Chapter 12

Annabelles POV-

This journey to The Palace is supposed to take three days. It's currently the end of the second day and I can tell by their constant moaning that we are hours behind. A huge tree had fallen, blocking the road so we had to find an alternative route.

The sun is already setting, we haven't eaten since this morning and I'm not gonna lie, I think I'd eat anything they gave me. My appetite has gone crazy.

Right now I'm wishing that none of this had happened. I wish I was back in my room, crying myself to sleep alone. Instead I'm here, surrounded by more people that don't care about who I am, only what I can give them. I thought things would be different, I met two wonderful people who actually showed me kindness, they remind me of Gerald... Especially Bea, they both pretend to be all professional but they really care about what is good. I love that about them. And Mav, she tries to bring the best out of every situation. I hope I get to see them again.

My wolf has decided to go on vacation. It's protected me so far so I'm sure if they hurt me it will show itself. But this feeling of not being able to control it when it happens is really not helpful.

I'm also scared that I'm going to hurt someone.

I have killed people but I don't remember, apparently they all happen to be bad so I'm not feeling too guilty about it at the moment. The thought of actually taking someone's life is quite daunting though. When I saw the savage dying from the bullet wound I nearly puked. He was coughing up so much blood.

I hope something changes soon. This collar weighs a ton. Not being on that horse is helping somewhat. Ronan has pitched a hide tent for himself and chained me to a tree by my collar. He swapped out my cuffs again too so my hands weren't covered anymore. Maybe he thinks I'd try to run off with the horse. That horse was the only thing I've seen him be kind to. He gave me water a couple of times which got a few weird looks from his men, what do they expect?!. If I die of dehydration they can't collect their stupid prize.

"Drink" A raspy voice came almost as a whisper snapping me out of my thoughts.

A disheveled middle aged man with a bald head, a scruffy grey beard and sunken eyes knelt Infront of me.

I haven't drank anything for a few hours and that sun was really blaring. We found a stream on our detour and that's where we set camp.

I sat still for a second before leaning forward and swiping the cup from his hands. He chuckled devilishly before waiting eagerly for me to drink it.

I couldn't tell what the anticipation was for, surely he's seen me drink before. Was I that much of an attraction?. I gulped down half of the cup and brought it away from my mouth.

It's bitter... I wanted to ask why it's bitter, it's water, water is not bitter. If I speak now he'll know I can talk and then they will want answers.... before I could finish what I was thinking, I felt like I was suffocating. I could see nothing was Infront of me blocking my breathing. A cloud of white began to block my vision and everything went black.

"Hey Ryder she's waking up!" These guys all sound the same... ugh my head hurts. Everytime I wake up lately it's to a new version of Hell.

Well there's no horses here, I'm tied to a tree again but with more chains. They must have heard the stories and stole them from Ronan just in case I turn. It's still dark so we can't be too far from the others. There's four guys here, the same ones who were talking about all the things they could do with me earlier. I didn't notice before but one of them is missing an eye, that scar is gnarly. You'd have thought he'd want to cover it up.. what if something gets in the hole?.

Russling came from the brush to the side of us. I hope it's Ronan ready to kill these traitors.

Damn just my luck... it's the guy who gave me the drink.

"Here's the deal sweetie, I know a liar when I see one. Your facade is good I'll give you that" He paused "But you can't fool me, I'm old and I'm wise. I've been around too long to pass up an opportunity like this.." He grabbed my chin with his dry chapped hand, I tried to pull my face away but the tree I'm tied to prevented it. Why can't my wolf just come out and maul these imbiciles.

He pinned me in place "It's such a shame to let a pretty little thing go to waste". The man moved his thumb in an attempt to caress my lips.. I bit down on his thumb as hard as I could. I could taste his blood in my mouth before his other hand met my face. The back of my head hit the tree. I heard a pop and my body went limp. The only thing holding me up is these chains. I swear I saw stars.

I've been hit in the face many times during training and suffered many beatings at the hand of my mother, but this man hit me square in the face with full force, connecting perfectly with my nose.

Where the fuck is my wolf?!

I'm scared. And I'm stuck with no way out of this. My nose is bleeding crimson over the entire front of my body. I can't even put my hands up to try and stop it. Even when I'm given the power to rip men to shreds I'm still powerless.

I can still taste his blood in my mouth though which brings me some joy, And hearing him wail like a bitch when I nearly bit off his thumb. He just broke my nose and I didn't even whimper. I mean yeah my knees turned to jelly but I blame my head hitting the tree. The smirk on my face had become evident as one of the men slapped another ones arm and pointed at me. They both looked over in terror.

I was just smiling because I hurt the guy...

Oh yeah I'm covered in blood with a busted nose smiling. They looked like they almost shit themselves when the the man I bit turned to see what they were looking at. "Think your funny? If you weren't so valuable I'd keep you myself. I like my women with a bit of fight in them" he snarled his raspy whispery voice made me cringe causing the hairs on my neck to stand up.

