Fight for Me

She wakes up to the sound of scraping. Opening her eyes, she sees Blake sitting in front of her on a chair.

She forces herself to sit up, because he’s clearly waiting for something from her with his silent stare.

A large duffle bag next to him gets her attention.

What is that for? She thinks to herself.

“I have thought about this long and hard yesterday. And I’ve realized that we need to make the most of whatever time we have left before that mark completely fades.” He says with an excited smirk as he points to her wrist.

He walks to her and pulls her up.

“What do you mean?” She tries to ask, but he ignores her as he walks her to another metal chair to the side of the room which she hadn’t noticed before.

Despite her protest of being dragged around like a rag doll, he manages to sit her down in the chair. He tightly wraps the long heavy chains around her and the chair, securing her in place.

“Blake. What is this?”

He walks back to the duffle bag and pulls out a silver dagger.

Her eyes widen and she tries to pull at the chains, but to no avail.

He kneels down in front of her and turns her arm, revealing the mark.

“I’m showing you.”

He presses the dagger flat onto the mark. But the sudden searing discomfort and sizzling sound coming from it hits her with an acute pain she had never felt before.

Aaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!

Her screams echo off the walls.

Though, just as quickly as it began, the pain stops as he pulls the blade back.

“You see, Layla.” He rubs the mark which is now bright red from the burn she just felt. “His wolf essence is in you. That’s why the silver affects the mark.”

As confused as she is from this revelation, she’s more confused with the eerie grin Blake has. Like he’s enjoying this.

He presses the blade on her wrist again.

Aaaahhhh!!!

After a few seconds, he rubs the red mark as he shushes her. “This way he hurts too. He must pay for what he did.”

Can Nick feel this, -my pain? Through the bond? Through the mark?

But everything coming out of Blake’s mouth just seems ridiculous to Layla.

Blake’s crazy. He’s the one that’s hurting me.

“Nick didn’t do anything.”

Gggrrhh!! But Blake growls loudly at the sound of his name as he suddenly grabs her neck. She sees him clenching his jaw and slowly removing his hands from her neck as he gives a slow and calming exhale.

“Of course you would think that.”

He walks back to the bag and lays out a variety of ‘tools’ on the floor, getting Layla confused and worried.

After putting a huge golden ring with a wolf crest on his right middle finger, he approached her with a piece of cloth in his hand. He hurriedly shoves it into her mouth, gagging her.

“I will make you forget about him.” He says, fanning her face with his breath.

He kneels down and settles between her legs, ignoring her muffled whines. He grabs the hem of her knee length dress and rips a high slit in it. He slowly and softly grazes his hands past her knees and up her thighs.

She tries screaming and thrashes in the chair, but she’s silenced into shock as her head flings to the side. Realizing that Blake just slapped her across the face, she gets another glimpse of that ominous smile on his face from the corner of her eye.

He tilts her face to him, and seeing him wipe her cheek and taking note of the blood on that massive ring, she knows she’s bleeding. And even though her time with Nick had somewhat lessened her numbness, she did feel that blow, even if it felt like a soft slap on her cheek.

“You will get used to my touch.” Blake commands. “Every time you pull away, I will have to hit you. You just need to stay strong.”

He trails his hand on her face down her neck and towards her breasts. But the moment he sees her flinch away, he gives another backhanded swing. And feeling the sharp tingled heat on her lip, she knows he must have cut it. And with the discomfort tapping against her skull, she can only assume a headache is on its way. She’s starting to regret being able to feel again. Hoping she’ll pass out before it gets worse.

For the next half hour, Blake had felt up what he could from her position in the chair. Squeezing her breasts, her thighs and even licking along them. She’s already covered in blood from every time she flinched away from his touch. By the time she could taste her own blood, Blake moved on to breaking a couple of her fingers. Even punching her in the stomach.

He was so consumed with his so-called treatment method, he didn’t even notice her lack of screams from the pain she should have felt. He just continued. Smiling every step of the way.

But from the throbbing growing heavier in her head, and her eyes straining to stay focused, she knows her body’s in immeasurable pain. It just seems like too much effort to move anything, or even at all.

‘Just because you don’t feel it, doesn’t mean your body doesn’t.’ She remembers the advice Nick gave her.

Blake pulls the cloth out of her mouth, stained by her blood and loosens the chains from the chair she’s tied to. He pulls her limp body into his arms, sighing with what seems to Layla like relief.

He lays her down onto the mattress, brushing away the bloodied-hair out of her face. Grazing his hand down and rubbing it against her nipple, he smiles when she doesn’t move away.

“One day at a time. We’ll get through this together.” He leans down and kisses her unmoving and bloodied lips.

As he walks out, she notices that he’s not locking the gate this time. But she’s too numb to even think about getting up, let alone running away.

One day at a time? Just how long does he intend to keep me here? Oh Blake, why? Why have you become like this?

She gets distracted from the soft sounds of footsteps approaching and seeing someone kneeling down next to her. She closes her eyes, praying her state will help her to just doze off, in case Blake is back for another round at torturing and violating her.

But the warm and wet feeling on her cut lip has her opening her eyes. To her shock, she sees a face she never thought she would see here.

“Melinda?” She mumbles.

But the woman doesn’t look at her, as she continues to treat her wounds with the bucket of water and cloth. But she can clearly see the look of pity on her face.

“Why-?,…..Why are yo-.” She screams when she feels her fingers being reset.

