The Next Day…
There is a strange kind of peace that comes with just resigning to your assigned fate because you know that there is really nothing else you can do about it. That was exactly how Ember felt as she was led away to begin her punishment.
Three weeks in a Lycan dungeon wasn't so bad now, was it? Hell yeah, it was. Who was she kidding? From what she knew, dungeons were not cozy. There were no fluffy pillows in a dungeon, no warm baths or cuddly duvet covers.
She would be alone in a place so dark and unfamiliar. For three weeks. And to top it off, after the three weeks, she would be moved down from her rank as a Sentinel back to a Beta which was the lowest Lycan rank.
The two warriors who were leading her out of her cell room were not the same ones she had become used to. She recognized them as some of her schoolmates from the Lycan Academy but they paid her no attention.
What was with the Lycan Warriors and being so immersed in their job? When duty called, they basically turned into bots. It was downright ridiculous, she thought as she remembered her conversation with her father the night before.
She couldn't bring herself to believe that her father had chosen the pack over her. Time and time again. The contrast between the sweet, loving father she knew and this new, strange man was so vivid that she refused to believe it.
"You seem to be handling your current situation pretty well, Miss Doyle", Mr Lou's voice said, cutting into her thoughts.
Lately, Ember was keeping inside her head because it was safe there. In her head, she didn't have to find a mate, she didn't have to run away, she didn't lose her memory. When she was inside her head, she could pretend that the outside world did not exist.
Now, Mr Lou stood before her dragging her back into the world she so badly wanted to escape. Replying to his statement, she said. "There is really nothing much I can do about it now, is there?", she raised her hands and dangled the handcuffs in front of him.
In order to prevent her from making an impromptu shift and running away again, they had put her in handcuffs. If she didn't feel like a criminal before, with these cuffs she felt like the worst criminal.
Mr Lou smirked at the response she had given. "Ember, I like you. You are a smart one", he said.
"Should I say a 'thank you' to that, Mr Lou?", she asked in a sarcastic tone. He smiled at her widely. "If it were up to me, you wouldn't have to serve any punishment. You would be free…", he said. "…but alas, I am just doing my job. Somebody has to keep the peace around here, right?"
It had been a rhetorical question and Ember knew that Mr Lou was just doing his job, but his presence still made her uneasy. She couldn't accept that this was the same man that had most of the girls in school swooning and swirling around like little children.
Teenage girl crush was just weird.
"I don't know, Mr Lou. Is that what you tell yourself to help you sleep better at night? That you're just doing your job?", she asked, getting a tad bit irritated by his presence.
Somehow, Mr Lou could not bring himself to be annoyed by the girl's smart mouth. He said, "That attitude does not look good on you, sweetheart"
Ember frowned, giving him no reply. This seemed to rile up his annoyance even more. "Maybe three weeks in that dungeon will teach you some manners and respect for your Apex. Enjoy your stay", he told her, his voice ringing in her ears like an annoying alarm clock.
On his way out, he bumped into Mrs Doyle who had been coming to say goodbye to her daughter. "Your daughter has a big mouth on her. You did a really good job with her", he said but there was no humour in his tone.
With that, Mr Lou stormed off, not stopping to spare a glance at them.
"Was he bothering you, Em?", Mrs Doyle asked as she got closer to Ember. Ember shrugged and replied. "He is a jerk, mom. I don't know what people see in him. Most girls in school think he is the best thing that has ever happened to the Lycan world"
On hearing that, Mrs Doyle laughed lightly. "It's good to hear you making jokes, Ember. I just hope you keep up with being happy in spite of everything that's happening", she told her daughter.
A lone tear slipped from Ember's eye, and with the handcuffs on her hands, she couldn't even bother to wipe it off. "Do you think I'll be okay, mom?", she asked.
Mrs Doyle cradled her daughter's face in her palms. "You never accept it whenever I tell you, but I'll still tell you anyway. You are the bravest werewolf I know. You're smart too. Of course, you'll be fine", she said reassuringly.
Although Ember didn't believe her mom, she nodded and gave her a fake smile. "Thank you, mom". Ember wanted to ask about her dad. A part of her didn't like how they had ended things, yet a part of her still felt betrayed by him.
Mrs Doyle's eyes were brimming with tears. "You will be fine", she whispered. Was she trying to convince Ember or herself?. She pulled Ember close to her and captured her in a tight embrace.
In that instant, one of the warriors pulled Ember away from the grasp of her mother, Mrs Doyle, saying. "We have to go now. We don't have all day". They dragged Ember away and Mrs Doyle crumbled on the floor as she watched her daughter being taken away.
***
The dungeon was approximately twenty minutes away from the den. It was an underground cave located somewhere in the middle of the bayou. As the warriors led her inside the cave, she couldn't shake off the eerie feeling that she got from the place.
The dungeon was made of cold, damp stone. The walls were thick and there were no windows in sight. Ember shuddered as it dawned on her that she wasn't dreaming. The dungeon was as real as the air she was breathing.
The warriors pushed her into a room with great force, she fell and scraped her knees. Ember winced in pain. "Jerks", she said under her breath.
They closed the gate to her room and locked it shut, leaving Ember there, alone and afraid. There was a crack in the wall and streaks of light shone in from there. A damp, musty smell breezed through the stale air and hit Ember's nose.
She coughed, choking on the stench. How was she supposed to survive in this place for three weeks? The cruelty of her situation hit her hard again and the pain from her bruised knees shot through her. She looked down to examine the injury, and in seconds, the injury healed up.
The perks of being a werewolf, Ember thought to herself. The silence in the dungeon room was oppressive. If she had thought that the cell room had been hell, this was an inferno.
A loud scream left her throat and rang through the air. Her voice came back to her in the emptiness and this frustrated Ember further. She plopped down to the hard rock floor and broke down in tears.
"Crying will not help you in here", a voice said to her from the opposite room. It was a girl. Ember felt her breath hitch in her throat. The tears that were flowing freely from her eyes ceased instantly. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest. Somehow, she had not been expecting someone else to be down here.
"Who… who are you?", she asked, stuttering in fear.
"Cathy. My name is Cathy", the girl's voice called weakly in the darkness.