The other side was a dungeon?
Unbelievable!
Kendra had heard many stories about the afterlife, but she had never imagined that it would be a dungeon.
But then again, it wasn’t exactly surprising for the female Beta. Mankind was alive, meaning there was no way something alive would have any idea about the unknown, no matter how much they claimed— no matter how they tried to get it right.
It just wasn’t going to work.
Everything seemed hazy for the young she-wolf as she tried to recall the circumstances that had led her here— right into this very moment.
She remembered rejecting the General. Her heart warmed in anger again as she thought about the whole thing— how the gods and goddesses just wouldn’t leave her alone.
The funny thing was that mankind was supposed to be in an era where things were different— where science was just starting to take over, where evidence beat belief any day, anytime, but it seemed like people were turning back to them even more than before.
She was so sick of it.
Where was she? Yes! Something about the General’s eyes had caused her to shift. She had never felt that powerless in her entire life as she lay there in her supposedly mighty form, unable to do anything.
And the General.
He was powerful— it was so scary, even she should have treaded with caution after hearing him sneeze that many a times, but she hadn’t thought much about it, only seeing a man in need of her help.
He had shot her.
Professed his love for her in one minute, and then shot her in the next, simply because she was something he detested with so much passion. It made her wonder if the so called love he had for her had been real in the first place. And it was crazy really, because she had been starting to feel something for him too. It definitely wasn’t love… for that, she was absolutely positive, but as the days went by she cared about him a little bit more.
Kendra tried to search her body for the gunshot wounds, trying to figure out exactly where he had shot her at, but she couldn’t find anything.
Maybe wounds did not exist in the afterlife?
She sat, lost in thought for what seemed like ages.
If this was the afterlife, she was positive that she was going to die a million deaths over and over again, for there was no way she could be in her own company only for the rest of eternity.
She needed someone to talk to.
Killian.
Her heart hurt so hard thinking about him that she burst into tears. She wept for a lot of reasons— how her stubbornness had separated them, how she had failed to give him the one thing that had led her on this darned quest in the first place, and most important reason,
How much she missed him.
It was too late to have any regrets now, seeing as she was dead and all, and now because of her actions and inactions, her best friend was going to be condemned for all of eternity.
Kendra heard the jingle of keys, and the satisfying sound of one turning in a lock, and she hurriedly scampered to her feet.
Footsteps.
Someone was coming!
“Help! I’m over here, help!” She hollered excitedly, but when the footsteps did approach, she realised to her disappointment that it was one of the Curers, a tall wiry man with a pointed nose and hawk looking eyes.
This was no afterlife after all.
She was a prisoner.
How long had she been unconscious? For some reason, the Beta found that rather preferred dying to being a prisoner to these vile people.
“Here’s your meal.” The wiry man said curtly shoving the food through the cell to her, his hawk like eyes eying her in disgust. She gave as good as she got. “Where is your General?” She asked haughtily, but all she got for her troubles was a condescending sneer. “He should have killed you when he had the chance yesterday, you bitch… but it won’t matter, we’re going to have a nice time breaking you.”
Kendra smirked at that, and then she shifted partly into her wolf form, revealing just her scary cerulean eyes, her snout and claws. A chuckle that only came out as a snarl slipped past her snout when the wiry soldier jumped back in fear, so scared that he fell back crawling away from her on his butt, his eyes widely open in horror. The she-wolf shifted back into her human form, chortling in amusement, “Not so mouthy now, are you?” A serious look just as quickly made its way onto her face, “I’d like to see you try to get your hands on me.” She watched the soldier dash away in fear, and she shook her head at his impudence.
The nerve!
In other news, she wasn’t dead. That could only mean one thing;
Alaric hadn’t been able to bring himself to kill her just yet.
She wanted to find solace in that fact, reasoning that maybe that good that she could still see in him had something to do with why she was still alive… but then, another thought came to mind.
What if he just wanted to slowly torture her to death?
With the rumors she had heard of him, this wasn’t going to be his first rodeo in that regard exactly. Kendra tried to steer clear of those thoughts as she took a deep breath. Squaring her shoulders, she eyed the nasty looking bowl full of oatmeal in disgust. How ironic that just the day before she had been dining like royalty. Time really did change indeed.
She needed to get out of here.
She told herself. Alaric wasn’t going to have the last laugh. She was.
*****
General Alaric Macintyre just couldn’t get over what to him seemed like the ultimate betrayal.
Why?
Ever since his mother died, he had had no choice, but to turn to religion for comfort, taking particular delight in worshipping the female goddesses; Aphrodite, Hera, Athena, Andromeda… it made him seem like he had some form of maternal love on his side, and honestly speaking, that had been the only thing that had kept him going.
He had been an avid follower of Aphrodite in particular, secretly believing that if he worshipped her devoutly, she would lay his blessings upon him… and she had— only to claim it back in the worst way possible.
Artemis, if that was even her real name was a werewolf for crying out loud!
The same beast that had claimed his loving mother… the same one that had turned him into the monster he was today. He couldn’t be with her? No. To do that would mean giving up to everything that had kept him going so far. To do that would simply mean rejecting who he was.
He didn’t think he could do that.
Or could he?
She made him happy. Happier than he had ever been in a long time. And then there was that peace that she always brought him when she was near. He didn’t want that to end.
So what in fuck’s sake was he going to do now?
He thought back to that moment when he had breathed in and caught her true scent, the look on his face, and the disappointment in his eyes— the horror, the heartbreak. He still couldn’t quite understand why he hadn’t caught it earlier, maybe she had masked it? Or maybe he had been too smitten to see what had been right under his nose all along.
He hadn’t been able to do it.
He hadn’t been able to kill her. His pistol had been loaded and cocked, she had been weak— passed out even. All he had had to do was pull the fucking trigger, but like the fucking coward he had been when he was a wee lad— when he had watched all those wolves torture his poor mama to death— he had just stood there, doing nothing. Loathing himself even more for being weak, he had gotten on his horse, and carted her right off to the secret dungeons that he used to torture important wolves, among other things, binding her in so much silver that he was positive that she wouldn’t wake up and try anything funny.
And then he had left her there, the love of his life… all alone in that dungeon cell— left her there under those horrible conditions and returned back to camp.
Because he needed to think.
He needed to figure out what to do with her. Keeping her around, keeping her alive was going to cause confusion among his troupes, and he couldn’t have that. She needed to die, if not by his hands, by someone else’s at least. That was the surest way he could restore order and reclaim himself.
He could also keep her in a safe location and visit her whenever he had the chance, but that was another crazy idea, because he was going to feel like he had betrayed his mother’s memory just by being with her. And then there was also the fact that she had already rejected him for who he was even before he had found out about her. He didn’t think that was going to change.
And then there was the third option.
He could give up everything— who he was now, the hatred in his heart that had led to become this self-righteous avenger going round and claiming lives, his need to avenge his mother’s violent death… he could give it all up and turn over a new leaf—one that was going to give him a better shot at winning her heart.
He rubbed his face in frustration. Never in his thirty two years of existence had he been in such a dilemma. He didn’t know what to do, but one thing he did know was that she deserved to spend a few a few days in that dungeon,
That was what she got for betraying his trust and keeping who she truly was from him.