The Viking Alpha

Madness and mirages

(James POV)

'Kill them! Kill them!'
'Traitors!'
'Their blood needs to spill!'
'All must die!'
'They are all weak.'
The multiple voices screaming insanities in his head was making him feel he was losing his grip on his sanity and reality. He wasn't sure how long it had been since Ashia had cursed him with that damned box. Hours? Days? It already felt like an eternity. He had woken chained to the floor in his human form. He recognized the room he was in. It was one of the sections in the dungeon. The silver collar around his neck burned him. The silver cuffs were heavy and left his wrists raw and bleeding. He kept praying for oblivion again. Just to make the mad loud voices stop.
They wouldn't let him think. What's worse, he was starting to see things.
The very small, still rational part of his mind was telling him what he was seeing wasn't real. But it was getting harder to separate reality from hallucinations. Ashia had come down and taunted him. Physically and mentally. He felt the whip scorch his back.
The physical torment was excruciating but a blessing too. It seemed to give him something to feel. Focus on. For a few seconds at most it gave him some relief of the voices. Made them pause. But it was the verbal taunts that were the worst. He guessed Ashia knew how this infliction worked. The witches must have given her an idea at least. Because before she would beat him she would describe what they would do to Cassandra. What they now were doing to her. As Ashia spoke the words a mental picture would form in his head. Then it turned from that to him actually seeing it as if it was happening right in front if him
'Let her go! Cassandra!'
'Save her oh mighty alpha. Break free and save her.' Ashia cracked the whip against his back again.
Groaning, he pulled uselessly against the chains.
'Do you hear her, James? She's begging you to help her. To save her. Why won't you?'
James pulled again trying to reach Cassandra. He saw her. Chained right across from him. Ashia slicing at her skin. Cassandra screaming and pleading.
'Kill her.' The whispered voices in his head were all chanting at once. They all were actually wanting Ashia's blood. But he could feel they wanted Cassandra's too. They wanted everyone's. They wanted to obliterate until no one was left.
'Leave my family alone! You can not have her! Cassandra!'
He heard Ashia cackle.
'Your mate is not here.' Once Ashia said that the mirage disappeared. Where he just saw Cassandra chained now was just a stone wall. 'But something tells me she's coming.'
He then heard Ashia say something else before he felt her slice his ankles making him fall to his already bleeding knees again.
Ashia punched him several times with a silver coated chainmail glove.
A small dry chuckle escaped him. He made a mental note to have those gloves added to the list of arsenals in his torture chambers.
Each punch felt like he was being branded with every blow.
Both of his eyes were starting to swell shut. Blood dripped from his mouth on the stone floor. He felt exhausted from the non stop beatings.
'I'll be back. Don't get too comfortable, James. I'm not through with you yet.' He faintly heard Ashias bare feet walking away.
To try and distract from the pain and the chatter of voices he thought of Cassandra and their cub. He saw her face. His head in her lap as she stroked his hair. Their last moments together. Seeing his unborn son in the ultrasound. The sound of his heart beat.
He saw Cassandra smiling at him in the library. Dancing with her. Love and happiness shining clear and bright in her eyes. He went to cup her face. Lovingly stroking her hair back. Her smile soon died. Her eyes grew wide and began watering. A choking sound came from her. Her face was turning blotchy and red.
'Cassandra? What is it? What's happening?'
He then saw his hand around her throat. Squeezing. He could feel her pulse thumping against his palm.
'No! No!'
He didn't want to do this but he couldn't seem to stop. It felt like another controlled him.
Tears came in his eyes at the sight of his Cassandra slowly growing still. Her eyes fluttered shut as her body grew heavy.
'NO!'
'James! James! Wake up!'
He gasped. He woke to find he was still chained and beaten on the floor.
Cassandra was in front of him. Lightly slapping his face.
'Cassandra. Oh…you're here. Is this real?'
'Yes. Keep it down. We don't have much time. Rex is guarding the door. The others are fending the rest off.'
Cassandra started chanting. Unlatching his chains with her magic. He dropped in a heap on the ground.
'Come on. Get up. We have to go.'
She helped him up. Taking his body weight on her she began walking them toward the exit.
They just made it out when she stumbled and they both fell to the ground. He landed on top of her.
'Get up. Come on. Hurry!'
'Leave me here. You have to go. It's not safe!' He rolled off her and laid on his back. The pain, crippling. Why wasn't he healing? He couldn't even sense his wolf.
'No. I'm not leaving you. Get the hell up!' She tugged at his arm until he stood.
His hands went to her shoulders before gliding to cup her face.
'Kill her.'
'I told you to go.' He spoke softly
before snapping her neck with a loud crack.
'Cassandra!' His scream woke him up to see he was chained back in the room.
The voices haunting him.
'Kill her! Kill her!'