Half-Blood Alpha

3. Giving Up

*Luna*

I desperately wanted my cowardly death to be better than the hell I found myself in. I never thought I would like to give up. NO. That's not what life taught me, and yet, after a few days in that godforsaken building, I wanted nothing more than to die. On the first day, I had already given up hope for freedom.

I don't remember how I got here because, after the tranquilizer shot, it turned out that not only did I have a headache, but my whole body was covered with bruises and light abrasions. My bones weren't broken, indicating that my injuries were the result of my body being thrown around like a sack of potatoes by the people who put me there.

My only consolation was the presence of Natalie, who it turned out was their real target, although I don't know why they insisted on calling her by my name. Natalie nervously explained that it must be some cult that considers her their leader or something like that because of the books our publishing house publishes; werewolves are our best source of income.

I love immersing myself in reading where these shape-shifting, incredibly handsome, and superhumanly strong men fight for their mates, thus praising their Goddess of the Moon, Selene, or Luna, as they called her. As a rational being, I can distinguish truth from fiction. And although I would give a kidney to be the chosen one of the werewolves rushing to my rescue, I know that, unfortunately, I can't count on being saved because all of that s**t was a figment of some writer’s imagination.

"Luna, please. Trust me, my dad is on the way; I can feel it." Natalie was feeding me again with illusions slowly starting to form as a supernatural rescue team’s mottos. It annoys me already. What rescue? What help? How is her father supposed to know where to find us? And who is he to stand in the way of these scoundrels? It's probably some cartel or mafia behind our kidnapping. So if her father is not Rambo or Terminator, our chances of saving us are slim; I would even say zero.

"Natalie. Stop." I gasped, straining my dry and sore throat.

"I don't know where your hope of salvation comes from, but if this delusion is keeping you alive, please leave it to yourself. I will not feed myself with lies. I prefer not to fuel this already extinguished hope of salvation only to die with a huge hole in the heart." I added as I got up from the floor, where, surprisingly, our kidnappers provided decent conditions for our capture. Spartan but decent.

"I know the end of this story; I have come to terms with it. Let me live out the end of my days in peace." I asked, looking at her without emotion.

Natalie's eyes were full of tears and sadness, but there was still hope. Her jaw trembled under the influence of sobs that she tried valiantly to keep to herself, but her hands, clenched into fists, almost white from the force used, were ready to fight. I envied her determination. I no longer had the strength to create even a spark.

"But you're right." I smiled at her, completely shocking her. "Your dad has probably already sent someone to pick us up. And your safe return home is only a matter of hours, so I'll stay here with you and keep you company while you wait for rescue." I lied, reaching out to place my hand on Natalie's draped fist.

Natalie closed her eyes and took a deep breath as if preparing for the showdown, filled with new energy at my words. We wanted to believe in it. I tried to convince her of my hope that was not yet lost, but deep down; I knew I could only feed her with the best lies to keep her hope alive. If she wants to die with false hope of salvation, who am I to take that away from her?

"Please don't let them give me another injection. That's the only way we'll survive. Luna, please. Don't let them get me too soon." Natalie asked, even ordered, considering the sparks of battle burning in her eyes, framing her brown irises with golden reflections. "I'm starting to feel her. Even hear her." She added with the biggest smile I've ever seen on her.

Considering our situation, I didn't know what she meant but didn't ask. I just nodded, agreeing to who knows what. Natalie breathed a sigh of relief and got up to stretch her bones and muscles, finally squatting down on the camp bed against the opposite wall, closing her eyes, and making purring sounds like she was meditating.

I stared at her for a minute, watching her sweet, youthful face express joy. I was full of admiration, or maybe curiosity; where did such a young girl, who had been in captivity for over two weeks, fed sporadically with meals the size of children's portions, have so much determination and strength? I felt my stomach sticking to my spine, and my throat, deprived of the right amount of fluids, was scratchy.

The whole situation was unreal. Not only was my body surprisingly operating on very little energy, but the reason why I had to endure it was much more absurd. Although none of our questions were answered, Natalie and I managed to overhear a few conversations between the men on the other side of the closed door.

Someone wants Natalie and pays these thugs to deliver her safe and sound, along with the sleeping wolf.

I have no idea who would have such f****d up wishes and why, but it must have been some rich, brainless, drug-affected criminal who wants to display Natalie and the wolf as his trophies for his equally f****d-up friends.

"Alpha is on its way. Get ready, the wolfsbane."

I heard the muffled but still clear voice of one of the bandits stationed in the corridor, and my body reacted instinctively, tensing up and going still. Natalie's reaction, however, was opposite to mine. Suddenly, she stood up as if pushed by some force and ran towards me at a pace that suggested that, in her case, hunger was the only thing that motivated her, not stopped her.

"Don't let them get to me. Just a few minutes, and I'll be able to tear them to pieces." She growled in an inhumanly animal voice, surprising me.

