CHAPTER 3

"Explain," the man demanded, not looking away from Pip as he made his way down the stairs. Sid and Jordan shuffled further into the room with eyes glued to the ground.

"This human was inside the grounds," Jordan mumbled.

Pip broke the stare to see Jordan and Sid cowering in the shadows. Pip felt the man's authority. He must be the leader of this place, he thought and dared to sneak another peek. The man didn't look much older than Pip. How could someone so young be in charge? Status, Pip thought. The man's parents must own the institute or something.

"Why?" The man's deep voice drilled through Pip's chest.

"I-I was running-"

"Don't you dare talk to the Alpha!" Jordan yelled, interrupting Pip's pathetic whispers.

Pip's bottom lip quivered once again, and he pulled his knees to his chest. He didn't understand the terms they used or why they were looking at him like he had fallen from Mars. Pip would have felt better at the police station.

The man turned to Jordan, scowling deeper than before. Thick black brows pushed down, casting shadows over his already dark eyes. "Why is this human in our cellar?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"He said he was running from people. I don't believe him. I think-"

"How did he get in?"

They all looked to Pip who was wiping away fresh tears. "I climbed over the fence," he whispered.

The man's glare turned cold. "Jordan," he growled.

"If a human can get in, who else can?" The man stormed to Jordan and grabbed his t-shirt, growling, "Sort this out."

"Y-Yes, yes immediately, Alpha!" Jordan spluttered after the Alpha shoved him away.

Pip's eyes followed the man through the cellar.

"Alpha, what should we do with the human?" Sid asked, still hiding in the shadows.

The man slowly turned his head and once again, connected his gaze with Pip. He stared hard and for long enough to make Pip uncomfortable. "I don't care," he muttered and climbed the steps without a second glance.

Once he was gone, Jordan perked up with a grin. "I knew he wouldn't get all soft." He kicked the bars, and Pip would have leapt out of his skin if he could.

"What did you say earlier, Sid? Break fingers?"

Pip pushed his back against the wall. Jordan gripped the bars with an ugly smirk.

"If you l-let me go, I won't tell anyone about this.

I'll pretend that it never happened!" Pip pleaded, holding his hands tightly.

"You're not getting out."

"P-Please," Pip whined and sobbed hard. His eyes were red raw, tears streamed to nose, into his mouth and down his neck. "I'm sorry!"

Jordan shook his head. "Pathetic. Really, really pathetic." He unlocked the bars and stepped inside.

Each step was agonisingly slow.

Pip eyed the open door. If only he believed in himself enough to run. "Please don't hurt me," he whispered when the guy was standing right in front of him. Jordan crouched, and Pip tensed all over.

"Jordan." Sid hovered by the bars. Pip's desperate splutters made him hesitate. "Maybe we should just leave him for the night."

"Don't give me orders, Delta."

Sid rolled his eyes. He sulked up the stairs and only when the door shut behind him, Pip realized how silent the cellar was. He could hear his heartbeat and the ringing in his ears from crying.

Everything he touched was cold, even his skin.

"Give me your hand."

Pip made the mistake of looking Jordan in the eye.

The evil burned like a wildfire ready to destroy everything. The desire to hurt Pip sat just behind his crooked smile.

Pip wanted to kick him and get out. Something told him that he'd get caught, and then he would be in even bigger trouble.

"Give me your hand," Jordan said again. This time his voice was bitter.

Pip shook his head, hiding his hands behind his knees that pushed against his chest. He looked like a child compared to Jordan crouching over him.

"I want to go home," Pip whispered, and fresh tears dribbled down his cheek. "I-"

"I don't give a shit what you want!" Jordan screamed in his face and yanked Pip's arm. Jordan was strong, unnaturally strong.

Pip tried to fight back, but once his stomach was pinned to the floor and his arm was bent behind him, he couldn't move. His face pressed into the hard concrete, darkening the grey with his tears.

