CHAPTER THREE

Reminisce Rayne's POV If only I had known there was no preparing for what I'm going into... Blood, fire, smoke, and cries of both the young and the old. Different parts of flesh lie lazily on the ground. Even from a distance, we could hear the screams and howls. As we got closer, it became apparent that the white claw wolves were retreating. I ran through my human form, concentrating on where I was going rather than what was going up ahead. Ruby, my best friend too, was doing the same. Her look of confusion mirrored mine. When I finally burst through our packhouse, the smell of dried and fresh blood and rotten corpses flooded into my nose. I froze on my spot when I took in the gory scene before me. Bodies littered the and blood stained the tiled floor. Young and old alike lay tore open and flung around, some even in clusters. I ran my hand through my hair, while my stomach churn at the horrid sight. Where are my parents? I ran upstairs to my parents' chambers in the moon-like packhouse only to see my father lying on the ground in a pool of blood. The Alpha of the white claw pack Maddox Pete Lawson, my father had been killed..... "No. no. no. no... dad know" I screamed at the top of my voice violently shaking my father but he wouldn't budge. "please daddy, no" I begged but all my cries and pleas fell on deaf ears. "Ray..ne" I heard a voice call from behind me and I rushed towards the place the voice had come from. "Mother.. mother" I called while hugging my mother when I found her breathing at the bedside. "It hurts," she said gently and I quickly let go of her. The Luna...my mother never complained of pain...Never! "Sorry mom" "Listen to me and listen well, '' she struggled to say. "they are coming back" she coughed out again before spitting out blood. That was when my eyes widened and I saw how her stomach had been divided, up to the point where her intestines were showing. Fuck! "Mother" I screamed before breaking into a full-blown cry. She winced in pain, her eyes heavy and dreamy. "You are going to be alright mom... I'll bring you to safety, to the senile so that he can treat you" I rasped out amidst sobs. "There won't be a need for that" she coughed out dryly. "Mother, please..." "Listen to me Rayne... they will be back for you" "who?.." "The villain pack. They will be back. Run and survive. Don't ever let them get a hold of you. His intentions are bad...he seeks to....finish off our race so he can take over everything. You must hide and hide your wolf too. It must not be seen before it is time....as the prophecy foretold. Go to the priest. He would help you....please child....lis..ten... run....run..." A couple of seconds pass and there is no word from my mother, it is then I noticed her body turning cold. I place my ear on her chest but there is no sound coming from her heart. She was suddenly cold and stiff. "Mom," I called, shaking her vigorously. "mom?" I shouted louder this time but still yet nothing. No response from her end. No movement. No gestures. Absolutely nothing. "Mooooom" I shouted, vigorously shaking her but there wasn't as much as a whimper from her, just a burning sensation on my wrist anytime I shook her and the realization dawned on me. "Mom please, I need..." I was cut short when the burning sensation on my wrist turned into an icy-cold and a prickling one. My eyes immediately flared open. "Rise and shine, princess.....!" I heard an obnoxious voice called out faintly....or maybe I was hearing things. "Fiona?" Another obnoxious voice said whilst I tried to open my eyes. "Nah, I don't think Fiona does Justice. How about Cinderella? Or Bella? Or Moana? Or Bella?...." "Perhaps Ariadne?" A third voice said and they laughed..... Lucas! "Ariadne is too pretty for this frog..." now that was Jenny. "Obviously" "I'd say Cinderella but that would make us the wicked step-siblings and Gilbert, the evil stepmother" Jenny said. "If you ask me, I've been acting that part don't you think?" I heard Gilbert's voice calling out faintly. "And just like before, I'd be a shitty evil stepmother if I don't live up to expectations" Suddenly ice-cold water poured all over me. Its temperature made some parts of my body go numb and my injuries began to sting. With a pain-filled groan, I pulled myself into an uncomfortable sitting position, as even my sitting form was as painful as being bound. I felt my brain go numb and my eyes felt like they would fall out. So the part where I saw my parents was all a dream. Another pathetic dreamlike reality filled with blood, cuts, and even corpses. What I wouldn't give to go back.... "Aww, look at our little kitty, Jenny...isn't she cute?" Lucas said, taunting me. "Of course she is. Look at those beautiful stripes. Such a beautiful cute kitty princess" Jenny slurred in a mocking voice. "Now, why is our pet so wet, wet, wet? Did you play in the rain again? Did we not tell you not to do that?" she shook her head and stroked her chin as she did so. I had thought Lucas, Jenny, and Gilbert were delusional, the day they accused me of stealing the royal seal but now, I was sure of it. I opened my mouth to speak but it felt patchy. "Do you know what we do to pups that do not obey their masters?" Gilbert taunted slowly. "Take care of her mates, I have something to attend to," Gilbert said and without sparing me a glance, off he went. What? Do not tell me that they were going