Scarlet's POV

The accommodations in the cells are a far cry from what I woke up to just a couple hours ago. When I had woken up, I had been so surprised to find myself in a warm bed with thick blankets pulled up to my shoulders. I was provided a meal and was able to use a private bathroom to shower and freshen up. The medical staff was friendly and helpful. Even the man that introduced himself as Alex had seemed nice. However, after all my discharge papers were filled out another man came in and placed silver cuffs around my wrists.

The next thing I know I'm being marched down to dungeons that smell of blood, urine, and mildew. My mate was there waiting for me. Hope and happiness had instantly flared up inside me until I registered the cold look on his face. I couldn't understand it. How dare he! He's the one that stabbed me. I haven't done anything to him. I didn't even know him. As far as I knew, he hadn't come to visit me or anything either. He clearly doesn't care about me. By the look on his face, he downright hates me for no damn reason. My wolf of course tried to argue and reason with me. "He doesn't hate us. He loves us. He's our mate!" she had insisted. I had inwardly rolled my eyes at her.

Things blew up fast as both of us clearly lost our tempers and now I'm pacing the small space that I am locked in. Luckily, they had removed my silver cuffs, though there are still burn marks circling my wrists. However, now the bars to my cell are silver so there is no escaping them. The man that had stayed behind to question me hasn't been back since they shoved me in here. I don't know where he went or when he'll be back. All I know is that I need to get out of here.

I can feel my wolf chomping at the bit. She is restless like me. Though, her and I are still on different pages when it comes to our mate. "He must have his reasons for this. Maybe it's all just some misunderstanding. You just need to talk to him."

"For me to talk to him he'd actually have to be here. He left us. Remember?" I push her out, not wanting to deal with her hopeless romantic side any longer. I continue pacing as my eyes wander around my prison. The walls are made of thick concrete stones and there is a line of cells that are surrounded by silver bars. There are no windows so there is no way to know what is on the other side or what time of day it is. I spot a camera in the upper corner of my cell and I'm sure all of the cages are the same way. On the opposite wall on the far left side is a whole display of silver torture devices including handcuffs, chains, collars, and blades of various sizes. There are even spray bottles that look like they have liquid silver in them and a container full of wolfsbane. My stomach churns as I wonder what they will do to me.

After walking circles for what feels like hours, I go lay down on a small pile of straw that I'm assuming is meant to be my bed. As soon as my eyes start to drift closed, I am suddenly hit with a freezing cold liquid that burns my skin. I immediately jump to my feet as I try to wipe the burning liquid from my face. When I look up, I see the man that is supposed to be questioning me. He doesn't say anything. He just sets his now empty pail down and walks away. "What am I doing here?! Let me out!" I call after him. He just continues his way without even looking back at me. Within a minute, I hear the loud clang of the metal door closing behind him. I scowl in the direction that he went and try to ignore the lingering pain that is covering my body. Breathing in, my nostrils burn and I realize that wolfsbane had been mixed in with the freezing water.

My straw bed is now soaked and ruined. I growl in frustration and go sit along the opposite wall. Time seems to move very slowly as I occupy myself with thoughts of The Scourge, of escaping, and of my mate. My mind wanders to so many things as I try to distract myself. The thing my thoughts linger on the most is that of my mate. The sexy, low timbre of his voice, his muscular biceps and broad shoulders that stretched the material of his shirt, the light stubble that covered his chiseled jaw.... And of course, his mesmerizing blue eyes. They were bluer than the sky and the contrast with his dark hair and tanned skin seemed to make them that much brighter. I could stare into his eyes for days. If only he wasn't proving to be such an ass. Despite the path of my thoughts, time isn't speeding up. And every time I'm about to fall asleep, I have the same rude awakening I did the first time. I'm not even sure how long this goes on for. Days? Weeks? And during all of this, my mate never comes to see me or check on me. Further proof that he doesn't care.

Everything I have learned about fated mates is a lie. I was always told that they are chosen for you by the Moon Goddess herself. They are your other half. They complete you. Their touch can bring you calm and their presence can make you brave. Your mate will love you unconditionally and you will be stronger together. What a load of crock. All my mate has given me is a dungeon and a brief stay at a hospital. I don't even know who he is. However, at one point I could feel his strong aura coming off him. Typically, that type of power is only for Alphas... though I have no idea why it didn't affect me if that was the case. Plus, the only Alpha's that reside in the main part of the city are the three eldest Kane brothers, Ethan, Alex, and Xander. Goddess... please do not let my mate be one of the Kane brothers. The man that had been in my hospital room was named Alex... Could he have been Alex Kane? Alex is a common name though, right?...

I pinch the bridge of my nose and lean my head back against the stone wall. All of this is just too much right now. My head is pounding from the lack of sleep and hydration. My stomach is beginning to rumble. I don't even know how long it has been since I last ate or was given anything to drink. Sheer exhaustion is beginning to overtake me and my body feels jittery. This is definitely not how I expected this to go. I rub a shaky hand over my stomach as I begin to look around again. I don't see anything edible down here. Hopefully their plan isn't to just let me stay down here until I die of dehydration or starvation.

More time passes before I hear the familiar clang of the metal door at the top of the stairs. Loud, clunky footsteps can be heard echoing through the stairwell as I wait to see who it is. For some reason, part of me is desperately hoping to see my mate. Maybe he's finally here to set me free, tell me he's sorry. I look towards the approaching sound and am disappointed when my interrogator appears before me. He slowly steps up to my cage and kneels down to eye level. I instantly notice he is holding two glasses of water. I scoot closer to the bars, careful not to touch the burning silver. Instinctively, my tongue swipes over my cracked lips as I eye the refreshing beverage.

