Watch The Dark

"There you go. Quiet is good, isn't it, darling?" Talon cooed mockingly, tightening the gag around Tana's head. One wrist was chained to the wall and the other was hanging limply at her side. He was crouched in front of her, a dagger hanging from his fingers that he had used to make a series of cuts near her navel.

"I thought you had learned your lesson about disobeying me. But it's clear you haven't. If you won't cooperate, I'll make you," he snarled in her face. As he stood up, he cracked a palm across Tana's cheek and let out a laugh.

"You'll understand one day. I do this because I love you,"

"I love you,"

"I love-"

Tana sat bolt upright in bed, her panicked eyes scanning her surroundings. Declan was still fast asleep, letting out soft snores every now and then. Letting out a sharp sigh, Tana rubbed her face and quietly slipped out of bed. Her stomach had stitches itself together so she wasn't at risk of tearing it open. It seemed that her wolf had finally forgiven her.

When she opened the bedroom door to head into the hallway, the guards informed her that they would need to accompany her and that she couldn't go any further than the meadow. After she agreed, they led her out into the front of the house and let her sit on one of the decorated logs that were out there for the other pack members to sit on.

In the back of her mind she had thought that Talon might give up on her. But she knew too much, meant too much to him and his plan. He would never give up on her.

She released a slow breath, feeling the cool breeze brush her skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake.

"Feel better sleeping outside? I hear you guys do that all the time. Does it feel like home?" A taunting voice called. There was a group of young men and women approaching. There were only six of them but that was enough to make her feel very, very uncomfortable.

"Aw, she's scared. That's weird. Don't you kill for sport? We must just look like normal targets," one of the girls drawled. They kept moving closer, fanning out so that even if she tried she couldn't leave. Two of them were behind her, snickering softly to each other as if she wasn't there at all.

"Whatcha gonna do, blood whore? Wanna try and seduce me to get out of this? It just might work," a male purred, tracing a hand down her face. She let out a growl and shoved his hand away, but he only laughed when she did.

"What do you want?" Tana hissed. She could try to shove past them, but she knew that with so many of them they would easily stop her.

"We don't like the idea of the enemy being allowed to prance around like she belongs here. And sleeping in the same bed as out alpha doesn't sit well either," a female snarled back, snatching Tana's wrist and wrenching it back until Tana let out a shriek of pain and a loud snap told her that she had broken it.

Yanking her arm away to cradle it, Tana growled and bared her teeth at the female. When she tried to set the bone so that her wolf could heal, a male shoved her down and drove his heel into her only just healed stomach. She cried out, trying to whip out her legs to fight back. However, they crowded her so tightly that she couldn't move without getting another swift kick to either her back or shins. From the corner of her eye she watched the guards who stayed still and acted as if nothing was happening.

"Not so murderous now, hm? Maybe you deserve it, bitch," a male growled, harshly slamming her head into the dirt with his foot. Just as Tana was about to let out a low whine, a loud growl erupted from behind them.

"Back the fuck off, Dax. Who the fuck do you think you are? Take your little posse and fuck right off, got it? Declan is going to hear about this and you'll be waist-deep in shit, you hear me?" A voice hollered. It was familiar. It felt safe, and it made the figures around her back off.

"Just friendly hazing," one male mumbled, but was silenced from a snarl from the unknown figure.

"Get out of here," the male snapped. The six bowed slightly to the unknown male and scampered off a towards the second pack house that was located just at the edge of the far woods.

"Fuck," Tana groaned, finally sitting up and snapping her wrist back into place with a low whine of pain escaping her lips.

"Never seen anyone get you to the ground so easily. Lost your spark, hummingbird?"

Tana froze.

Hummingbird.

Only one person had called her that. Only one person knew to call her that. She felt her heart speed up, felt her arms begin to shake as she pushed herself off of the ground. Her wolf wavered slightly. He made her want to be protected, not to protect herself.

When she turned around, the man there was definitely Alec. Her brother. Her protector. The one she had sworn in her heart was dead. He had grown a slight beard and his hair was a bit too long and made him look shaggy, but he was Alec. He had definitely grown and gotten more muscular, but that was still Alec. Her Alec.

"Alec," she breathed. Her pain forgotten, she lurched forward, barely feeling herself move, and threw herself into his arms. He hugged her immediately, burying his head in her neck. She could feel him shaking as well.

"I tried to go back to you. I tried to get you. I couldn't...I couldn't save you. I couldn't save Tuk. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he rasped. She could feel his warm tears against her shoulder, could feel him tense when she hugged him.

"It's ok," she whispered. It was all she could muster up. Her wolf was more content than she had been in years and Tana felt safer than she had in years as well. It was so easy to let herself be protected by Alec. Her big brother.

"It's not. I should have tried harder. I should have fought," he cried. Alec had never been so fragile before. It made Tana slightly uneasy.

"I'm just happy you're alive. I thought he killed you," she said.

They finally pulled away from each other, chuckling softly as they wiped their faces.

"There was nothing you could have done. You did everything just by surviving Alec. He kept telling me that he had finished you off. That he had heard you cry. But you made it out. That's more than enough for me," Tana told him. He nodded slowly, drawing in deep breaths to calm himself.

"Tuk told me you didn't want to see me and...I thought I had screwed it all up. I thought that you resented me for being alive. But I knew it was hard and I wanted to give you space. Didn't hurt any less, though," Alec said, running a feverish hand through his hair.

"Now, we can get back to the emotional stuff later, but what's this I hear about you being mated to one of my best friends?" He inquired, poking her in the side. She rolled her eyes and batted his hand away.

"Use the term 'mated' loosely, Al. He is what Aurora planned for me, yes. Do I agree with her? Absolutely not,"

Alec gave her a pointed look, gesturing for her to sit on the log so that he could assess the extent of her injuries.

"He's a bit overbearing and dominant but he's a good guy, Tana. Maybe you should give him a chance. You're safe here," he said, sitting next to her once he deemed her injuries non-threatening.

She shrugged with a sigh. "Doesn't matter anyway. I'm not...I'm not cut out to do any of this. Being a warrior again is one thing but the Luna? Seriously? I can't do that," she huffed, kicking her heel against the log.

Alec stayed silent, keeping his eyes on the ground as they sat together.

"I should go back. If he wakes up and finds out I left he'll flip his shit," Tana said finally, which got Alec to look at her.

"We should hang out tomorrow and catch up. Just you, me, and Tuk. Like old times," Alec rushed out as she got up. "Please don't shut me out again," he added.

"Sure. I'll meet you out here," she said. As she walked towards the guards, she let out a low growl. "You two can piss off and find other guards who don't enjoy watching me get kicked into the dirt," she spat, storming back upstairs without checking to see if they followed.

Declan was still asleep, so Tana carefully slipped back into the bed and slumped into the pillows with a sigh.

She had her brother back. He could protect her.

So why didn't she feel safe?