Ghost Moon - Book cover

Ghost Moon

SGCambridge

Chapter 2

Phoenix

I’ve been rethinking not eating my ration. As well as mouthing off to the guard. Sure, I had a plan—it was the best way to get the spoon undetected. But now I’m starving and I won’t be getting any food for a while.

My makeshift shiv is tucked away under the mattress. All I have to do now is wait for the right opportunity to present itself. That may be the hardest part.

Although I’ve been observing their schedule for the past two years, it’s never been routine. They take us to the torture rooms when they feel like it and feed us when they feel like it. There’s no definitive timing for anything.

“Come on princess, you’re being summoned,” the guard says, slamming open my cell gate, dragging me to my feet, then shoving me out of the cell and following close behind.

I keep my mouth shut. I know what’s coming.

I’m led to a tiny room that smells of death, blood, and fear. My clothing is ripped from my body, leaving me naked, the cold air causing goosebumps to rise on my skin.

He grabs my left hand, stretching it upward toward the shackles hanging from the ceiling and clicks it into place. The same is done to my other hand until I’m dangling in the air, my toes lightly grazing the floor.

He takes this opportunity to rake his hands down my body, stopping at my breasts and squeezing them painfully. I show no reaction and just stare straight ahead, closing off my mind to what is happening and what may follow.

His hand roams down my body until it reaches the small mound between my legs. With one hand down there and the other on my breast, he lowers his mouth and sucks and nibbles on my nipple.

I can feel his fingers making their way to my entrance and I’m granted a short reprieve when the door opens revealing the torture master.

“I told you to string her up. Not to have yourself a fun time. Get the fuck out of here and go do some patrols.”

Mr. Pervert stiffens when he hears this and unlatches himself from my breast, but doesn’t leave before inserting what feels like three of his fingers.

He looks at me with glowing red eyes and licks each one off one by one before turning around and exiting the room.

The torture master—let’s call him Bob, he looks like a Bob—walks over to me and without hesitation slaps me hard across the face.

“That’s for tempting my guard.” Is he serious?

“You know, you’ve been nothing but trouble since you’ve been here.”

“Well, how about you let me go so I’ll be out of your hair? You know, make things easier on you guys.” I smile down at him and see his face turn red in anger.

You can practically see steam pouring from his ears. He’s unusually short for a were, with beady shifty eyes and a stout body.

His belly always hangs over the waist of his pants and his nose is a big round bulb plastered to his face. Just… ugh.

He composes himself and returns my smile with a grin of his own. “I don’t think so. I rather enjoy our little meetings, don’t you?” He walks over to his little table and dons a pair of gloves before picking up a silver dagger.

He saunters over to me and, wasting no time, drags the dagger up my thigh.

Searing pain erupts where he’s left his trail, but I refuse to scream. Instead, I grit my teeth, staring straight ahead, my mind completely blank.

I hear his chuckles before he says, “You see, this is why I like playing with you. You’re tough. Strong.

“It takes a lot before you start screaming, even longer before you pass out. Tell me, what’s going through that pretty little head of yours?”

Slowly, I turn my head to look him dead in the eye and tell him what’s on my mind. “I’m just thinking of how I’m going to gut you. Slowly. Right before I rip your worthless head from your body.”

My answer surprises him, no doubt, usually I don’t say anything during our time together.

“Sounds interesting. But how do you think you’ll achieve that? You’re…”

“I’ll kill you all, but I think I’ll save you for last. Savor it. Maybe feast on your raw flesh while you look on, unable to do anything about it. Yes, I like the sound of that.”

Pain erupts in my abdomen and I gasp, looking down to see the dagger embedded in my stomach all the way to the hilt. I watch as he gives it a twist for good measure before slowly pulling it out.

Blood gushes out of the wound, running down my leg and pooling on the floor.

“I’d like to see you try,” he sneers before going to the door and getting a guard.

I’m released from my shackles and dragged back out of the room, stumbling every few steps since I feel woozy. No doubt I’m losing a lot of blood. When we get outside, I notice it’s raining and smile a little inside.

There’s a leak somewhere in my cell, so when it rains I get a good water supply. I’m not really sure how clean it is, but at this point, who cares?

Only after I’m in my cell, the door closed and the guard walking back the way we came, do I realize I’m naked. Well, shit.

I make it to the mattress and lower myself, careful of my wounds. There’s still so much blood, and I have nothing to try to stop the bleeding.

Hearing the faint drip-drop of water next to me, I scoot over and hungrily lap up some of the water pooling on the ground, careful not to take in any of the filth there.

Exhausted, I lay down and tune out the pain.

LATER

At some point I must have dozed off, because I woke to complete chaos. Having forgotten about my wounds, I scramble up from the floor, only to feel the pain ripping through my torso.

