Love Bites

Chapter 53: Two Halves of a Whole

Zoey flinched at the screams that echoed in the room. Chester had been electrocuting Damon to get him to give up the other known packs, and every time he did, she felt personally responsible for the damage. If only she hadn't gotten close to them, if only she had kept her distance as she should have. Tears pricked her eyes with every drop of blood spilled. She tried to get out of her restraints multiple times despite knowing she couldn't.

"Do you need more convincing?" Richard clicked his tongue at Damon.

Damon's wrists bled more profusely with the convulsing from the electrocution. The needles dug deeper into his muscles and scraped the bone underneath—sweat coating and dripping down his bare body.

He looked up at Richard with a glare in between rasped breaths. His silence was all the answer he needed, "Let's see... suffocation, lashing, and electrocution didn't work. Very well then. Let's try something else. Mr. Walton, why don't we try the torch and then go to body mutilation, perhaps? Maybe some fire will separate those lips."

Chester nods and grabs the blow torch, turning it on. The blue flame was brought to life, and Damon gritted his teeth, preparing himself for the pain. It didn't take long for it to meet Damon's skin, and Chester didn't hold back. He held the flame across Damon's abdomen for a while, the skin blistering and sizzling underneath it, causing the already open wounds from the lashings to travel deeper into his muscles.

Damon screamed out in agony, the stinging and burning pain from the fire connecting with his skin traveling all over his already exhausted and overworked body. His wolf within him whimpered and yelped from the pain, hurting him just as much as it was Damon. He wanted to protect the two of them and kill the men harming them, but he couldn't. He was too drugged and now too physically damaged too. It took everything in both of them not to slump to the ground and succumb to the darkness that wanted to take them over.

Zoey shakes her head. She couldn't take it any longer, especially if she saw more blood, so she thought she might be able to buy Damon some time to recover. As soon as Chester took a step back to admire his handy work, she tried to grab his attention, " Chester, I knew you had an inferiority complex, but I didn't think it was this bad that you get your rocks off torturing someone."

Chester stops, tearing his attention away from Damon, and he walks closer to Zoey, making Damon tense up. He speaks in a low tone that only the two of them could hear except the sharp ears of a werewolf, "You know if your father weren't here, I would have a field day with you too, so just be grateful you're daddy's here to protect you."

Zoey spits in his face, "You're lucky I'm chained up, or my father would be the least of your worries."

Chester grits his teeth and raises his hand to smack her. Damon tries breaking his chains to stop it, but Chester stops just in time, remembering her father was looking at them. Displeasing the director was the last thing he wanted to do. He wipes the spit off his cheek.

Richard Cross had been looking at the scene unfolding with increased curiosity, specifically at Damon's reactions. He hadn't reacted much to what they did to him, but he seemed to respond quite well when Zoey was added to the question, "Mr. Walton, never mind the torch. I believe we found another method to get what we need." Chester stops and waits for further instruction when Richard elaborates, "We're going to focus on Ms. Cross."

The people in the room froze for a moment, not expecting those words to come out of the director. The deafening silence bounced off the walls as Chester asked, "Are you sure, sir?"

He makes his way closer to Zoey, and Damon shakes his head in protest, horror clear across his face from the thought. Neither he nor his wolf could stand seeing their mate being tortured. They wouldn't be able to handle it.