Chapter 16

I did not have a clue on how I was supposed to react, other than defensive on my brother's part.

“You can’t, he doesn’t deserve this, any of this. They didn’t do anything wrong though!” I started off quietly talking, but it did not take much for me to work myself up to a shout. This is my family that he was so callously talking about.

At this point, I did not care about what happened to myself, so I tried getting to my mum and remaining brother. But Reid grabbed my arm before I had managed to take more than two steps and threw me backwards to the floor, my long and now puke-covered dress allowing me to slide a few meters with the force and strength that Reid had used.

All eyes in the room were on us two, watching on bated breath, waiting to see what unfolded and to see if I was next on the pile of wretched death that was fast increasing.

Reid was bent down, hovering over me and panting in anger. His eyes were glittering gold with the fury of both him and his wolf, both were trying to show me who oversaw the situation.

Hearing Corbin’s sickening voice pulled my attention from Reid’s beautiful face, giving me the opportunity to stand back up from the vulnerable position that I was in on the floor.

“I think that it is time that we all went outside for some fresh air. I think that my warriors should have the field ready by now.” Corbin decided now would be the time to cut in, to stop me and Reid from letting our argument lead any further. It was most likely so that none of Corbin’s sheep found the strength and courage to stand up to him thanks to me.

“What for? What do you plan to do to us? It’s not like you can kill us all.” I heard Pops’ voice suddenly interjecting, stopping Corbin from saying anything else on the matter of taking us all outside, into the brisk spring night.

They were probably planning to string us all up together and kill us all in some extravagant way.

Something in a spectacular ‘Corbin’ fashion.

“I wouldn’t be so doubtful, miss...?” Corbin’s polite and humoured tone was starting to make me nervous about what he had planned once we were all outside. He was talking very light-heartedly about everything, a huge difference to his monstrous actions.

“Poppy, sir.” There was a hint of sarcasm in her saying ‘sir’, and I was hoping that it was only those that knew her that would pick up on it, in case of the tosspot's reaction to her disrespect.

“Hmmm. Our little Oli’s friend I take it?”

My eyes widened in surprise at his revelation. He certainly did his homework before coming here.

“Yes, sir.” More sarcasm, only a bit more obvious than the last. Fuck I wish I could give her a slap, because even now she could not keep her fucking gob in check to save her life, quite literally.

“Well, I don’t want to ruin the surprise, I have quite a few things planned for you all.” Alpha douchebag turned from the crowd and slowly walked towards Reid and I, his hands held together behind his back as he continued to speak. “But don’t count on me not being able to kill you all. I might even take that as a challenge.”

The smirk on Corbin’s twisted and aged face was a thing of nightmares. Whenever he smiled, my heart stopped beating out of terror for whatever this prick was thinking.

“Now, let's shake a leg, the show is waiting to start.” He side-glanced the scared and cowering wolves that he had trapped, that were slaves to do his bidding.

But every wolf was too scared to move. They each looked from the other to Corbin, unsure of what to do. They were all too nervous to risk seeing what it was that he had planned after seeing what his capabilities were already, and anxious at finally observing how far his twisted mind went.

I was the first to move towards the patio doors, even before Reid or Corbin themselves moved. I did not want anyone to be punished for refusing to follow him. Enough people had been hurt so far and if I could prevent anyone else from the pain and torment, then, I would. They just needed someone to follow outside first.

The first thing that I heard as I stepped through the doors was Elliot’s refusals to co-operate with whoever it was that held him captive now. It was distant, but not so far that I would have to hear him by using my wolf-improved hearing.

When I first stepped through the double doors into the abruptly cold night, I was blinded. I could not see anything because of the fluorescent lights that Corbin had setup right outside of the doors. I looked past the beefy guards that Corbin had stationed ready to herd us, alert and ready to respond to any unwilling wolves. I looked over the stone balustrade and out towards the trees in the distance that should have been in complete darkness. Instead of blurred shadows, there were many dated wooden torches fashioned from castaway branches throwing an eerie, dull light at the bases of the vast number of trees that surrounded the small field of luscious grass, all as if it were now a stadium.

I hesitated to move forward from my sensory overload. After a few seconds or so, my eyes caught up after the sudden, intense burning of my retinas. I continued following the way that the vast numbers of new wolves on guard indicated, which was to the old stone steps that descended onto the grass.

