Chapter 283.

It took six wolf men to clean Torak.

Two held him upright, another supported his weight from behind, while the remaining three worked around his injuries.

It wasn’t an easy task.

His body was covered in deep, angry marks of different sizes. They ran across his back, shoulders, chest and stomach, some long and narrow, others wide enough to make the surrounding flesh swell.

There were bruises beneath the marks, dark purple and almost black in places. Dried blood clung to his skin, particularly around his ribs and the lower part of his back.

The men had to be careful. Without an active wolf, even the slightest pressure made his muscles tighten.

He had stopped reacting to most of the pain, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t feel it. His body simply didn’t have the strength to respond to everything anymore.

"Turn him slightly."

One of the men adjusted his grip.

Torak’s head dropped forward.

"Careful," another warned. "His ribs."

"We’re trying."

They managed to turn him enough to clean the blood from his side. His hand was an entirely different story.

The repeated blows from the mallet had left it horribly damaged. It was swollen, bloody and twisted, with three broken bones on both hands protruding through the torn flesh.

The sight alone was enough to make one of the men look away.

They had seen injuries before. They were wolves, after all. But there was something particularly unpleasant about looking at a hand that had been deliberately destroyed.

One of them reached for a clean cloth.

Torak stirred. "Don’t..." His voice was barely audible.

The man stopped.

"Don’t touch it."

"We need to clean the blood, Beta."

Torak’s eyes opened slightly. "Leave it."

The man looked towards the others.

They had been instructed to clean him, but they had also been warned not to aggravate his injuries.

They worked around the hand as best they could. It was the only part of him they couldn’t properly attend to.

His face had changed too.

His beard had grown considerably longer, covering much of his jaw. His hair had become untidy, falling over his forehead and occasionally into his eyes.

Alpha Blackfen had ordered that Torak be cleaned once every three days.

He wanted him alive.

He wanted him fed enough to survive, and clean enough that his wounds wouldn’t become another problem.

But he had specifically instructed the men to leave his beard and hair alone. He didn’t want Torak looking like the Beta everyone knew.

He wanted the difference to be obvious.

The man who had once walked into a room with his shoulders straight and his head held high now needed six men to help him wash and dress.

His sharp mouth had become slower. His movements were restricted. Even keeping his eyes open for more than a few seconds seemed to require an effort.

And Alpha Blackfen took pleasure in that.

"Is he finished?"

The six men turned towards the doorway.

Blackfen stood there, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Almost, Alpha."

"Then finish."

They hurried.

Torak barely registered their movements.

His head was still lowered, and his breathing was shallow. The clean shirt they had managed to put on him hung loosely around his body. It did little to conceal the injuries beneath it, as trace of blood stained the shirt almost immediately.

When they finally finished, two men helped him back towards the narrow bed. He didn’t have enough strength to sit properly.

One of them arranged a pillow behind his back, while another carefully lowered his legs.

"Can you manage from here?"

Torak didn’t answer.

The man hesitated before stepping away.

They had all heard what happened to people who showed sympathy towards prisoners in Blackfen territory.

So none of them said anything else.

They left.

Blackfen remained.

For a moment, he simply looked at the man lying on the bed.

"Much better."

Torak’s eyelids moved. He didn’t lift his head.

Blackfen approached the bed. "Do you know what I find interesting about you?"

Silence.

"You’ve always had something to say. An answer for everything. Even when you were being unreasonable, you never seemed to run out of words."

He looked at Torak’s face.

"Now look at you."

Torak barely managed to open his eyes.

Blackfen smiled. "Do you need me to repeat myself?"

"Go..."nTorak’s voice was rough.

Blackfen tilted his head mockingly. "Go where?"

"To hell."

A quiet laugh escaped Blackfen. "Still." He pulled a chair closer and sat down. "You’re remarkably consistent."

Torak’s eyes closed again.

Blackfen watched him for a moment before reaching inside his coat. He removed a folded piece of paper.

It was sealed with dark red wax. There was also a smaller envelope attached to it.

Blackfen placed both on the bedside table. "Something arrived for you."

Torak didn’t move.

Blackfen glanced at him. "From Adele."

That changed something.

Torak’s eyelids lifted.

His head remained against the pillow, and his breathing was still weak, but his attention had shifted towards the table.

Blackfen smiled.

Torak stared at the folded paper. For several seconds, he said nothing. Then his lips parted.

"Where..." He swallowed. "Where is she?"

Blackfen picked up the letter. "Apparently, she has found something better to do than worry about you."

Torak’s eyes narrowed faintly.

Blackfen broke the seal. "Would you like me to read it?"

Torak didn’t answer.

Blackfen unfolded the paper anyway.nHe had taken his time arranging everything.

The handwriting was close enough to Adele’s to deceive someone who didn’t know her well. The words were carefully chosen, and the invitation attached to the letter carried the appropriate names and formalities.

It was convincing.

He cleared his throat.

"Dear Torak."

Torak stared at him.

Blackfen continued.

"I hope this letter finds you well. There are things I should have said to you before now, but I have struggled to find the words."

He paused, and amiled softly. "Quite thoughtful of her, don’t you think?"

Torak said nothing.

Blackfen returned his attention to the paper.

"I have spent a great deal of time thinking about everything that happened between us. I know we made promises to each other, and I know you believed those promises meant we would have a future together."