Drip, drip drip…
With her head hanging from her shoulders, all Adeline could see was the cement floor decorated in splatters of blood and claw marks. Her breaths came in fast pants and her muscles ached. The Beast was quiet in her mind, but she knew better than to think that It was done.
This had become her norm for the past two years... Her daily routine. Her life.
Normally she-wolves her age would be gossiping with their pack of friends, or complaining about their overprotective fathers, or discovering new hobbies. Maybe she'd be into make-up, fashion, or even running. If she were a normal girl her age, she might've even gotten a job by now.
But she never got to experience that. The feral Beast had ruined her life just as quickly as it had arrived. It stole the normality of everyday life from her, making her every breath one of wariness and isolation. The very light that had once enveloped her soul was no more.
"Addy, honey?" A soft voice pierced the darkness- gentle but cautious. "Are you awake yet?"
Lifting her head, tired eyes scanned the room. Standing by the door that opened out to the rest of the basement, Adeline's aunt watched her with dark brown eyes. She was usually pretty good at reading people, but her aunt had always been a difficult person to read. The female always had a neutral face, even in the face of tension or danger.
She was an older she-wolf too, but she didn't look a day over forty. Thinking of it, Adeline wasn't quite sure how old Alexandra actually was. She was a beautiful female. Luna had long dark hair, rich brown eyes that could slice into a wolf's soul with a single glance, and a lean form. It hurt to look at her sometimes, especially since the female looked so similar to her sister... Adeline's birth mother.
Just as quickly as she had looked at her aunt, Adeline averted her eyes.
"How are you feeling?" Alexandra approached Adeline's cell with calculated, slow steps. The Luna cocked her head in that calculated way of hers, but her brown eyes were warm. Sympathetic even. Adeline hated that look. Hated it.
Letting out a grunt, Adeline tugged at the chains shackled around her wrists. But like all of the other times she had resisted their cold grip, they held fast. The rattle of chains echoed in the room, so very harsh against the looming darkness.
"Last night was bad, Adeline." Alexandra started, canines flashing in the dim light. "Do you remember what happened?"
Closing her eyes, Adeline tried to force her way through the fog. It was damn near impenetrable, but she continued to push through it. Finally, glimpses of what had occurred flashed through the haze. There were only bits and pieces, but there was enough to get a general idea of what had happened... of what she had done.
She'd been alone in her room, reading. There had been little warning, but all she had gotten in were two single steps. Two steps towards her door before the Beast took control. Two pack enforcers had rushed into her room, had grabbed her and attempted to hold her down. Snapping jaws had found vulnerable flesh, whether it was her own or the flesh of the two males. It didn't matter.
A single tear dripped down her cheek. She'd hurt more people.
"Has- has the alpha heard anything about the Seer yet?" Adeline's words were heavy, near choking.
They'd had this conversation before. Many, many times to be exact. But it always ended the same way.
"I'm sorry sweetie. He hasn't. He's trying, but Travis is being a stubborn bastard. Your uncle and I will be talking to him again today. You're more than welcome to come with, if you feel up to it." Alexandra's words were gentle. But a hint of irritation laced her voice.
Adeline's head rose from her shoulders, blue eyes meeting sorrowful brown ones.
Alexandra was gripping the bars of her cell, but her face was still unreadable. However, it was her eyes that gave her deeper emotions away. They were glowing with the presence of her own wolf, glowing with the frustration that had been building for the past year.
"I don't know how much longer I can put up with this." Adeline whimpered. "Alpha has been trying to get the proper permissions for a year now. And, every single time, it's always a 'no' or a 'let's return to this in a month.' I can't keep going on like this, Alexandra. I just can't!"
There was a long pause of silence before Alexandra responded. "I know, sweet girl. Dillon and I will see what we can do, okay? Trust me, we're all fed up with this shit too. But we can't just march over there and steal the Seer. Alpha Travis is a stubborn male, but our Alpha is trying to get through to him. It'll just take time."
"It's been a year already. How much more time does he need?" Adeline's words were a snarl now. The chains rattled as she adjusted, but they didn't budge. That fact just made her angrier.
Alexandra seemed to battle for her words for a moment, dark eyes glowing with emotion. But she just shook her head and said, "I don't know. I honestly just don't know."
