Chapter 63 

I stand on a table in the 

middle of a dining hall. A huge room with multiple dining tables. My wrists and 

ankles are in shackles. 

Kanda, Sheril and the other 

contestants that won stand 

with me also shakled. They took us here directly after the fight. I can tell Kanda is having a hard time standing 

since she is hurt but she does 

her best. 

We are displayed like 

trophies for Zao’s 

amusement. There are all 

manner of people here. 

Some look–and act― like 

savages, others look like well–established people. 

They told us not to speak or we would be punished 

but…since when has 

punishment stopped me from speaking my mind? 

The people here come 

around to our table to get a 

good look at us. 

“Not a scratch on him…” One 

of the spectators mutters 

looking at one of the men 

that stands with us. 

A big chunky round fellow steps in front of Kanda with a big smile. His big round rosy ch*eks pucker up. “My Nubian goddess! You made me so much money today!” 

The man is excited and in a 

very good mood. He holds cup up and nods at Kanda, 

and then he drinks. 

“I was not expecting a double team. It was quite exciting.” 

Two men speak looking at 

Sheril and then at me. 

“How long do we have to stay 

like this?” I whisper to the 

girls. 

“They will get us back soon, especially because Kanda and one of the guys are hurt. Just hold on a bit longer.” 

I am not sure I can hold on, I 

am about to explode on 

these people. They are disgusting for what they are doing here. 

“At least we are not them.” 

Sheril says looking at the poor women who were brought to entertain the men in a more s**ual way—also prisoners and among them is 

Lia, the girl from our cell. 

Two men suddenly stand in 

front of me. They look up at 

me, studying me. 

“What a curious sight.” 

“Indeed. The mask makes 

her…mysterious. She looks dangerous. I like it.” 

“You like it?” I ask. 

“Oh yes…” He responds. “I wonder what those eyes look 

like.” 

“Why don’t you come closer? End your curiosity.” I slowly 

lean down. Tempted, the 

man gets closer. 

“Can you see?” I ask him. 

“No. It is just dark.” 

“Get closer.” 

The moment he does, I 

swing my head down and hit 

him with the metal mask 

right on the nose. 

Oh, it hurts me too but not 

as much as it does him. He 

pulls back with his hand on his bloody nose. 

“How mysterious am I now?!” 

I shout. 

One of the guards swings a 

stick that looks like a baton 

and hits me on the back. It 

hurts but it is not the worst 

that I have taken. 

I hear Zao laugh along with a 

few men near him. 

“I told you all not to get too close. They bite.” 

“Dumb ass. Sticking his hand in a cage filled with rabid dogs.” The voice is familiar 

and quickly brings my blood 

to a boil. 

Oliver stands in front of me. 

He holds a cup up with a stupid smile. “That look is 

good on you.” 

He is right…I suddenly feel 

like a rabid animal. 

“So you are back?” I ask with 

clenched teeth. 

“I am. Couldn’t resist to 

watch you fight.” 

This man has no idea how 

much in danger he is. If I were loose, I’d kill him on the spot. I suppose I can still hurt him though. 

Without giving it a second thought, I jump on him. My shackled hands go around 

his neck where I hold him in 

place and sink my teeth into the first thing I can find. As I do this, he turns his head 

and I bite his ear off. 

Literally, when I am pulled away by the guards, half of his ear is in my mouth. He screams and holds his side, watching me spit the chunk of meat on the ground. 

“I WILL KILL YOU!” I 

scream. 

Zao claps and laughs. 

“You need to cage her!” 

Oliver shouts at him and the 

people around him that also laugh. 

“What did you expect would happen?” Zao asks. “You 

spoke of that man sticking 

his hand in a cage filled with rabid dogs but you entered the cage that you put her in.” Zao claps again. “Take them 

back.” 

Unlike the others, I have to be pulled and carried away because all I want to do is get my hands on Oliver. 

I don’t calm down until we 

are taken to the barrack 

rooms to change back into our white rags, and then we 

are taken back to our cells. 

“This can’t stand. We need to 

get out of here!” I start to feel a desperate need to escape. It 

has just been a few days but I 

feel like Colt and the others 

will never find me. 

This makes me feel sick to 

my stomach. 

And how am I going to survive another fight? I was 

lucky in this one. If Sheril 

hadn’t shown up when she did, I would have been dead. 

“We’ve all tried. It is nearly 

impossible.” 

“There has to be a way.” 

“You are just going to make them angry.” Kanda says 

resting on a piece of rag on 

the floor. 

“Let them be angry.” I 

mutter. 

Sheril leans on the bars of 

the cell next to ours. “Mike 

Tyson over here doesn’t give 

a shit. You can tell that much 

and I’m with her.” 

Kanda laughs and then I think bout it and laugh too. 

“Dude, your kind can heal but you can’t regrow b*dy 

parts. He’s going to be 

walking around with half an 

ear for the rest of his life.” 

Sheril says and starts 

laughing. 

That night, I sleep just a tiny bit better knowing that Oliver is going to remember 

me for the rest of his life 

every time he looks in a 

mirror. 

In the morning I am filled 

with sadness. I miss Colt. I 

miss waking up with him. 

We are not mates but I have 

a bond with him 

nonetheless. I love that man 

and I miss him so much. 

My thoughts start going to a dark place, wondering if I’ll ever see him again. If I never 

do, will he ever know what happened to me? Will he look for me until he gives up hope? Will he miss me? 