One hand on my stomach, I move to the bars and squint to see the front of the room.

I see one of the guards enter the cell of another girl and another on the opposite side where there’s a young boy.

They don’t take them out of the cell, instead they wield large knives made of silver and plunge them straight into their hearts.

Panicking now, I feel my breathing increase and my throat start to close in.

They leave those cells and move on to the next. Now the other prisoners notice what’s happening so they start fighting for their lives.

Another guard enters the room, yelling, “Hurry up, we don’t have much time—they’re coming. If you’re not done, we’re leaving your sorry asses.” He runs back outside, leaving the two guards to complete the dirty work.

There are screams and curses coming from the lips of the prisoners before there’s nothing but silence and then the sound of the next gate being opened.

This can’t be happening. This isn’t how I die, not after everything. Shit.

I look and see that they’re only a few gates away from me now. I’m making peace with death. I must have done something in a past life for the moon goddess to have put me through this hell.

It’s then I remember my shiv. What the hell do you expect that to do? You expect to spoon them to death.

Oh my gosh, I can be such a bitch to myself sometimes. Think dammit, think.

Two gates away and I know what to do.

I can hear the gruesome acts being carried out in the cells right next to mine. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart. There’s no room for nerves and uncertainty now.

I smile as I feel my strength coming back to me, a feeling I’ve only felt briefly after my father was killed.

“Well, if it isn’t our favorite little wolf girl. Are you ready to die, young pup?” Prison guard number one says.

“You think we’ll have enough time to have a little fun with her before we go, Dave?”

They’ve finished with the rest of the room, and my heart silently mourns the dead.

A hand clamps down on my shoulder and I spin around to face them as their eyes turn wide in surprise.

I know my eyes are glowing a bright blue, as it’s the color of all Alpha wolves of my pack, and since my father is long gone, I am now the Alpha female.

While they were closing in on my cell, I took my plastic spoon shiv and sliced open the skin on my forearm, removing the hecatolite stone. Now I can feel my wolf again. And she is pissed.

I stand slowly, a low growl creeping past my lips. Guard number two takes a step back before lunging at me.

Without flinching, I relish in the feel of my hand transforming into a claw at least a foot in length.

His arms come down onto my shoulders, his eyes wide and his mouth forming an O, before blood starts leaking out the sides of his mouth.

I pull back my hand and discard his insides, which make a sloshing noise as they fall.

I turn to guard number one, who is now trying to back out of the cell, probably to lock me in.

Faster than he could imagine, I flash behind him (the perks of being an Alpha—we can transform any single part of our body and we have incredible speed).

As he turns to run out of the cell, he slams into my chest. The fear rolling off him is intoxicating.

“Not so fast, Dave. How about we have some fun?” I feel my jaw unhinge as my mouth transforms into a snout, teeth bared.

I sniff the air and… is that? Did he just?

“Did you just piss yourself, Dave?” He’s visibly trembling in my grasp, urine soaking the front of his pants.

“I’d love to stay and play, but there’s an appointment I need to keep with your torture guy.” I clamp my muzzle onto his throat and feel the warm blood hit my tongue. I yank his throat out, and blood squirts everywhere.

As his lifeless body hits the floor, I turn on my heel and exit my home for the past two years.

***

Ten. Ten more wolves felt my wrath, my pain and suffering, yet not one knew where the torture master ran off to. I’m on my tenth victim, trying to get the answers I need.

All I’ve gathered so far is that people are coming. That’s why they murdered everyone—so they could make a quick escape.

I’m wrist-deep in this guy and I can tell he doesn’t have the information I want. No doubt he ran off like the coward he is, leaving everyone else to clean up the mess.

My body stiffens as I hear rustling in the bushes getting closer. I’m momentarily distracted and the idiot takes advantage of this. I look down to see a short knife sticking out of my chest and blood oozing down my body.

I release a thunderous roar and at the same time yank my hand out of his stomach and swipe my claw across his neck in one move. His guts now litter the ground as his head rolls toward the tree line.

Yanking the knife from my chest, I turn just in time to see bodies flowing out of the trees, both in human and wolf form. I can’t fight anymore. My body is spent.

I drop the knife on the ground and take two steps forward before my knees give out. A jolt of pain ricochets through my body as my knees hit the floor and I collapse onto my stomach.

All I can do is watch as they move toward me. I’m only angry I didn’t get to keep my promise to the torture master, but at least I killed everyone else.

I’ve at least avenged my pack’s death. A smile graces my lips as I recall every kill I made.

Black combat boots appear before me and I try to move to get up, but I don’t have the strength. It’s the last thing I see before I’m engulfed in darkness, a darkness that I welcome.

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