to punish me for getting drenched due to their own actions? The two buckets with melting ice around the rims were enough proof for them, I thought in my mind. I tried to speak but words will not come out of my mouth. It's been days without food or water for fucks sake. "We teach them a lesson so that they would never forget their place in the future," Jenny said with an evil laugh. "If they make it to the future, that is." the sickening laughter that came out of Jenny's mouth made my stomach rumble. "But you guys were the ones who had drenched me. You know that!" I screamed at them, finally finding my voice. "I did not do anything, why would you want to hit me for something I did not do, huh?" I scream out loud. My cries slowly changed to full-blown cries, which made my face, chest, and stomach hurt but I couldn't help it, somehow hoping that they will at least reduce the punishment when they notice that it is not my fault. Maybe, just maybe my cries would trickle into their conscience just a bit. They would not leave me unpunished no matter what, but there was a possibility of a punishment reduction. And now, they would say I talked back to them too, I know I'm in for a beating now. "Oh really? Is that what happened?" Jenny asked in a whisper, her eyes going wide in what a normal person would think is the realization of her mistake, but no. Jenny was just a top-tier drama queen. She turned to her partner in brutality "Lucas, is that really what happened? We were the ones that drenched her?" She asked her partner who began to nod in a pretentious remorseful way. "She is right, we were wrong. But do you know who cares about that?" Lucas asked Jenny and me, his face bearing one that belonged to a lunatic. "Nobody important! Not me or Jenny! Not even the freaking Alpha who was once your mate. So, in that case..." Lucas smiled before bringing out his whip, seemingly out of nowhere. Goddess, how much longer do I have to go through this? Where is the goddess who the tale claimed to be closer to the White wolf? Where are my parents? Where is their fighting spirit? Are they tamed too? "We are taking you to see the Alpha," Lucas said and snickered while he produced a rope. "W-what are you talking about? Please don't do that." I stuttered in fear because I know that for whatever brutality that resides in the vein of this duo, Gilbert was in possession of seven folds and he was also graciously known for his wicked ways. I had seen him go brutal. I didn't want to experience what he did to me yesterday ever again. Who knows what he might cook this time? Perhaps peppered lobster and gizzard with garlic, vegetable, and fries. goddess, no! I would rather have Lucas, Gavin, Jenny, Saul, and the rest of the pack heads torture me all day until I pass out instead. Anything. But please, anyone but Alpha Gilbert. That man was way too brutal....geez! Lucas lingered at the door of the cage I was held captive in. "A nice warning for you. Do not try anything stupid just because you think that it would be amusing. Your tricks are not funny. If you do, you would get chased and hunted down again. Don't say that I didn't warn you, brat." Lucas spat at me. "Stay put, we will bind your hands now." Jenny frowned, as though touching me would give her the plague. With a sigh, I stayed still as they open the cage and pulled her out. I began to wonder if either of them ever had pack duties to attend to, because they spent most of their time with me, watching me squirm and bleed and take their beatings. Apparently, the Alpha had said that seeing me suffer was quality entertainment and it was what he loved to indulge in. One word—Sadist!. As we went on, the two continued to make small discussions and I couldn't help but zone into their discussion. "You look thicker than before. Who has been heating you up to tell me" Lucas asked with an irritating grin plastered all over his face? "The gym," Jenny said "My wolf likes to think otherwise. He thinks he can be of more help than the gym" Lucas shamelessly retorted. "It seems like me and your wolf are in the same mood and our thinking is the same, " Jenny said hotly, biting her bottom lip and flicking her tongue to the corners of her mouth. She put her finger in his pant and tug at his erection, moaning in his ears before she went further to lick his earlobe. "Damn!... This is insanely hot" Lucas muttered to himself, leaning into her touch. Her hands were like fire. He appeared consumed! Or rather he was like clay in the potter's hands. "And it can get hotter if you'd allow me to finish this up with a nice suck or fuck" "Let's get this bitch served first. I'd make you scream your lungs out" Lucas said as he eyed me warily. "Yeah, let us do that!" Wait what the hell was that all about? I knew! I know Jenny was smutty. I never thought she was cheap. She fucks the Alpha's best friend even right under his nose. Perhaps this is my redemption. I could use this information to gain my freedom. I just have to tell the Alpha right? "Telling the Alpha isn't the problem. The problem is, would he believe you?" A tiny but very familiar voice resounded in my mind. Who was it? What was it? A gasp escaped my mouth from the realization. Both Lucas and Jenny stopped their bickering and turned to look at me. Sapphire—my wolf was out! But how... How did she break out of the priest's spell? What went wrong? What would happen now?