I try to offer him the most reassuring expression I can. The last thing I’d want is for him to do something stupid and get himself hurt.
That seems to be the wrong thing to do because Jett draws my attention back to him by using the collar to drag me forward. I instantly feel claustrophobic as my neck presses against the plastic and rubber. I can feel its presence every time I swallow.
“We made this one custom,” he sneers, hauling me closer to him. His moldy scent is so overwhelming I have to fight back a gag. “The dogs get metal ones, so be grateful.”
He reaches into his pocket, and Rowan makes a soft sound of alarm.
I barely have a chance to breathe out a sigh of relief when Jett lets go of my hair before a blinding pain jolts from my collar down my body. A wail leaves my throat as I collapse down onto my knees. My scream echoes off the walls of the small trailer.
The pain. God, the pain. I can’t breathe. I can’t think.
My hands come up to the collar, desperately clawing at it in a weak attempt to tear it off me, trying to get the pain to stop, but all that does is make the current travel down my hands.
Then, as suddenly as it started, the shock stops. My body is still left trembling, like a phantom reaction to that indescribable pain. Tears leak from my eyes as I try to gasp for air.
I never fathomed that kind of pain was possible.
A sob shakes my shoulders as I shoot Rowan a pleading look. What did I do wrong? What did I do to deserve this punishment? Why is this happening to me?
Rowan has no answers for me, his helpless despair matching my own expression.
I don’t even have a second to collect myself before Jett tangleshis hand in my hair again. He uses that leverage to wrench me up to my feet.
“That, you little bitch, was the lowest setting. If you fight or if you even think of escaping, there’ll be a entire world of hurt ready for you. You got that?”
I blink up at him through my tears, wincing at the burning pain on my scalp.
“When I talk, I expect a fucking answer,” he snarls.
I nod my head as much as I can, given his hold in my hair.
“I’ll be good, I promise,” I whisper, my words an echo of what I said earlier.
“That’s what I like to hear,” Jett says, dragging me towards the door.
Right before the door slams shut, I catch sight of Rowan’s head buried in his hands.
CHAPTER 6
Griffin
“This stupid motherfucker won’t submit,” the so-called trainer huffs above me, the crackle of the cattle prod sounding in the air before he shoves it into my side again.
I grit my teeth against the pain. All my nerve endings feel raw and exposed, almost like I was dragged across the pavement like some sort of meat crayon.
They’ve been at this all fucking night, and I’m getting tired. I’m sure these guys are starting to get tired, too.
Well, one can hope they’re getting tired. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.
“Kneel,” the trainer snaps.
I glare at him, lunging forward with a snarl, the chains binding my wrists to the wall of the shed pulling tight.
“Fuck off,” I spit, overwhelmed by an all-consuming fury.
If it weren’t for this fucking collar around my neck, doing something weird to my body, I’d have used my bark and made all of them fuck off.
But trust me, I’ve tried thatalready.
