Feral For Her Freedom
SEVEN

I wasn’t someone who made the same mistake twice. Before me lied another golden opportunity. If I could just keep myself under control until this male believed I really was just a weak and pathetic female, I would be able to strike when his guard was down. It had to be a believable act though, so for now I was going to give him one hell of a hard time.

Myrin was trying to approach me. It was just the two of us, locked in the cell moving in a deadly dance. He’d signed the papers that saved me from death, but they also stated I now belonged to him. It was laughable he thought I’d just follow him out like a good little puppy. When I refused to exit the cell, he was forced to retrieve me.

Now here we were.

He would approach, I would snap at him and jump away.

At first, I knew he was just experimenting. He didn’t even seem angry when I ignored his commands.

Our dance continued on, but I wanted to test him like he was testing me. So, the next time I lunged at him, I used a bit more of my speed to actually hook my claws into his chest and puncture five deep holes in his torso. I sprang away to the opposite side of the cell and waited, watching his face.

Surprise flickered across his face, but it quickly morphed into rage. I knew then that he was done playing with me and now the real fight would begin.

With a growl, he lunged at me, using his speed to try and catch me off guard, but I’d been holding back as well and easily evaded him. A satisfied smirk plastered itself across my lips only igniting a deeper fury within the male.

He managed to grab ahold of me, pinning my arms to my chest, but he forgot I still had legs, one of which I drove up into his crotch with as much force as I could muster.

He howled, hunching over but didn’t let me go.

I used my teeth to snap at his face, causing him to rear back, his hold loosening enough for me to rip away from him, clawing at his arms as I did so.

Myrin stayed in his hunched position, breathing heavily as he glared at me. “By the time I’m done with you, you’ll never even think of looking at a male much less lifting a finger to them.”

I wasn’t one to be intimidated by threats. “I have yet to see you display any skills that would make me actually believe you.” I lifted a hand to showcase my bloody claws. “I think it’d be more accurate for me to tell you that by the time I’m done with you, you’ll never even speak to a female let alone threaten them.”

“I’m done listening to you talk,” Myrin snarled, pulling a small dart from his pocket. Before I had time to react a sharp prick had me looking down at my thigh. I reached for the source of my small pain and yanked it out, bringing it to my face so that I could examine the hair like needle that was almost invisible to the eye.

I looked from it to the male, frowning in question. He stood still as though he was waiting for something.

I took one step forward, stumbling as I did so and then another causing my ankle to roll. My face met with the ground, my cheek throbbing as it made impact. I tried to use my hands to push myself up, but I couldn’t feel them. My neck wouldn’t move either and I began to panic. Even then no sounds came from my lips. It seemed I only had control over my eyes and ears.

The sound of footsteps first told me what was happening, and then polished shoes came into vision stopping just before my nose. I heard a slight popping as he crouched down, now his knees and the tips of his fingers also in my line of sight, his face remaining hidden. “Get used to this feeling, Beastie,” he chuckled dryly at the nickname he gave me, “I’ll modify it a little when we reach your new home, but until then…”he caressed my face, but I couldn’t feel anything other than a dull prickle, “I’ll be the one controlling all your movements.”

Suddenly the ground was moving, getting further and further away and then began moving backwards. It took me a second to realize I had been tossed over Myrin’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes and was being carried like some helpless damsel.

I burned with indignation. How dare he!

He had paralyzed me and now had the nerve to take advantage of the situation and make me appear weak and helpless.

All I could see were legs and shoes as I was toted around. There were the occasional set of stairs and a few doorways and then finally the open air.

It was dark out and the only sounds were vehicles and people rather than the insects and animals I much preferred, but it was better than that cell.

I hardly had time to enjoy it before I was tossed onto a seat of a car, the door slamming shut behind me. I was stuck staring at the leather seat in front of me due to the position I had landed in and so I had no idea when we started moving nor when we stopped.

Pulled out by my legs, I was once again slung over a shoulder. I was now more irritated by the fact that I had no idea where I was going or what was happening than the helplessness of my position.

•••

The flight was short, only an hour or so and yet every second passed like years. I was a prisoner in my own body, the very essence of freedom stripped away from me. I couldn’t move or speak as I wished, it was just my mind in a shell that was my body. Frustrated tears ran down my cheeks and from the corner of my eye I caught a pleased smirk from Myrin.

“This is nothing, Beastie,” he murmured low enough so that only I could hear. “I’ll have you begging for this feeling. You’ll crave the numbness of your body, the emptiness of everything but your own thoughts.” He flipped the page of his book as though these horrid words weren’t coming from his mouth but were merely a product of my own terrified thoughts. “I will tear you apart piece by piece until I take away your very existence. And then I will rebuild you and mold you into the perfect example of what you despise so much.”

He made no eye contact, and I would have thought I’d imagined the whole thing had I not seen the small smile that graced his lips.