I took my time as I took each step, lowering one foot and bringing the other to the same one, before moving onto the next, careful not to stumble as my quivering hand gripped the cold stone banister.

I halted at the edge of the peaceful and neatly kept grass, quietly looking across all that was before me, including the woods in the not-so-far distance. The dense trees called to me, with the wind tickling their green leaves. The small breeze reached me shortly after, brushing gently across my cold, rose tinted cheeks. It danced with the loose strands of my long hair, and it felt as if it was soothing my soul. I lifted my nose upwards towards the skies and into the short breath of fresh, therapeutic air, closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, settling every part of me. The calming feeling of finality washed over me completely. A feeling that said, ‘If I stepped onto the dewy, soft grass, then it was going to be the end for all of us tonight,’ to which I was not afraid anymore.

I sighed dejectedly. There was nothing that I could do about the future for any of us, only accept it with strength and pride.

I could hear the patters and shuffles of many feet coming up behind me as all the other members of my pack had followed my lead.

As terrified as I was, my back was straight and my head was held high, when a gentle hand rested on my left shoulder. I turned to see mum smiling proudly at me. I returned the smile as I rested one of my hands on top of her soft, well-manicured slender hands just as another rested on my right shoulder. Twisting around, this time it was Eli with a grinning Poppy at his side.

I heard a feral growl from behind me, but I knew without looking that it was Reid. I could feel his closeness through the mate bond and really could not be arsed with his shit anymore.

“Fuck off, Cujo.” I casually and carelessly told him my exact thoughts as I bent forward to untie my shoes, hearing sniggers all around me, as well as rustling as others removed their shoes ready for our last walk as a pack. Even those who came to visit just for the ball stood with us, joined together to form a new pack in its final moments.

Reid’s growls stopped in an instant. I peeked a quick look at him; he wore a look of shock on his face as he had not expected my insane, brass way of telling him to shove his jealousy up his arse.

Many of us stood in a line of solidarity at the edge of the short, glimmering greenery in the starless night, only the moon shone down on us, basking us in her light and support. The rest stood tightly behind, all in silence and at peace, ready to take on whatever was on their itinerary for us.

The moonlight-filled sky seemed like Mother Nature's way of showing us all that she stood with us on that verge of dark, black abyss. That she could not have something so beautiful such as a starry sky when such hideous horrors where unfolding down on earth.

Again, I took the plunge first, taking the first step onto the dewy, cold grass. Each blade tickling the bottoms of my feet and between my toes, reminding me that there was further life that will survive tonight, even if the wolves here, do not.

Another step, then another. I kept pushing myself to keep moving forward without faltering, everyone else following me towards our fate.

“No, stop! Run!” A hoarse masculine voice shouted out.

All heads of the new force whipped around to face where the voice had called out from, to see who it was that had shouted. It was Elliot, and he was tied with his back facing us to two tall logs that were protruding from the ground, neither that had been there before. Each of his arms was outstretched; one arm each tied to one log, his torso bare of any clothing for the cool night to caress as he knelt on a make-shift wooden stage.

Looking around properly, there were more than just those two logs that had been embedded in the hard, harsh spring ground, each with ropes or chains attached to them and they bordered the edge of the whole field, as if they were the new fencing to our cage.

Corbin’s warriors guided us to the centre at one end of his arena. Elliot was right at the front, exactly in the middle, like he was going to be the star of this sick and twisted show and giving all of us here a full and clear view of what was to come.

Elliot looked as though he had been beaten in attempt to get him to submit. The heartless, brutality of the invaders no longer shocked me, they had shown us all their true colours, but it still pulled on my heartstrings to see Elliot in such a de-emasculated way. I wanted him to be stood with us as we all marched forth to our unavoidable doom. Instead, we forwarded towards him whilst he was bound like cattle; like a piece of prey that was hunted, killed and plucked from the woods then left on display.

Barely a few steps away from him, our large and recently made fearless group halted, staying in silence as we waited for the next act to begin.

“So, tonight, we have a few things that I wanted to get done before we move on and get on the road.” Corbin strolled up the side of the group as he spoke, his hands casually joined together behind his back in his own typical and usual fashion, until he was stood at the front of us, just out of our reach.

Reid followed his father in silence and with a fierce look of hatred on his gorgeous face as he kept his eyes on his future slaughters, as if he was just a dutiful bodyguard with his hands fisted tightly at his sides.

