MORONS AND BASTARDS

VALERIE When Evie calls out my name, I immediately turn to look at her, moving away from the dangerous man's stare. I stare in shock after seeing two men holding each of her arms in a tight grip. She looks a mess and looks really hurt. There is a bright red mark on her cheek in the shape of a palm and fingers, someone must have hit her pretty hard. The area below her eyes has turned purple with bruises and a dribble of dried up blood runs down the corner of her lips. "Why have you come here, Val?" she asks in slight anger. "Val, hmm.... Now that's an unusual name, but a nice one," a man says. It is the same voice that has just called me a weak human. I look at the man and I see him standing right before me. I take an involuntary step back to get away from him and I look up to see him better. He seems to be in his early twenties and has blonde hair that flows to his ears and light brown eyes. He also has a huge smirk plastered on his face, which I guess is because of my appearance. "Do you know who I am?" he asks, his eyes turning deep black. It is probably a ploy to try and scare me, but it won't work. One of the first thing's Zelia taught me during her training was never to show your opponent that you were be scared. "A dog?" I make it a question, wearing a huge smirk on my face as my voice doesn't waver. A loud growl erupts from his chest from my words. The second thing I've so far learnt from Zelia is to always be prepared for the consequences of all my actions. So when I see him raising his fist to hit me, I quickly duck and let the blow fly over my head. "Impressive," he says, grinning widely again, "For a human, you are quite strong. But for a wolf...." He is behind me in a flash, my eyes unable to keep up with him, and he grips me tightly around my neck from behind and continues through gritted teeth and in rage, "...Not. Strong. Enough." His nails have elongated to sharp claws and he digs them into the flesh of my neck, causing me to let out a soft groan of pain. "Archie, this is between us. Do not bring her into it please!" Evie says while growling. So this is the famous Archie? Interesting! I look back at his black eyes and gulp loudly in fear. From what I've heard from Evie and Zelia, he is bad, very bad. He looks at Evie, and then speedily loosens his hold on me and I fall to my feet while clutching my throat. I can feel the warmth of my blood under my palms and blood and tears start to run down my cheeks from the agony and sting the punctures are causing to my flesh. Archie steps around me and starts walking towards Evie, a wide sneer on his face. "You are right. This is between us, but that doesn't mean I cannot enjoy her a little." Evie growls at him as he stops in front of her. He punches her hard in the stomach and she falls to the floor with a loud groan, clutching at it in pain. The room is now teeming with growls from a few people that are behind me, but I keep my eyes on Evie and Archie. Archie slowly goes down on one knee in front of Evie and whispers lovingly to her, "Careful Evie, do not forget that I am your Alpha!" He tucks a stray strand of her hair behind her ear, ignoring her as she tries to flinch away from his touch. Someone lets out a soft laugh at her response to his touch then quickly muffles it with their hand. Archie turns around and looks past me to the people I can hear growling. I turn back to see that there are a lot more people in the room than I'd first thought. Three other people are being pinned to the ground on their knees, the same as Evie. There is a man with dark hair that seems both brown and black at the same time. Next to him is a woman with brown eyes containing gray flakes and long brunette hair who is kneeling. She looks just like Evie, or should I say Evie looks just like her. She must be Evie's mother. Another one is being held on knees beside the woman and he looks entirely amused. He has dark hair and even with him kneeling, it is easy to see he is quite tall. Archie walks to the amused man and taunts, "Oh my little brother, care to share what you find so funny?" My eyes widen at Archie's words. Little brother? That means he's the late Alpha's youngest son. I remember Evie telling me about him. His name is Oscar. He is the one who helped Evie and Zelia to escape the dungeon. He has been kept in the dungeons with their Luna as well. "You calling yourself Alpha? You're not worthy of that title," Oscar spits out in disgust. "Alphas always fight fair and you, you attacked from behind with that bastard." He nods his head towards someone behind me. I turn back and look at who he has just pointed at. It is that same 'dangerous man'. He is just standing there with his hands inside his pockets staring at me with a very curious expression. When my eyes meet his, I quickly look back over my shoulder where at the same moment, a loud cracking of bones ring out through the room. I don't know what has happened but I can see Oscar lying on the floor on his side. Archie starts kicking him in the stomach, not caring that he's already down. What's wrong with this guy? He must be mentally sick! The other man who's being held starts to growl at Archie and he strains against the hands holding him. Blood starts spilling from Oscar's mouth and I quickly look away, not willing to witness this anymore. "Let him go Archie!" Someone commands and everyone stops what they are doing and look at the doorway to see Zelia standing at it. She steps into the room and commands yet again in rage, "Let Oscar go!" "Zelia," her mom says shocked and starts shaking her head. "Run sweetheart." "It's not my turn to run mom, it's their turn now!" she says in fury, pointing to the rogue wolves. "Zelia, My love," Archie says placing his hands on his chest over the place of his heart in affection. "You finally came." I knew you would come back to me." Archie points to the other man being held and still growling and says to him while pleased, "See...I told you Donald, your daughter loves me too much to stay away from me!" He brags, showing a set of white teeth. All the rogues in the room start to laugh except the dangerous guy. He's just looking ahead, seeming totally uninterested by everything that is happening. "You don't know how much I missed you Zelia. You don't know how much pain you have caused me!" Archie says in fake hurt. The growls coming from Donald grow thunderous and he yells in warning, "Don't