The Alpha's Thirst (temporarily on hold)

Chapter 9 - Here's the Deal

ELLA'S POV

"What the hell, Ella?!" Nick shouted at me. I didn't even know what to say. I'd been rushed up to our room and the other girl was taken off in another direction, I was assuming the medical clinic.

"You assaulted one of my pack members?!" he looked shocked.

"I-I'm so sorry..." I said, not knowing what to do or where to look.

"Is it seriously because I didn't tell you about a damn dinner?" he yelled, and I flinched. I'd never seen him this angry.

"What?! Of course not. She was just saying shit to me in the bathroom, like... I don't even care enough to say it." I sighed.

"You're lucky you were the only people in there. If the whole pack found out about this you'd be in so much trouble, Ella. What did she say to you to make you want to beat her up that bad?" he asked, his hands on his hips and his eyebrows raised.

"She just kept egging me on and holding the fact that I'm human over my head. I'm sorry, I just got mad." I tried to hold back my tears.

"They think you broke one of her ribs, Ella. Do you know how much covering up I'm going to have to do to make sure she doesn't tell anyone? She's gonna be in the hospital for a week, how the hell did you even do that?!" he yelled.

That's when the tears came flooding out. I tried to stop them but it only ended with wet sniffles and smeared mascara.

"Ella..." he said again, but softer as he took a seat next to me.

I just kept crying. I thought of all of the things that had led up to this moment and I let all of it out. All of the frustration, the hurt, the guilt. It was all flowing out of me like a river in this very moment.

"Hey." he put his arm around me and rubbed my shoulder.

"It's okay." he said, pulling me closer to comfort me.

When I had gotten myself together enough, I looked up at him through swollen eyes. His face was ridden with worry.

"Please, Ella. Please tell me what happened." he pleaded with me.

I wiped under my eyes once more and sighed. I guess it was now or never. And he deserved to know.

"Okay." I sniffed.

"I wasn't just held hostage. This group of rogues was more sadistic than I thought possible, and they kept two different groups of captives." I sighed and Nick looked confused.

"There were the ones they sexually assaulted, and the ones they made assault each other. Each night they brought in a new human and it was like a tournament. They made us fight each other for their entertainment until one of us was knocked out almost dead. The winner of each fight got their wounds healed by one of the wolves with the healing power, and the loser was taken to the holding cell for the... sex slaves." I felt more tears run down my cheeks.

"I always won. I always fought so hard and left the other poor girl beaten down and weak and ready to be raped. All so I wouldn't have to." I sighed. Now he knew.

"Ella, that's... awful. I had no idea." Nick sighed.

"I'm a terrible person. I saved my own skin." I ran my hand down my scalp and pushed my hair out of my face.

"You're not a terrible person. You can't blame yourself for that. You had to protect yourself to survive, Ella. If anything, you're so strong for that." he said.

"That doesn't change what we all went through. What some of them are still going through. I don't know if anyone else escaped." I said, grimacing at the thought of the other girls still being stuck there.

"You're safe now. I'm not going to let anything like that happen to you ever again, Ella." He reassured me.

"It was torture. I let others suffer more so I would suffer less." I wept into his shoulder.

His hand softly rubbed my back and I could tell he was deep in thought.

"The three?" he said suddenly. I knew what he was talking about.

The little "3" tattoo on my hip.

"It's a brand." I leaned up from his torso to meet his eyes.

"I was human number 3. They gave me the tattoo so they wouldn't... forget, I guess." I let out a couple more sobs.

"Ella, I know nothing I can say can really make this better right now. But I'm so sorry. For all that you had to go through. I wasn't expecting that, and I wouldn't have pushed you into tonight if I did." he responded.

"Your speech was great and you made me look really good out there. For what it's worth you carry an elegance with you that makes it so hard for me to believe you beat that girl's ass tonight." he said.

"I feel really bad, Nick." I sighed.

"Listen. Tomorrow I'm going to organize a group of my soldiers to go out to the woods where I found you and search for the rogues. I'll talk to the girl and make sure that it doesn't get out. You don't have to worry about any of it, just let me handle it and you focus on getting rest and being a good Luna." he kissed my forehead.

It was honestly so comforting to have him say that. I knew he would keep his word and I was so greatful his well-trained wolves were going to go find those fucking rogues.

I was exhausted after pouring my heart out to him, but it felt like a giant weight had been lifted off of my shoulders now that he knew. There were no more secrets, and it made me feel a lot closer to him.

"Go get ready for bed, I'll tell everyone downstairs that you got sick and dinner's over." He rubbed my back before leaving.

I slept like a baby, and all I could feel was lucky.