Chapter 3
Scarlet''s POV
The amodations in the cells are a far cry from what I woke up to just a couple hours ago. When I
had woken up, I had been so surprised to find myself in a warm bed with thick nkets pulled up to my
shoulders. I was provided a meal and was able to use a private bathroom to shower and freshen up.
The medical staff was friendly and helpful. Even the man that introduced himself as Alex had seemed
nice. However, after all my discharge papers were filled out another man came in and ced silver
cuffs around my wrists.
The next thing I know I''m being marched down to dungeons that smell of blood, urine, and mildew. My
mate was there waiting for me. Hope and happiness had instantly red up inside me until I registered
the cold look on his face. I couldn''t understand it. How dare he! He''s the one that stabbed me. I haven''t
done anything to him. I didn''t even know him. As far as I knew, he hadn''te to visit me or anything
either. He clearly doesn''t care about me. By the look on his face, he downright hates me for no damn
reason. My wolf of course tried to argue and reason with me. "He doesn''t hate us. He loves us. He''s
our mate!" she had insisted. I had inwardly rolled my eyes at her.
Things blew up fast as both of us clearly lost our tempers and now I''m pacing the small space that I am
locked in. Luckily, they had removed my silver cuffs, though there are still burn marks circling my wrists.
However, now the bars to my cell are silver so there is no escaping them. The man that had stayed
behind to question me hasn''t been back since they shoved me in here. I don''t know where he went or
when he''ll be back. All I know is that I need to get out of here.
I can feel my wolf chomping at the bit. She is restless like me. Though, her and I are still on different
pages when ites to our mate. "He must have his reasons for this. Maybe it''s all just some
misunderstanding. You just need to talk to him."
"For me to talk to him he''d actually have to be here. He left us. Remember?" I push her out, not
wanting to deal with her hopeless romantic side any longer. I continue pacing as my eyes wander
around my prison. The walls are made of thick concrete stones and there is a line of cells that are
surrounded by silver bars. There are no windows so there is no way to know what is on the other side
or what time of day it is. I spot a camera in the upper corner of my cell and I''m sure all of the cages are
the same way. On the opposite wall on the far left side is a whole disy of silver torture devices
including handcuffs, chains, cors, and des of various sizes. There are even spray bottles that look
like they have liquid silver in them and a container full of wolfsbane. My stomach churns as I wonder
what they will do to me.
After walking circles for what feels like hours, I goy down on a small pile of straw that I''m assuming is
meant to be my bed. As soon as my eyes start to drift closed, I am suddenly hit with a freezing cold
liquid that burns my skin. I immediately jump to my feet as I try to wipe the burning liquid from my face.
When I look up, I see the man that is supposed to be questioning me. He doesn''t say anything. He just
sets his now empty pail down and walks away. "What am I doing here?! Let me out!" I call after him. He
just continues his way without even looking back at me. Within a minute, I hear the loud ng of the
metal door closing behind him. I scowl in the direction that he went and try to ignore the lingering pain
that is covering my body. Breathing in, my nostrils burn and I realize that wolfsbane had been mixed in
with the freezing water.
My straw bed is now soaked and ruined. I growl in frustration and go sit along the opposite wall. Time
seems to move very slowly as I upy myself with thoughts of The Scourge, of escaping, and of my
mate. My mind wanders to so many things as I try to distract myself. The thing my thoughts linger on
the most is that of my mate. The sexy, low timbre of his voice, his muscr biceps and broad shoulders
that stretched the material of his shirt, the light stubble that covered his chiseled jaw.... And of course,
his mesmerizing blue eyes. They were bluer than the sky and the contrast with his dark hair and tanned
skin seemed to make them that much brighter. I could stare into his eyes for days. If only he wasn''t
proving to be such an ass. Despite the path of my thoughts, time isn''t speeding up. And every time I''m
about to fall asleep, I have the same rude awakening I did the first time. I''m not even sure how long this
goes on for. Days? Weeks? And during all of this, my mate neveres to see me or check on me.
