I shove him in the trunk beside his buddy. The shaggy-haired one is watching me before recognition appears on his face. “You! You are the man who took our she-wolf,” he stutters, and I nod my head.
“Yep, sure did,” I reply as a grin spreads across my lips. If only they knew… If only.
“Where is she? Did you kill her?” The man demands.
I shake my head as Donnie presses forward, eerily calm. We are going to have so much fun with these two. The man lets out a breath and nods, looking relieved.
And in a true fashion of a brainless fuckhead, he speaks up to ruin the moment. “She is nice, I hope you enjoy her. We will gladly give her up if you set us free. We were only looking for her, not trespassing, I swear.”
My canines protrude at his speech. Since when do these two think they own Sage? Do they actually believe that imprisoning someone and crippling that person for years means that the victim becomes their property? And I thought I was cruel.
“You can have her! We won’t pursue her anymore,” the other man adds.
Pursue? Ha! Please.
“I plan to keep her. I also plan to tear you into unrecognizable pieces for what you did to my mate.” I finally release the growl that was stuck in my throat from the moment I tossed these idiots inside the trunk.
“Your mate?” The shaggy-haired one gasps, his eyes so wide that they almost pop out of their sockets. I wish they would, that would be a sight to see.
“Yes, and by the time I am done with you two bastards, you will be begging for me to kill you. Everything you did to her, I am about to do to you, but ten times worse. Then when I am done, I will repeat the entire process over and over again. Once I get bored of your screams, I will skin you so slowly that you’ll feel like time has stopped. And the best part? The other will watch me perform the show of their lifetime with one thought in his mind, he’s next. But don’t worry, I am in no rush. I will spend years torturing you just like you spent years torturing her,” I vow, shutting the trunk.
Sage
I jolt awake because something doesn’t feel right. My body is floating, and once my eyesight sharpens, I understand why. Zane is carrying me.
I jump in his arms on instinct, but he just chuckles and shakes his head. “Shh, Luna, go back to sleep, I won’t hurt you,” he whispers, and a moment later, he places me on the bed upstairs.
I look around, and he pulls the blanket over my body and turns around, walking towards the door. Zane doesn’t say a thing, just leaves the room and quietly closes the door behind him.
Usually I am a very light sleeper, I had to be with my past. So, the fact that he could scoop me into his arms and move me from the couch is unsettling.
I sit up in bed and stare at the wall. How could that happen? Why didn’t I wake up the moment Zane got close enough to lift me? Am I losing the ability to sense danger once it gets too close? Sure, he might not have bad intentions, but Zane is a man, and I know how men are.
I let out a breath and shake my head, tired of beating myself up, and stop once I overhear voices. Andrei is home.
I listen to them in the hall. From the sounds of it, they’re near the basement. I can hear muffled noises like someone is gagged, but I am too scared to leave the room. I want to see which poor soul he is taking to his torture dungeon, but the intense fear keeps me from moving.
“Where did you find them?” Zane asks Andrei.
“Outskirts, just help me get them down there and strap them to the tables before she notices anything,” Andrei orders.
Hesitantly, I kick off the blanket and creep to the door. I crack it open to hear better.
I can hear each step they take that leads down into the basement. The silence spreads through the massive building. I hold my breath, wondering if Andrei and Zane are planning to come back to the main floor tonight.
After a few minutes, I hear them return. “You can go home, Zane,” Andrei tells his Beta.
The main door opens and closes as Zane leaves, and Andrei goes back down to the basement. My hands tremble as I close the door, lock it, and tip-toe back to the bed. I hide under the blanket and pull it over my head, so I don’t have to listen to the victim’s muffled screams.
One day, I could anger Andrei so much it could be me who’s strapped on that table. The thought doesn’t just disgust me, it petrifies me.
“Mate won’t do that. Donnie wouldn’t allow it,” Sierra says, with so much confidence lacing her words, that it feels like she actually believes what she says.
“It’s wrong,” I retort as I feel a lump form in my throat.
Sierra says nothing for a few seconds. She knows his secret torture dungeon is wrong, yet she is convinced he had his reasons. What reasons could justify something like that?
“He won’t hurt us, Sage, he will never hurt us,” she repeats the words as if she’s trying to convince herself.
“He locked us in the trunk of his car, Sierra.” I remind her.
Sure, someone who doesn’t see an issue with locking his mate in the trunk must have good intentions, right? But how could she forget? Or is the mate bond so strong to her that she can overlook it? Has her mindset changed to think her mate can do no wrong?
“Yes, but did he hurt us? He didn’t beat us like the rogues used to. He didn’t do the things they did, and he could have, but he didn’t,” Sierra defends him.
I shake my head, refusing to accept the arguments she is using. The worst part of all is that I know she is right, at least partly. Andrei hadn’t hurt us so far. But that doesn’t mean I trust him when he is in the basement, torturing someone for his sick entertainment.