Alone

Chapter 25

*Damien's POV*

My paws slap against the forest floor. The dirt and twigs barely register as my wolf bolts through the forest. I don't remember the last time I was able to run. Certainly, before I had met Jacob, anyway. 

Ryder is running by my side, our pack behind us.  We're racing toward the pack that once abused my mate and their Luna. My wolf is going nuts. He's been waiting to beat the crap out of this pack since we first saw our poor mate curled up in a ball, surrounded in his own blood. 

As I run, my mind wanders. Had it only been less than a week since I met the love of my life? It seems as if I've known him for a lifetime.

We cross the border between our pack and the pack of White Mist. Behind us, we leave not only our true love but also any chance of turning back. Now that we've crossed pack territorial lines, there'd be no way for us to go back home without facing the wrath of Alpha Henry. 

"Oh let him find us. I'd like to give that man a piece of my mind." Kane growls in our mind. 

"Calm down, we'll be there soon."

I internally roll my eyes at my wolf's bloodlust, but if I'm being honest I feel the same way. I want these people to pay for what they've done. I want to watch that Alpha and his son be tortured for the rest of their days. All children of the pack will be spared, but any adult we find is fair game.

I see the first guard ahead of me. He's talking to someone on the phone, back to us, so he doesn't notice us immediately. Good.

I attack him from behind, snapping his neck in one swift movement. Sure, the man on the phone is going to be quite confused because of the sudden lack of conversation. However, by sneakily taking out this guard, our pack now has more time to gain even more ground.

The next guard we find isn't as distracted. He sees us coming from about 100 feet away. He shouts to someone that I can't see before shifting and running to our invading force. I'm not worried. We're only about another 100 feet to the packhouse, there's no way this measly excuse for a pack would be able to stop us now. 

The battle did turn bloody. I find myself fighting at least two separate warriors at a time. None of these men are well-trained, but the fact that they were fighting on their home territory made their subsequent resolve to defend stronger than I would have preferred.

I growl loudly at two men in front of me. I recognize neither, but that doesn't make me want to spare their lives. 

I lunge at the one on the left, clawing across his eyes and nose, leaving him somewhat blind to future swipes. The other man tries to jump onto my back, and once he latches on I fall over, crushing him beneath my weight.

Wrenching my hands from his grip, I reach behind me to grab his neck and twist it hard, neutralizing him efficiently. I roll off of his body and into a standing position. I don't even have to fight the other stupid warrior. He is currently lying on the ground in pain from his eye injury, so I simply step on his neck, breaking it, and enter the packhouse in front of me.

I try to use my werewolf senses to find the Alpha, but I just can't single out his scent over the normal pack members. 

Bodies drop one after another, each with my fingerprints imprinted on their now broken necks. I must find the Alpha. He is the one who must pay for hurting Jacob. I find his office and smile. A coward like him would certainly hide in their office, letting the warriors do all the work. I kick the door open to greet the man I hate the most in this world. 

Except he's not here. Judging by the state of this place, I don't think anyone has been here in days. Dirty plates with rotten food cover his desk and floors. The only places not covered with trash are covered with crumbled documents. Then I saw something that made my blood go cold.

I was staring at it, silently, when both Ryder and Jackson ran into the room.

"Damien, what's wrong?" Ryder asks.

I don't speak. I simply point at the right wall of the room, and they both gasp in horror.

Warning... this is probably the most disturbing thing I've ever written. You've been warned...

On the wall is a scene from a horror movie. The man apparently went full psycho, plastering photos of my love across the wall with no rhyme or reason. Scrawled across the photos were the words, "SOON".

As if that wasn't terrifying enough, the pictures themselves were enough to get my blood boiling. There were pictures of Jacob screaming, bleeding out, broken and abused. There were scenes of him sleeping, obviously taken without his knowledge or permission. There are pictures of him strapped to a metal table with fresh scars adorning his chest.

 Perhaps most sickening was the one in the very middle. It was the largest of all of them, and it was the only one to be framed. It was a picture of my mate naked and used.  His legs were spread, and I could clearly see a substance dripping out of him that made me want to vomit. There were bruises on his waist and thighs, illustrating just how savagely Henry had treated him.

That's not the part that upset me the most. No, that would have to be the look on Jacob's face. His eyes were completely void of any signs of life. He looked... dead. He was obviously still alive, I was able to meet him after all. But every aspect of Jacob that made him alive, made him a breathing human, was stripped away from him. He even looked resigned to his fate. No fight was left in him, he was prepared to be used until the day he died. 

Ok, you're good now.

Ryder growls in anger. Jackson looks to be on the verge of tears. I'm just numb. How did Jacob survive? How was he able to trust us when all he had ever known was pain?

I turn around and stare at the men. Again, I stay silent. They can tell from the look on my face exactly what I'm thinking. I storm out of the room, Ryder following me with the same angry determination.

We were determined to murder the man who stole our mate's joy.

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Hey...

Don't be mad. 

Please don't be mad that I wrote such an awful chapter. 

I need Henry to be mentally ill... I need him psychotic.

Did I accomplish my goals?

I'm not going to drag on today. I'm gonna run before you guys kill me for hurting Jacob, or something.

Please don't forget to leave comments, and I'll see you all on Monday.