Jordan showed no mercy and squeezed Pip's index finger. With a swift motion, Pip's finger cracked, and he cried out from the searing pain.

* ** *

Krey stormed down the corridor towards his bedroom. He was so focused on the scent of the human that he didn't see his mother standing by his door.

"You smell him too?" she said, and Krey stopped dead in his tracks. He stared at her like she had appeared out of thin air.

"The human trespassed," Krey grumbled. "Jordan is dealing with him." Krey walked past her like it was nothing. He tried to shut his door, but his mother followed him in.

"Your Beta wolf is dealing with him? Krey, this is serious. How did he get in? Why is he here? Who is he?"

Krey didn't answer her. Instead, he stared at his hand, bending his fingers because they suddenly felt a little stiff.

"Krey, how did this human get in?"

"Over the fence."

"Where are the guards? Why isn't the fence charged?"

Krey and his short-fused temper snapped. "I'm dealing with it," he growled and roughly guided her out, slamming the door as soon as her feet touched the hallway. Krey had gotten his anger from his mother, and she stormed back into the room as soon as he turned his back.

"Krey Graymer, don't you ever shun your mother out of your room." She crossed her arms over her chest, trapping her long grey hair under her arms.

"How exactly are you dealing with it?"

"I'm not incompetent."

"No, but you are new to this. A human hasn't broken in since your dad..." she couldn't bring herself to say it. "I know you're hot-headed but be fair to this human. Your Beta wolf has no self-control. The human won't make it through the night with Jordan Wright looking after him."

"Why should I care?"

"Because you're Alpha now."

Their brown eyes connected and Krey saw her grief.

He was an Alpha because of humans. He was an Alpha too soon. "The human broke in. Whatever Jordan does to him is his own fault." Krey turned to the window, seeing his mother staring at him in the reflection. She looked disappointed.

"You can be terribly cruel sometimes. Your father would have never wanted you to be this way."

Any mention of his dad was like a ton of bricks crashing down on Krey's head. The wound was as raw as the day it was made, and his mother kept ripping off the plasters. "Get out."

He heard her sigh, and then her footsteps, then the door gently closing behind her.

Only when he was alone, Krey dropped his head, and the emotion seeped through the cracks of his concrete features. Every day was a struggle. Seeing a human had brought back awful memories; memories far too painful for his already battered mind.

When his phone rang, Krey was a second away from throwing it to the stone yard below. He squeezed it in his hand, wanting to crush it, but it stopped ringing before he could try. Sid, his Delta wolf, left a voicemail. If Krey didn't pick up after the first three rings, he wouldn't pick up at all.

"Hey, uh... so, the fence is down because the switch got tripped. All the guards go on a break together, which is obviously an idiotic idea. I'm making them a new schedule now, so there's always someone on duty."

There was a long pause, and Krey thought he was done, but Sid continued, "I feel kinda bad for the human. He's way too freaked to have bad intentions. Jordan is currently breaking his fingers, and I can smell the humans fear. I'm sure you can too. So uh, Alpha, just let me know if you want me to stop it."

Krey watched his phone screen go dark. He looked down to his left hand. Three fingers felt as though his bones turned to wood. He bent them and straightened them. He had punched a hole in his wall that morning, so concluded the rigidness was due to that.

Krey paced his room, back and forth, back and forth, occasionally stopping to gather his thoughts.

After five minutes of intensely staring at his phone, he sent a text to Sid saying, "Tell Jordan to stop.

The human can stay in the cellar for the night.

Release him at dawn."

He turned his phone off before Sid replied and sat by his laptop to check on the whereabouts of his enemies. Krey had wolves watching them all the time, and he checked every night, just in case he

could target one when the moon was high.

Unfortunately, his enemies and their mates were at their own pack houses.

Krey leaned back in his chair, stabbing his pen into his notebook.

He would do no hunting tonight unless the human triggered any trouble, then Krey would gladly show him what it was like to be in the presence of a Merciless Alpha.