I'll Show You (rewritten)

21: Life scorned

*Trigger warning - scenes of mature violence⚠️ *

"What do you think you're looking at? Nothing more than a hole with no wolf, you're definitely not one of us."

His eyes were slanted with unrestrained hate and anger, peering down to mine which were fear filled. He watched me cower as his wolf gleamed through his eyes, animosity peering back at me. I could feel every drop of his hateful venom spread throughout me making me shudder with fear. I was paralysed in horror as he pulled out a whip - silver tipped and flaunted in all its glory.

"You know what happens when you step out of line Kacie..." He slurred my name as if the very sound of it was poison on his lips, "You know the punishment, so take it like the little bitch everyone knows you are."

I tugged at the rope binding my hands to the post in the middle of the room. Shaking in panic. My fruitful efforts caused the tall man to laugh. Shivers ran down my spine as I dreaded what was to come next, the gleam in his eyes promising dark, dark things.

What had I done? Apparently looking at the Beta was cause enough for whatever my fourteen-year-old self deserved. A non-shifting wolf was weak in more ways than one; a true disgrace to our species I had been told.

He circled me, my frightful state causing my breaths to wheeze. "I will make you suffer and beg for forgiveness. I am showing you mercy by not slicing your throat open and killing you right here right now."

My eyes closed, trying desperately not to let my tears spill at his harsh taunts. My young self knew the tricks of hiding and crying would only prolong my pain. I did not want to face the full wrath of what the Third and Beta were capable of, a teenage girl could only take so much. To survive, however bleak my future looked, was to be as small as I could, make minimal noise and eye contact. Act like the prey I was.

A numbness was spreading through my arms from how tight the rough rope was bound. Understanding that my pale skin had ultimately been rubbed raw from the friction it caused. The barren room held a deep musk of blood from previous activities taken place down in the isolated space. This was the place I was kept if I ever stepped out of line or did something wrong, an almost weekly occurrence to the wolves in this pack. As a torture room, the smell was incorrigible. The walls splattered with aged blood and other grisly remains that were too mutilated to categorise. Refusing to give the room a proper clean I could spot my previous blood markings on the wall. Mocking swirling patterns, insulting me with their resilience, with how little control I had over my own life. They called this the silence room - completely ironic, moronic even to my own ears.

The first slice of the whip caught me by surprise, tearing effortlessly through my pale flesh, easily exposing the muscle and bone inside. I nearly tore through my own lip by biting down so hard to conceal my screams. My body jerked at the sharp sting of my back. The very tip of the whip burned through my back like butter and I couldn't help but let my body slump with the absolute agony I was feeling. Crimson blood spouted from the man-made gash at the top of my spine and after this one strike, my body was ready to collapse. The ropes held me forcefully in place allowing me to bare all for the rest of the torture they had awaiting.

"Did that hurt?" The man was pacing around me, his body hidden as my limp hair covered my face, "Of course it did, so scream you, little runt."

I shakily took a breath, interrupted by another crack as the whip found my skin again. I listened to his request not wanting to further anger him, letting a pierced scream warble out my body. I was rewarded by another cruel laugh. Followed by yet more cracks and more tattered skin joining the floor around me. The predatory glint in his eye was prominent as he teased the material of the whip, sliding it between his fingers as if to revel in the power he felt over me, showing me where my place was- the bottom.