Soul Bonded

How can this be?

Mark

“What a dump,” Michael mumbles while looking out of the car window at the rundown house. It looks like something out of a horror movie. It’s that bad.

“I dread to think what we'll find.” Sebastian sighs.

“A battered girl in the basement.”

“Funny.” Sebastian huffs at Michael.

I rode here with Michael and Sebastian while Dad rode in the car in front with Thane, Theo, and Tyler, Thane’s younger brothers. In the van behind us are ten of our best Warriors, all here to arrest and detain the assholes inside the house. Hopefully, they’re all here.

The territory belongs to Alpha Lars of the Red River Pack. Thane couldn’t get in contact with Lars to inform him of what we were about to do, but that didn’t stop us. It’s not like any Lycan or Werewolf pack can deny the Lycan King access to their territory unless they have a death wish.

I have wondered why those kids didn’t run to their Alpha instead of us. But then I wonder if he would have helped them at all.

How did they even end up at Knight Castle?

Knight Castle is ten miles away from Red River, meaning those kids ran for Goddess only knows how long to find help. None of them have their Lycans yet, and even though the kids would have fast speed without them, it still wouldn't be enough to travel ten miles in a hurry!

They’ll be safe with Lyric and my mother; they won’t let anything happen to them. Lyric is Queen, and Mom is a Dragon Princess. None shall harm those kids in their presence.

“You,” Thane points to the Warriors as we all now stand outside the house waiting for instructions. “Surround the house. If anyone tries to enter, you knock them out and tie them up, then throw them in the van. Anyone tries to leave, other than us, the same thing applies.”

“Yes, my King!” Each Warrior yells before taking up his or her position around the house.

“Hey,”

I turn around. “Levi, what are you doing here?” We hug as we always do in greeting.

He’s not supposed to show his face until training camp is over. But here he is, my uncle, my best friend.

“Mythius called Onyx and said you needed him. I wasn’t sure what he meant, but I knew something was wrong.”

I narrow my eyes. “It’s just some girl we need to rescue, Levi. I don’t know why Mythius called Onyx. We can handle this.”

“I don’t think you will, Mark. That’s why I’m here.”

I’m confused, but I don’t say anything else; Thane is ordering us to hurry up.

We enter the house, and the stench coming from the place is nauseating. Cigarette smoke, mold, pis.s, shi.t, vomit, even stale se.x, you name it, we can smell it. Our noses are a hundred times stronger than humans, yet I doubt they could stand this stench either.

“Goddess, what the hell happened here?”

“I don't know, Michael,” I mumble before following Dad and the others inside.

As luck would have it, Belinda Linetti sits on the sofa, cigarette in hand, with all her crones in different seats. Lycia explained who we’d need to look for, and as far as I can see, they’re all here. It seems they’ve all gathered in preparation for Sophie’s final torture.

“What the hell is this?” Some skinny, strung-out human pric.k asks while rising from his seat.

This dumb bitc.h has humans on pack territory! For that alone, Thane will want her head and theirs.

How the fuc.k has her Alpha not noticed there are humans here?

Not that all Alphas refuse humans entry, but by orders of the King, it’s banned. Unless you’re mated to a human, of course, but these fu.ckers do not have mates here. I would be able to tell.

I count six women, including Belinda, and seven men. Three women and four men are human. Thirteen people partake in the rape and torture of one girl.

What is the world coming to?

How did Alpha Lars not know what’s been going on here?

Perhaps he did know and didn’t care about what this woman was doing to her daughter or the fact humans are here. If that’s the case, Thane will want Lars’ head also, and I’ll fuc.king help him! Because if random humans know about us, the world could discover our secret!

Okay, like my great-great-grandfather Leviathan says, no one would actually believe those humans. But still, it’s not worth the risk.

“You can’t just walk in here like you own the place!” A human woman screeches.

Surely, she knows what we are if she’s here?

No one is foolish enough to bring humans into a pack of Werewolves without them knowing something.

Perhaps she doesn’t know; maybe none of the humans do. It’s not like this house isn’t on the edge of pack grounds. Fuc.king idiots probably believe this is just another tiny village in their fuc.ked up human world. They will soon learn how wrong they were. They won’t survive what’s coming for them, so in theory, it doesn’t matter if they know about us or not.

Thane’s eyes turn black, his Lycan taking over. All eyes but Belinda’s widen in shock, and each person shrinks in their seats.

I guess the humans do know what we are, after all. Whoever let out the secret will be killed in the worst way!

“I need not introduce myself. You all know who I am, don’t you?”

“Lycan King Thane Knight.” A shifter woman replies.

“What brings you here?” A fat human man asks.

My head is starting to spin, and my stomach is churning. My palms are sweating, and the hairs on the back of my neck are standing on end. Something isn’t right here, not with the situation or me.

What the fuc.k?

‘Basement, Mark,’ Archer groans as if in pain, but I can’t move yet. Thane is busy yelling and barking orders, while Warriors are now rounding up these protesting assholes.

Belinda hasn’t moved from the sofa, still smoking while staring into space. She won’t answer any questions, nor will she look anyone in the eye. My Lycan is screaming inside my head, and my Dragon is telling me to get a move on.

I can’t think straight; there's too much going on around and inside of me to keep up!

