“Now, we’ll start again. What the hell are you two mongrels doing in my territory?”
He snarled, spittle flying from his mouth as his teeth elongated. Huck could tell the man was not in control of his beast—not a good sign.
Huck pushed to his feet. He was weak, but he wasn’t about to let this mad man stand over him as if he was Huck’s alpha. “As I told you before, there isn’t a known pack in Texas. So the more important questions are: Who the hell are you? And why is there an unregistered pack here? That would make you rogues. The real alphas in the United States territories won’t stand for rogue wolf packs.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Orson climb to his feet, as well. His friend bit back a groan, and Huck could sympathize. He felt as if their captors had beaten him while he’d been out of it.
“I’m not concerned what the so-called ‘real’ alphas will stand for,” Gerald bit out. “What I am concerned about is why you were hanging around my girl’s bookstore and why you were traipsing all over town asking questions about Lilly Pierce.”
Huck squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to clear his pounding head. “Jennifer? She’s your girl?” He remembered the woman that had been talking to Lilly in the bookstore. “She hasn’t been your girl long, according to Lilly if I remember the conversation correctly. In fact, it didn’t seem like Lilly wanted you anywhere near that conversation.”
Gerald’s eyes began to glow brightly. “Neither of those females is your concern. What is your concern is answering my questions. You can do it and die quickly. Or not answer them and die slowly.” He shrugged as if their decision was of little consequence to him.
“You haven’t been here long, have you?” Huck continued, ignoring Gerald's threats. Why would he bother cooperating if this man was going to kill them no matter what he said? But maybe if he pissed him off enough the alpha would make a mistake in anger. “Did you only come into town once Dillon was gone? Was he more dominant than you and you had to stay hidden with your tails tucked between your legs until the big bad wolf was gone?”
“What the hell are you doing?” Orson whispered. “Do you want to die by entrail strangulation?”
“You have it wrong, pup,” Gerald snarled. “I ran Dillon out of town. As soon as I claimed this territory, he ran away like weak prey. He wasn’t even worth chasing.”
He noticed several of Gerald’s wolves give him a skeptical look but then schooled their features quickly. “Sure.” Huck snorted. “I’ll believe that when I believe that Jennifer, the human, actually wants to be with an animal. Oh, wait.” He tilted his head to the side. “She doesn’t know you’re an animal, does she? Would she still want you if she did?”
Orson sighed. “Could you please leave me out of your ‘let’s die more painfully’ plan?”
“Why are you here?” Gerald roared.
Huck nearly smiled. He was getting under the alpha’s skin. Pissed off wolves made mistakes. Instead of answering him, Huck just stared back, meeting his eyes. Even if his wolf wanted to drop his gaze, Huck refused to submit to a rogue.
“If you’re not going to talk, then I’ll have to convince you.”
The alpha ignored Huck’s words. Yep. They were dealing with an older, most likely unmated, male who’d gone far too long without finding his true mate. Huck was sure the wolf was on the verge of going feral. It would explain why he was messing around with a human. Though Huck also guessed it had something to do with Lilly. Gerald had been way too interested in the human female’s pregnancy.
Gerald snapped his fingers, and three more wolves joined the twitchy looking first two who’d dropped their buckets and now had their claws out, literally. The alpha opened the door, and before Huck could lunge forward, the five males shoved into the cell and tore into Huck. His own snarls mixed with Orson’s as claws shredded him, teeth punctured his flesh, and the tang of iron from blood filled the room. At some point, he lost consciousness and could no longer feel the pain from the torture. He had no idea how many times this little scenario repeated but it felt unending.
“Splash them again.” Huck heard the alpha’s voice, and then freezing water hit him again. What the hell? Did they just have buckets of ice water sitting around? He sputtered and pushed up again.
As he moved, Huck could only guess at his injuries. Certainly, he had some broken ribs because it hurt when he breathed. Phasing would also be a risk since it could cause more damage depending on how bad the breaks were. But his arms and legs, though bruised and battered, seemed unbroken. He wasn't so sure about Orson. He’d heard his friend groan at times and snarl at others. Huck didn’t know if his partner would be able to run if they ever did get an opportunity to escape. If this crazy son of bitch would leave long enough for them to attempt it. Huck tried to move, but nausea rolled through him. His injuries must be a little worse than he thought because before he could try and move again darkness swallowed him.
When he opened his eyes he had no idea how long he’d been unconscious. Could have been hours. He tentatively moved his head, and the nausea was no longer present. That was good and bad. Good because he hated puking, but bad because if he’d been out long enough for a concussion to heal itself then it could have been over a day. He raised his head and saw that there was no one standing over them or around the cage.
A man sat guarding the door to the stairs up to the main house. He was humming to himself as he read a magazine. Huck recognized him as one of the wolves that had held him down while the others took turns raking their claws across his face.
Huck’s mind was fuzzy, but there wasn’t time for him to sit around wondering how much time had passed or when the crazy wolf would return with his hyenas. He forced his mind to focus, and finally, a plan formed in Huck's mind. He had no idea how much time they had before the other wolves returned, so there was no time to lose.
"Orson, you alive, bud?" he whispered, careful to speak as softly as he could so the guard didn't hear.
For a few moments, the wolf said nothing. Finally, Orson croaked out, "I'm fit as a fiddle," though he didn't raise his head off the concrete. Huck breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t been sure that his friend would respond.
"Do you have to pee?"
"What?"
Huck heard the surprise in his partner's voice. "Shh. Listen to me. I've got an idea." Huck quickly explained what he had in mind.
"Really? That's the best you've got?" Orson whispered frantically. “We’ve been unconscious for who knows how long and ‘Do you have to pee?’ is what you’ve come up with.”
Huck rolled his eyes, and even that small motion seemed to hurt, so he decided he wouldn’t engage in any movements that were not strictly necessary until he had to. "If you've got a better idea, I'm all ears."
Orson groaned and rolled his eyes. "Fine, let's do this."
Huck watched as Orson, with much straining and groaning, rose to his feet. He staggered over to a rusty pail sitting in the corner that by the smell of it had blood and urine in it. He glanced toward the door and saw the guard had lowered his magazine to take note of what Orson was doing.
