Three months later.
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Sally POV
I hunched down and eyed the rabbit sitting a few yards away from me. I had followed it for a while. It was tedious work, but I was starving and needed to eat. Since I was dangerously close to a pack border I couldn't track it in my wolf form. I would give off too much of a scent and alert the border patrol of my presence.
I just hoped that the stupid rabbit didn't stray across the border where I couldn't follow it.
The rabbit lifted it's head and took off.
Oh for goodness sake.
Did it know that I called it stupid?
I didn't say it out loud.
I started to chase after the rabbit, zigzagging between the trees trying not to lose sight of it.
Damn, it was fast.
A noise to my left interrupted me and I lost focus. I smelled the air and realized that it was another wolf.
I halted in my tracks and I mentally cursed myself for being so focused on the rabbit that I didn't notice that I had crossed the pack border.
The wolf shifted and revealed a man in his late twenties with light blonde hair and sleeve tattoos on his arms. He smirked at me.
"What do we have here?"
Quickly, I turned around and started to run back same way that I came from. I didn't get far until I smelled a wolf in front of me trying to cut me off. Before the wolf could get to me, I changed direction trying to throw it off my trail.
A burning sensation jolted through my leg and I collapsed on the ground, crying out in pain.
I looked at my leg and saw a small dart sticking out of my calf.
Wolfsbane.
Werewolf poison.
I tried to get up, but I kept falling back onto the ground.
The sound of laughter reached my ears and a group of five werewolves in human form were closing in on me. One of them was the light blonde man I met earlier.
"Take her out now." He shouted.
His friend was holding a tranquilizer gun and I realized that he was the one that fired the first dart in my leg.
He raised the gun again and I scrambled to get away from them.
But it was in vain.
The next dart hit me in my thigh and I screamed from the pain.
They laughed again. They seemed to like seeing me in pain. They were playing with me.
What kind of pack was this?
I racked my brain trying to figure out which pack border I had crossed, but when the third dart hit the side of my waist, darkness engulfed me before I could figure it out.
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Trigger warning. The next part of the chapter displays torture and might be triggering for some readers.
*
*
Pain in my wrists.
That was the first thing I felt when I came to.
I slowly lifted my head and blinked, trying to gather my bearings.
I was in a cell with a dirt floor and concrete walls. The wind drafted in from a barred window located right below the ceiling, leaving goosebumps on my skin. I noticed that I had just my jeans and t-shirt on. My jacket and boots were gone.
My hands were tied and strung up above me in a chain. I wiggled my fingers that had gone numb. It felt like I had been hit with a semi-truck and I groaned when I felt the pain my body was in.
"Wolfsbane's a b***h, right?"
I turned my head to see who was talking to me and spotted a man in his early twenties leaning against the wall. He had long black hair in a braid and dark, almost black, eyes. He held a whip in his hand and my blood ran cold.
I racked my brain again trying to figure out where I was.
No.
Could it be…?
Midnight Pack?
They were known as the most brutal pack in the country. They made themselves a reputation for being particularly vicious. If that's where I was, I would probably die a slow and painful death.
I really hoped that I was wrong.
"Where am I?" I asked softly, afraid that I might offend him by speaking to him.
He chuckled.
"No no sweetie, I am the one that is going to ask the questions here."
"Please Sir, I'm so sorry. I wandered into your territory by accident. Please let me go and I will never bother you again, I promise…" I rambled, feeling dread settling in the pit of my stomach.
The man stepped away from the wall and stood in front of me. He gently grabbed a hold of my chin, making me stop talking instantly and stare at him with wide eyes.
"Shh. You are one talkative little beauty, aren't you?"
I gulped.
"Here's how things are gonna go. I will ask questions and you will answer me. If you don't or if I think that you're lying, I will hurt you. Do you understand."
I struggled to hold back my tears and nodded.
"Good girl." He whispered.
He let go of my chin and started to walk around me in circles.
"What is your name, Rogue?"
I hesitated. Should I give him a fake name? I didn't know what kind of information they needed to check the blacklist. Maybe they would let me go if I lied.
My thoughts were interrupted when a sudden pain rippled across my back and I cried out.
"Don't you know your own name?"
He appeared in front of me, amusement dancing in his eyes.
He was enjoying this.
"S-Sally." I whimpered between sobs.
"What's your last name, Sally?"
"Freeman." I replied instantly, afraid he would whip me again.
Back at Red Ridge whipping was a quite occurring punishment. But I had never been at the receiving end. I witnessed it a few times, but always felt uncomfortable.
"How long have you been a Rogue?"
"About three months."
The whip hit my thigh and I yelped.
"I'm telling you the truth!" I cried.
"Just checking." He winked at me and continued to circle around me.
"What did you do that turned you into a Rogue?"
I hesitated again. If I told them they would definitely kill me on the spot.
The whip struck my back again and I stifled a scream.
"You naughty girl."
"Please." I sobbed.
"Why are you a Rogue?"
I shook my head. I couldn't say it.
"Please let me go."
The whip hit my back twice.
My voice started to go hoarse from the screaming. I felt blood trickle down my back. He must have been hitting me quite hard to draw blood.
"You will tell me what I want to know. But feel free to be difficult. I do love a challenge."
He wiped my tears on my cheeks and gripped my chin again, making me look at him.
"Why are you a rogue?"
I closed my eyes, surrendering to my fate. He wasn't going to let me go. I was lucky if I was alive in the morning.
To my surprise, he let go of my chin and loosened the chain stringing my wrists above my head.
I fell to my knees, in too much pain to be able to move.
A cuff slipped around my ankle and I looked down at it. It was a shackle with a chain attached to the wall.
"It's alright if you don't wanna talk to me. Tomorrow night is the full moon and the Alpha will be in a very good mood. I'll ask him to pay you a visit. He usually enjoys pretty little things like yourself on a full moon night."
I looked at him, my eyes wide.
He didn't mean...?
Did he?
"If there's anything you would like to tell me before then, just ask the prison guard for Beta Rafe."
He winked at me again before he left the cell.
I couldn't move. My back and thighs were hurting so bad and I cried uncontrollably. I curled up into a ball and prayed that the past 3 months was a really bad dream and that I would wake up soon.