Marked Mate

32

SCARLETT

Margaret was a woman of little words, but then again, so was I. I saw myself in her, and I imagined if I would have ended up just like her in my older years if I hadn't met Roman.

It had been one day, and I was already losing my mind. Guards had come to give us water and some plain rice and beans, and even though they tasted like straight ass, I scoffed them down anyway. I was running on empty, and my show left Maraget sniggering as she picked at her own food, barely touching it.

It was just a shame I couldn't reach her and eat her leftovers. I was going to need as much energy as I could get, but they wanted to keep us weak here. It was all part of their plan.

"I feel like we've known each other long enough," Margaret muttered, picking at the shoelaces on her boots, fraying the ends. "What's your story, kid?"

I furrowed my eyebrows at the word kid, but hid my displeasure quickly, poking my head out of my cell to get a better look at her. It was only now that I noticed how exhausted she looked. Purple bags sat under her dreary-looking eyes, and her skin was pale and lifeless. Even her hair lacked shine, which was unusual for a fiery redhead.

What did I have to lose? I was here to help this woman. The least I could do was talk to her. If I didn't, I was going to go bat-shit crazy.

"Spent most of my life on the run, found someone who I thought cared about me... but they turned me in." I felt somewhat guilty for lying to her, but I wasn't about to risk giving away information that could get me killed. The guards weren't in here, but for all we knew, they could be listening to our every word.

Margaret hummed. "That's the biggest mistake you can make as a gifted wolf - trusting someone. People are always hungry for money, power or allies, and they won't think twice about giving us over to the snot-face that is Nyx to get it." Her eyebrows pulled together, the lines in her face extenuating. "The bastards."

It didn't take a genius to decipher that the same thing had happened to her. It saddened me. All people wanted with us was to trick us and use us. We were nothing but objects to throw around, to give up and pass on when you've had your fill. Roman would never do that to me, though. He'd proved that.

I opened my mouth, about to defend my mate, but I couldn't. As much as I trusted Margaret, I couldn't let her know what was really going on. So instead, I just settled for saying, "yeah, it sucks."

"You still not going to tell me what your power is?" Margaret pressed, wiggling her eyebrows at me, a small smirk playing on her lip.

I sighed. "I can control the weather." Another lie - which I felt bad about. But it was what I'd told my doctor when I was being checked in, and I needed to stick with it. Or, I'd be moved. Or maybe even punished for not being truthful.

A cackle echoed throughout the cells, bouncing off the stone walls and piercing my eyes, causing me to flinch.

"Yeah, sure it is, sweetheart," Margaret teased. "That's what they all say, but if you want to keep it a little secret, I don't blame you."

I didn't respond for a little while, sliding my back against the ice-cold wall, pulling my knees to my chest and resting my chin on them. "What's your gift?"

"Fire," was the only word I heard, and it caused my ears to perk up. I hopped to my feet, sticking my head back out the break between the cell poles.

"Fire? What do you mean fire?"

Margaret shrugged, holding her hand out of the cell, a tiny ball of flames erupting from her palm and floating just above it, a tiny sheen appearing on her sweaty skin. I watched in amazement as she guided the ball, moving it before her in a small circle before she closed her hand into a fist, and the flaming ball vanished into thin air.

"Fire? Are you kidding me?" A smile broke out on my face. "What the hell are we still doing in here if you have a gift like that? Use it to get us out of here so we can escape!"

Margaret shushed me, a scowl taking over her expression. "Would you keep it down? Are you trying to get us both killed? The walls have ears around here, and we'll both end up in the dungeon if you keep running your mouth like that!" She was angry - really angry, but I could tell it wasn't really directed at me. It was more the situation that was upsetting her.

I clicked my teeth shut, my eyes widening. "Sorry."

"There's a reason I've survived here so long, and it's because I keep myself under control," Margaret told me. "If you snap, you die. If you get sick and can't work anymore, you die. If you rebel, you die. You have to learn what you have to do in order to survive, and right now, you're probably this close," she pinched her fingers together, leaving the tiniest gap, "from getting yourself killed."

I opened my mouth to respond, when suddenly, the door burst open, and a few beefy guards waltzed in. They didn't appear angry or like they'd been listening in on our conversation, but they used their locks clicked to their belts to unlock our cells.

We were dragged out, and Margaret cursed at them under her breath, sending me a quick look that said, hold yourself together or you're going to get us both in big trouble.

"Nyx wants us to show you the areas you could be working in," a guard said to both Margaret and me, jostling me a little. "That's if you behave."

"I've already seen the place," Margaret complained, and the guard holding her rolled his eyes. It seemed he was used to her antics by now, and judging by what she'd told me, she was used to being thrown into the cells, able to get away with a lot because of the superiority of her gift. It really was amazing. I'd never seen anything like it.

"Yes, but you continue to fuck around, so we have to keep repeating the process with you," the guard snapped at her, causing her to huff in response, refusing to push it anymore, remaining quiet.

The light outside blinded me, and I had to cover my eyes with my eyes with my hands to stop the searing pain. The sun beamed down on his, hot and sweaty, and tears sprung to my eyes. People milled around, all looking as glum and depressed as the next person. They were gifted - that much I could tell. And they looked trapped. Like they had no hope. I wanted to give them a reason to live again, because right now, they were only surviving.

"That's the food hall," a guard said as he pointed over to a large building in the middle of the overgrown field. The brick was crumbly and cracked, looking as if it was going to collapse any second. "Wolves with gifts that don't serve much of a purpose work there, but I doubt either of you will end up there."

Margaret scoffed. "I might if I keep pushing you boys."

The guard growled at her, ignoring her as he dragged us towards a large group of wolves near a wide oak tree. "These wolves are getting sent out to ambush other packs in search of more gifted wolves. They're the ones who we deem as useful and powerful. Maybe you'll be doing that one day. Controlling the weather can be helpful when trying to chase someone. You never know when you'll be needing a thunderstorm."

I wanted to roll my eyes. That wouldn't be happening because that wasn't my gift. I hadn't thought about what would happen when I was asked to demonstrate it, but I was hoping that Roman would find me before that happened. That seemed unlikely now, though.

The tour wasn't overally interesting. I kept a look out for any escape routes or anything that would help me identify where I was, but this place was sealed off. Outside of here, I was sure that this place looked abandoned or like it wasn't even here. It was going to be impossible to find.

Fuck my life.

I couldn't lose hope, though. These people were counting on me. I couldn't let them down.

I sent Margaret a look - a look that said use your fucking gift and kill these motherfuckers so that we can get out of here, but she simply shook her head at me - a warning not to push past the boundaries.

I wasn't going to listen, though.

And I made that very clear with the way I turned, glared at the guard that was holding onto me and forced out as much guilt onto him as possible, allowing my legs to carry me as quickly as they could as I sprinted towards the tree line.