Adeline didn't bother responding to her aunt. It was pointless. They both knew that it was completely and utterly out of their control. They'd both harassed their alpha, especially in the last couple of months, to see if a Seer could visit the pack. But since there were only a handful of known Seers and only one of them lived in North America, it was proving very difficult. Add on the fact that the only Seer in North America belonged to one of the most stubborn, possessive alphas around? An alpha that despised her pack's alpha?
A mental image of screaming into a pillow came across her mind. Yeah, it wasn't only her Beast that wanted to kill somebody. If Adeline were to ever come across Alpha Travis, she'd strangle him with her bare hands. Damn the consequences.
Pulling herself from the bowels of her mind, Adeline glanced at her aunt again. Alexandra gave her a kind, soft smile. Adeline didn't bother returning it. "Can you unchain me, please? I think I'm good." It was more like: I think I'm safe.
Alexandra took no time at all to unlock her cell and begin to unchain her. They fell into a silence, both unsure if it was a tense silence or just awkward. After all, what were they to say to each other? Adeline was stuck in a limbo, one of pain and misery and guilt.
There was nothing that Alexandra could say or do, save for securing an Oracle, that would mean anything to Adeline.
As the chains were released from her wrists, Adeline's mind began to drift somewhere darker… Somewhere that she tried to resist but was never able to push away for good. If they couldn't get permission for a Seer… what else was she to do? No one could figure out what was wrong with her. She'd been seen by several healers, and not a single one of them could explain why she and her wolf were so unbalanced. They'd all say: "your wolf should settle after puberty" or "just give it time and you two will figure it out." Well, it had been two years of this crap and she was over it. She'd given it a year of "wait-and-see" and then she'd given it another year of "I want to see a Seer," and still… nothing. Nothing had changed. In fact, things had progressively gotten worse. Her attacks were increasing. In the beginning, an attack would occur once every two or three months. And now? Now, her attacks were occurring at least twice a month. In fact, the attack last night had been the second one of the month, and they weren't even half-way through July yet.
And still, that damn Alpha Travis didn't think that she truly needed to be seen by the Seer. What could she do when all hope seemed to be lost?
"Are you hungry?" Alexandra's voice startled her out of the depressing spiral. Adeline rubbed at her wrists, grimacing at the raw flesh there. She would definitely need to take a shower and bandage the wounds.
"I don't know. I'm not really hungry." It might've been a lie. Her stomach was twisting and rolling, but she couldn't tell if it were due to hunger or the emotions rampaging throughout her body.
Alexandra helped her to her feet. "I think you should still try to eat something, sweetie. It was a long night for you. I can get you a sandwich from the kitchen while you get cleaned up. And then we can head to Dillon's office. But first, we need to give you a dose of wolfsbane."
Adeline hardly felt the needle pierce her flesh, but she did flinch as the burn of the wolfsbane spread through her veins. She breathed through the pain, and then let out a sigh of relief when it subsided. The wolfsbane would hopefully keep the Beast in check, at least for a little while.
And then we can head to Dillon's office.
Dillon. Alexandra never referred to him as Alpha Dillon. After all, Alexandra and Dillon were a mated couple. And that made her the niece of the Alpha pair.
Despite the fact that talking to others was the very last thing she wanted to do, she nodded her head. "Okay."
•••••
Adeline's bedroom was an empty shell of what it once was. Walls that had once been a beautiful shade of blue were now a canvas of claw marks. There had once been paintings and photos decorating the walls, but they'd either been torn to pieces or shattered beyond recognition. All that was in her room now, was a twin bed, a single window framed by shredded curtains, and an oak dresser that was decorated with countless gouges. Dillon had allowed her to get a new room about a year ago, as she hated looking at the evidence of her lack of control, but there was no point. She destroyed anything and everything around her when she raged. Plaster and wood was nothing compared to the Beast's claws.
Rummaging through her dresser looking for a pair of intact sweatpants, a tank-top, a bra, and panties, Adeline's hand fell on a piece of paper. With frowned eyebrows, she pulled it out from under a wad of shirts but nearly dropped it. Silver eyes framed by wisps of long blonde hair glared up at her.
Taking a step back from her dresser, she gripped the picture in both hands, her lips pulling down into a scowl as her eyes moved from corner to corner. She absentmindedly sat down on her bed, her foot tapping.
