Chapter 139: Blood and Chains

It was cold.

So, very cold.

Della couldn’t hear or see anything. She could only make out the sound of distant laughter coming from somewhere around her, and her eyes were wide open in terror.

Someone was holding her head down, and it had been down for a few minutes now. She couldn’t breathe with her head submerged in water, and her lungs were currently screaming for her.

She was struggling, and she was struggling hard. The veins in her eyes were about to pop from the strain, and her chest had constricted so hard against her heart that the beat was getting less and less.

Eventually, it got unbearable and her deprived, burning lungs could take it no more.

They burst open, and an uncontrollable gasp forced her to inhale so much water at once. She felt an intense, burning sensation in her chest, and her eyes bulged out in pain as water rushed into her lungs.

She kicked harder against whoever was holding her down, but only more sinister laughter made it as he held her head deeper into the water, forcing her to breathe more of it in.

Her head felt like it had been electrocuted, and every part of her chest had probably been set on fire. Every other action became involuntary, and her eyes began to flutter closed as pain clouded every other sensation there was.

She was drowning.

Breathing in water.

And all she could still see was Annelise’s dead body in her arms.

Her hair was suddenly gripped harder, and she was yanked out of the barrel of water and thrown backwards

Della fell on her back hard, and her broken bones and bruised body screamed in pain. Her lungs screamed again as she forcefully inhaled air sharply, while coughing out the water in her lungs as much as she could.

Her head was throbbing hard, and her vision was simply spinning. Water spilled out of her mouth and nose as she panted, listening to them mock her.

"Look at you," One sneered. "The great Rotblood."

"Hey!" The second dropped down in front of her, waving a hand in front of her eyes, "Can you see me properly? How many fingers am I holding up?!"

"Don’t push her, Varek," The first laughed again, "You do not want her awakening again and choking you till you see the Moon Goddess,"

They both laughed again, then Varek grabbed a handful of her hair again and pulled her closer to him, to his face. His eyes gazed all over her face, "It’s such a shame. So beautiful, yet so disgusting,"

"I..."

He turned his ear to her face, and leaned even closer, "Huh? Did you say something?"

Della’s eyes flashed, "I’ll kill you!!" She raged, and then she went for his ears.

Her teeth clamped down on the flesh mercilessly and then she tore it out of his skin with a scream.

He instantly let her go, letting out an agonising cry as she reached for where his ears once used to be, meeting blood instead, "Bitch! Fuckin bitch!!"

The other one didn’t hesitate at all. One moment he was sitting on one of the closed barrels, and the next he had kicked her in her stomach so hard she was sent rolling to the other end of the room.

Pain slammed into her body again, and she curled into herself and yelped in pain.

Jaime’s brutal punch had already weakened her baby devastatingly, and now this? Looking down at herself, she saw even more blood staining the underside of her dress, and another cry of agony ripped through her.

She couldn’t lose her baby too.

If she lost her baby, then she didn’t know what she was going to do.

Before she could stand up, a hand gripped her hair and pulled her up to her feet. She stood shakily on both feet, dangling by her hair since her legs had no strength to stand.

"You’re gonna pay for that, I fucking promise!" Varek burst angrily, coming straight at her with a bleeding ear and glowing yellow eyes.

The first punch landed on her cheeks, and she was pretty sure about three teeth went along with the blood that gushed out of her lips.

The second hit the other side of her cheeks, even more powerful than the first and she just knew her jaw would never be the same again after that one, and more teeth went with it.

The third punch hit her on the nose, and it was sent twisting into a weird angle as he smashed his fists into it and blood rushed out too, coating her lips and chin.

The ache in her head instantly became worse, and she couldn’t even feel her legs anymore. She was totally dangling by her hair right now, and she could feel the pressure forcing strands to rip out of her skull.

"We’ve been given half the payment, and we are supposed to keep you alive till she comes over and finishes the job herself, so I was going to save this particular torture till I knew lady Selene was on her way to come and see you." Jarek looked like he was a second away from transforming, "But fuck that! I don’t care about the money anymore and I don’t care if you die before she arrives. I want to watch you bleed, Rotblood! I’ll make sure you fucking beg for the mercy I would never give,"

He snapped his head up at the other man, "Chain her up!!"

"Varek, she’s supposed to remain alive."

"She will." Varek replied, wiping the blood dripping from his ruined ear and glared at Della, "Just barely."

The other wolf quickly grabbed the chains hanging from the wall. Della barely understood what was happening. Her vision kept swimming, and the room seemed to tilt every time she tried to focus. Then cold metal closed around her wrist, and it bit into her skin.

Della immediately began struggling again, "No...!! Let me go!!"

The second shackle snapped around her other wrist, and then she was dragged toward the centre of the room, where another set of chains hung from a thick iron hook embedded in the ceiling.

The shackles around her ankles were fastened next, and then the chains were pulled upward.

Della’s feet slowly left the ground, and her entire body stretched painfully as she was lifted until she was hanging several feet above the floor, her arms pulled overhead and her legs dangling uselessly beneath her.

The movement sent pain shooting through every injured part of her body, and she whimpered, "Put me down..."

Jarek stepped closer, smiling viciously, "You should’ve thought about that before biting my ear off."

He then reached for something hanging beside the barrels, and Della’s eyes widened as she took in what it was.

The object looked like a whip at first. The kind that was used to torture wolf criminals. But this one was different. There were metal protrusions running along its length.

Small, curved claws had been fastened into the leather at intervals, each one angled backwards.

Her breathing almost stopped, and she started to struggle again as fear clouded her vision once again.

"Oh, now you’re scared?" He looked ridiculously happy, and then he swung it once through the air.

The sound it made as it cut through thin air made Della flinch violently.

"Let’s see how long that bravery lasts."

The first strike landed across her back, and a scream ripped out of her mouth. The pain wasn’t merely from the impact. The hooked edges caught against her clothing and skin before tearing free again, carrying torn skin and blood along with it.

Her entire body jerked against the chains and tears spilled down her eyes.

Jarek laughed, and then he struck again, even harder than the first time.

And again.

And again.

Till he lost count.

Della’s screams echoed around the room, each one becoming weaker as exhaustion consumed her. She tried to curl inward, but there was nowhere to go.

The chains held her completely still.

And Varek was only becoming more and more aggressive. He moved from her back and went down to her legs, his eyes glowing even more as he whipped every side of her.

Her chest.

Her legs.

Her back.

Her chained, stretched arms.

And her stomach.

Every time he hit that part of her, she would feel her cub get even weaker. He wasn’t fluttering like before anymore, and she was deathly afraid that she was going to lose him.

It didn’t help that the bleeding between her legs had worsened and had rolled down her legs and was dripping on the floor.

The other wolf was leaning back on a larger barrel, quietly smoking the pipe in front of him as he kept watching the show. He’d seen this countless times before. It wasn’t anything new.

And he always, didn’t give a fuck.

Not even when the victim didn’t have a wolf to shield the blows.