Alpha Killian
Chapter 31

The first thing I regained was my sense of smell.

Earth, damp earth invaded my nose. Along with something metallic scented. It wasn't blood. The smell of blood was forever etched into my brain. This was something else.

Unfortunately, the second sense that returned was touch. I could feel the sweat coating my body. My entire being burned, as though I was dipped in liquid fire. A simple twitch of my nose, or move of my finger sent the fire raging at new found heights.

I kept my eyes clenched shut, praying to fall back into unconsciousness.

I lost track of how many times I slipped in and out of awareness. Each time I was met with the same damp earth and metallic smell. Each time the fire cascading through my veins dimmed in the slightest.

Finally, the fire had subsided. I felt delirious. How much had I sweated? My clothes felt soaked beneath my fingertips and despite falling in and out of consciousness, I was exhausted.

I let my eyes flutter open, cringing against the orange light that invaded my vision.

I stifled a groan as I used what energy I had and sat up. I couldn't tell how long it took for my eyes to adjust to the strange light. When they finally did, I realized the light was coming from an old fashioned oil lantern. The orange light was a flickering flame within the lamp.

I flexed my fingers, feeling the damp soil beneath them. That explained the wet earth smell. I scanned my surroundings, my eyes locked on the thick metal bars that surrounded me. Rust coated the bars and I knew wherever I was had been around for quite a long time. That explained the metallic scent.

"Sierra?" I whimpered, my voice full of fear and pain. "Can you hear me?"

"Wolfs bane..." Her voice sounded so quiet, so far away. It hadn't sounded like that since I tried to take my life, that little fact only made me more afraid.

"Killian..." Her weak voice called out.

"Save your strength." I urged her, "I'll try."

"Killian." I whimpered, reaching out with my mind, "Killian help."

There was complete silence, even Sierra went quiet.

I curled into a ball and whimpered, terrified that this would be the last place I ever set eyes on. I let the darkness take me over and dreamed of the morning I had shared with Killian. His face replaying in my mind over and over.

I was snapped from my pitiful excuse for sleep by the sound of feet hitting the earth. My body jerked up into a sitting position, my eyes locked on anything and everything.

"Look at this little thing." A slimy voice called out.

A man stepped into the light and I bit back the insults on my tongue.

The man definitely looked human. He was tall and gangly with an oily face covered in acne. His shaggy brown hair hung lifeless on his head.

Another voice rumbled, "I told you she was a looker, even for a disgusting mutt." Another man stepped into the light, much bigger than the gangly one.

"Where am I?" My voice came out hoarse, but I was surprised at the strength it held. While I was petrified, I couldn't let these men know. It would only hurt me worse in the end.

The big one chuckled, "Wouldn't you like to know."

The gangly one smirked, showing a set of yellow teeth. "You'll find out soon enough, mutt. Until then, I don't see why we can't have some fun with you."

"Boss said not to touch her." The big one grumbled.

The gangly one rolled his eyes, "I'm not going to f**k the d**n thing, that doesn't mean I can't get a taste."

The gangly one opened my cell with a loud click, the creaking of the metal bars rang in the underground p****n. I pressed myself against the dirt wall, scanning for any opportunity that presented itself to me.

I resisted the urge to gag when the gangly one stepped inside and ran his thumb across my bottom lip.

"Don't bite now." He warned, the sound of his pants falling nearly made me vomit.

One thing was certain in my mind. No man would ever touch me again, no one but Killian. I would sooner d*e before I allowed a single one any form of sexual satisfaction from my body. Before he could reach in his underwear and pull his member out, I did the first thing that came to mind.

I wrapped my hand around his b***s and pulled. I put as much pressure on them as I could, my strength quickly waning.

The man howled in pain and I couldn't stop the smile that formed on my face, splitting my chapped lip and sending blood into my mouth.

"Stupid b***h!" He screamed, landing a blow to the side of my face.

I grunted at the impact and remained still, I had the intense urge to mock the man, his punch had hardly hurt. I clamped my b****y lips shut, not wanting to antagonize him any further. A silent scream left my lips as he landed a kick to my rib cage.

