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45. Ivan
Kaugnay na kabanata
The Beta's Prize 46. Cherish
I numbly stepped into the shower, reluctantly washing that enticingly fresh smell of apples from my skin. Perhaps if I stayed under the water and pretended I had heard nothing…no, there was no way to erase what I had just witnessed. Ivan to allow Denton to kill him in exchange for my freedom? The first deal was atrocious, this one was just sickeningly pointless. I heard the door creak as Ivan slowly stepped into the bathroom. He slid his shorts down and silently stepped into the large tiled shower space. He simply wrapped his arms around me, pulling my chest to his torso, his hands around my lower back. I followed, my arms naturally finding their place up on his huge shoulders, my hands tangling his coppery mane. The hot water rained down on both of our bodies as he softly stroked my spine up and down. “Cherish…I know you don’t want this but I would rather you had a chance at getting out of here. I’m dead anyway.” “Don’t say that,” I whispered, looking down as my tears mixed int
The Beta's Prize 47. Ivan
For the very final time, I wait in the holding cell. There are only two of us left as I am the second to last fight. The room stinks of men as I sit under a flickering strobe light examining my hand strapping for the thousandth time. The fighter after my match, Jackson is meditating away in the corner. Whatever helps I guess. Vincent knows that by suggesting a target to get to freedom it will spur fighters on. I imagine every rookie thinks they can do this ten or fifteen times if they had to. However Vincent, being the sick bastard he is, knows realistically, a shifter's body can only heal so much. Denton and I were probably fifty percent less powerful when we first arrived. My battle with Xavier sapped a lot of my inner strength, the whipping took Dentons. Now we are more vulnerable, fuelled not by muscle but primal emotions. Mine is the desperation to get back to Cherish, whereas Denton, all flaring black eyes and wild back beard, is angry. Sheer hatred for killing his only fri
The Beta's Prize 48. Ivan
My victory was all but assured as Denton lay on the floor, his hands trying to cover the gaping, bleeding wounds of his smashed ribcage I looked once more towards the box where Vincent and Kingsley sat. Kingsley had a victorious little smirk on his face, as though he was already planning his tortures for Cherish. Instead I ran to the ladder where hundreds of men were gathered waiting to congratulate me on my win. Instead of climbing I used every last bit of strength and wrenched it from the wall. Aware of the thousands of eyes on me, I was relieved when it came away with a large metal plate attached. The crowd gasped and muttered. Was I planning to decapitate Denton, put his head on a spike like a barbarian? Or maybe something even grislier? “He hated him, he’s going to make him suffer, go on Ivan!” they shouted, loving the idea of an even gorier death than they had seen before. They watched as I ripped the backing plate from the ladders struts, giving me a long piece of metal. More
The Beta's Prize 49. Cherish
I spend most of the evening sitting blankly on the bed beside a small black canvas bag. It contains just a few basic items of clothing and food. There is nothing of value I can include, no money, nothing to assist us once we get out of here. The trivialities of which long black dress to pack was robotically completed. After throwing up I cried whilst Martha softly held me until I fell asleep in her arms. Any remaining adrenaline must have ebbed away from my body, leaving me exhausted. Halo tried to soothe me by suggesting I conserve my strength for what was to come. However when I woke, flinching and flailing, Martha was still holding me, stroking my long blonde hair, perhaps imagining her own girls in my place. “Martha if he dies…will we really be free?” “I don't know but it is the closest I have ever come to it in all these years. Vincent doesn't like to be seen as a man of poor honor.” “But then Ivan…” “He has made a noble choice,” her voice more strict and matronly than friendl
The Beta's Prize 50. Ivan
I mentioned feeling as though I was on a tightrope when she first taunted me in the dark as she slowly headed around the bed a few weeks ago. So this was what it felt like to fall. That first knock on the door, getting nothing but silence, hit me like a sledgehammer. The plummet was sickening. Looking around the corridor, debris and carnage everywhere I started cursing myself for not getting back sooner. Out of desperation I tried that second knock, hearing her familiar scuffle and squeal sent me skyrocketing. My heart soared as though a trapeze artist had grabbed me mid-air. I know we don’t have time for this, we need to be on the move while it’s dark, whilst the crowd is still here causing chaos but fuck, the instant I see those blue eyes I cannot put her down. Her smile, the pure illuminated joy on her face is now etched into my memories. My goal in life is to never put her through such worry again. /Or yourself/ Kohl added, /we cannot let her go again./ We need to get out
The Beta's Prize 51. Cherish
In silence we trundled away from our spotlit prison, the roads bumpy and jarring. passing through town after town it was clear just how big an influence Vincent had held over the area. Everything revolved around gambling. Ivans painted portrait hung in several shop windows along with Denton. It made me shudder, his face curled up in a snarl that I’d never seen before. There was even one of Xavier, his snarling disfigured rage marked with a huge red cross, signifying his end. Even though it was the middle of the night, bars and taverns were bouncing with life. Clearly some people had done very well out of the looting tonight and were celebrating. Quite how this area of wooden buildings and small stone walls would fare without the income from guests travelling to watch the Showcases was a serious issue. Was Ivan right, would another gang of thugs just take over? Ivan kept quiet, his hands white, wrapped around the steering wheel, eyes laser-focused ahead. This was the trickiest part.
The Beta's Prize 52. Ivan
I’ll probably end up saying this for every day I get to spend with her but Cherish is something else. I have no idea how I didn’t crash the truck, my eyes were constantly drawn to her gorgeous face. That blonde hair tumbling down in waves soft, rounded cheekbones and pink lips. Those big blue eyes, taking everything in. After fooling around in the truck we sat together during the final hours of the night, dawn beckoning, as she slowly peeled the wrapping from my hands. Though I hadn’t been too badly hurt by fighting Denton, ripping that metal ladder from the wall had torn my palms pretty badly. I had a few worries, none that I wanted to burden Cherish with right now. Firstly, we have absolutely no money to buy more fuel with. At best when we run out we are going to have to hope someone will buy the truck and not rip us off. In this part of the world, I’m not holding my breath. From then we are going to have to hike. Pretty shit start to her freedom. Secondly, she needs to eat. She
The Beta's Prize 53. Cherish
Having successfully teased Ivan into blushing once more before we set off I soon fell asleep. The soft trundling of the truck was lulling, as long as I didn’t think too much about the last time I was in the vehicle. Sadly though having wheeled transport came to an end. We arrived at a little town, a collection of stone built cottages with a large hall at its centre. Families milled about, families played happily whilst in the distance there appeared to be a bustling town square. It was nothing like the squalid, run down shacks we had left behind in the Shadowlands. Ivan was outside the truck, talking to a grey-haired man in his fifties. He was examining the truck, the hood was up and he was gesturing at various areas. I gave Ivan a sleepy wave, those green eyes of his seemed to light up on catching mine as he gave me a soft smile and a little nod. Then he put his head down and got back to chatting. Eventually he came to my passenger window, leaning his huge arms down on the open w
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