“So, you do plan on killing us all before you leave here then?” I took the lead getting us here, so I did the same by stepping slightly forward from the group and asking the question that we all had locked away in our heads but were unable to ask through fear of retribution.

“We’ll just have to see how you all behave. But a lot of you won’t be leaving this field through your own doing I’m afraid.” His flippant pity was not warranted nor appreciated.

I let slip a growl, my eyes were glowing a fierce golden colour as I drew Beaux to the surface in a momentary rage, as looking at his ugly mug for too long pissed me the fuck off.

“Ahhh, so it looks like someone still has her wolf. How is that I wonder? Please, do tell me.” The smile on his face just irked me even more. I should not have growled, all that it did was cast watchful eyes on me, but no-one from Corbin’s entourage seemed threatened by it.

“I don’t know, I had your shot just like everyone else, as you saw.” I muttered to him through gritted teeth, not wanting to waste my breath on this pathetic shithead.

“I did see. Can you still transform?”

“Not a fucking clue, haven’t tried.” Shrugging my shoulders slightly in a tiny attempt at acknowledging Corbin’s question, I looked away from him and lifted my hand, palm facing towards myself and observed as I tried a partial transformation.

I watched as my claws extended by several inches into their dark points of predatory additions.

“Interesting.” He hummed, his index finger tapping on his lips as he thought to himself. “Reid, keep an eye on your little bitch there. I can’t see her being a problem, but caution wouldn’t do any harm, I suppose.” Obviously, Corbin did not see me as a threat, even with my wolf still present as he disregarded me so easily.

Reid grunted in response to his dad’s instructions, seemingly wearier than him about me still having my connection to Beaux and taking a couple of steps closer to me. Most likely to be closer to me should I retaliate, then he would be better positioned to stop me quicker.

‘Nice going, you tool. It would have been much better if they didn’t know about me.’ Beaux grumbled her displeasure at me.

‘Oh well, there’s nothing that I can do about it now.’ I responded quickly so that I could keep my full focus on the performance in front of me.

With one last glance from the arrogant prick, Corbin continued to be our entertainer for the remainder of the night.

“As I was saying before our little distraction. I have a few things that I have planned for you guys. Some of you will want to object, but I think that it has been proven that it would not be a wise decision to do so, as you’ll be next on the chopping block, literally.” The perverse grin on Corbin’s face as he spoke so casually of our deaths was nauseating, and pausing his speech for an added effect was loathsome. “But Elliot here has so kindly volunteered to help me with my first time trying something that I have never tried before but very desperate to give a go.”

Corbin had his arm held outstretched towards Elliot to guide everyone’s attention to him. Not that Elliot could see with his back to us and the blood dripping down his face from the repeated blows that had been dealt to him.

“You see, years ago it was written that Vikings used to do this…certain thing, as a punishment to their greatest enemies. So poetically, this is very fitting. However, there is no physical evidence of it ever having been done. And scientifically speaking, no-one would be able to survive past the first stage.”

The cryptic prick was wandering back and forth the front of the crowd that was fast becoming exhausted from the events of the night and fed up with the pretentious git before them. He finally stopped meandering and fuck-arsing around as he reached Elliot’s restricted, panting and limp frame.

One of the warriors that had been standing off to the side in the shadows, stepped forward to pass Corbin a medium sized, sharp and imposing knife. Corbin accepted the weapon without hesitation, juggling it between his hands as if testing the knifes capability before he used it.

Corbin slowly stepped forward to Elliott’s restrained figure and lightly pressed the tip of the knife into the centre at the top of his back; a slow, steady singular trickle of blood running down to the waist of Elliot’s trousers. The sudden piercing of the knife eliciting a sharp hiss of pain from him.

Corbin was completely focused and zoned in on the scarlet liquid that he was causing to flow down Elliot. He watched, deeply fascinated as it slowly traced a path down Elliot’s pale skin, before pooling at his clothing and getting absorbed, permanently staining the expensive fabric.

“My theory is that as werewolves, we should be able to survive a lot longer than a mere human would when having this done. Theoretically, with our increased healing abilities, we should be able to survive majority of the procedure before dying from massive blood loss, if not the whole thing. So, hence why I needed Elliot here, to help me with my experiment. I have always been curious on how much of a difference being a wolf compared to a human would affect the survival rate of a Blood Eagle.”