When Wolves Howl

Damien’s pov

Her blue eyes were red-rimmed and brimming with tears, old tears had run tracks down her cheeks. Her complexion was pale but her cheeks were flushed, I didn't know what turned me on, her trembling figure or the terror in her eyes whenever I moved closer. I gently fingered her golden locks, enjoying the way it felt like silk in my hands, soft, I thought.

“Your husband did this to you, you know?” I walked back to the table I kept my special daggers, I had a blade for each part of the body. They all gleamed manically under the dim golden light of the overhead fluorescent bulb. 

“My husband was innocent, he didn't do anything wrong!” She screamed at me, her eyes wild with the fear coursing through her veins and her voice, hoarse with the hours of shoutingand pleading. The wind shifted and it brought the scent of her fear to my nose, I took in a deep breath, feeling myself harden the more. It smelt rich.

I chuckled darkly, the sound reverbating in the cold warehouse, “Of course he didn't, but you did and he snitched.” Well, he didn't snitch, I more or less tortured the information out of him but she doesn't have to know that, why stop at physical pain but you can also induce emotional pain?

“Did you think I wouldn't know that you were the spy? Giving out information to the enemy?” I tilted my head in amusement. 

Realisation dawned in her eyes and it was like watching a mask fall off, a badly placed mask but a mask all the same. She laughed weakly, spitting blood at me. My nose twitched in annoyance. 

“You caught me, how does it feel to be always one step behind the enemy?” Her featured radiated smugness even though she was at death's door. I tugged her hair backwards roughly and whispered in her ear,

“We've been feeding you the wrong information, fool.” I slid my dagger across her neck, loving the feel of warm blood spurting against my fingers. My lips curved in a crazy grin as I watched the shock and light fade from her eyes.

I nodded to my men behind me, “you know what to do.” Removing a white linen handkerchief from my pockets, I cleaned the blood from my fingers meticulously.  I hated seeing blood on my fingers, it reminded me of that night, the night where everything started.

I still hear my ten-year-old voice begging in that dark, rotting cellar, “Help me! Somebody, please!” But no one came. Just him, the monster behind the wolf mask with the red stripe. His boots thudded down the steps like a death sentence every time.

"Keep screaming, little alpha. Makes this sweeter," he’d say, licking my blood from his gloves like it was wine. I’d pull so hard at the leather cuffs they cut into my wrists, warm blood dripping, the scent of my own fear filling my nose.

"I thought alphas were stronger," he’d mock, trailing a gloved hand over my cheek before backhanding me so hard my teeth cut my mouth.

Then the knife would gleam under that single flickering light and I’d scream until my throat bled too.

Some nights, I still do

“Boss, the car is ready for you.” The voice of one of my men brought me out of my reverie. I nodded sharply and walked towards the exit, I didn't need to stay and oversee the clean up, these men were trained by the very best, me.

Goddess, I hated how the thoughts slipped through my carefully constructed wall from time to time but my thoughts I could control, my nightmares I could not.

“Where to sir?” Curtis, my driver asked,

“Alpha arelden's pack.” I said briskly “it's time for me to meet my new bride.” I said in a murmur and I watched the trees go by, my thoughts overtaking me once more.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang as the car came to a stop with a jerking motion. I rubbed my neck to soothe the pain I got from the whiplash.

“Curtis, what's going on?” I demanded.

“Sir, it looks like there is something blocking the road.” He replied, “sir, please stay in the car until the men have determined that it is safe.” I ignored him.

There, in front of the car, was a mangled body hanging from a tree. The man's face had been bruised beyond redemption but I recognised him as the man I had sent to spy on the enemy. 

A note was attached to his neck which had his intestines wrapped around it, it read an eye for an eye, a spy for a spy.

I shredded the note in fury, my teeth gritted so hard, it started to hurt. I wasn't angry He killed one of my men, they were expendable, I was angry because he was proving that he was always a step ahead. 

My escape wasn't something he had foreseen and it remained a thorn in his flesh, nobody knew how I had escaped, nobody except him, I and a few others.

Who was he? The monster in my nightmares, the man behind the wolf mask. 

Flashback 

The door opened again but I laid there, not making an indication that I even heard it, not even flinching. I didn't know how many days or even weeks it had been, it was hard to tell the time when you're constantly stuck in darkness but it had been an endless cycle of broken bones and needles. My werewolf healing was the only reason I was alive as my body was constantly in a state of healing. 

My ears perked as I heard the pitter patter of light footsteps, this was something new.

“Who's there?” I croaked cautiously, my voice had given in around the third day of endless screaming. 

Small hands tugged at my restraints, undoing it, “we don't have much time, my father and his men would be back soon.” A girl said, shy and trembling.  She was young by the sound of her voice, her hands prodded at an old injury and I inhaled sharply, the scent of jasmine filled my nose.

Soon, she removed all the restraints binding me, “take my hand, we need to get you down.”

“I can't see.” I whispered.

“I know the room is dark but surely, it is not that dark, follow the silhouette of my hand.” She said patiently as she helped me sit up.

I gritted my teeth in pain, “no, I mean I literally can't see. Your father injected something into my eyes, I couldn't see after that.” I had screamed and cried when I discovered that my sight had gone, it meant being stuck in an endless darkness. 

“Oh. We have to get you out of here quickly  then, maybe your parents can find a way to reverse it. I know a secret way, come on.” She said and grabbed my hand gently.

I quickly inhaled but this time it wasn't from pain, it was from the pleasurable sparks and tingles I felt. From her gasp, I knew she felt it too.

“What's your name?” I asked, my voice filled in awe and wonder, her jasmine scent wrapped around me like a warn, safe blanket.

Her voice was soft and hesitant, “Isla.”