Chapter 17: Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

ROXANNE

“What do you think you're doing?” He asked in a thunder-like voice.

My blood ran cold at the sound of his voice. I turned to see him and there he was, standing at the entrance. His eyes were blazing with an anger I had never known and in his hand was the knife I had previously used.

With a sob I backed away, almost slipping in the guard's blood. I wanted to run but I was trapped in this room and I was weak.

He didn't run. He just walked toward me, picking his steps carefully but his movements were powerful and threatening. I pinned my back against the wall, tears slipping down my eyes as he approached me.

His voice was menacing and each word dripped with fury.“You dare trespass in my sanctuary? Weapons in Red Moon are not for your feeble hands to touch!”

Please, I begged with my eyes.

My eyes darted around for an escape route and finally settled on the window. I scurried to it, dragging my weak legs as fast as they could go.

I forced it open and peered down at the ground far below. If I let myself down here, I was going to suffer the same fate. I wouldn't survive a fall and I would die.

End it Roxanne.

I was going to jump. Either way I would lose my life and I would rather throw myself down than let the Alpha torture me to death.

A loud cracking noise behind me caught my attention. I glanced back and to my horror I saw that he had crushed one of the guard's head with his boots just to make his way to me.

The tears flowed freely now.

“Oh my god,” I cried out as I stared at the sight before me. He was emotionless. He didn't even flinch from cracking open a head, he just walked past it like it was casual.

I turned around, about to climb the window but suddenly I couldn't move. My body wouldn't move anymore. I just slumped my back against the wall. Pain consumed my entire being. I moved the only thing that still felt alive– my eyes.

I saw him approach me with the most disgusting smile ever and the fire in his eyes burned out quickly. He grabbed me roughly by the shoulders then stooped on one knee.

“Why are you running from me sweetie?” He asked in the most dangerous yet calm voice.

Go away please. Someone make him go away.

I shook my head vigorously, my cheeks wet from crying and sweat mingled with tears but I didn't dare make a sound.

“You're always happy to see me,” He continued, his ugly smile plastered on his face. “Why do you look so pale like my presence makes you want to pass out?”

Because I don't want to play your games. You want to kill me.

I wanted to scream at him. But I couldn't. I just remained frozen in place as he neared me.

“Answer me,” He bellowed, anger evident in his voice.

“I didn't do it,” I whispered, almost choking on my sob.

He glanced at the knife in his hand and grinned at me, “what did you say?”

Someone help me.

I cringed lower and tried to steady my voice, “I said I didn't do it.”

His breaths came in a rush, like he had held it for a long time. They were harsh and punctuated by animal grunts.

“What are you talking about?” He inquired, his eyes never leaving mine. “What did you not do?”

“Please stop,” I begged.

He reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “Did you do something wrong, Roxanne?”

His question sent chills down my spine. He knew. He damn knew what I did. He knew I killed someone.

He knew I killed them.

“I can't promise not to kill you if you do not open your mouth and talk,” He said, but it sounded more like a warning.

I opened my mouth to speak but no words left. The only thing that was leaving was the tears in my eyes.

Without hesitation the Alpha stabbed me in the arm. “You won't talk huh?” Stab. “Of all the things you know how to do, annoying me is what you do best,” slap.

I had lost blood. Enough blood and if I didn't speak out I was going to lose my life. If the stabbing went on I would die and my body had grown weak from trying to stay strong. “I'll speak,” I said as I held his hand and locked eyes with him, “please.”

He stopped but he didn't pull the knife out. His grip was on it and the knife was secured in my flesh.

“Did you do something wrong?”

I shook my head a few times and my eyes fell on the guards corpses. Nausea surged up my throat but I used my will power to keep it away. This wasn't the time to throw up.

“I swear I didn't kill them. They… they wanted to kill me. I don't know… I just met them dead. I swear, I don't know who did it.”

“Why were you hiding from me?”

Because I'm guilty.

But I didn't say that.

In a tight voice, I said,“You're going to kill me.”