"Can you answer some questions for me?" he asks politely, but by the way he is holding the drinks just out of reach means that they are going to cost some answers first. I nod, not knowing or caring at this point what his questions are. "What is your name?"

"Scarlet."

"What pack do you belong to?"

"I don't have a pack."

He nods and passes one of the glasses of water through the bars for me to take a drink. The ice-cold liquid feels heavenly as it slides down my parched throat. I involuntarily let out a whimper as gratefulness fills me. I really needed this. After a couple sips, he holds his hand out and takes the glass back. "Where were you the evening of October 14th around seven?"

I don't even know how long ago that was, but I sit and think for a bit before I realize why that night is significant. "I- I had gone for a run. Then I came back and started handing out blankets."

"Where?"

"At the shelter I help run in The Scourge."

"Can anyone attest to that?"

I nod. "I would assume so. A lot of people saw me that night."

He gives me another couple sips of water that I quickly gulp down before letting out a sigh. I pass the drink back to him before he continues his line of questioning. "And was your run before or after killing some local wolves?"

My eyes widen in shock. What? What is he talking about? "I- I didn't kill anyone.... Who was killed?"

He narrows his eyes at me and passes the glass back to me. I continue to look at him as if I'll be able to make sense of what is going on by just examining his facial expressions. The water passes my lips, but this time a horrible stinging sensation fills my mouth and spreads down my body. I instantly begin to gag as I bend over on my hands and knees and begin heaving up the little bit of water that I had just drank. My eyes begin to water as I continue to retch up bile. The man stands up, grabbing his two glasses and walks away. All I can manage is to crawl away to a cleaner part of my cell where I collapse and curl up into a ball. Hugging myself tightly, tears begin to slide down my cheeks. How much longer are they going to keep me down here? Why are they doing this?

After some more time passes, my captor comes back down. He walks up and stands right outside of my cell and waits for me to cautiously approach him. Once I'm close enough, he gruffly shoves a wad of fabric into my hand. "Change," he orders. I raise an eyebrow at him before turning my gaze to the material balled up in my hand. With a closer inspection I realize it's a thin, scratchy gown. I look up to see him glaring at me, waiting for me to do as I'm bid. I clear my throat and widen my eyes pointedly, wondering if he'll understand what I'm getting at. He seems to comprehend and turns around, allowing some semblance of privacy. I'm not too happy about this. The cells are incredibly cold, especially at night and this fabric will definitely do nothing to keep me warm. Though I guess as a prisoner, they don't care about my comfort.

Goosebumps cover my skin as I peel off my soiled clothes and put on the flimsy cover-up that I had been given. I clear my throat again, letting the man know that I'm dressed and he turns around to face me. "Stand back. Any sudden moves and you'll be punished. Understand?" he announces harshly. For a millisecond my eyes open wide with surprise before I nod and do as I'm told. This is punishment enough. I don't want to find out what would happen if I were to actually put up a fight. And with the state I'm in there is no way I could win. I can hardly stand on my own two feet without swaying and using the wall for support.

As soon as I'm pressed against the opposite wall, he pulls thick leather gloves onto his hands and unlocks my cell. He gestures at me to come forward and I obey hesitantly, unsure of what is about to happen. He takes my hands and pins them behind my back as he marches me to the other end of the room and into a new cell. My eyes sweep across the small space and my mouth instantly turns dry as though I've swallowed a cup of sand. The only thing in the room is two long silver chains that have cuffs hanging from them. They seem to be on some sort of pulley system so that they can be adjusted. I freeze in my spot and try to step backwards, only to run into the hard chest of my interrogator.

He shoves me forward and I frantically begin shaking my head. "Please no. Please..." I beg before he snatches one of my hands and locks the silver cuff around my bare wrist. I let out a wail of pain before biting down on my lip, trying to keep myself from crying out. "Why are you doing this? I don't understand what this is all about!" I exclaim as he does the same to my other wrist. As soon as I'm secured, he walks over to a lever next to the entrance to the cell and pulls it down. The chains instantly begin to rise and tighten, pulling my arms above my head and out to my sides until I screech in agony. "Please! Stop!"

The man waits until I have quieted down before he approaches me and begins to ask me questions again. "Why did you kill those men?"

"I don't know what you are talking about!"

He tightens the chains a little more.

"Then you know who does."

"No, I don't! Please!"

And the silver tightens more. I can feel the cuffs burning through my skin and tears streaming unbidden down my cheeks. This is pure torture. I don't understand what is going on. I'm too tired and in too much pain to even think straight. After what feels like forever, the man leaves me hanging from the ceiling. When he comes back, he is holding a long whip and I instantly let out a terrified whimper.

"Six men were stabbed and clawed to death at The Blue Moon Bar on Broadway. What do you know about that?" he asks me as he begins to circle me, letting the whip slowly unravel in his fist.

"I don't know anything about it! It wasn't me! I swear!"

There's a crack of the whip and a terrible pain spread over my back.

"The scent was followed back to you. Explain that!"

"I told you! I don't know! But I didn't kill anyone!"

The whip strikes my back again and I scream out.

"You know! Think!"

And I'm hit again.

This continues as I beg and plead to no avail. At one point I am bawling and hyperventilating, unable to take anymore torture. He seems to realize that he won't get any information out of me while I'm like this and he pushes the lever back up, loosening the changes so that I'm dropped to the floor with a thud. The man unhooks the cuffs and throws them to the side before leaving me behind in the cell. I stay curled up on the floor, my cheek pressed against the cold concrete. I'm unable to make myself move, everything aches. Black dots creep into my vision and eventually I am overcome by darkness.