~~

Artem

~~

In my anger and frustration I lashed out. My foot, unconsciously, left the ground and found its way to somehow being planted firmly in her gut. I heard her scream of pain along with all the air rushing from her lungs.

When I withdrew my foot that piece of trash began to cough and splutter, trying to catch her breath and curse me at the same time. But she just managed to look pathetic where she was, sitting there on the ground with her arms out beside her and chains holding her to the tree.

She might have been able to break them, had they not been the enchanted chains that the previous Alpha liked to use on the people he would punish. Even one arm chained to the tree would have made it next to impossible for her to escape if we had used these chains. I guess there was some use to his old things after all.

I focused on the chains as I stood there, trying to let my anger settle. There was no need to let my anger get the best of me before I could find out some sort of information from this piece of garbage.

“You-you son of-of a bi-bitch.” She stuttered and stammered as she caught her breath, still acting like she didn’t need to respect me.”

“Watch your fucking tone.” I heard Kent snarl at her as he bent forward, glaring at her and just barely holding back his own frustration. “He is your Alpha now, and you will respect him.”

“I don’t care who the fuck he-.” That’s when Kent lost it. He lasted longer than me but he eventually lashed out as well.

Kent struck her across the face, a loud crack ringing through the air when his hand smacked across her face. Lisa’s head, I’m sorry, Trashy’s head snapped back and to the side with such force that had she’d been a human, she would have had whiplash from the blow. Who knows, she might still have it.

She looked dazed and confused now, unable to focus for a minute as she shook her head from side to side.

“You will treat my friend and your Alpha with respect, understood.” Kent’s voice held a venom within it that sounded lethal as he spoke to her in a slow and forcefully steady voice.

“Yeah, I got it.” She sneered at him as she looked up into his eyes. There was a thin line of blood trailing down from her lip as she answered him.

“Good, I’m glad you could finally understand.”

Kent stood then, stepping away from her and moving to stand back by my side. I was proud to call someone like him a friend, and would have hated to have been anyone on the receiving end of his temper. He was vicious when he needed to be.

“Now, Lisa, why don’t you try to explain to me exactly what it was you and your family did to my mate when she was growing up.” I wanted to know, needed to know, but I was never going to make Star explain it all to me herself. I was glad I found someone I could get it out of, even if I had to beat it out of her.

“She’s not your mate.” She snapped at me, though she didn’t yell that time so I guess that was a plus.

“Do you want to try and tell my wolf that?” I growled at her. “My wolf hasn’t stopped howling for her since the moment I caught her scent. Trust me when I say that she is my mate. And when we unlock her wolf and free it from it’s cage you’ve put it into then she will feel the bond as much as I do.”

For some reason that I couldn’t fathom that made her laugh. She was sitting there, chained to the tree, but she was still laughing hysterically.

“You really think she can be yours? That’s so pathetic. She is fated to be with my Howie. There is magic at play that will make her his and there is nothing you can do about it.”

“Then I guess I will just have to find a way to break that spell, because my mate will be with me until she wants to leave. But under no circumstances will she ever, EVER, go back to your hell house.”

“We will see about that.”

“Yeah, I guess we will.” I answered her even though she didn’t warrant a response.

It also looked like I was not going to get an answer out of her. I would need to ask someone else what had happened to Star when she was growing up. Out of courtesy I had refrained from asking her cousins, Reed and Bailey, but I think they might be my only options.

I felt like I could not help her to move on and live a peaceful life if I didn’t understand her trauma. I felt like if I was going to help her heal I needed to know what she had been through. And I would do anything to make sure she never had to suffer from that type of pain and abuse ever again.

I know they beat her, I know they starved her, and I know they tormented her mentally and emotionally. But I needed to know to what severity. There was no way for me to help her heal if I didn’t know how bad it was, right?

But even if I never know, I would still do my best to help her. I would make sure that the rest of her life was happy and peaceful.

Turning my head back to look at Trashy as she sat there on the ground I had to accept that we had come to the end of our discussion. I guess it was time for us, specifically me, to get down to business. I wonder if she is going to wish that she had talked when she sees what’s coming. She will probably wish that she had sung like a canary, spilling the entire family’s secrets.

Too bad, she will have to take them with her to the grave now. It was time for her to pay.