Thalira's POV
Water dripped from my hair, sliding down my face as I coughed. My clothes clung to me, the feel of them only adding to my already shivering limbs. My throat burned, my eyes blurred and cloudy.
"Are you going to admit what you did, or am I going to have to continue to torture it out of you, Lira?" Khage whispered, his voice deceptively soft as he reached out, tucking a wet strand of hair behind my ear.
If I didn't know any better, I would have thought he cared. The way his thumb lingered on my jaw. His touch almost gentle. As if he was trying to lend me his warmth.
Except, he was the one who had dragged me down here.
"I already told you," I sputtered, fighting to keep my eyes open as the chlorine stung. "I d-didn't do a-anything."
The two of them had been going at this for the past three hours. Both taking turns to dump ice cold water over my head. Each bucket a few degrees lower than the last. Their torment somehow intensified by the metal chair I was tied to.
Another bucket crashed over my head, and I whimpered.
This one, mixed with ice chips.
"Tell us the truth, Red." Rydian coaxed from across the room, his arms folded as he leaned against the dungeon door and hummed.
Almost lazily.
Like he had all the time in the world to watch this play out.
"I promise we'll stop if you just say the words, love." He lulled, pushing off the door to saunter over.
His thumb tilted my chin towards his, his words soft and empty as I stared into hollow eyes that I knew all too well. "Just admit what you did. You have my word."
Soulless lies. How could I believe his word when they both refused to see what was right in front of their faces?
We'd practically grown up together from birth. Barely a year apart in age. Gone through all the highs and lows pack life had thrown at us, together.
For them to think I'd stoop so low…
"What's it gonna be, Lira?" Khage murmured, raking his fingers against my scalp. "Truth or torture?"
Shivers ran down my spine, the cold seeping deeper into my bones. Khage was many things. But gentle, he was not.
"Choose." He growled.
Goddess above! I'd been trying!
But they weren't listening!
I'd been saying it for the past three hours, yet it kept falling on deaf ears!
"I s-swear, i-it… wasn't… m-me."
Silence.
Cold, dead, stillness only magnified by the plinking of water on the stained concrete as the seconds ticked by.
My chest tightened, and I drew a ragged breath.
It had gone unnoticed before. Yet there in the silence, here and now, it was undeniable.
Some way, somehow, it was scarier when neither of them was saying anything. "K-Khage—"
Everything exploded.
A tight fist wrapped around my ponytail, my head yanked back, ripping some strands from my skull. I cried out at the searing pain.
"Same fucking lies over and over again!" Khage snarled, his spit hitting my face. "You are going to say the fucking words, Lira."
I tried to wiggle out of his grip. A last-ditch attempt, but it was no use.
"Red, Red, Red," Rydian shook his head. "I tried to help you, love."
Turning, he picked up the face towel that was laying on the table, and I gulped.
"You know," He shrugged, "for old times' sake."
I shook my head, whimpering, and he grinned. "But as always, you choose defiance."
Rydian stalked towards me, every muscle in my body straining to slide back as Khage's grip held me in place.
"Hmm, let's see how long you will keep that up, love."
No. Oh, God. Please no!
They wouldn't—
They COULDN'T!
Not after everything!
"Always remember," Khage growled, yanking a fistful of strands from my skull. "Your treachery made us do this, Lira."
I don't hear myself scream. Though I must have. Louder than I'd ever screamed in my entire life.
The corner of my vision grew woozy, the fire blazing through my scalp and throat consuming all my senses.
And Rydian…
Rydian smiled.
"Red, baby, when you're ready to confess, just tap out, ok love?" He tapped his knee. "Three taps. Right here."
That's it.
That's all the warning I get before darkness consumes me; the cotton against my face reminding me of just how soft and true their affection was a fortnight ago before… before…
Goddess… why?
A sob escaped my throat.
Broken.
Betrayed.
All the pent up hurt and abandonment twisting like a silver dagger through my chest.
And that's when it hits. The sting. Water flooded my nostrils and my throat.
As if they'd both been waiting on me to crack.
To break.
One final blow that shattered my soul into a million pieces.
And Goddess above,
I CAN'T BREATHE!
"Was that a hand, Red, hmm?" Rydian mused. "With all this writhing I can't tell, love."
I gasped. Choking. Searching. Struggling for air that wasn't there.
"Remember three taps. That's all we need."
My lungs screamed.
My eyes burned.
But Khage's grip on my hair held firm.
"Speak, Lira," Khage roared, the command muffled by the flood of liquid suffocating my eardrums. "You will fucking speak, or so help me, I will make you swallow the entire fucking bucket!"
T-They were planning to kill me?
The realization cracked the final piece of my heart wide open. The pain from the water suddenly more inviting than the invisible dagger carving its way through my chest.
The two people I'd loved and trusted the most.
T-the ones I'd put my life on the line for.
Was ready to sacrifice my future for.
Mom's words echoed from our phone call a month ago. 'The offer still stands if you change your mind. I hope those two Alpha pups are worth it, Thalira.'
'They are. The pack needs me, mom. They need me.'
What an idiot I'd been.
"Don't challenge her, brother," Rydian's delicate fingers ran across my lips, prying them open. "You know our little Red will take it as a challenge to drown before she cracks."
Two weeks.
Cassia had been here for t-two weeks.
A festering thorn in my side and a rose in their hearts.
Fourteen days, and suddenly her word without a shred of evidence meant more to them than seventeen years of fealty ever did.
Well, if that was the case…
Closing my eyes, I loosened my grip on the chair, relaxed my throat and swallowed deep.
What was the point of fighting anymore?