The Darkness Within (ON TEMPORARY HOLD)

A Hard Game

A few months had passed since Jacob had come into mine and Ambers life, but it was like he was already family, one of our own. I had learned more about his pack and his family in the time that we had. I learned that his dad was a strong and very proud Alpha, and that Jacob was his only son. Jacob told me that his pack was a very close-knit one and that they would come looking for him. He also made sure to tell me that I would be welcome to come with him as well.

The kid was too sweet for this life. So amber and I tried to make sure that he was always as happy as he could be. We played and taught him games that the children from my pack used to always play. Whenever Curtis would come around, I made sure that he never touched Jacob. No matter if I had to make Curtis royally ticked at me, I made sure that his fury was always directed at me.

Today I was telling him a story about the moon goddess and her handsome lover when the silver bars were wrenched out of their place, hitting the side of the shack and rattling it with the force from the hit. Soon after the wooden door was moved from its place as well. Shuffling Jacob behind me I looked up into the enraged face of the Alpha.

Bowing my head, "Alpha?" I kept my eyes averted from his face. Because of this I didn't have time to prepare myself for the blow. His hit was so heavy that I flew to the side of the wooden shack. Pain instantly raced up my back like fire. I grunted, but didn't dare scream for I knew that would only aggravate him more and produce more pain. Jacob gasped, and made to move towards me, before he could the Alpha grabbed him by his collar and hoisted him to eye level.

Shooting up as quick as I could I grabbed Jacob from the Alpha. Shoving him behind my already sore body. I knew it was a mistake the moment I even thought about it, but I had promised that no harm would ever come to him.

A blood chilling growl filled the shack, radiating through my small frame. The pain came so quickly, and so fiercely that, even had I been prepared, I would not have been able to deflect any of it.

None of my training had ever prepared me to be able to take on an Alpha. None in my family had thought that I would ever have any need to do so. As the second born to a Beta, there had never been a need nor a thought that this very scenario would ever happen. As the Alpha continued his attack I began to loath my parents. I loathed the very pack that I had come from. This Alpha made sure I knew my place and how out of my league he was. My pathetic excuse for 'training' didn't even teach me the basics.

All I could do now was hope that he didn't kill me and that I could make it through this awake. If I fell unconscious I knew that the Alpha would vent the rest of his anger out on Jacob, and I knew for sure that he would not make it, and that alone would tear what was left of me to shreds.

I didn't have much before Jacob. The moment the kid came into my life though, a shred of what had left me had returned. I had felt a twinge of happiness again. My heart that I thought had stopped beating had turned warm from the small child. Amber and I very nearly considered him our surrogate son already. He had become ours to protect, and ours to love until his real mother came.

Slowly I realized that the steady painful pressure that had been agonizing me for a while now had stopped. The ringing in my ears began to die down and I could hear someone crying. Gasps filled the silence in our tiny shack. Hot liquid ran from various parts of my body.

Peeling back my sticky eyelids I could see a fuzzy shape before my eyes. Slowly clearing I could make out Jacob's blotchy face streamed with tears before me. Glancing behind him I could see the Alpha. His gaze was dark and foreboding. Standing there stoically he watched the scene before him. Not cringing in the slightest as I turned to cough a painful glob of blood onto the dirty floor. Wiping the bit of blood of my swollen lips I glanced back at the Alpha with my good eye. 'What is he still doing here?' I asked Amber.

'I don't know, but from what we've already found out, it can't be anything good.' She growled. Pacing back and forth I could feel her irritation growing as the man just stood there. 'Let me shift cadence. I want my turn at him' She huffed.

I closed my eyes and prepared for the headache I knew I was going to get by rejecting her. Before I could even tell her no, one word rang through the air.

"Shift"

Everything stopped in that moment. My head whipped up to face the Alpha. His eyes gave nothing away. There was no mercy in his eyes. I couldn't even see his humanity in that moment. Jacob's eyes went wide as the realization hit of the possible outcome if I listened.

Growling lowly he put a command into it this time. Eyes narrowing, "I said SHIFT mutt!"

My head bowed as the power of the command rolled over and through me, erasing any objections I might have had.

My silver and grey form burst out, filling the room quickly with my size. I hadn't realized how much I had grown since my capture. I was almost as big as my dad and brother had been. Shoving my wolf to the side the Alpha stormed to the door and wrenched it open, letting fresh air blow through the room and ruffle my silky coat. My ears pricked forward as the sounds of the minuscule nature around us invaded mine and Ambers' senses. She whined in protest, wanting to feel the freedom that the open door brought. We wanted desperately to sink our claws into the earth, feeling the cool dirt between them, and to push off and out of this place, never looking back.

The dark haired alpha took notice and shut the door commanding us to shift again.

"You will never know that feeling again. You are mine. You became mine the moment your pack gave up on you. Know this mutt. You will never leave this place." With that he turned and left, slamming the door shut and shattering our heart and hope with it.

Turning I couldn't face Jacob. Instead I let the hot tears pour down my beaten face, stinging the cuts as they went, and faced the worn wall.

After a moment I felt a small hand on my back, tentatively smoothing my hair back in an untrained fashion.

After not moving Jacob came around and faced me, eyes alight with an emotion I couldn't place. Slowly his hands came up and softly patted both of my cheeks tentatively. "Don't cry Cadence. Mommy and dad will get here soon. When they do, you won't have to cry anymore, ok?" He whispered. Tears flowed even faster down my face as I gasped and choked on the sobs that pushed from the very bottom of my soul, flinging my arms around his tiny frame I held him to me and thanked the moon goddess for her mercy in bringing this little ray of sunshine into my dark world.

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