It was a photo of her and Zoey when they were twelve. It had been a hot summer day, and they'd just spent two hours attending a mating ceremony. Since the newly mated female was from an outside pack, the entire pack joined in on the celebration. It was a rare thing, for a mated pair to find each other. And any mating ceremony was a great thing to celebrate.
She could remember the party afterward as if it had happened yesterday...
'"What do you think he's like?" Zoey asked, her green eyes glistening in the noon-time sun.
Adeline, chewing on a mouthful of beef, bread, and ketchup, quickly swallowed and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Who? My mate?"
Zoey rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "No, I was totally asking about your future Junior year math teacher. Yes, I was asking about your mate!"
Adeline had to resist the urge to punch her in the shoulder. Zoey was such a smart ass.
Adeline had indeed thought about her future mate, but hadn't really pondered too much on it… let alone consider what he looked like. She had just assumed that he would be nice and funny and kind to her. What else was there to ponder on? The male destined for her, was for her- created for her by the Moon, long before either of them had been birthed. He would be perfect.
"I dunno. He'd be nice, and handsome, and funny, I guess." Adeline said, shrugging.
Picking up and biting into her hotdog again, she watched her friend's reaction.
The girl's eyes glazed over and a gentle sigh left her lips. When Zoey shook her head, as if to clear the thoughts that had taken over her mind, the sun's rays caught on her hair.
Her long blonde hair was nothing more than a heavenly halo surrounding her body, casting an aura around her as bright and fierce as a full moon. The ring on Zoey's finger flashed, its silver crescent gleaming. Sometimes, Adeline couldn't help but be jealous of her best friend's looks. Zoey was fair, blonde, and tall, whereas Adeline was freckled, brunette, and a bit shorter.
"I just know that he'll be sweet, funny, tall, and really, really sexy." Zoey giggled, a blush seeping into her round cheeks. "I can't wait to meet him, you know? I just know it'll be magical!"
As if on cue, two large hands appeared from the water and wrapped around Adeline's and Zoey 's feet. The girls squealed in surprise as they were both pulled into the pool, a spray of water taking their spots on the pool deck.
Pulling her leg out of the grasp of whoever had dragged her into the pool, Adeline broke through the surface of the water gasping and sputtering.
Turning around, looking for her friend and the wolf that had dared to interrupt her when she was eating, Adeline's eyes narrowed as she saw a head of dark hair break through the water.
"You JERK!" She howled as she launched herself at the male that had dared to yank her in.
Clyde let out a grunt as Adeline landed on top of him, her fists pounding against his muscled back.
"Hey!" Clyde yelped as another body landed on top of him.
Adeline yanked at his hair as Zoey tried to drag him under the water, but Clyde was the son of the pack's Beta. Grabbing Adeline's foot- a foot that was dangerously close to his crotch- he jerked it upward, forcing the she-wolf to fall off of him. Pushing Zoey's head under the water, Clyde cradled her face in his large palm and shoved her away. But, despite his size, the teenage wolf was no match for two vengeful she-wolves.
Just as quickly as the girls had been stripped off of him, they were lunging again. But this time, Clyde was more prepared.
"Smile!" A pack member shouted from the pool deck, her voice tearing through the humidity and shouts of outrage.
The young trio froze for a moment as the water stilled around their bodies, but then Clyde tightened his hold around Zoey's neck and then did the same for Adeline. Both stuck in a chokehold, the girls didn't look very impressed. Actually... they both looked furious.
The flash of the camera blinded Adeline's eyes, leaving dancing black spots floating in her vision.'
Staring at the photo for a moment, Adeline's pale eyes roved over the colors and the happiness. She didn't recognize that female in the picture- the joyous, lively she-wolf that was glaring at the camera, sunlight and blue skies and clear water around her. Despite the glare, the younger Adeline had a smile on her face. There was a fierce look in her eyes, one that burned with youth and determination.
She was happy.
The old Adeline had been happy. She'd been carefree and bold. She'd been colorful and possessed a promising future. She'd been so very happy.
Why couldn't she be happy?
A knock on her door had her stuffing the picture under her pillow. "Adeline, dear! Are you ready to go? Dillon's waiting for us."