Further proof that he doesn''t care.
Everything I have learned about fated mates is a lie. I was always told that they are chosen for you by
the Moon Goddess herself. They are your other half. Theyplete you. Their touch can bring you
calm and their presence can make you brave. Your mate will love you unconditionally and you will be
stronger together. What a load of crock. All my mate has given me is a dungeon and a brief stay at a
hospital. I don''t even know who he is. However, at one point I could feel his strong auraing off him.
Typically, that type of power is only for Alphas... though I have no idea why it didn''t affect me if that was
the case. Plus, the only Alpha''s that reside in the main part of the city are the three eldest Kane
brothers, Ethan, Alex, and Xander. Goddess... please do not let my mate be one of the Kane brothers.
The man that had been in my hospital room was named Alex... Could he have been Alex Kane? Alex is
amon name though, right?...
I pinch the bridge of my nose and lean my head back against the stone wall. All of this is just too much
right now. My head is pounding from theck of sleep and hydration. My stomach is beginning to
rumble. I don''t even know how long it has been since Ist ate or was given anything to drink. Sheer
exhaustion is beginning to overtake me and my body feels jittery. This is definitely not how I expected
this to go. I rub a shaky hand over my stomach as I begin to look around again. I don''t see anything
edible down here. Hopefully their n isn''t to just let me stay down here until I die of dehydration or
starvation.
More time passes before I hear the familiar ng of the metal door at the top of the stairs. Loud, clunky
footsteps can be heard echoing through the stairwell as I wait to see who it is. For some reason, part of
me is desperately hoping to see my mate. Maybe he''s finally here to set me free, tell me he''s sorry. I
look towards the approaching sound and am disappointed when my interrogator appears before me.
He slowly steps up to my cage and kneels down to eye level. I instantly notice he is holding twoUpstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g
sses of water. I scoot closer to the bars, careful not to touch the burning silver. Instinctively, my
tongue swipes over my cracked lips as I eye the refreshing beverage.
"Can you answer some questions for me?" he asks politely, but by the way he is holding the drinks just
out of reach means that they are going to cost some answers first. I nod, not knowing or caring at this
point what his questions are. "What is your name?"
"Scarlet."
"What pack do you belong to?"
"I don''t have a pack."
He nods and passes one of the sses of water through the bars for me to take a drink. The ice-cold
liquid feels heavenly as it slides down my parched throat. I involuntarily let out a whimper as
gratefulness fills me. I really needed this. After a couple sips, he holds his hand out and takes the ss
back. "Where were you the evening of October 14th around seven?"
I don''t even know how long ago that was, but I sit and think for a bit before I realize why that night is
significant. "I- I had gone for a run. Then I came back and started handing out nkets."
"Where?"
"At the shelter I help run in The Scourge."
"Can anyone attest to that?"
I nod. "I would assume so. A lot of people saw me that night."
He gives me another couple sips of water that I quickly gulp down before letting out a sigh. I pass the
drink back to him before he continues his line of questioning. "And was your run before or after killing
some local wolves?"
My eyes widen in shock. What? What is he talking about? "I- I didn''t kill anyone.... Who was killed?"
He narrows his eyes at me and passes the ss back to me. I continue to look at him as if I''ll be able
to make sense of what is going on by just examining his facial expressions. The water passes my lips,
but this time a horrible stinging sensation fills my mouth and spreads down my body. I instantly begin to
gag as I bend over on my hands and knees and begin heaving up the little bit of water that I had just
drank. My eyes begin to water as I continue to retch up bile. The man stands up, grabbing his two
sses and walks away. All I can manage is to crawl away to a cleaner part of my cell where I copse
and curl up into a ball. Hugging myself tightly, tears begin to slide down my cheeks. How much longer
are they going to keep me down here? Why are they doing this?
