hapter 7
Chapter 7
Rhea
One of them reel back their arm and the axe flies straight at me. It cuts through the air with a deafening whistle. I watch in horror, unable to move, as the axe approaches me at an alarming rate. There’s no escape. I’m bound to the target. I can’t even move away to avoid getting hit by the axe. All I can do is stand there and take it.
I squeeze my eyes shun, bracing myself for the impart. A split second later, the axe embeds itself in the wood, right next to
The
I release the breath I didn’t realize I was holding.
1 should be relieved, but instead, there’s a pit in my stomach that just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I don’t have time to process what has happened because the axe next to my head is quickly followed by another. This one lands so close that I can feel the wind of it stinging my check.
“Please stop” I plead
As though in response, the third axe nearly tears a hole in the flimsy material of my shirt. It misses me by a hair’s breadth. and I shudder at the thought of what would have happened had it found its mark.
Tm so better than you.” Ezra says to his delta friend, Samuel, who is enjoying this way too much for my taste.
The fourth axe splits the air with a sharp whoosh, and once again, I hear it land nearby. I can’t bear to watch. Every nerve in my body is taut, bracing myself for the inevitable pain to come.
Ezra stops after the fourth one and walks over to me. I beg and plead for him to let me go, but my cries fall on deaf ears.
I find my eyes drifting to the heavy blade of the axe as he removes it and the other three before returning back to the center of the range.
They’re toying with me, that’s the only explanation.
“Let me now,” Samuel positions himself in the between and picks up the axe. I sob to my self as they chatter among themselves, not even giving a single mercy to me as they laugh and keep me in such a pathetic state, as if being helpless is somehow my choice.
There’s an excited smile on his face as he holds up his arm. The axe leaves his grasp, and the path of the weapon seems to have narrowed. It cuts through the air as if it had a mind of its own, speeding right towards me.
“Watch. I’m so much better than you”
That’s the last thing I hear before the blade of the axe slices through fabric and flesh, cutting a inch of skin off the top of my shoulder. The impact causes me to recoil instinctively, my body instinctively trying to protect itself from the sudden pain. A strangled scream tears itself from my throat, followed by a series of sobs and pleas,
“What did you do?”
In front of me, Samuel furrows his brows, watching me bleed. It doesn’t take long for the wound to start throbbing, and it burns. I look at the axe embedded in the wood to my side and I take another glance at my shoulder. He cut me.
“Fuck” he said.
tone is not one of concern, but one of shock and disappointment that he failed.
1/3
20.00 FRI, 11 APE
Chapter 7
“I told you, you’re shit at this,” Errn whispers as they both approach me “Now we have to take care of this me
He grabs the axe from the side of my shoulder and tosses it to the ground. They both look at me like I’m an inconvenience that needs to be dealt with before anyone finds out
“You’re not going to tell anyone, are your Ezra asks me
I kill the sobs in my throat and give my head a quick shake. I don’t care. I just want to get out of here. I just want these
restraints of me.
Good girl. So if someone asks, just tell them you were on your tidying up the range and something accidentally fell on you and you cut yourself. Okay?”
I make no response“:
Ezra glares at me, “Runt. I know you can speak so do you understand?“.
“Yes, 1 breathe out. My voice is shaky as I respond.
“Alright, go back. Don’t tell anyone or we will personally look for you and that axe will cut more than your shoulder next time. Be warned”
My entire body trembles with fear and I can’t stop the tears from falling. It takes a few tries, but finally, I nod
A beat passes before I am released from my restraints. I press my hand against my wounded shoulder and I stumble forward, struggling to stay upright. Before anything else happens, I force my self to make a quick bolt out of here.
The sun blinds my eyes as I run back to the pack house, toward the safety of the kitchens. My wound isn’t deep, but it is bleeding heavily. And tears still haven’t stopped running down my face.
“What happened?” Tony comes rushing towards me as I reach the house. The first thing he notices is the blood, and a look of shock crosses his face. He’s by my side a moment later, fussing over me like a mother hen. “Holy shit, Rhea, what happened to you?”
1-1–don’t know,” My y words come out in a stutter.
“Come on. Let’s get that cleaned up.”
Before I can protest, he pulls me inside, to the empty kitchen, and forces me to sit down on one of the stools. He then wets a cloth and begins to dab gently at my wound, cleaning the dried blood and the dirt away from it. “I’m going to ask again. What happened to you?”
I’m at a loss for words. I don’t know what to say. Should I lie? Or should I tell the truth? What will happen if I tell the truth?
“I was cleaning the range and something fell on me. I–I don’t know. It just happened.” I settle with the lie they told me to say.
“How in the world did you manage to do that?”
I shrug my shoulders and take a deep breath. The tears are still streaming down my face, and I can’t stop them from falling. “I don’t know. It was an accident. That’s all. I’m so sorry for the trouble. 1-1 should go.”
“No, don’t. It doesn’t look deep. Just take a painkiller and let it heal. It’ll be gone by the morning. Alright?” He wrapped up the gauze and put everything back into its right place.
“Okay. Thanks, Tony.”
“It’s cool Talk to Ethel, she’ll give y
you the rest of the day off he suggests and I quickly shake my head at that.
“No, no, I can’t. It’s fine,” I say, my breaths still coming out fast and quick. “Til just get a shirt from the laundry and change.
2/3
23:00 Fri, 11AM GD
Chapter 7
36%
I stand up abruptly and take off before he can protest, I should follow “Tony’s advice and go see Ethel, but there’s something nagging at me that stops me from doing so. I can’t tell her what happened and if I tell her that something fell on me when I was cleaning the range, she’d probably ask me what exactly fell and how I managed to cut myself with it. And I can’t tell her that
I take the easy way out and go straight into the laundry room to change my bloodied shirt.
When Breach there, it takes only a minute before I change to another white shirt. Then I run toward the washroom to wash my face and get my appearance together before I am ushere around by Ethel and gets tasked with something else.
My heart is still racing, and my hands are still trembling, but I try my best to look normal and unaffected. I don’t want t draw any suspicion.
to
Before I can reach the washroom on the ground floor, I find the Alpha of the Blood Claw Pack walking straight toward me.
He’s back.
Here, staring straight at me.
I blink a few times, debating whether to turn around and go the other way. And I want, with all the might inside me, I want
to run away.
“Rhea. The way my name rolls off his tongue makes me weak.
And I hate it,
