How The Night Moves

Temptation

When I woke up, the air around me was still and stunk of rotting flesh and decaying corpses. I cringed and felt tears spring up in my eyes at the horrid scent. My eyes stung with the salt of my tears and the quality of the rotten air.

In the pitch dark, my human eyes could see nothing, so I let my wolf take over that sense and everything around me popped into focus. I squinted through the pain in my eyes and took in my surroundings.

The grey stone walls were coated in dried blood stains and pair of shackles hung in one corner, holding up the skeleton of what looked to be a woman. I cried out for her before clamping down on my tongue and pressing a hand over my mouth to keep the noise in. Whoever was holding me here did not need to know that I was awake.

On the floor, bodies covered almost every inch of available space and I almost couldn't keep in the shriek that threatened to break free when I saw that I'd put my thumb in the socket of a human eye.

I closed my eyes and took deep, gasping breaths. Shaking uncontrollably, I wrapped my arms around my knees and pulled my legs close to my body. Hot tears ran down my face, different from the tears of waking up, these were tears of despair.

"Oh look," a quiet, hoarse voice whispered from somewhere behind me. "Anita, look, the girl has awakened. Oh, the poor thing, she's a young one, such a pretty face, too. Shame she'll be only flesh and bone when he's done with her."

I stilled my movements before turning around in the direction of the voice. A woman in rags, perhaps around thirty years, was the owner of the voice. When I looked at her, her eyes were completely white and her body still, slumped against the wall. I stifled a gasp as I looked on.

"Who are... who are you?"

"The wolf of Anita. This woman. She is almost dead, but I am still here with her, talking through her mouth, seeing through her eyes."

I closed my eyes briefly and placed a hand over my heart to try and slow the beating with deep, cleansing breaths. I pushed away my fear of the lady with glowing white orbs for eyes and asked, "What do you mean; what will they do to me?"

In her unsettling voice she replied, "Torture you. Then they will bleed you within an inch of death before fixing you up and starting all over again."

I shivered, this torture was just as Archer had said he would do to Vaughn before I had passed out. Oh no, Archer! What have they done to him? Did he get away? Did Seth?

I didn't care about me, I hated my life anyway. I guess I was being selfish in wanting death, but I couldn't help but prefer it over torture. For the sake of my mates, I would try to be strong. They deserved someone good for them and I wanted the chance to see they both got that before I died.

"You must be strong, girl. You must not give in to the temptation of death. I can see your wolf, and I see that she yearns for two men, one gentle in nature, the other as fiery and passionate as you. My Anita had two mates once. Her first died in an accident soon after they first met. We almost died as well. Her second she found two and a half years later and he waits at home for her. Everyday I hear him howl at the moon, waiting for her to come home, telling her he loves her. You must be strong and fight. My Anita is a fighter, I can see one in you. Fight, girl, fight."

With her final words, the glowing orbs closed and she lay down on the ground, collapsing into herself. There was so much more I wanted to ask her, I thought that I was the only one in years to have this happen to. I needed to ask her about what I thought was folklore. I wanted to ask her for help.

I wanted to tell her to come back, to wake up. But I couldn't and I found myself sitting straighter with more determination. I would get out of her, and I would help Anita and get her back to her mate. And I would get back to my own. My two.