His Mistreated Mate

The wooden stairs creaked noisily beneath our feet as we slowly made our way down into the darkness, our noses now covered by our hands due to the putrid, rotting smell that enveloped us like a blanket. As I stepped off the last step and felt the hard ground beneath me, I peered around in the dark curiously, straining my ears for any sign of life. I was quickly met by an eery silence, which was rapidly being disturbed by the sound of my own heart beating rapidly in fear. As I turned my head, I felt a thin strip of material slide across my nose, making me recoil in horror. Realising that it was the pull string to the light switch, I gingerly raised my hand and pulled down hard, instantly filling the room with a harsh, white light that hurt our eyes for a moment.

As our eyes adjusted to the harsh light, we gazed in disbelief at the cold, damp basement that we found ourselves in. We eyed up the old, rusty, metal pipes that creaked and clanged above our heads that snaked all over the ceiling and disappeared into the walls. The walls were made of hard, cold, damp concrete, which was covered in a greenish, blackish gunge while the floor was covered in wet and yellowing newspapers, partially hiding a single drainage grate right in the middle of the floor. A single green hosepipe hung coiled up on one wall, still connected to an outlet pipe which made me frown in surprise. Why would there be an outlet pipe inside of a basement? And how long had this basement been down here? And why didn't I know anything about it?

Turning around, I spied a large pile of washing and torn blankets that lay strewn underneath the wooden staircase. On closer inspection, it was soon revealed that the clothes were indeed dirty and soiled, but with no one in the room, the owner of them was unclear. But it was clear that these clothes were responsible for the ghastly smell that filled our nostrils. Sighing dejectedly and eager to get away from the stench, I turned around to Blake and Damien and shook my head slowly.

"There's no one down here," I shrugged in frustration. "Come on. Let's get out of here. We will have to send the hunters out to find Julianne and James."

"But who do these clothes belong to?" replied Blake slowly, pointing towards the soiled, damp mess of fabric. "And why are they down here, hidden under the stairs? Did Julianne and James put them here?"

"I don't know. I've never seen these clothes before," I murmured, glancing around the room once more. "But I just want to get out of here. This place Is giving me the creeps."

As we turned around and began to make our way back towards the staircase, a long, animalistic, primal sound echoed around the room, making my blood turn cold in my veins and the little hairs on my body stand tall. It sounded like it came from an injured animal, hiding somewhere in the room.

"What the fuck was that?" hissed Alistair loudly. "I'm telling you! There's something down here with us!"

"But there can't be!" Damien growled gently. "This room is empty! We have looked! There is no one down here!"

Frozen to the spot, I carefully scanned my eyes around the room once more, looking for any sign of life or for anything that was out of the ordinary. My eyes soon fell onto the back wall that we so easily ignored. For there, hanging up, pinned to the wall, was a filthy, large sheet. The sheet blended in perfectly with the green-tinged concrete, making it almost invisible to an unknowing eye. Beckoning over Blake, Alistair, and Damian, I placed one finger against my lips as I pointed towards the sheet and tiptoed towards it. Gulping nervously, I grabbed the stiff material and pulled hard in one swift movement, filling the room with the sound of tearing material, which revealed a large hidden alcove. What I saw next made a loud startled gasp escape my lips as both hands flew to my mouth in shock and anger. For there, sitting in the alcove, in all its shiny glory, was a large silver cage radiating its power into the room. Stepping back in fear, I growled in warning at the cage, smelling the acidic smell of wolfsbane. Peering in through the bars, I noticed the floor of the cage was entirely made of silver, which anyone knows, is a werewolf's greatest weakness. Who would even build something this evil? Interrupting my thoughts, Damien's voice growled behind me angrily.

"Who or what is that inside of that cage and are they dead or alive?"

Peering into the cage once more, I finally realised that there were two slumped half-naked figures lying on the bottom of the cage floor, on a tattered blanket but covered in their own filth. They were hardly moving, if at all and it was hard to tell if the figures were human or animal and if they were indeed, like Damien had said, dead, or alive.

"We need to get them out of there!" seethed Blake angrily stepping forward. "Get the Pack Healers down here now! Those prisoners are going to need urgent medical assistance."

"No!" I screamed loudly, standing in front of Blake angrily and pushing him backwards. "There's silver and wolfsbane in there! You will end up hurting yourself and making yourself weak! Please don't go in there! Wait for the healers!" "But they will die in there!" protested Blake loudly, pointing towards the bars behind me. "We don't know how long they've been in there! They could already be dead or dying! We don't have time to wait!"

