BOUND: Mates at War | 18+

15 Monster Revealed

One guard, then another, then another, day after day. My daily piece of dry, stale bread and bowl of frigid soapy water are placed in my cell before the guard removes my chains. I dislike this guard the most. I've heard him called Bates by the other guards. It is clear that they all hate us, we're prisoners here, but something about this one makes my skin crawl. Even more than the guard that sliced me open, he seems to revel in the power of his position. His dark, beady eyes linger on me longer than necessary, he holds me too tightly when he chains me, his lips are always pulled into a cruel, slimy smile.

Waiting until I'm sure he has moved on, I wash quickly, pouring the water over my skin, shivering in the dark. When I'm frozen, but clean, I move forward in the cell, pressing myself against the bars to look down the row toward my fathers cell.

He's already waiting, his hands gripping the bars. We don't speak but it's the only relief I find in this place. He's there, he's alive and for a brief moment, we're both unchained.

I force each bite of hard bread down, my throat raw and irritated by the last piece.

I stretch my body, waiting for the guard to return and fix my chains again. I know the routine. A loud, raucous sound and yelling make me jolt up, slamming my body into the gate to look toward the noise.

It doesn't sound like my father but I can't be sure until I look. His hands are gripping the bars of his cell still, he's watching too, it's not him. I let out a small sigh of relief that quickly morphs into terror as I see the guard dragging someone down the line. There are two guards pulling him as he fights and thrashes against them.

When he's dragged under one of the dim bulbs I can see that he is a wolf, not an elf.

"Put him in a cell!" the other guard yells over the prisoners snarls and growls.

"I'm going to bring him all the way to the back," he barks out a laugh, "her time is up."

My breath hitches in my throat, I'm in the last cell. They aren't going to put him in here with me are they? I back up slightly, moving away from the door.

Bates walks in front of my cell but passes it, moving on to the metal door at the end of the hallway, the mystery room where the screams come from. He pauses before pulling it open. Over the growling of the new prisoner I hear the rattling of chains from inside the room.

The man is dragged forward in enough light that I can see a strange contraption on his neck. A rough, rusted metal collar is tight around his throat, blood seeping over the edges. He fights with them but they eventually force him into the room, slamming the door, but not before an ear piercing scream comes from the cells other occupant.

After a few moments I hear the familiar sound of my fathers cell opening, "against the wall."

Bates steps in front of my cell with a wicked smile, "I have an idea," he yells to the other guard as he pulls the door open, "we can make this more interesting."

Before I can react he's got me by the arm, pulling me out of the cell and closer to the metal door. I try to plant my feet into the ground, forcing him to drag my dead weight.

"Don't worry, he can't shift, he's got a collar on, but there are plenty of other things he can do," he smiles menacingly down at me making my stomach roll.

"Bates, quit fucking around and chain her up, it's almost shift change."

He ignores him, pulling the metal door open, revealing the horror behind it.

Aerin.

She's hardly recognizable now, chained to the wall in front of a wolf. The collar lay bloody and broken on the floor and the man has shifted. Bates doesn't have time to react before the wolf lunges out of the cell, mauling him.

I'm thrown to the ground as Bates shifts and the wolves fight. The other guard runs from my fathers cell, joining Bates who was quickly overpowered. The guards tattered clothes lay in heaps on the floor as they roll and fight, teeth and claws gnashing together violently.

I crawl away from their entangled bodies and feel through the shredded pieces of their clothes. My body shakes uncontrollably as I try to find the keys undetected. I can't peel my eyes away from her. There are large, open wounds on her chest, claws, ripping her open completely. Her body is dangling by her chained arms, lifeless.

I find a ring of keys and run toward my fathers cell, forcing myself to move, to look away.

I'm immediately knocked to the hard floor, my body slammed into the hard bars of a cell, knocking the wind from my chest painfully. I'm caught under a wolf that was thrown by another. When it stands I'm able to roll my body off of the bars, my crushed bones protesting any movement.

Shit.

I sputter and gasp, gripping my chest. I crawl toward my fathers cell, struggling to move as my lungs finally open up and allow me to breathe again. When I get to his cell I can see the relief and confusion on his face.

"We have to go, Ada, we have to leave, now, it's our only chance," I pull the heavy door open and unshackle his ankle.

We move quickly down the row, running past the empty cells until we reach the guard desk.

My chest burns, we only have to get through the long, tunnel-like entrance and we're out, which presents a whole host of other issues, but we have to make it there before we can deal with those.

I feel the rough material of a shirt being placed over my shoulders, "put this on, we can't run through the streets completely naked."

I pull the shirt on as we run through the tunnel, the light from outside visible at the end. A deep growl vibrates from behind us. I freeze, my legs trembling so much that I have to grip the wall to stay upright.

One of the wolves stalks toward us, not running, but walking slowly, a predator stalking its prey. He's covered in blood. I can see the other wolves, bloody and battered on the floor behind him. One of them is torn to pieces, the other looks close to death if he's not already.

I don't know if this is a guard or the prisoner.

I'm yanked forward by my father who continues to run toward the entrance to the dungeon, we aren't far now. This feels like wasted effort, like we'll never make it but I go anyway, at least this way we will die trying.

I turn back, watching the wolf as we run. He's playing with us, letting us taste freedom, breathe the fresh air, then he's going to kill us.

Just as we reach the door it's ripped open from the outside.

Roman.

He looks murderous as his imposing body blocks us in, just a few steps from freedom.

The wolf behind us snarls and steps forward, bowing his head down slightly. It's definitely one of the guards. I look frantically at Roman, searching his hard eyes for any semblance of feeling or emotion beyond rage.

The world is flipped upside down as I'm pulled unexpectedly backwards. My arm ripped from my fathers grasp as a scream tears through my throat, sheer panic and fear echoing through the tunnel.

The guard has me pinned to the ground, his teeth cutting into my forearm. He brings his face down, holding my gaze, enjoying the terror in my eyes. Bates. He slowly opens his mouth, his sharp teeth grazing my cheek.

I close my eyes and a strange calm washes over me. The setting sun casts warm orange light over my closed eyelids. I take one last inhale of fresh air and wait.

Instead of death, I'm painfully knocked to the side once more, the world rolling around me again. I open my eyes to see Romans wolf, ripping at Bates' throat. Blood sprays over my face as my father yanks me by the arm again, pulling me away.

I stumble behind him, watching Roman as he works at decapitating Bates.

Our eyes meet and time stops. I pause, watching blood drip from his face onto the ground. He doesn't move, only watching me as my father drags my body out the door and down the street.

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