A Prequel [Book 8] in Her Destiny Series ||| ❝His family was blinded by greed and he lost everything in the crossfire.❞
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Everyone knew his family was a twisted one, they slaughtered packs for power. He was trapped, unable to escape t...
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He jerked awake with a rough wheeze.
A voice was close and it said, "Don't do that again."
His head snapped to the side, narrowed eyes taking in the crouched guard on the other side of his bars. It was the guard with the silver eyes. Confusion swarmed through his mind, causing his head to ache something worse, and he wanted to snarl for being torn away from his painless sleep.
Instead, he rasped, "What?"
The guard sighed and rose to his full height, "You looked dead." Eyes flickering towards the abandoned halls, waryily, and his lips pulled into a tight frown.
He laughed humorlessly, "Like you care."
Silver eyes narrowed and a metal tray was pushed into his cell, "Eat."
His lips curled in disgust. Maybe it was because the guard had totally ignored him or it was the fact that the exhibited behavior was extremely suspicious. He had always been intrigued by this guard specifically but now it felt like it was a two-way street. Still, he had little care for himself, and spat back, "No."
Silence froze around them.
They stared, unblinkingly, trying to figure the other out.
"If you want to get out of here, I suggest you eat," The guard said lowly, after several more pauses of dead air.
His finger twitched against the cold ground. Now that was something he wasn't expecting. Was this guard unloyal to his insane Alpha? Was there a plan behind the scenes that somehow involved him? Was he being used and intended to be tossed aside? His empty heart clenched and his fists tightened. He had grown tired of these games long ago and now he simply did not care about the outcome of playing or not.
He would not be fooled and said nothing in return.
"Eat."
Silver eyes flashed with the presence of an alpha wolf and then the guard left without another word. He listened as the footsteps lightly faded and then he exhaled, long and tiredly, there was no alpha who could control him now. He didn't trust a single soul and therefore he was free of these silly pack obligations. His eyes fell to the food, it could be poisoned, and he scoffed. How stupid did they take him?
Still, he was baffled. For once, his empty thoughts became something of piqued interest. Perhaps the guard had a legitimate reason to be helping him, if only to keep him from starving to death, but he couldn't be sure. Maybe there was a similar situation to his, maybe the guard was trapped and wished to get out.
There were so many theories that filtered through his mind and he pondered upon them for a long while. Only the faint glow of a distant lightbulb tried to fight the darkness that was his only company and he focused on that, watching the unmoving shadows that laid silent on the walls.
* * * *
Soul shattering cries echoed in his skull.
The females of the pack were hysterical with the agony of losing another young pup. He knew their Alpha had killed again, beneath the cloak of the daunting night, and it was almost as if he could smell the innocent blood from way down in his cell.
With his head resting against the wall, he had listened to it all happen, and he didn't feel a single thing. He forced himself not to because as much as he knew it was wrong and purely evil, he knew he couldn't do anything. Still, he suffered with those females for their loss, as they wailed to the moon for her cruelty.
He supposed the world was full of evil. It always was, always will be. Death is inevitable, suffering is the price of breathing, and nobody ever got a choice. He had seen his fair share of blood and gore, all of which had been forced, and now he just felt nothing. Though, if he ever were to feel again, to fight, it would be for her.
In sequence with the helpless females suffering, she rose from the broken depth of his mind, and he physically flinched. Her face was crystal clear in his mind. Flashes of when he saw her, if only covered in blood each time, and he sucked in a harsh breath. She had haunted him every night since her death and somehow, he had managed to shut it all out until now. Something triggered his memory of her.
If she was the one suffering, with the females of this pack, there would be no question to his action. He would sink his claws deep into the flesh of the Norman Alpha, for all the innocent blood he had taken and pain he had caused his own pack members. It was no different than his pack, they had evil that needed to be eliminated.
They deserved justice.
As each piece fell into place in his mind, he found himself rising from the dirt. He had sat by, worthlessly wasting away with meaningless time, and no longer would he let grief kill him. He had let people make choices for him but right now, he had his own choice. That realization dawned upon him like a bucket of cold water.
He hadn't been able to save her.
But he could save these females.
He could fight. For justice.
For all the innocent souls that had been wrong, for all the evil that flourished in the land. He was a warrior, for hell's sake, and he could fight pretty damn well. He always beat his opponents with their own weaknesses and he was always one step ahead. He had lost a lot of his muscle mass during his captivity but it wasn't something that was lost forever. He could gain it back and if his wolf would help, his recovery would be twice as fast.
He might not be able to make a big change but he would do something worth doing until his last breath. Braxton filled his mind and he just knew the bastard would be laughing at him, spitting on his pathetic form. Something sparked in him, akin to fire that sparked his long-lost will--as he decided he would prove the bastard wrong. He wasn't a coward. He could forge his own way through the wilderness.
He hadn't survived everything he had gone through only to make it this far, and he surely wouldn't die with lies attached to his name, and a hell of a lot of evil still lurked in the land which he vowed to destroy. The downfall of his family would be a historical day. They may share blood but they were worse than strangers. Blood didn't always mean family.
For once in his life, he would make a name for himself and he wouldn't let anyone else suffer as he. As long as he breathed, he would defend those like him. He would protect the innocent with vicious justice. It was a promise, to himself, and it was just the start of his legacy.
Standing in the middle of his cell, his chest was heaving. He had lost his fight before because he had lost himself...but now there was clarity in his mind and his fight was anew. He still had a chance, no matter how small. He would find his purpose for all the hell he had endured. His eyes fell to the plate at the edge of his cell and for once, his stomach grumbled, and he made his choice.
He ate.
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This sent shivers down my spine.
This early stage of Joel's development is absolutely incredible. He's realizing he has a choice and it's going to get bloody awesome as he chooses to fight for justice. I am so excited because now we can watch him rise up to the Alpha we know he is!
