Seven Devils

05 | Choices

Madelyn's POV

I struggled against the silver chains burning my wrists as I wrapped my hands around the wooden pole. My nose filled with the musty scent of the sack that covered my head and in the almost blackness, my eyes strained for some sign of what was to come. But I already knew what was coming.

The Alpha would be delivering justice for my attack on another Northblood wolf.

An invisible hand clasps over my mouth as someone tugs on the sack off of my head; an equally ghostly spark of adrenaline pierces my heart, unloading in an instant. I feel my ribs heaving as if bound by ropes, straining to inflate my lungs. The whole pack had gathered to watch, I watched as Colton's bright eyes slightly weeped tears for me, the rest of my brothers hanging their heads in shame. I try looking at Caleb, but he just holds my competition against his chest, rubbing her shoulder in comfort. Her face is still lacerated and reddened from the beating I gave her last night.

Matthias looks around at all the pack members while the whip softly hangs in his hand as if it doesn't hold a great weight. When he turned at last to face me there was no trace of tears, not in his eyes or in track marks on his reddening face. His eyes were narrowed, rigid, cold, hard. In that moment I knew he was already far away and that I wasn't his sister right now. I was simply a she-wolf that needed to be punished for her crime.

"We are all here today to witness the punishment of Madelyn Black," He carelessly growled. "Last night, she attacked another wolf of this pack."

A heavy silence settled over the pack, thicker then the uneasy tension in the atmosphere. Unsettled eyes glanced unceremoniously around and tried to avoid catching other glances that passed by. Some shifted uncomfortably in their spots and others grasped their sweaty, nervous hands behind their backs.

I did attack her, a heated argument turning into violence between two she-wolves wanting the same male.

My muscles tense and my inner Wolf raises her hackles as soon as Matthias starts approaching me. I know it's coming. The knowing doesn't soften the blow. I feel the whip dig into my skin as my mind becomes inoperable. The pain takes me not far away, but deep inside myself to some primitive place that knows how to cope with the kind of pain that precedes death. My vision is blotched with violent colours that move and merge without pattern or design. The wall of pain still blinds me but the pack swims back into view after a few lashes.

"Madelyn, do you understand why I'm doing this?"

I slowly nod my head to the Alpha but I don't look away from Caleb. The pain amplifies with each whip as black mists swirl at the edges of my mind drawing me into sweet oblivion.

"I do."

Pain sears through my spine better than a branding iron, my mind conceding to the torment, unable to bring a thought to completion. Without meaning to my body curls into something fetal, something primeval and all the while the pain burns and radiates.

"What do you understand?"

I can no longer keep Caleb's eyes; my head lowers and salty drops fall from my chin, mixing with the crimson staining the concrete ground.

"I tried to kill another pack member."

His next words splinter inside me causing more pain than the lashes.

"You must respect his choice. He does not choose you. He chooses her." Authority in his voice rings out for everyone to hear as he uses his Alpha tone.

I can feel the sweat drench my skin, the throbbing of my own eyes, the ringing screams vibrating in my ears, and the thumping of my heart against my chest, or is that the sound of the whip clawing at my flesh? My fingers are curled into a fist, nails digging into my palm. I can't hear my rapid breathing, but I can feel the oxygen flooding in and out of my lungs.

". . . You have five more lashes." He sounds pained to say it, but it is the usual punishment that is given to misbehaving wolves and it must be done.

Gripping my hands together, Matthias makes the whip sing through the air, raining down hard and fast, robbing me of breath. As I clenched my jaw, the wooden pole clasped in one hand, memories ransacked my mind. Tormented with what could have been and what should have been, words and regrets taunt me with a savage intensity.

Slowly, I tried to get up but quickly realized how futile it was when I had to bite my lip to keep from crying out. Sharp pain lanced through my head and colorful spots flashed in front of my eyes.

Looking up with clouded eyes, I see Caleb kissing her forehead as they turn their backs on me and walk away, hand in hand.

As much as I tried to hold it in, the pain came out like an uproar from my throat in the form of a silent scream. The beads of water started falling down one after another, without a sign of stopping. Once the pack left the premises, Matthias rushed over to me as a few she-wolves removed the poisonous chains from my wrists.

"I'm sorry," He held me in silence, rocking me slowly as my tears soaked his stained chest. "I'm so sorry."

My eyesight blurred, but not because tears were welling up. Everything became fuzzy; then I saw nothing at all. My consciousness was floating through an empty space filled with a thick static. Throughout the inky space my heartbeats pounded loudly, echoing in my ears, alongside small fading pleas for help. Every feeling in my body drained away until finally all was black.

I am his mate, but she is his everything.