Alpha's Angel

Chapter Forty One

I blinked, trying to swallow the ball in my throat. The strangers words hung in the air as I took in what was before me.

He hung there, toes barely scraping the floor where a puddle of red had gathered. Every inch of his ebony skin was littered with bruises and open wounds that had been slashed into him violently. The sight was that from a gruesome nightmare, blood splattered across every wall.

I finally managed to rip my eyes away from the mangled man, focussing on the other person in the room. My mouth was dry as my jaw clenched.

Archer stood there, his bloodied hands hanging at his sides. His expression was unrecognisable, his eyes aflame with an animalistic look. It was like something has taken control of him, something deranged.

His yellow eyes burned into my own, watching as I took in his horrifying state, making my blood run cold. I felt like I like I was looking at a stranger.

My heart was beating so loud in my ears it was deafening, as fear coursed through my veins. I tried to swallow down the fact that I wasn't sure if the right person was in chains.

"Althea leave." Was all he managed to get out, his voice low and unrecognisable. I shook my head, trying to find my words, but I felt that all my courage had evaporated.

"Althea you need to-"

"Take him down." I interrupted. Whatever he was going to say, whatever excuse he was going to make, I didn't want to hear it.

"No" he replied bluntly. It was clear he was unsure how to approach me right now, as he could no doubt see the fear I was desperately trying to smother. And undoubtedly it was still playing the back of his mind that any sense of trust he had built was in ruins right now. So to walk in on him evidently torturing someone, wasn't giving me any more confidence in his moral compass.

Ignoring him, I went over to man who with every second was beginning to look more and more like a hanging carcass, and began to try and unhook his chains.

I hissed, the silver of the chains biting at my finger tips as I worked to release him. As more and more pain courses through my hands, and the feeling of Archers eyes on my back growing heavier, the more my agitation grew.

I felt his hand on my shoulder, trying to pull me back. I snapped, recoiling and slapped him in the face.

He stumbled backwards from the unexpected blow. I panted slightly, my heart beating louder. I looked at him with tears of hatred swimming in my eyes.

He looked like a wounded puppy a brief second as he watched me, the hurt dancing through his own eyes for only a mere second before his hard front was put back up.

I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to cry.

How he could just stand there and look at me like- like he hadn't done anything wrong!

"If you two love birds could stop quarrelling for two seconds, I'd like to bring your attention back to the fact that I'm bleeding out."

I turned back to the stranger, slightly shocked that he had spoken again. I bit my tongue and began to pull at his chains again. Archer had distracted me from the pressing matter at hand. He wasn't my concern right now. I needed to focus on getting answers. As much as I disliked this stranger, if he bled out I wouldn't be able to ask him any questions.

"Thank you sweetheart." He smiled with glistening white teeth that took up most of his face. His voice was rich and tinted with a strange accent that I couldn't place my finger on.

Archer growled disapprovingly from behind me, making the stranger smile even wider, like his over-protectiveness was funny to him. It certainly wasn't funny to me.