"Alright, enough." The big one entered my cell and dragged the other out. "She's feisty though." The big one rumbled with laughter.

The gangly one left and I was left alone with the other one.

"Here, eat up." The big one grunted, shoving something in my cell with an audible clang. "Gotta have your strength for when the boss shows up." And with that, he left.

I wasn't sure how long I had been down in these cells, but my stomach screamed at the thought of food.

I picked my aching body off of the floor and crawled to the little metal tray.

While I grimaced at the contents, my stomach cried with happiness.

A pile of mushy, white rice sat on the tray along with a large cup of water. Next to the rice was some extremely dry looking chicken. Without a second thought I dug into the food, taking my time so I wouldn't be sick. My stomach bulged at the intake of this much food, and I knew I had been in here for at least a few days.

I let my mind wander as I fell into a restless sleep.

I wasn't sure how long I had slept, but when I finally woke up I felt much better. While my body still ached and my healing was slowed, my head felt much clearer.

"Where the h**I are we?" Sierra's voice rang in my head and I nearly cried with happiness.

"Sierra, you're back." I gasped, relishing in her voice. As macabre as it sounded, I didn't want to d*e alone.

"The food and water helped." Sierra replied. She still sounded weak, but her voice was clear.

"We need Killian. He has to find us." I whimpered to her, knowing he was probably out of his mind right now.

"It's going to take all of our strength, but we can reach out to him. After we marked him, the bond became unbreakable." Sierra's words comforted me.

"I'm going to try. Will you help me?" I knew she would go silent again after this. It would take all of our combined energy to reach out, and there was no guarantee it would work.

I did the first thing that came to mind and closed my eyes. I let my mind wander to Killian and how I had grown to accept the mate bond and eventually fall madly in love with him.

After a few moments I could feel a tug in my gut. An image formed in my head, and it was almost as if I were there.

I recognized Killian's office instantly, but something was wrong. Everything in his office was smashed and broken. The computer that sat on his desk was across the room and on the floor, the screen shattered. My gut clenched at the thought of something happening to him.

"Killian?" I called out frantically, "Killian!"

I waited a few moments, and gasped when his voice called out.

"Claire? F**k, where the h**I are you!"

His rough voiced sent a jolt of strength and longing into me. I couldn't express how much I missed him.

I blinked back the tears that threatened to fall from my closed eyes, "Some men took me! You need to find me! I'm underground in some kind of cell." I gave him as many details as I could, hoping it was enough.

"Have you seen anyone since you've been there?" His voice came out in a rush and I could taste his own fear on my tongue.

I let the image of the two men pop into my mind and I could tell he could see them as well, “You need to talk to Blake. These guys are human. They injected me with wolfs bane!" I called out, everything inside of me begged to hear his voice but I could feel my strength waning.

"I'll find you, Claire." Killian's rough voice called out, but it sounded farther away. "I promise I'll find you."

I could feel the link crumble as black spots danced along my vision.

My eyes were only open for a second before they rolled in the back of my head.

I couldn't fight back as darkness had taken over yet again.

I woke again to the sound of yelling. My weary body jerked into a sitting position and my eyes darted around the cell.

The yelling was getting closer, and the person sounded absolutely furious. Some small part of me wanted it to be Killian, but I would know it if his voice rang out from the darkness. This wasn't Killian.

My muscles tightened as the big man from before walked into the dim light. His face looked grim.

"Boss is ready to see you now." The big man grumbled, opening the door to my cell. I clenched my teeth together to keep from whimpering as the big man grabbed my arm and d**g me from the cell.

A black bag was placed over my head, clouding my vision. I stumbled and tripped, but the man only pulled me harder. I was shoved down onto something hard and cold.

"If you're smart you won't try to run." The big man's voice called out, "You're weak and won't get far."

The bag was ripped from my head and my eyes darted around greedily. The first thing I noticed was that we were definitely still underground. The walls of this large room were completely dirt. The room I had been brought into had an old tile floor.

Actual lights hung on the wall, searing my eyes with their intensity.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I felt someone approach me from behind.

"It's great to finally see you again, Claire." The voice called out from behind me and my eyes widened in recognition.