I quietly cry in the corner hoping no one notices. 

The next two days are filled with mostly rest and 

sickness. The food here is 

horrendous. And rest is all 

we can do in these cages. I guess you could say that we are a bit lucky to be in this particular cell because from 

where we are, I can see the market so it is just a bit 

entertaining. It is always 

filled with people, even at 

night. Many of the people 

also come to see us. It is like 

we are animals in a zoo. 

I still can’t get used to the food they give us. I am always feeling sick. It tastes disgusting. 

“What are they doing?” I ask 

Kanda, watching two guards 

going around the cells with a 

clipboard in hand. 

“They are choosing who is 

fighting again tonight.” 

“Again?! So soon?!” 

My stomach turns. 

When they get to our cell, one of the guards points to 

the girl who sleeps in the corner. All she does is sleep, 

eat, and shit. She doesn’t 

converse with us and I don’t 

even know her name. 

“That one has done nothing 

for weeks. Put her on the 

list.” The guard then looks at Kanda and then at me. “They will fight too.” 

“What?!” I shout. “Me too?!” 

“Yes!” The guard yells and 

walks off. 

No…not again…I suddenly 

visualized the fight I was in. I 

start to feel hot and shaky. 

“I…I don’t…I…” I turn around 

and run to the latrine where 

I empty the contents of my 

stomach. 

Lia pats my back. “It’s okay. Breath. You did it once, you can do it again.” 

“That was luck. If Sheril 

hadn’t been thrown in, I 

would have been dead.” 

Victor’s lessons also saved 

my life. I sit against the wall and wonder how they are all 

doing. My life suddenly did 

a one–eighty and completely changed again after I had gotten used to my father and his pack. Now I’m here. 

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. 

I survived all these years. I survived a raging river as a child that killed my mother. I survived a pack that hated me and nearly killed me many times. I survived my father and stood up to him 

and his cruelty. I can survive 

this too, I must. 

I touch the sides of my head. 

The bolt wounds have 

healed. They don’t hurt anymore. I can’t even feel it and I have gotten used to the 

mask and my limited vision. 

“Kanda, where are you from anyway?” I ask her, looking for conversation. 

“Kenya. I was part of a pack near a city called Nairobi.” 

“Pack…what… are you?” 

“A werecat. We are very 

different you and I…our 

kind. All we have in 

common is that we can shift 

and heal fast. Our packs 

consist of only five to ten 

people. We are not as strong as your kind–though we are still strong—but we are very fast and agile. Our bodies 

can twist in ways that yours can’t.” 

I nod. This is all very 

interesting. 

“How did you end up here?” 

“Our pack was attacked by poacher hunters.” 

“Poacher?” 

She nods. 

“Hunters who hunt 

supernatural beings for the 

sport of it and what they can 

gain. I was brought here and 

sold. I don’t know what 

happened to the rest of my pack.” 

“Don’t confuse them with us.” 

Sheril says. “Our hunter 

society is there to preserve peace between all of us. 

When we hunt, it is usually those who have gone crazy on a killing spree. At least that’s what usually happens.” 

The guards suddenly stand in front of us again but this 

time with Zao. 

“This one?” The guard points 

at Kanda. 

“Yes.” Zao says. He leans in to speak to Kanda. “I will be taking your metal collar off during the fight so that you 

can shift. Your kind is rare 

but I want to give them a 

taste of wonder. I have 

powerful people coming to 

see the fight tonight. We are putting on a show on this one. If you all play your rolls right, you’ll get to dine with us tonight instead of just being displayed.” 

I roll my eyes watching them 

leave. 

As if that was a reward. 

We all decide to rest. I sit 

leaning on the wall from the latrine watching people 

come and go, waiting for tonight. 

A while later, we are taken to the cages in the middle of the market just like before. 

There are so many more prisoners than before. So many of us are fighting. 

I am scared, I really am. I don’t want to fight someone who knows how to fight because they will probably 

kill me and I also don’t want 

to fight someone who 

doesn’t because I don’t want 

to kill them. What if is 

someone like Musa? Her 

screams still haunt me. I am 

sure she did nothing to 

defend herself. She most 

likely didn’t know what to 

1. do. 

I almost gasp myself out of existence when I see a 

familiar face in the crowd of 

the market. 

“What the hell? What is it?” 

Kanda asks startled. 

“I know her!” I squeeze my ch*eks through the cell bars. 

The mask won’t let me go 

any further but these bars 

are not silver so they don’t 

hurt me. 

“Honora!” I scream. 

The closest guard hits the bars with his baton causing 

me to jump back. I lean back 

to the bars and notice 

Honora–the witch who 

helped me with my dreams with Ezra–looking in my 

direction. She heard me. She 

looks at me with curiosity 

but I don’t think she can 

recognize me with this mask. 

I wave at her but then she is 

gone. A group of people gets 

in the way. 

“No…” 

I desperately look for her but I can’t see her anywhere. 

“No…” I move around trying to look through the crowd. “No, please…where are you?” 

I hit the bars knowing that I lost my chance. 

“Who…was it?” Kanda asks. 

I turn and slide down the 

bars, feeling defeated. 

“Someone I know…” I 

whisper. 

“You know me?” Someone 

suddenly whispers from 

behind me. 

I turn to see her. 

“Honora!”