Talen knows there are two kinds of people in this world. Those who are cruel, and those who aren't. The ones who aren't cruel are beaten down and shown their place by the ones who are. He only knows Cruels, and he only knows Brokens. Talen, however, is the only strange outlier.

To the Cruels, Talen is a Broken, though he can proudly say that he doesn’t simply bend over and take his beatings. If he can, he fights back. Every time a fist comes flying, his jaws start snapping. If a Cruel sneers at him, he snarls back. When someone yanks on the chain around his neck, he pulls back.

Talen is well known for his aggressive behavior. He’s caused a lot of injuries and minor incidents of destruction due to his rage.

Talen will never feel sorry for any of it. He refuses to be humiliated, to give the Cruels entertainment. He refuses to lose to them, and he refuses to be broken. 

Of course, it gets him into trouble. There have been many times where he’s gotten punished for his behavior. Often, Talen is tied to two metal posts in the large courtyard within the encampment and given lashings. When that's over, they throw him into a small cell, completely devoid of any light or sound. He’s not sure how long they keep him in there for, but it varies. Sometimes he’s in there for a small amount of time, and sometimes he’s in there for what feels like days. What the Cruels don't know, though, and hopefully will never know, is that he likes the cell.

The cell is where he can be alone. It's where he can be safe, away from the awful brutality of the Cruels. It's silent, so he doesn’t have to listen to the pained cries of the other Brokens, or the sadistic laughter of the Cruels. It's where he can lay in peace, and dream of a world where there aren't any cruel or broken people. A world that always seemed so far away. If anything, non-existent.

But his time in the cell never lasts for as long as he wants it to. Before long, he’s hauled back out into the camp to resume his labor, his rotten meals, and filthy stalls that he shares with the other Brokens. 

Talen has been in this place, this camp, for as long as he can remember. The place is large, half of it made up of the farmlands the Brokens are forced to work in everyday. The other half is made up of the sleeping stalls, the feeding troughs, the cells, the courtyard, and the tall and heavily-guarded fence. It was as if the Brokens were nothing but animals to the Cruels, only good enough for physical labor and nothing more.

Talen was unsure of his age. But, given his height and size, he’d have to guess he was either in his late teens or early twenties. Even so, all his life he’s been in this place. A slave. Forced to work in the fields, working the land to grow strange-smelling substances, where the Cruels did who knows what with them. The Brokens were never allowed to know.

Luckily, the labor wasn't too much of a bother to him. Talen was fairly strong, stronger than most. He once overheard someone calling him something, a werewolf, and he supposed that would explain his claws, fangs, and strength. There were a few other werewolves in the camp, but they were just as broken as the humans. They might as well be humans themselves. 

None of them had ever shifted before, like Talen once had. He was fairly young at the time when it happened, but his punishment was so severe that it sent a clear message; no werewolf was ever allowed to shift into their wolves. Ever.

But ever since that day, when he shifted for the first time, he’s been ruthless and rebellious. Talen knew he was strong, he knew of the strength he was capable of. And the more Cruels he hurt, or killed, the more he knew he wouldn't be taken down, no matter what they did. Granted, he never shifted into his wolf again, but that didn't mean he didn’t sneak out his claws and fangs whenever he was enraged.

Talen was the only one with fire. Fire that feeds from his hatred towards the Cruels. Talen doesn’t know if he’s going to be stuck in this camp for the rest of his life, but he’s positive that he will never stop fighting them. Maybe, someday, he won't be the only one who refuses to be broken.