The Street Rat And The Alpha

52

Maddy rested her head on her mate's shoulder as they walked down the corridors. He scolded after his cousin. She had refused being carried, unlike his mate who knew to give in if she wanted to leave the room at all.

In part Maddy envied that Lily had almost instantly recovered and could walk normal without being in pain, falling down or being fussed over. It didn't mean that Xavier did not try to fuss over Lily but he was certainly less successful.

"Maddy are you tired?"

"No I am not. Do not ask again."

He watched his cousin walking ahead of them, her hands clenched. He would need to force her to show some restraint if he was to give Ivera the public execution he planned to.

Lily was often calm and serious but it was evident that she, like Maddy had been affected. He had never seen her so full of anger and rage. Just as he had been forced to see Maddy getting incredibly scared of him at random times for no reason.

He hoped allowing them to unleash their anger would help. He hoped it would give them a resolution, an outlet, maybe the therapy they seemed to need.

The iron gates lay in front of them. Huge and guarded. They slowly began to open as the guards caught sight of their captain walking towards them more fierce than ever. A permanent glare was plastered on her face, complimented by her uniform and scarlet hair.

"Captain it has been—"

"Good day," Lily said shortly, walking past, her body tense, fists clenched.
The usually serious yet cool captain had shown a new side of her to all who knew her. 

She was battling was unbridled rage. She felt not an ounce of love for her sister in law, only rage. Ivera was a backstabbing traitor who had hurt her and one of her only friends. She had torn Lily's happy family of her, Xavier and Maddy, apart. She hated that whenever she looked at Maddy or heard her voice, she instantly pictured the girl being abused. The memories were burnt into her. Xavier was lucky he only saw the product of Ivera's work and not the process.

She glanced back at Xavier and Maddy as they entered the start of the dungeons. She was blind t think Maddy was going to do anything to Ivera without a weapon. She was covered in bandages, a reminder that she was only human. Lily had found herself often forgetting that simple fact. She saw her as if she was any other person, any other person who could heal a small cut in seconds. She suddenly wondered if Maddy was actually ready to face her monster. She, herself, knew the only way she would feel in control was retribution on Ivera. Despite Maddy seeming to feel the same way, Lily was not certain anymore. 

She did not know how humans processed trauma. Did Ivera have a lasting effect on her or not? It was too late to turn back and she could not go without Maddy. She needed her by her side when facing the monster. 

The steps down spiraled endlessly into the darkness.

Maddy could not see a thing. It was pitch black for her human eyes. She could only hope they could see better than she could.

Before passing the iron gates to the dungeon she had felt confident. She had been ready to face Ivera, to face one of her greatest fears. Yet the moment they passed that gate and were taken by the darkness she became a afraid.

She did not want to see Ivera. She didnt want to be anywhere near her. An irrational part of her believed that Ivera would just take control of her and abuse her again. She could beg Xavier to take her back. She could say she did not feel well but she knew Lily was desperate to go and Lily wanted her at her side. She could not take away the justice Lily felt she needed. She would just suck it up, not tell anyone she was scared.

Xavier didn't need to focus on her. Lily had not been awake long at all. He hadn't spoken to his cousin in weeks. She couldn't take all his attention from his cousin. She needed him far more than Maddy did after all.

Maddy heard the change in footsteps. The echoes bounced off stone instead of the rigid metal steps that had spiraled into blackness. She squinted looking over Xavier's shoulder. There were torches. Glowing flames that lit up the dirty thing faces of prisoners stuck behind the bars.

Her eyes stayed fixed on the bars. They were criminals but she wanted to let them all out. The sight of the metal bars made her heart race. Only animals were kept in cages and cells. Pets.

No. She needed to stay calm. No she couldn't relapse. Not there. It wasn't the time for another relapse. She forced herself to focus. She needed to stay well out of the past. Her problems were unimportant in her eyes. Silly and stupid.

"Hurry up would you Xavier," Lily snapped.

Maddy winced. The closer they got to Ivera, the more quiet and scared she got and the more angry Lily got. Lily was probably going to rip Ivera into tiny pieces when she got her hands on her.

"Mads remember no killing her, you too Lily. Feel free to go as far as you want just leave her alive. I still need to interrogate her and then I want to do a public execution," Xavier reminded them.

Maddy pressed her head into his shoulder. She didnt want to think of anything. She wanted to stop overthinking. She wanted her mind to just go blank. She wanted to forget the world and her memories. Amnesia would have been better. She could have forgotten all the pain. All of it. She could have forgotten Ivera and the torture and her ways of manipulation.

"We are here," Xavier announced stopping at a cell.

Lily crossed her arms glaring inside.

"Think you can stand on your own?" Xavier asked his queen.

"Yeah. I think so," Maddy mumbled as he slid her down onto her feet.

Xavier took out a belt and fixed it around her waist and placed a dagger in the side.

"I don't want to risk anything happening to you. If she gets close to you and none of us can stop. Slash her throat," he told her.

She nodded. The dagger made her feel a bit safer. She knew as well as he did that Ivera would get no chances to hurt her. He was too protective to allow it, the dagger gave her a sense of safety though. This time she knew she could actually defend herself.

The heavy metal door creaked open to reveal a large stone room lit by flaming torches. Guards flanked them as the door closed.

Maddy stared wide eyed in front of her at Ivera. The snake had her eyes locked on the human. No one else existed anymore. It was just the two of them in Maddy's world.

Ivera grinned seeing the girl. Her hands were shaking. Bandages covered her in different spots of her body. She looked so frail. She had wanted to use her for power but seeing as that had failed she could derive sweet satisfaction from watching her go mentally insane.

Ivera hadn't had her long enough to have her mind fixed enough. Ivera watched the girl slowly slipping.

Xavier and Lily had taken her pet project away from her but now they could watch her come undone. That or the little human would silently suffer, terrified, hiding her fear whilst Xavier and Lily got their idea of justice delivered.

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A/N

Thank you all for your support. I really miss being able to update weekly like I did closer to the beginning but I cannot because working sucks so you all will have to bear with the uncertainty of when I will next update.

Please feel free to comment. I love reading all of your nice comments, they make me so happy and encourage me to write a little faster in the time I do have.