After some more time passes, my captores back down. He walks up and stands right outside of
my cell and waits for me to cautiously approach him. Once I''m close enough, he gruffly shoves a wad
of fabric into my hand. "Change," he orders. I raise an eyebrow at him before turning my gaze to the
material balled up in my hand. With a closer inspection I realize it''s a thin, scratchy gown. I look up to
see him ring at me, waiting for me to do as I''m bid. I clear my throat and widen my eyes pointedly,
wondering if he''ll understand what I''m getting at. He seems toprehend and turns around, allowing
some semnce of privacy. I''m not too happy about this. The cells are incredibly cold, especially at
night and this fabric will definitely do nothing to keep me warm. Though I guess as a prisoner, they
don''t care about myfort.
Goosebumps cover my skin as I peel off my soiled clothes and put on the flimsy cover-up that I had
been given. I clear my throat again, letting the man know that I''m dressed and he turns around to face
me. "Stand back. Any sudden moves and you''ll be punished. Understand?" he announces harshly. For
a millisecond my eyes open wide with surprise before I nod and do as I''m told. This is punishment
enough. I don''t want to find out what would happen if I were to actually put up a fight. And with the state
I''m in there is no way I could win. I can hardly stand on my own two feet without swaying and using the
wall for support.
As soon as I''m pressed against the opposite wall, he pulls thick leather gloves onto his hands and
unlocks my cell. He gestures at me toe forward and I obey hesitantly, unsure of what is about to
happen. He takes my hands and pins them behind my back as he marches me to the other end of the
room and into a new cell. My eyes sweep across the small space and my mouth instantly turns dry as
though I''ve swallowed a cup of sand. The only thing in the room is two long silver chains that have cuffs
hanging from them. They seem to be on some sort of pulley system so that they can be adjusted. I
freeze in my spot and try to step backwards, only to run into the hard chest of my interrogator.
He shoves me forward and I frantically begin shaking my head. "Please no. Please..." I beg before he
snatches one of my hands and locks the silver cuff around my bare wrist. I let out a wail of pain before
biting down on my lip, trying to keep myself from crying out. "Why are you doing this? I don''t
understand what this is all about!" I exim as he does the same to my other wrist. As soon as I''m
secured, he walks over to a lever next to the entrance to the cell and pulls it down. The chains instantly
begin to rise and tighten, pulling my arms above my head and out to my sides until I screech in agony.
"Please! Stop!"
The man waits until I have quieted down before he approaches me and begins to ask me questions
again. "Why did you kill those men?"
"I don''t know what you are talking about!"
He tightens the chains a little more.
"Then you know who does."
"No, I don''t! Please!"
And the silver tightens more. I can feel the cuffs burning through my skin and tears streaming unbidden
down my cheeks. This is pure torture. I don''t understand what is going on. I''m too tired and in too much
pain to even think straight. After what feels like forever, the man leaves me hanging from the ceiling.
When hees back, he is holding a long whip and I instantly let out a terrified whimper.
"Six men were stabbed and wed to death at The Blue Moon Bar on Broadway. What do you know
about that?" he asks me as he begins to circle me, letting the whip slowly unravel in his fist.
"I don''t know anything about it! It wasn''t me! I swear!"
There''s a crack of the whip and a terrible pain spread over my back.
"The scent was followed back to you. Exin that!"
"I told you! I don''t know! But I didn''t kill anyone!"
The whip strikes my back again and I scream out.
"You know! Think!"
And I''m hit again.
This continues as I beg and plead to no avail. At one point I am bawling and hyperventting, unable to
take anymore torture. He seems to realize that he won''t get any information out of me while I''m like this
and he pushes the lever back up, loosening the changes so that I''m dropped to the floor with a thud.
The man unhooks the cuffs and throws them to the side before leaving me behind in the cell. I stay
curled up on the floor, my cheek pressed against the cold concrete. I''m unable to make myself move,
everything aches. ck dots creep into my vision and eventually I am ovee by darkness.