The sound of ripping material once more filled the room, interrupting our argument and as we looked around, we saw Damien ripping his shirt in to two pieces and carefully wrapping his hands. Before we could stop him, Damien marched towards the silver bars and with all his strength, he ripped the door open before flinging it away from him towards the other side of the room and falling to his knees in a pool of sweat. Without a seconds thought, Blake rushed past me and grabbed one of the lifeless bodies out of the cage before retreating and gently placing them in the middle of the room. Panting heavily, he returned once more and retrieved the second body before gently placing it down beside the first victim and falling to his knees, just like Damien had done moments ago. Panicking, I rushed towards the two men, but Blake held up a hand, panting and shaking his head.

"Stay back from that death trap, Libby!" Blake panted. "It's dripping in wolfbane! We will be okay in a minute."

Nodding, I crouched down and peered at the apparent lifeless bodies before the larger body let out another deep primal groan, making me jump back in shock. "They're alive?" Blake gasped loudly. "But how? And who or what are they? They must be werewolves if they are encased in silver and wolfsbane!"

Suddenly, the noise of a dozen pairs of feet entering the room startled us and as I looked up, I saw Healer Nicholson and his team quickly enter the room, making a beeline for the two prisoners we had just rescued. In the blink of the eye, the room was a sudden flurry of activity before Healer Nicholson strode up to us, his face full of concern and worry.

"Some good news and some bad news I'm afraid," he began slowly. "Good news is that they are alive but only just. The bad news is that I don't know if they are going to make it. I need to get them both to the hospital as soon as I can." "Do we know who they are yet?" Blake asked curiously. "Are they human, animal or a werewolf?"

"They are werewolves like us," responded Healer Nicholson quickly. "However, I don't know if their wolves have made it, unfortunately. I'm not sure who they are if I'm honest. Do we have any missing people reported within the packs?" "Nothing that we are aware of I'm afraid,” replied Alistair slowly. "I'll put a message out to the packs. If anyone is missing, we will soon know about it!"

Peeling myself away from Blake, Alistair, and Nicholson, I carefully wandered back towards the victims and knelt in the middle of them. Who would be so evil enough to keep two werewolves locked up in silver and in wolfsbane? Was Julianne really that evil? Mya asked ruefully. Carefully I swept the hair back from the faces of both people and recoiled in shock. Feeling my breath become ragged in my chest, I stood up and looked towards Blake and Alistair who were watching me carefully.

"I know who they are!" I stammered loudly, feeling my chest tighten painfully and the room began to spin into darkness. "They are my parents!"

As the room began to turn black and spin around, I felt my knees give way beneath me and I was only just aware of myself falling to the ground. I heard the muffled sounds of feet running towards me before many pairs of hands grabbed me and steadied me to the ground. Finally sitting down on the floor, I tried to speak but nothing more than a croak escaped my lips.

"What do you mean that they are your parents?" Alistair growled angrily. "You told us that they were dead!"

"Do you think that I am lying!" I furiously snarled back. "I thought that they was dead but I'm telling you, those prisoners are my mum and dad!"

"Regardless of who they are, I need them back at the hospital now," healer Nicholson butted in urgently. "I'm just going to take them both now and see if I can save them. I'll keep you all updated on their conditions."

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We all stood back and watched silently as Healer Nicholson and his team gently picked up the prisoners and carried them back upstairs and out of our sight.

"So, what happens now boss?" Damien asked quickly. "We go out to find two criminals and find two half dead wolves instead."

"Those half dead wolves are my parents!" I snarled angrily, baring my teeth at Damien. "Have some respect!"

"Everyone needs to calm down!" Blake growled, showing his Alpha side, and making us all shrink back in submission. "This changes nothing! We will still hunt those vile creatures down and have them punished. We will try to save your parents, but this will mean that kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment will be added to their charges!"

"Can't we just kill them and be done with it?" Alistair growled. "It would be so much easier."

Before anyone could respond, the sound of running feet down the wooden stair case alerted us to some ones arrival once more. We quickly looked up to see Jensen and Jared running in, looking excited and breathless as they ran towards us and skidded to a halt.

"Alpha, Beta, Luna, we have some good news for you!" cried out Jared excitedly. "We have located and secured them safely in our prisoners wing!"

"Located and secured who?" Me and Blake chorused together while looking at Jared curiously.

"James and Julianne!"