. But what she did get ahold of was enough. She was in the hospital for wolf’s bane poisoning at least once a month during the pregnancy.” Tim explained.

“That’s why you’re not as big as most werewolves.”

“Yeah. I was sickly. I would catch human illnesses because I didn’t have the same sturdy werewolf immune system. We weren’t in a collective. I was raised around humans. My parents felt it was safer, since I couldn’t handle the strength other wolves had. They taught me about rogue customs. My wolf came in six months late. My parents were worried that I didn’t have one.” He chuckled wryly. “I used to wish I didn’t. I’m too different to be human and too weak to be a werewolf.”

“You’ll be strong soon.” I told him.

“I know. You’re going to make me a better wolf. Anyway, after high school, I took the money they’d saved up for college and decided that traveling through Europe would be a better use of my time. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, but I’d learned a lot about poisons from one of the girls I was friends with in school. She was obsessed with killers and stuff like that.

It’s not really useful in society, but stuff like the documentaries we watched stuck in my head. I figured the trip would clear my head. I was in Prague, at a bar, when an attractive werewolf started flirting with me and bought me a couple drinks. The werewolves I’d met back home wouldn’t give me the time of day, but this guy seemed really interested in me. I was so stupid.” Tim scoffed.

“He drugged me. I woke up in another country. They thought he’d killed me because he gave me the amount that would knock out a normal wolf, so when I didn’t wake up after a couple hours, they started panicking. Their king couldn’t sell a dead omega.

When I woke up, they decided that they needed to fully break me, because I kept pushing back and refusing to work for them. I tried to explain that I was just weak, and not an omega rogue. They got everything they knew about omegas from myths of pack wolves. They aren’t really born to serve. They’re just smaller and weaker, in both their wolf and human forms. My wolf is a normal size for a standard rogue.” He said.

“I would like to meet your wolf soon. I think he and Wolf would have a lot of fun playing together. Wolf is very playful. He’s kind of stupid, too. He has some really bad ideas.” I chuckled. “He ran right into a tree once. He saw it, he just forgot to dodge.”

It made Tim smile. That was all I wanted. Wolf didn’t mind. He didn’t like seeing our mate upset.

“I’d like to see that sometime.” Tim said.

“This part looks hard. We can take a break. I can cook you some lunch. I’m a very good cook… at least, I am now.”

“I want to get this over with. Once I tell you, I don’t ever have to tell it again, right?” He asked and hugged himself.

I pulled him to me and hugged him. “I’m right here. You never have to tell anyone ever again.”

“They chained me up in a room. There was a mattress with a thin blanket in the corner and a sink with a pot next to it in the other. I spent months in there before they broke me.

Sometimes up to ten men would force themselves on me in a day. Females would come in to beat me. Get out their frustrations, since they realized that I couldn’t perform for them. It took me forever to heal anything. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep. Any little noise made me jump in fear.

I hated it. I hated what I’d become. When they decided I was properly broken, they made me work in the kitchens. I learned from the cooks and earned their trust. Even though they decided I was broken, I was still anyone’s punching bag. I remember, once, I was in the kitchen, prepping for dinner, when the king’s son came in. He backhanded me, bent me over the counter and…. The rest of the kitchen staff just kept on working like nothing was happening. I was so nervous. At any time, I could be attacked.

The poison had originally been to kill me, but I decided I didn’t do anything wrong, except being a trusting boy out in the world for the first time. So, I poisoned their food and ran. My lacking stamina was worse because of the abuse and poor nutrition. They caught me. My use of plants made them interested in what they could make of me.

See, earlier, I lied about them deciding they could make more if I had a skill like torture and a few other things. They’d put out feelers that whole time they had me, looking for someone who would buy me. None of the collectives wanted an omega. The closest bite they got was from a supernatural brothel, when they came to ‘test the wares’ they disliked that I didn’t look like a typical werewolf.

They started training me by subjecting me to the care of their lead torturer at the time. That was what really broke me. You would be amazed at the things that we can heal. I’ll never forget any of it, though.” There was a hollow tone to his voice.

Everything he was saying made me more and more angry. Wolf wanted blood. So did I.

“I did what they said. I learned everything. After my first year, the abuse and s****l assaults stopped. I became friends with the witches, the potions and spells gave me an edge. After my third year, I surpassed their lead torturer and they decided to see if they could sell me. They tried for another year before they got a bite.

No one wanted a torturer who couldn’t fight like a wolf. No one but Kingston. He paid them for me, but talked down the price since he would need to have wolves protecting me.”

“What about your parents?” I asked.

“In the second month, the collective decided they would try ransoming me back to my parents. They said they would kill me if my parents didn’t send them half a million dollars. My parents couldn’t afford that. As far as they know, I’m dead. I prefer it that way, anyway.

Scarlet isn’t even my real name. It’s the name Kingston gave me when I arrived. He said it would make it easier on me. So I wouldn’t have to worry about someone from my past finding me.

He actually told me I didn’t have to stay. He just wanted me to work for him for a year and train someone else who could do the job, then I was free to go.” He said.

“What’s your real name?”

“Timothy Randolph. He wanted to give me an entirely new name, but the only other name I had ever answered to was ‘w***e’. I missed my name. I wanted to hear someone, other than me, calling me Tim.” He sniffled. 

“You never have to talk about that time again, Tim. I promise. Are you tired? Would you like to take a nap with me? I can make you dinner when we wake up. I’ll hold you while you sleep.” I whispered.

“That sounds good. I don’t sleep well most nights. Waking up to being strangled brought back some bad memories. I think that’s why I was so easy for me to doubt you.”

“I must have seemed just like those people who hurt you. I’m surprised you were able to trust me at all, Tim.” I sighed.

“The way you stood at my back made me nervous at first. You’re a little scary, you know?” He chuckled.

“I’ve been told that.” I said.

“I got even more nervous the first time you licked my neck. But you never really took it any further. It was like you were soothing me after a while. None of those men ever touched me gently. And the way you licked and nibbled my ear, I had an erection for most of the day. It would start to go away and you would start again. You know, until Clifford woke me up, it was the first time I’d slept without nightmares in years. I think it was because of you. When I went back to sleep, I was sure I would have nightmares, but I didn’t. Because you saved me. When they started up, you appeared and saved me.” Tim murmured sleepily.

“I’ll always save you, my mate. I’ll always protect you. I’ll kill anyone who hurts you.” I vowed.

“And you’ll help me become a big strong wolf like everyone else.” He mumbled.

“Definitely. Sleep now. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

I held him as he drifted to sleep. As he slept I consulted with Wolf. Our mate had been hurt and there was only one way to heal him. I had to kill anyone who laid a finger on him.

Kingston had bought him, so he would know who I was after. I was betting there was some way I could make this trip beneficial to him. It would be my ultimate test as an assassin. I would take out an entire collective.

When I came home, I could start training Tim. He would never be weak again and he would know that those people would never hurt another trusting boy. I was more grateful to Kingston know that I knew what he’d done for Tim.

It was no wonder he was trying to discourage me from him. Kingston was probably worried that I’d mate with Tim and we’d leave. I knew Tim would grow more loyal to Kingston as he got to know him and saw he was true to his word and really intended to free him. We could stay here forever. I’d prepare for my trip as soon as Tim woke up.