you fucking dare try to touch my daughter!" But Archie just ignores him, all his attention on Zelia as she walks deep into the room. "See Zelia, I couldn't bear the thought of you being sad, so I brought your family here too," Archie says excitedly and his eyes are complete black now. He grits his teeth and says through them, "Because I want them to hear you cry. I want them to feel your pain!" Okay, this guy is indeed mentally sick! That's my conclusion! Zelia just stares at him for a moment, and then she turns to look at me. "Oh! I like your gift too. She's feisty," Archie points at me with a sweep of his head. "It's her turn after I'm done with you and Evie." He is smirking widely at her. "You're not going to touch them." Zelia growls. There are loud growls from all the wolves held captive to accent her point, and Donald's body begins to vibrate with his rage. I know the signs of a wolf drawing close to shifting. When he is about to shift, the rogues holding him do something and suddenly the change stops, but his fury is still visible in his black eyes. "Archie!" A woman yells suddenly. A moment later, the Luna enters with several men trailing behind her. "Mommy? You too want to watch the show?" Archie mocks. The Luna walks to Zelia and stands in front of her in a protective manner. "To get to Zelia, you have to get through me," the Luna says amid clenched teeth in hostility. "You put me in a great dilemma mommy," Archie mocks yet again. The Luna growls loudly at his mocking of the name mommy. Archie taps his index finger on his forehead pretending to think and then, he calls out, "Barry!" The man who was in the dungeons with Dominic, quickly steps into view and looks at Archie. Archie smiles at the man, Barry, and says in authority, "Take my mommy dearest, and make sure to give her a wonderful seat. She seems to be really interested in watching the show." Barry nods and roughly tries to grab the Luna who tries to fight but it is of no use. He is faster and stronger than her. The Luna looks at Archie in rage and you can see her jaw is firmly clenched as she says in pure hatred, "How low can you sink?" "Barry, let go of my mom!" Oscar orders and another rogue quickly delivers a hard punch to his chest, effectively silencing him. This has been happening since the moment I got into this house. If any of the wolves protest, they are being hit to silence them. I looked at Evie. She is now standing on her feet as the men hold her, but still looks very weak. The 'dangerous man' seems to find all of what is happening very boring as he leans against the wall behind him. Zelia keeps her eyes firmly closed for a second. Her eyes flash open and they've suddenly turned deep black. She has had enough already. She yells at Archie in fury, "Stop it! Stop it now!" "So you are ready Zelia?" Archie ask sand smiles pleased. She nods at him. "No!" I yell and protests are heard from all the other people being held captive in the room. "The time has come," Zelia says, smiling broadly. "Oh yes indeed, the time has come!" Archie says while smiling joyfully like a five year old who has finally gotten the toffee he has been nagging his mother for. "Come Zelia, come here." He bends forward and raises his hands out for her to take. There are growls coming from all the people being held, while all of Archie's men are whistling and howling. It feels like his men are starting to have a huge celebration. Can't these monsters see the hurt in Zelia's parents' eyes? I can't take anymore of these, therefore I close my eyes and let the tears flow. What is happening? Why isn't Zelia fighting? I always considered her to be the strongest one out of the three of us. She is a fighter, so I don't understand how she can just surrender! I take a deep breath, the tears still flowing and open my eyes. I looked into Zelia's green and grey eyes and gasp. She looks into my eyes helplessly and says softly to me, "Please protect my Pack from them." She kneels down to her knees before Archie and drops her head, closing her eyes firmly. I don't understand what she means. I am about to ask her what she means when she pulls a sharp knife from her back pocket. It all happens so fast such that I close my eyes and reopen them to let my mind catch up with my eyes. One moment Zelia is kneeling with the knife in her hand, her eyes closed and muttering something that sounds like a prayer, the next moment she punctures the knife deep into the front of her throat. I stare down at her body lying on the floor and try to take it all in. Donald, Zelia's mother and the Luna rushed to Zelia while crying out loudly in pain. They fall to their knees beside her and try to gain her attention, but her eyes are unfocused and she won't look at them. Evie looks at her sister Zelia and she lets out a pained gasp as she falls to her knees. Every wolf present in the room seems too shocked to move. I look at Zelia yet again and silent tears slide down my cheeks. Her breathing is slow...very slow and blood pours from where the knife has punctured her throat. I think of the six months that I have known Zelia. They were all filled with love and happiness, more than I've ever had the privilege to feel. Zelia meant so much to me! She was my sister, my guardian. She took care of me like I was her own sister, and she has never called me a burden. She kept reminding me that I'd be a shifter someday and to never give up. We laughed, cried, sang, danced, and jumped together. We were attached at the hip. I looked down at her again and can't take in what I see. She's lying on the floor, struggling to take in a breath and bleeding out, but it's unlike her to be like that. She is too strong. I let the sobs rock my body and the tears flow freely from my eyes. I can hear her parents crying as they kneel beside her, telling her to breathe and stay with them. I can't take my eyes away from the scene. I slowly take an uncertain step back and my knees give out from under me from the shock. Her breathing begins to decrease and I watch it happen slowly. A loud wheeze comes from her, followed by a soft gurgle then finally her chest stops rising and she lies motionless on the floor. Her eyes become fogged and color seems to have drained from her skin, leaving her a lifeless pale. A loud inhumane growl erupts from my chest and that is when I finally feel her. I feel my wolf inside me for the first time, her rage pulsing wildly through my veins.