“Dad, she’s out of her mind.”

“I can see that, Sebastian. Get her secured in the van with the others,” Thane tells Kita, one of our Warriors. “Lyric will make her talk.”

“Get your filthy hands off me!” Belinda begins to scream. “You have no right to be here. Get out of my house!”

“We are not leaving here without Sophie!” Sebastian growls. “We know what you’ve been doing, you vile hag, and you won’t get away with it!”

“Sophie doesn’t live here anymore. I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“The hell you don’t,” Michael mumbles.

“Take her!” Thane bellows, making every lower-ranking Lycan bear their necks.

I can’t wait around any longer; something compels me to go to the basement. People are following me, but I ignore them.

The closer I get to the basement, the more pungent the smell of desperation is. It’s all-consuming, and I’m fighting to stay on my feet.

I hear Belinda screaming as she’s dragged out of the house. She’s trying to bark orders about us staying out of the basement. Stupid fuc.king bitc.h! She suddenly stops making any noise, and I realize Kita has knocked her out.

The most putrid smell hits me as soon as I break the lock off the door and open it. The smell of burnt flesh makes me gag, and I have to cover my mouth and nose with the back of my hand.

The scent of wolfsbane and silver can’t even overpower everything else I’m smelling. There are so many scents assaulting me as I walk down the stairs that it makes me dizzy. It’s all so overpowering that it makes my eyes water.

Levi reaches up and pulls the cord to the overhead light, which slowly blinks on. It’s not all that bright, so Goddess only knows how those fuc.ked up humans saw anything down here. Unless they used candles or some shi.t like that.

I try not to breathe too deeply as I walk down those rickety wooden steps, everyone else following. At the bottom of the stairs is a thick wooden pillar. I clutch at it and turn to the right. The sight that befalls me will stay with me for all eternity.

I’m frozen to the spot, and Levi and Sebastian push past me. They rush towards the body, plastered to the filthy and stinking mattress.

I have never in my life seen anything so horrific. The girl is in nothing, but her underwear, and her face is covered with a cloth. Every inch of her petite body is covered in cuts and bruises, burns of all kinds, cigarettes, iron, and poker.

There are words calved into her arm – FREAK! SLUT!

I close my eyes briefly, hoping it’s all a dream. But it isn’t; she’s still there when I open them again.

Sophie’s stomach is a mess of burned and blistered skin, and it looks infected. I notice the thick silver restraint around her ankle, attached to the chain, bolted to a pole. It's no wonder the girl hasn't healed!

Levi mumbles something while removing the cloth from Sophie’s face. My heart sinks to see how battered she is.

Levi shakes his head in disgust and sorrow before gently taking Sophie’s shoulder and arm. He then rolls her slightly so Sebastian can inspect her back.

My stomach turns yet again because every inch of Sophie’s back, including her legs, is nothing more than cuts and puss-filled holes.

“Goddess,” Michael hisses. “Why would anyone do this? Is she even breathing?”

‘Shake yourself out of it, Mark!’ Mythius snaps. ‘Sophie needs us now! Before it’s too late!’

Mythius is right; that’s why I take a deep breath and drop to my knees beside Sophie. Looking at her battered body this close, I can’t stop my heart from breaking nor the tears from falling. I have never felt as devastated in all my life as I do right now.

“Mark?” Sebastian says my name, but I can’t shake myself out of shock.

From his perch beside me, Sebastian grabs my face between his hands. But I can’t tear my eyes away from Sophie.

“Mark, look at me!” I force my wide eyes away from Sophie and look at my cousin. “I know this is shocking; it hits you to the fuc king core. But you need to snap out of it,”

I shake my head with my eyes closed.

“What is it, Mark?” Micheal asks, though I keep my eyes on Sebastian.

A tear falls from my eye as Levi tells them, “She’s his mate.”

Sebastian’s eyes widen and someone hisses behind me.

“Oh, Mark,” I see pity in Sebastian’s eyes. He thinks Sophie will die, but I won’t let that happen.

I pull away from Sebastian and look at Levi. “You promised you would find her and bring her home to me.”

All these months of secret meetings were because Levi felt Maila’s presence. Finally, after all these years, Mythius’ mate was out there waiting for him to find her. When I last met with Levi, he told me he was close to contacting Maila. All Levi needed to do was find the human that hosted Mythius’ mate, and we’d be together. This is not what I imagined!

“I know, and I am so sorry, Mark. I knew she was around here somewhere, but I couldn’t find her no matter what I did. I couldn’t because she was here…” Levi stops talking and shakes his head.

I don’t blame my uncle for this; it’s not his fault. Levi did all he could to help locate Maila. It’s just rotten luck that we found her like this.

I turn to my younger brother. “Michael, hurry and get a blanket from the car!”

He nods at me before taking off with the speed of a Lycan.

Gently, I stroke Sophie’s matted hair back from her forehead. Her eyeballs move behind her lids, letting me know that, for now, she’s still with me.

Grandfather Leviathan, please don’t take her from me. Not when I just found her, I beg you.

AN: Updates for this book are now daily! Thank you to those of you who have continued to read this series. It means the world to me that you have taken these characters into your hearts. So far, there will be two more books in the series. Kayson and Hel, for sure. The other book, I'll let you guys decide who you would like to see feature in their own story ;)