I hate men who think they can get whatever they want no matter the consequences. I think I wouldn't mind remembering the death of this one.

Before long he gave up on trying to stare me down and decided to tend to his thumb. My head is pounding and I can't see too well. I might just go.. to.. sleep...zzZZzZ...

Annabelle awoke to screaming and the familiar orange glow of flames, the smell of smoke... the five men had somehow caught the tents on fire. "Water get water quick!" the eyeless man almost sounded like a girl now, high pitched and frightened. The flames on his trousers quickly traveling to the rest of his clothes. He rolled around on the floor flailing, trying to put out the flames with the help of one of the other men. They succeeded but not before the fire did major damage. His clothes were ashes, huge blisters appeared over his body, his screaming stopped but only because he passed out. He won't last much longer... What a way to go..

A few minutes later Ronan appeared and he looked pissed. I'm guessing he noticed we were gone and smelt the smoke.

In the commotion with the guy on fire nobody noticed them approaching; Ronan and the rest of his men.

The fire was still raging causing smoke to fill the air.

Fear was plastered over the men's faces, one made an attempt to explain, barely any words being audible through his intense crying. Ronan's finger nails dropped out of one hand quickly being replaced by long claws. In one swift motion the man's throat was slashed open. Ronan paused waiting for him to bleed out. Showing the others the fate of anyone who crosses him. Is this what all alphas are like?.

Ronan went on a rant about how "They are in this together... if they wanna challenge him they can... he wants what's best for them" blah blah,

what the fuck.. what the fuck who's touching me?.

I flinched away from the hands on my neck only to be pulled back and told to keep quiet.

"I'm helping you... just stay still... stop squirming" came a hushed voice.

It's a girl, I only know that because of her voice. Or maybe it's how soft and feminine her hands are. She's wearing a tribal mask and black leather armour that had black engraved metal plates on the front and back. The mask reminds me of the tiki masks my father collected. I heard a click and one of the chains from my collar fell. Another click and then the other one. This girl made light work of the chains on my hands. I'm finally free! okay so first we have to get away but still this is progress. My head still hurts but I'm sure everything will turn out fine.

As soon as the cuffs on my hands hit the floor Ronan's eyes met mine... he looked menacing, this long pause made me even more nervous. Fuck what is he gonna do?. The girl turned to see what I was looking at "run" she said so they wouldn't hear even though they could see us clearly. How are we gonna outrun them all? Before I could even think about it she took off running. I should've ran with her. I don't even know what she looks like, I didn't even thank her.

"And where do you think your going?" Ronan asked in a demanding tone, he looked menacing covered in blood. I'm covered in blood too but he's built like a house. No wonder his men are terrified of him.

He quickly ushered two of his men to restrain me.

Even if my wolf doesn't show up I'll be damned if I give up without a fight!. I guess there is no running from this.

The men ran at me full speed reaching out to grab my arms. The girl forgot to take the collar off and it's pretty heavy, I bet I can still kick their ass's.

I dodged one and grabbed the other, using his momentum to throw him into the first one. Somehow it worked, there heads knocked together and they fell on top of each other on the floor. Ronan smiled and sent three more. How long is this gonna go on for before he gets me himself... I don't wanna think about it, let's just get through this.

The first of the three made an attempt for my arm, I waited for him to get closer before elbowing him in the nose, I heard a familiar sound as it popped and blood came flowing out.

Despite the situation.. Man does it feel good to be fighting again, it's been so long since I had real competition... okay focus... don't get ahead of yourself... I took a deep breath before running at them, meeting them half way, I tripped one of them and tackled the other, I straddled him, punching him twice in the face, one hit his eyebrow which tore open, splashing even more blood over me, along with the second blow that hit his mouth breaking a few of his teeth.. Wow even when I'm not transformed my hits are so much harder. Maybe I don't need the wolf after all.

I was confident he wasn't going to get back up any time soon, I moved my attention the the third man that I'd tripped. He had gotten to his feet and began charging for me. He looked pissed.. maybe I embarrassed him? Before he got to me Strong hands gripped both my arms from behind, I couldn't move.

"Enough!" Ronan yelled from behind me, oh shit.

I thought it was over but I was wrong, the man running towards me apparently didn't hear Ronan. I braced for the impact, still trapped by Ronan's grip. His fist landed straight in my stomach, I coughed in pain, the force of the blow causing me to cough some blood. I couldn't breath until it had cleared from my wind pipe. Along with being winded, I hate being winded. Everyone hates being winded. I want to kill him, make him pay. I want to kill every bad person in this world. They prey on the weak, well I'm not weak, now they are going to pay.

The pain in my gut turned to heat, my anger was bubbling over the top and I know what these feelings lead too, this is the first time I felt greatful for it.

Before I knew it, my body started contorting, cracking, relocating. It hurts, but no where's near as bad as the first time. The worst part is when my skin falls off. It feels like being put into a bath of boiling wax. The fire in my core is burning and I wanted to stay awake.. stay awake... stay...awa.. oh fuck it's black again.