“Please.” Layla tries begging, hoping her already-falling tears can convince this pitying Melinda. “He’s hurting me.”

Melinda sighs deeply as she finally looks at Layla. “He’s just trying to help you. You need to stay strong.”

There it is again. That phrase, that I just need to stay strong. I’m so tired of hearing it. I’ve tried to make myself strong for so long. And I apparently failed, - horribly. And I’m definitely not planning to become strong to endure whatever this is. Uugghh! Why should my life be such a mess?

“Helping me?” Layla asks with an annoyed sarcastic tone. “Are you saying I should thank him when he comes back and tries to rape me next?”

“Alpha Blake is not like that.”

Alpha Blake?

“Where is Tristan?” But she looks at Layla confused at the sudden change of topic. “Does he know you’re doing this, Melinda?”

Is this some trap? Did his brothers plan this? Did they figure out what I am? Does Nick kno-?

“I’m not Melinda.” She interrupts the silence and Layla’s thoughts. She sighs heavily. “I’m Melissa. Her sister…….Her twin.” Though, Layla can’t help but notice how she says that last part with annoyance.

Twin? Well, looking at her now, she does have the same wavy light brown hair even though they’re very much shorter, barely touching her shoulders. Though taking a closer look, her eyes aren’t the usual grey-green eyes, but just full on green. In fact, other than her face, everything about her seems completely different. Like she tries to be different from her twin.

“Why ar-e you,… helping him d-o this to me?” She asks gruntingly as Melissa helps her to sit up, as she continues to look at her wounds.

Layla can see the woman clenching her jaws, either angry or hesitant to say what she wants to. “He’s just helping you to get free from the alpha that forced his mark on you.” But with the quick look over her shoulder, it’s clear she doesn’t want to get caught talking to her. Probably an order.

Layla looks down at the bruised mark on her wrist, but shakes her head.

“No. This isn’t helping. I never asked for this.” She gestures around the cell.

“I know this seems very harsh. But he’ll do whatever he can to help you. After all, you are his mate.” She ends off softly, almost making Layla wonder if Melissa is saddened by that statement.

But this has Layla utterly annoyed. Blake’s mate? Has he convinced every one of that now?

“I’m not Blake’s mate.” She responds instantly, not giving her a chance to even think of what she says next. “I’m Nick’s.” She stops breathing at her confession which seemed to roll off her tongue way smoother than she thought she’d ever admit to it.

But Melissa just sighs, as if she’s struggling to argue with a clueless child. “That is just what that alpha made you believe.”

“No. H-he said we were mates. Yeah, he rejected me, but he came back. He said-,..“ Words fail her as she starts feeling pathetic with her story.

“Alpha Blake says you’ve changed ever since you met that alpha, that when you wanted to leave, he did something just to keep you there.”

“What? No. There was an attack. A rogue attack.” Everyone should know how random those are.

“He didn’t even have casualties. In fact he was actually prepared for such an attack.”

What is she trying to insinuate? It’s not like he knew I was going to leave on that night. And Nick’s always prepared for a fight.

“He knew I was going to leave. Nick was fine with it. We agreed.” Sort of.

Melissa sighs again as she puts aside the water and cloth, finally giving Layla her full attention.

“-Just for something to coincidentally happen that not only gave him the so-called perfect excuse to mark you without your consent, but to also use your secret against Alpha Blake, making him believe you betrayed him?”

Woah! Hold on. Just how much does she know? Blake must have told her. But,….

“My secret?” Layla says questioningly.

Melissa brushes a strand of her short hair behind her ear. “Don’t worry. I don’t know what it is. I don’t think Alpha Blake understands what it is either. But he said this is the only way to help you two.” She gestures to their surroundings, -the prison cell. “Apparently it’s a wolf thing. So I don’t think either of us will really understand.”

Which had me wondering-

“Why is a witch like you helping him in any case?”

She sighs again, as if exhausted from having to explain this countless times already. “I’m not a witch. Not really.” She starts fidgeting with her fingers. “You see, witches these days are being born with less and less magic these past few decades. And when Melinda and I were born, she had more potent magic as an infant than the average adult witch. I, on the other hand didn’t get any.” She looks up, forcing a smile on her face. “Without any magic, I wasn’t considered a witch. My coven shunned me. Even the humans didn’t bother hiding the fact that they didn’t want someone like me near them. I lived my whole life as someone unwanted and despised for being nothing. Until Alpha Blake took me in. He gave me a home.” Her face brightens up with a real smile now. But then she stands up, picking the bucket up as well. “So, you see. With the Alpha Blake that I came to know, doesn’t matter what he does, he just wants to help.”

She turns and walks out. Though, what catches Layla’s attention is that she locks the gate before leaving.

She had the key this whole time?

She grunts out as she falls back down onto the mattress. ’He gave me a home’. Now that does sound like Blake. He made the same promise to me. So, does this mean I’m at his pack? The new pack he made for all the packless, rogue and wandering supernaturals. With Melissa’s presence, that is a high possibility. So I might be somewhere in the Northern mountains.

She gives a sigh of relief. At least having some vague idea of where she is, has her situation seeming less inescapable. But her relief is short lived as she ponders on the thought of their accusations.

Did Nick really plan all this? I know he’s the brother known as the war prodigy, I just didn’t think that applied to mental warfare as well. And Blake is convinced I’m his mate. He made that quite clear during his torture session, repeating it like some mantra. I’m really starting to look at being destined for a lonely life to be more appealing than just some sad last resort.