CHAPTER 23: FREEDOM

Darek came with clothes.

More like his guards who were already surrounding the building, did.

More than a dozen guards had surrounded the outskirts of the building, probably in hopes that I would try a daring escape, so they could humiliate me with the end result of that. I had no idea how I didn’t notice them before, how my wolf senses didn’t catch their scent or the sound of their movements.

Maybe I was too focused on the escape. Too desperate and hopeful about the possibility of freedom from a mate I never wanted. It was just as Darek said. I’d let myself be too hopeful for feeding his entertainment.

I put on the garments that they brought. It was a simple white shirt and pants that resembled the Omega uniform. But once I put it on, I realised how uncomfortable it really was. The material was so harsh and rough, and it made my body itch in places my hands wouldn’t even reach. It was probably the first step in my long list of punishments that Darek had planned for me.

A pair of cold steel cuffs were snapped around my wrists, and another pair of hands pushed me forward in my stumbling feet as I was escorted out into the open again.

"Move it," one of them ordered.

I was sure a small Omega such as myself didn’t look like I needed these many security measures but Darek was too reluctant to give me even a slice of freedom now. No more giving me the benefit of the doubt anymore. As if I just crossed a line he didn’t dream that I would ever have the courage to cross.

To be honest, he should have seen it coming. To threaten me like that, after everything I had gone through was just not something he should have done without inviting consequences. But somehow he looked like he was right where he wanted to be.

One of the guards put his hand on the small of my back, and then his fingers drifted lower, dangerously close to my butt and I walked back and stomped on his boot and ground down on it as he yelled out and backed away a few paces.

I swore I heard Darek laugh behind me but when I turned around, he still had his flat look plastered on his face.

"You know...you’re just going to make it worse for yourself with all that stubbornness." His eyes bored into mine like he was trying to figure out the new plans I had for myself.

"I don’t have to cooperate with you even if I know I don’t have a chance to escape," I hissed in anger.

"Whatever floats your boat." He looked away as if he was finally reaching the end of his rope and trying desperately not to kill me before he did.

I kept quiet. I didn’t want to provoke him further for him to drag me away in even heavier restraints with a couple of gushing bruises or two.

We walked all the way from the northern sector to the White Hall. I wondered what he planned to do with me this late into the night but somewhere I could feel the dread creeping in. Something was wrong. He looked eerily calm as if he knew exactly what he was doing. As if he was going to finally achieve something.

The White Hall was still in full swing, still filled with scientists walking around busy as if they had the fate of the world in their hands. Ironically, it was true. They’ve been trying for years to finally get rid of the mist and reverse all the damage in the world and in us.

We came to a door painted white marked ’Private Personnel only’ and I was shoved into a room accompanied by two of the guards and Darek.

It looked like a torture chamber.

There were rusted metal chains hanging from the walls, all gleaming under the overhead white lights. The floor was dirty and stained with blood. Huge iron shackles lay on the ground.

I wouldn’t be surprised if there were skeleton bodies lying around too, old bodies starved to death during the last few years.

Before I could resist further, the guards dragged me towards the wall and connected my handcuffed hands to the metal chains. They kept pulling at it to make sure it was sturdy and finally backed away once satisfied.

Darek watched the whole spectacle with his arms folded behind him.

"It’s time to bring him in."

I frowned.

Was he going to bring in someone who was going to torture me?

My heart started racing once it finally dawned on me.

Darek wasn’t known to be ruthless without any reason. There had been stories, so many of them of how cruel he really was. How he probably tortured many prisoners in the same room that I was standing in right now.

But he wasn’t looking at me anymore.

His face was turned to the side, facing a wall which was plain metal while I had come in.

My head turned to what had his attention and my blood ran cold.

The wall was transparent now, divided from the room I was in, by thick glass. It looked like the reinforced bulletproof glass that they used for the majority of Parthenn. But that’s not what made my breath catch.

Behind the glass wall, was another room. And two men were dragging a body into it and strapping it to the walls with the help of chains just like they did to me, and facing the glass wall.

Thick matted brown hair fell over his head, his head drooped as if he was unconscious and bruises marred each and every sliver of skin visible.

He definitely had a lot of skin visible since his clothes were torn and ripped into shreds and streaked with his blood. The only semblance of life was the ticking jaw, and the clenched eyes, the only hint of an unshakeable authority.

Valden had never looked worse.