Shane
Less than an hour ago, I took Adea in my room and watched her escape to safety.
The whip came down on my back. Skin split, flesh cried out, and blood oozed down my back. The warrior holding the whip recited the same question he had been since we walked into the packhouse. My fingers gripped my thighs tightly as the whip came down on my back again. I wouldn’t submit and I wouldn’t out Adea. I’d keep my mouth nice and shut until the time was right. And right now? The time was not right.
The warrior took a break from my back as Alphonse stepped in front of the bastard next to me. He had an attitude, and he’s bleeding from his head. I recognized him as Paul. I didn’t see him often, but he was assigned to clean up. He came in after events from dinner to parties and got rid of the mess.
He takes a break from my back as Alphonse steps in front of the bastard next to me. He was hunched over, but as he locked on Beta’s shoes in front of him, he straightened his back. He held Beta’s gaze, which in this situation was a sign of disrespect. But when you bled over something you hadn’t done, you might have a problem staying silent.
Beta jerked his chin and the warrior behind him pushed him to his knees. The bastard didn’t cry out; he just lifted his chin in defiance and glared up at the Beta.
“Are you seeing the Alpha’s daughter?” Beta Alphonse asked.
“No,” the bastard answered. “But at this point, I should see this daughter if I’m going to be whipped for her. Think I need to sample the goods if I’m going to be persecuted without proof.” The whip slashed across his back and he roared.
After that comment, I didn’t feel any remorse for him.
“Silence.”
A powerful force filled the room and fell over all of us. The Beta and the warriors buckled. The bastards and I feel it, but it didn’t affect us as badly as it did them. I looked towards the source of the noise, and find Alpha Eduard as he strolled into the hall. His head was held high, his nose turned up, as he walked in. He didn’t even look at the four of us on our knees, just walked past us as if we weren’t dragged from our homes. He made his way to his seat. He sighed and rubed his temple with his fingers before he looked at Beta Alphonse.
“Have you found out which one it is? Which one has dared to touch and take what isn’t theirs?” Alpha Eduard asked.
“Alpha. No one has confessed yet,” Beta answered, dipping his chin.
“So what you’re really saying is that your warriors are proving to be as useless as my daughters,” Alpha said as he shook his head. “You’re losing your touch.”
“Apologies, Alpha. With some more time, I’m confident I can break them. Even if they aren’t guilty, they may have heard or seen something,” Beta said.
Looking at the floor I grunt as my back tinged. I must have missed the signal because the bastard next to me flies forward, breaking his fall with his hands as the whip digs into his back over and over again.
“Jason, are you seeing the Alpha’s daughter?” Beta Alphonse yelled.
“No!” Jason yelled.
“Were you with her today?” Beta Alphonse asked.
“No!” Jason responds as another lash rips into his back. Blood splattering across my face as the warrior continues to whip him.
“Do you have relations with her?” Beta Alphonse asked.
“NO!” He cried.
The whippings stopped as Beta Alphonse squats down. He lifted Jason’s chin and held it so they’re eye to eye. Jason’s arms shook beneath him as he tried to hold himself up.
“Are you the man she’s been sneaking around with?” Beta asked.
“No, please,” Jason begged.
Beta shook his head and released his chin. Standing to his feet, he took a step away and stopped in front of the next bastard. The warrior behind him stepped forward, whip in hand.
“Please, I don’t know the Alpha’s daughter. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her. I am not in relations with her and I am not sneaking around with her,” he pleaded. “I don’t know anything, please.”
The whip came up and landed on his back. His back arched, he threw his head back, and cried as another lashing pelted his back.
I swallowed as I watched. They’ll keep this going until one of us talks.
“I will have answers,” Beta said. “We’ll keep you as long as we need to break you. Even if you aren’t the one playing around with the Alpha’s daughter, you would have heard or seen something. You would know something. Speak now and end this.”
“Don’t give them any ideas, Alphonse. Even if no one speaks, if no one comes forward, I won’t lose this fight. I’ll kill every one of you to win. So be good and come forward. If you come forward, this all stops, and everyone can go home.”
“It’s going to be a long night,” Beta said.