“You're right,” He pursed his lips. “You killed the guards with a different weapon this time. You killed them with a knife. Your cell door was open. They died on your floor. You slashed them with claws too!”

“No,” I protested, “I don't have a wolf. I have no claws.”

“Then explain these marks,” He said.

I stared at the foreign marks on the walls and floor and averted my gaze from his. “I don't know, Alpha.”

He twisted the knife in my arm. He was a shadow. This Ryker was a person I didn't know. He was dangerous. He was the Lord of wars.

“The longer you're sabotaged, the more you find more weapons and the more you take more lives.”

I shook my head.

“You're a manipulative woman,” He spat, his face frowned and his eyes slitted. “You're not so weak? Are you?”

The sharpness of his tone made my body quiver and a sharp tingle cut through my scalp. “I didn't do it.”

He pressed his fingers deep into the stab I had in my thigh, “If you dare lie again I promise I will stab you myself in this thigh and cut your femoral artery. You'll die in minutes and not even the moon goddess can save you.”

I cried out in pain as my thigh made squishy sounds and blood oozed out from the place his fingers were— torturing me. I squirmed in his grip but he held me steady.

“Let go of me,” I pleaded.

“Why?” He asked.

“Because you're hurting me,” I choked out.

***

RYKER

She struggled against my grip, her breath catching in her throat. She stared at me with eyes so wild and full of terror like she was staring at a monster.

Maybe she was.

Perhaps the old version of me, the one I had tried my best to bury, the one that made me cold, had resurfaced. I had thought I had learned to curb it but whenever I was with Roxanne something about her ignited the spark within it and brought it to life.

How could someone so dangerous be so weak? How could someone so deceiving look so innocent?

And the way she looked at me now, I knew she wasn't going to ever see me in a different light.

I didn't want her to anyway.

The last time I remember someone looking at me that way, I deserved it.

But that person mattered to me.

Roxanne did not.

She was more like the ghost of the woman who had.

Her eyes almost popped out of her sockets and reluctantly my fingers fell from the flesh in her thighs. I let go of her but her gaze lingered on me and suddenly I felt uncomfortable.

More like exposed.

Like she was seeing the demons I had worked so hard to disguise.

“I'm not done with you,” I muttered.

She watched me, teary eyed, “I swear I didn't do it.”

“How did the damn knife get to your reach?”

“They had it on me. They were going to kill me. I slept off— I thought I died. When I awoke I found them brutally murdered. I swear I don't know how. I have stabs in my body where they were trying to kill me. I wouldn't hurt myself for no reason,” She rambled.

Lies. They were all lies. She was a psychopath. She could hurt herself and frame it on someone else.

I stepped away from her, “Why did they want to kill you?”

A sigh escaped her lips. It was more of disappointment than relief. She pointed to a dark corner of the dungeon, “The answer is there.”

I followed the direction she pointed at and there it was, preserved in the darkest corners and wrapped in pieces of her dress, was my staff!!

“What?” I said and lifted it up, “How did you get this?”

“I didn't do it Alpha.”

“What do you ever do?” I asked in frustration.

She gulped, “They stole it. I heard their conversation and I tricked them into the dungeon. I promised not to tell you if they got me out, which explains why the gates were unlocked. But it was a trick I swear to you. I wanted to take the staff from them because they had plans of selling it off.”

She paused to catch her breath. She was in pain and very weak but I had no intentions of helping her.

“They believed me for a while but then they attempted to kill me—”

“They just wouldn't kill you like that,” I interrupted. “There must have been something.”

She nodded, “They said I could snitch on them and that it wasn't safe with me in the picture. Then they began stabbing me. That's all I remember.”

“And the part where you stabbed them?” I inquired. “Don't leave it out.”

“I didn't do it,” She protested continuously.

Frustrated from her continuous denial, I took my staff and headed for the dungeon gates. “You'll pay for your actions, Roxanne,” I said. “Pray that my patience doesn't run out before your time runs out.”