I was consumed in my own mind, coming up with the gruesome and torturous things only a vile male like him could have planned. I knew I was letting him win by letting him get under my skin.

I would’ve liked to think I could have brushed him off, but this was a different type of brave. My shield of sarcasm could not help me anymore, my reliance on the element of surprise was ground to dust. Myrin knew what I was, he had sought me out after seeing my display at The Finding. He saw through me and knew I wasn’t all that I pretended to be.

In the wight world I was fearless because I didn’t fear death. In that world, death was the consequence for my actions, what awaited me if I ever got caught. I could look death in the eye and smirk because to me death was a new adventure. I wasn’t scared of the unknown. I had nothing to live for.

But I wasn’t in that world anymore. Now I was in Myrin’s world and he didn’t offer me death, he would only give me pain. He could take away my identity and turn me into something other than myself. He could take my own body away from me and shatter my mind and that terrified me.

My will was strong, and my soul was stronger. That was all I had to comfort myself. That I wouldn’t break until I died. That I would live through anything just to spit at Myrin’s feet each time he failed.

My vow didn’t make me feel any better, it made me feel worse because even to me, my promise sounded hollow.

Dread swallowed me whole, forced its way down my throat and drowned me, only letting me come up for air when I was roughly thrown against something cold and hard. The breath escaped me, and I gasped to try and get it back.

Without anything to center me I was unable to get control of my breathing which turned ragged. My erratic breathing caught the attention of the One who promptly commanded the attendants to sedate me.

When I next came too, I was overwhelmed with the happiness to finally be able to feel something again, even if it was cold and slightly wet, but when reality set in that happiness vanished.

I was in a dungeon. There was no other way to describe it, everything around me was stone, the iron bars that formed the door was the only thing that wasn’t.

“Welcome home, Beastie,” a chilling voice flooded through the darkness. I looked again at the iron bars of the door to see Myrin leaning against it casually. He pushed himself off it and came towards me.

Each step he took was like a nail being hammered into my own coffin. He stopped when the tips of his shoes touched my feet. The male stared down at me with such malice that my heartbeat quickened until it felt like it would explode. He lifted a hand, and I couldn’t help but flinch.

Myrin paused for a moment, grinning delightedly at my action and reached above his head. There was a metallic rattle and then two set of chains fell from the ceiling, dangling in front of his face.

He grabbed one and pulled it down with him as he slowly lowered himself into a crouching position. Languidly he grabbed one of my arms and clamped the cold metal around my wrist. Then he stood and reached above his head once more.

I was too focused on staring into his eyes that I was taken by surprise as the chain went taut and yanked me up so harshly that I was pulled to my feet. At the same time, a distinct pop sounded followed by an ear-splitting scream on my part and a bolt of excruciating pain that shot from my arm to every corner of my body.

Myrin was unfazed and simply snatched my other arm and raised it above my head, shackling it as well.

I whimpered, tears flooding down my cheeks.

The One turned his back on me and strolled towards the exit. I was about to spit curses at him and call him a coward for dislocating my shoulder to prove his dominance, but I realized then that this was the prime moment to beg and plead to let him think he’d already won. Then I’d strike when he was vulnerable.

“Please don’t go! Don’t leave me down here!” I called after him, struggling to get the words out as my throat clenched in protest. “I–I can’t stay here!” Myrin stopped but didn’t turn. “I’m sorry!” I continued pathetically, making my voice crack to sell the act.

Myrin turned and made his way back towards me.

Now nose to nose I continued begging, forcing more tears from my eyes. “I’ll do whatever you want, just don’t leave me here. Please.” His face was blank, not a hint of emotion on it. “Please.”

He seized my jaw, squeezing it tightly. “Adorable, really, the tears were a nice touch.” And just like that my tears dried up and a glare replaced my pathetic sniveling. He laughed but there was nothing light about it. The pressure suddenly increased sharply, and I grunted. His face turned hard, his eyes burning with untamed wildness. “Do not ever presume that I am a fool,” he hissed, his breath fanning my face. “I know the difference between an act and the real thing. Even when you can’t tell, I will know.” His voice softened and his grip loosened but for some reason it made me feel even more threatened. “And since this is our first day, I’m going to give you a little tip,” his grip vanished from my jaw and instead his fingers began to stroke the abused skin, “don’t bother with trying to fool me. That little stunt you tried to pull is only going to land you in more pain. I hate liars, it’s one of the many things I will dissuade you from. I will beat it out of you until it’s impossible for you to speak anything other than the truth.” He leaned in and inhaled my scent deeply, eliciting a shiver of revulsion from me.

Suddenly, he licked a line from my jaw to my ear, pulling my earlobe between his teeth. The action disgusted me but terrified me more. It took everything I had not to whimper. “You’ll conform,” he whispered, “I’ll make you see the errors of your ways.”