ENDURING {Sequel to Everlasting} ❗️EDITING ❗️

Chapter 75

I settle against the dirt wall, the first aid kit empty and my back throbbing like a nuns cunt. I know I can't do this much longer, my body is weak and worn. To be beaten by day, and forced to sleep in the dirt at night, it's not helping to ease the pains and bruises.

Still, at least I've managed to get some of my stuff back. Every fight that I've miraculously survived, it earns me a single item. For now I have enough to take a days break.

I wrap my coat further around my body, my knees pulled to my chest to conceal some amount of warmth.

On the first day I'd asked for my coat, and the second, my shoes. On the third I could barely walk, but I needed water, and on the fourth I needed food. The fifth day I knew I needed the first aid kit, and on the sixth I was beginning to dehydrate. Of course I had to fight for it, again, and the next day, food.

The best part is, they don't care if I live, they prefer me to live. It's amusing to them, to have a little pet that has to offer something in return for survival. It's not the worst thing I've ever faced.

At least it's straightforward, I appreciate the simplicity. I chose to rest, I go without, and if I fight and don't yield, I get one item of my belongings. Between food and water, there's not much that I can get. 

On the plus side...that little girl I stabbed and then saved, has helped me in ways. Now and again when no one is around, she slips me a little bit of meat.

Today isn't one of those days.

The cold is setting into my bones, and my wounds are draining my energy. With no food and only a small amount of water left, it won't be long until I have to fight one of them.

Well, I wouldn't even call it a fight. They move too quickly, and heal the moment I hit them, meaning I'm already loosing before I've even started.

Today, I just close my eyes and dream of silvery grey eyes. Fuck I miss him, more than anything in the world. The ache I felt before has grown considerably, as if someone has carved a big piece of my body off.

I miss my dog, and my horse.

I miss Jackson, and Winter.

I miss Beck.

But most of all, I miss those rare moments when I catch Hardin just staring at me. That all consuming affection, the desire and the want that goes beyond just sex. Like his gaze is the centre of the whole universe.

Right now that's all I can think about.

It's all that's left for me to think about.

*
*

A couple of days go by, I let my body heal some while rationing my water supply. I've had time to think, to plan, to come up with some idiotic escape plan that'll surely get me killed.

I'm going to die anyway, might as well go out with a bang. Right?

These Lycans think I'm their plaything, that I'm just some random outsider that stumbled upon them. If they knew I'd spent the last two weeks listening to them from my prisoner, they'd have killed me.

They'd be right too.

I'd happily give away their location, but that means killing the children. I don't necessarily think these Lycans are cruel, they're simply what they are. I don't blame them for this, no, my rage goes far beyond them.

The Elders sent me here to die.

"Hey!" I shout, making a shit ton of noise to get their attention. Their ears are sensitive, more than a wolfs.

The irritated ugly snarl glares at me as he sticks his head over the pit, baring its teeth at me in warning. I show it my empty hands, a familiar sign of submission to them.

"I want to fight." I announce.

In a flash the gate is yanked open, the Lycan reaches down into the pit and grips my forearms painfully. Nails sharp and long, digging into my bruised skin as it lifts me upwards with ease.

The sky is beginning to darken, which is usually when they allow me to fight. Anytime during the day they're either sleeping, or quiet. I've noticed they're faster at night, more aware, more animalistic.

The Lycan holds my arm painfully tight, dragging me through the other lycans towards their leader. A familiar sight though it's still just as frightening every time I pass them. The large male nods to the beast on his right, who grabs my bags and brings it over to me.

He holds it open like it's a treasure chest, and I route through with a single hand, until I finally grab the object. In a flash the Lycan takes it from me, keeping hold of it as he puts my bag back.

I glance around me, noticing how the Lycans all come closer as I choose. I've noticed the women seem to be more vicious than the males, and it doesn't surprise me. The men fight me for entertainment, the females do it to try and kill me.

So I point to one of the medium sized older males, knowing that while he likely has more experience, he won't have as much stamina as a young Lycan. Still, it's not like it'll make the beating any less painful.

I was right.

I'm tossed into the pit, bleeding, dehydrated and starving. My phone hits me not a second later, and I rush to grab it, using a dirty medical gauze over the slice across my waist. Bastard cut me a couple of times.

48%. Thank fuck I'd charged it fully with the wireless charging device only the day before the Lycans dragged me off.

Despite knowing I need to save the battery, I find myself gazing at my photo album, of Hardin and I in New York on the water ski's.

That's the moment I knew...I'm going home, even if I die trying. 

I'm going to survive this. I have to. Because Hardin is at home, probably loosing his mind, waiting for me to come back to him. I have so much waiting for me, my mate, my friends, my house, my dog, even my father.

I made Hardin a promise.

Tomorrow. I remind myself, brushing away the tears and getting to work.