Not only did this surprise me, but the fact that her grip around my slender shoulders was firm, her voice filled with authority, and her warm brown eyes were turning the color of raisins with each passing second, bringing her closer to the pitch blackness, was the clamor that had been heard seconds ago behind the door. A burst of the curses that accompanied them fell silent, giving this sudden and piercing silence a completely grave meaning.

I don't know what came over me: her request, her assurances, or the inevitability of death. Still, I agreed to her demands with a determined attitude to prevent the villains from achieving their goals. Natalie grabbed my hand and, despite my still unstable position, dragged me deeper into the room, pinning our backs to the wall opposite the door, where the first lock was slowly starting to open.

"All Lunas are warriors." Natalie seemed to encourage me, but I saw this as something more meaningful than my stupid concern for giving her time.

When the second lock was opened, I involuntarily took a position in front of her, as if pushed by some force or a promise made to her to stand between Natalie and whoever was supposed to be in the doorway depended on my being or not being. My body was almost giving up, unable to stand upright in the face of death. Still, my adrenaline-fueled brain kept me from moving, so I focused on the horizontal doorknob, which began to move to a vertical position after opening the third lock.

When I heard the familiar sound of the door opening, my racing, fear-fueled heart went into stagnation, and I took a deep breath, waiting to come face to face with our kidnapper. I didn't expect seeing him to make my stupefaction even more incomprehensible.

"There you go, as beautiful as she is smart. She uses a man as cannon fodder despite their deep bond. It makes me want to have you even more, Mate."

A tall, muscular, incredibly handsome man with black eyes emanating a dangerous aura said in a voice so paralyzingly sinister that my whole body stiffened, my hair stood on end, and his superhuman beauty captured my previously terrified heart.

"You won't get me. Over my dead body." Natalie growled behind me, sending another set of goosebumps up my body.

I was so fascinated and terrified that I didn't know what my body, heart, and brain were trying to tell me. On the one hand, I was afraid not only for myself but also for Natalie. On the other hand, the newcomer's beauty made everything excellent and lousy merge into one, destroying my common sense and sober sediment. Hand on heart, if this incredibly handsome man, slightly older than me, asked me to marry him, I would agree without hesitation.

"I knew you were the perfect choice. Smart, strong, and cunning like a father, beautiful, stunning, and naive like a mother. That's why I chose you over Hannah." The handsome guy commented, staring at Natalie behind me, not moving from his spot after opening the door.

"The human is yours for whatever you want. I'm only taking my Luna today." He added with a sinister smile, stepping deeper into the room.

My heart pounded like crazy. Natalie growled again, and only now, the noticeable men drooling with desire behind the handsome man entered right behind him, rubbing their hands in satisfaction.

My fists went up before I could utter any words, but the newcomer's left hand was faster and, hitting me with the back as hard as I had ever known before, I flew to the right wall, hitting it with such force that I felt my entire shoulder and hip fall out of its sockets.

I heard a mixture of voices around me that seemed more animal than human, but my head, beaten under the pressure, could be playing tricks on me. I fell with a dull thud and a whimper, but the sounds of breaking bones didn't make my eyes close in pain. NO. Because it wasn't my pain.

My eyes moved to Natalie, who was growling on all fours as her spine bent and the clothes she was wearing began to tear under the pressure of her increasing body mass. The handsome man looked at her like a lust-crazed pervert as he slowly took off his clothes, revealing his perfectly sculpted body. On the other hand, Natalie grew from a beautifully sculpted woman and, strangely enough, transformed into a hairy animal howling and growling simultaneously.

I thought I was hallucinating and experiencing a scene from one of CC Gedling's books, which described the transformation of a human into a werewolf. Still, I couldn't enjoy the sight because the two men who accompanied the beautiful creature took me under their arms and transported me out of the room, leaving Natalie to her fate.

"Natalie. No. Leave me!" I screamed and struggled in their clutches, trying to break free from my fate to help my friend.

"Shut up. You're going to die either way, b***h. At least don't make the transport more difficult." One of the men said before he plunged his fist into my lower abdomen, knocking the wind out of me.

I gasped and closed my mouth as the effect of his punch spread throughout my body. Not only was I short of breath, but it also cracked my bones. I let them take me anywhere, defenseless as a child, listening to the sounds of fighting between animals and jumping at each other's throats.

"What do we do with her? We only have fifteen minutes," the man on the left asked slightly nervously.

"So what? We'll seal the walls as usual." The voice to my right laughed, sending another wave of fear through me.

I wanted to throw myself, I wanted to scream, but without knowing why, my body gave in to everything these two were serving me, and so I found myself on the floor in a fog, watching the unfinished frame of the wall being opened and the smell of death escaping from the room.

"Don't worry, you'll burn before you rot."

I heard it before and felt a sting in my neck that caused immediate confusion. My heart began to slow to the rhythm of my surrender, and the blood in my veins became thinner and heavier. I knew this was the end of me; I was not only unable to move but bricked into the wall with no chance of finding my body. Was this supposed to be my fate?