Chapter 15 – The Hole
Two days to go, but who's counting! I can almost taste freedom from here. Or maybe it was an omelet I could almost taste. Ursa was on her cellphone talking to the florist and cooking herself a late breakfast. I glanced over at the omelet and it was filled with ham, sausage and vegetables. Just the way she used to make them for my father.
I was on dish duty again, washing the breakfast dishes. Ursa had been so busy preparing for the ceremony that she had not given me a scrap of food the last four days. If it hadn't been for Max, the pup and I would both be starving.
Ursa turned around to get a plate for her omelet and ended her phone call. "Awe, is the little mutt hungry?" She taunted me. Just two more days, I reminded myself. Two more days and I was done with her and her cruel behavior. I looked over at the flames on the stove and in an instant her omelet was on fire. Thick smoke billowed up in the kitchen. Bon Appétit, I thought to myself as people raced around grabbing the fire extinguishers and opening the windows.
"Serves her right." Lia told me.
"What is going on here?" Ranger asked as he entered the kitchen.
"Just a little stove fire." Ursa coughed.
"And who's fault was it?" He looked down at the mess on the stove.
"Lucy was supposed to be watching the stove while I was taking a call from the florist sir." She lied.
Ranger turned to me and his eyes were livid. "What the fuck are you trying to do, burn the house down?"
Little did he know, I could burn this whole damn house down in seconds if I really wanted to. "No Alpha." I responded.
Just then we heard screaming and it sounded like Miranda. A moment later, she stomped her way into the kitchen with Beth and Grace quick on her heels. We all turned to look at her and she threw herself into Ranger's arms crying. She was holding a white dress in her hands. Blake and Cole even came into the kitchen to see what the commotion was about. Did she break a nail? I wondered.
"Babe what happened?" Ranger kissed the top of her head and soothed her. I felt a pang of jealousy watching my mate soothe another when he hated me for being weak. Miranda buried her face in his chest, really turning up the waterworks.
"She ruined your mothers beautiful dress." Miranda sobbed.
Ranger took the dress from Miranda and held it up. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO MY MOTHER'S DRESS, LUCY?"
What? His mother's dress? I've never seen his mother's dress. Was this the same dress that Miranda was calling hideous and didn't want to wear for the Luna ceremony? He turned the dress around and my mouth dropped open. Right in the middle of the dress was a hot iron burn!
I saw the smirk on Beth's face and knew this was a set up.
"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" He roared and, in a flash, held me up by my neck choking me.
The iron mark on the dress was much smaller than the one I used in the laundry room and the shape was different. I knew she had burned the dress on purpose so that she didn't have to wear it. She truly was evil.
"What am I going to do, the dress is ruined!" Miranda continued with her fake sobbing.
He threw me to the ground, "YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS LUCY! A WEEK IN THE HOLE SHOULD TEACH YOU!"
Wait, What?! Did he just say the hole? I was supposed to be leaving in two days, I can't be in the hole.
"I didn't do anything. I've never even seen the dress." I pleaded, my eyes filling with tears. If he hadn't broken his side of the mate bond, he would have known I was telling the truth. He would have been able to feel the truth and my emotions.
"She's lying, I gave it to her to press a few days ago." Miranda screeched. Lia was ready to kick her ass.
Ranger let out a loud earth shaking growl and threw me over his shoulder. He opened the back door and walked past the training grounds. I had heard stories of wolves who died in the hole or prisoners who went crazy in the hole. "Please, please don't do this Ranger." I begged.
"IT'S ALPHA TO YOU!" He growled and slapped my ass hard several times, I cried out in pain.
Everyone had followed us out the kitchen and other pack members joined behind us to watch. "Please Alpha, I won't survive this." I cried.
"My mother's dress didn't survive." He snapped back.
The guards were lifting a lid that covered a hole in the ground, it was about eight feet wide and twenty feet deep. He set me down next to the hole and I began to shake. I thought about trying to make a run for it. Lia could outrun all of them, but I knew I wouldn't be able to shift fast enough.
"Please just banish me and I'll leave." I begged.
"You're not getting away that easy Lucy." He roared. "Now take your clothes off!"
Take my clothes off? I had to be naked in the hole? The nights were freezing cold, this was a death sentence not a punishment. I was trying to gather the courage to tell him about the pup, maybe he would spare me. Or maybe he would take the pup and banish me after.
Lia was angry and saying something to me, but I couldn't hear a word she said. I was frozen in fear. I couldn't bring myself to move and Ranger became enraged. He started tearing my clothes off like I was a rag doll. "You will do as I say Lucy! If I tell you to strip, you will strip! If I tell you to spread your legs, you will spread your legs! If I tell you to bend over, you will bend over! I own you; YOU ARE MINE!!!" He growled sounding like a possessive mate.
I stood completely naked, arms folded across my chest, with the wind whipping my long hair around. Shocked faces stared back at us. Could they tell I was pregnant? Or were they shocked by what he said to me?
"You will regret this." I said to him. I looked down into the hole and my breath caught in my throat. Before I had time to register what had happened, I was falling. He had pushed me in.
I fell face down on the hard earth floor at the bottom of this cold dark pit. Pain seared through my body and I couldn't even scream. I tried to lift my head but couldn't, blood was running down my nose. I rolled to my side and turned my head to look up, the last thing I saw was Ranger. He was standing at the top looking down at me, his hands were clenched in fists as they closed the lid of the hole.
Darkness, it was complete darkness. I wasn't sure if my eyes were open or closed. If I had passed out or was just laying here. It had been a few hours or maybe days, I wasn't sure.
My baby! "Please be okay, please be okay." I cried as I placed my hand over my little bump. I felt the energy drain from me and my body was hurting all over.
"Lia are you okay?" I could hardly feel her.
Silence. There was nothing from Lia.
I tried to move but couldn't. I'm sure I had several broken ribs, a broken leg and a broken wrist from the fall. My face was throbbing, and my nose hurt. I felt my face and my nose was broken; the blood had dried on my face.
I drifted in and out of sleep, shivering in the cold, the earth was damp. My throat was burning for water but there was none. I could normally go days without food, but I was worried about my pup. I had lost track of all time.
"Lia are you there?" I called out to her. She was still silent. I wondered if she had left me.
I felt burning pain on my neck where my mates mark should have been. Then I remembered the mating ceremony. Ranger must have just marked Miranda at the ceremony. I realized that I had been down in this hell hole for two days. I was supposed to be making my escape today.
I thought about Max, he was my only friend, and would actually be worried for me. No one else would miss me or care that I was gone. After the pain subsided, I closed my eyes and listened to the faint heartbeat of my pup.
I woke up to feel the familiar cheating pains from my mate. My chest was burning, and the cramps were stronger than they've ever been. Ranger was having sex, but if he had marked Miranda as his mate, then why didn't our mate bond fully break?
Unless, maybe his wolf Rex, had not accepted her. The pain burned through me and I let out a scream. Withering in pain, I felt something wet between my legs and the smell of blood filled my nose. I placed my hand on my belly and could no longer feel my pup's heartbeat. The cramps grew stronger and I continued to scream.
I laid here alone in the darkness, naked and broken with nothing left to live for. There was nothing I could do; I was losing my pup.