22

Warning: This story contains violence and abusive imagiry. Read with caution and at your own discretion.

The air was biting and the snow was so cold it burned against her bare skin. Oddly, the tree her back was pressed against felt warm and she relished in it. The rough bark scraped at her skin, but the pain helped to keep her focused and awake. Falling asleep now would mean her death, and there was too much on the line for her to give in now.

The deep bite wounds in her leg had frozen over and the blood was stopped. She could also not feel the pain. While the cold was slowly killing her, it had also saved her life.

She could hear crunching snow getting closer to her and she sucked in a deep breath as she forced just her core to shiver. She set her face into a deep scowl and lifted her dark eyes just as two figures came to a stop just a few feet from her. She shifted, pulling her legs in closer to her and she rested her head against the bark of the tree and leveled her glare on them.

"It's good to see you in such a state." The female voice purred. Ada just glared at her. She was a tall woman with short black hair that was matted in a ball of fluff on top of her head. It was actually oddly a good look on her, with her darker skin and hazel eyes.

"Good to see you are just as smug as ever, Lilly." Ada countered, quite proud that she had been able to keep the shiver out of her voice. A slap to the face was her reply. Ada let her head snap to the side and she just laughed. Slowly letting her head turn back toward the two slowly.

Kyle was standing beside Lilly, just glaring down at Ada. Lilly seemed angry at the laughter coming from the captured woman.

"Why are you laughing bitch!?" Lilly snapped at Ada, who just continued to laugh. Lilly balled her hand up and this time she punched Ada in the face. Again Ada's head snapped to the side and she laughed harder.

This went on for a few moments until Kyle pulled Lilly away from Ada. He glared at them both before turning and walking away. Ada spit blood into the snow, still letting out panted breathy laughs.

"Why are you still laughing?" Lilly growled. Ada turned her head to look at the other wolf. Her face was bloody, swollen, and bruised. Her left eye was swollen shut, she was missing four teeth, and her lips and eyebrow were busted. Her vision was blurred and red, but she grinned.

"Because you're all fucked." She replied, then began laughing harder again.

"I trained the pack wolves to fight like rogues! They are passing the training through all of the wolves left. They no longer fear any of you!" She watched Lilly walk away, or more like storm away from her as she laughed harder. She might die, but the look on her face was worth it.

The sun was warm despite the cold air. It was the only thing keeping Ada alive. Both her legs and both her arms were numb. She could barely feel anything and it was not a good sign. She was making peace with it.

It came as a surprise when two males came over and untied her. Her limbs were stiff and frozen, so they had to drag her along. She was only partly aware of being moved, but the heat inside of the large tent she was brought to brought her back to her senses.

At first she thought this was death hallucinations. The things you saw just before your brain succumbed to the cold and you froze to death. However, when the pain began in her arms and legs, she knew she was not dead. Close to it sure, but not dead.

Blood was beginning to flow through her again as the heat in the tent thawed her out. The pain was intense and it was all she could do not to scream.

Tje sound of footsteps told her that she was getting company and she hung her head, closing her eyes before they entered. There were at least three sets, and she figured that more torture was coming.

Almost in cue, someone stepped on her leg. The pain was instances and she had to bite her to guess to keep from screaming. Luckily she was too dehydrated to cry, so there were no tears in her still swollen left eye as she lifted her head to glare at the three before her.

It was Kyle and Lilly again. She figured it would be. There were other leaders here, but she k ew these two personally, so this was a sweeter victory for them.

The third person with them was rather shocking. She was a tall blind with striking sapphire eyes. She looked exactly like the Luna of her original pack. Ada could not keep the shock from her face and all three sneered at her. The look did not fit the face of the kind Luna she had known.

"Surprise." Lilly purred.

"I figured it would be a good time for a family reunion!" Lilly continued, placing her hands on the shoulders of the younger woman. Ada knew whi she was, but said nothing and made no indication that she knew.

"Confused?" The young woman asked smugly before a darker look came to her face.

"I'm not surprised since you and your family abandoned the rest of our pack to die. My parents were killed and I only loved because I was taken in." She spat at Ada, hate a powerful venom in her voice.

"You only lived..." Ada started, all three having gone silent to listen to her quiet words.

"Because you would be a good tool in their pointless army." Ada said to her as she rested her head against the log that she was tied to. The woman sneered at her and Lilly grinned.

"Its not use, spouting your lies. Mary here is one of our most loyal soldiers. She would do anything for the cause." Lilly tenderly brushed the woman's hair. Ada began to laugh again. Both women glared at her and Lilly looked at though she might once again hit the already injured woman.

"Your cause? You mean to kill and steal? Some cause that is." Ada countered. This time the pain she felt was deep splashes across her cheat from the clawed hands of Mary. Lilly pulled the funding wolf back with a satisfied smirk. Ada didn't react other than to keep laughing.

"Shes gone insane." Kyle sighed.

"Its no fun torturing someone who won't give you the reactions you want." He said to Lilly, who waved her hands dismissively at him.

"She's still marked as the next Luna. Jer mutilated corpse will be enough to torture the rest of the weak pack wolves when we drag it back to them. We get them to submit and take everything we want by force. As is our way." Lilly stated plainly.

She and Mary both glared at the still laughing Ada as Kyle walked out. This had lost it's fun to him. They had other prisoners he could play with.

"Your way is done. I made sure of that. They are not going to back down. They will fight to the last wolf. You dont have an army big enough to take them all out." Ada breathed, her head tipped slightly to the side so she was looking at them through just her right eye.

Both women glared at her and moved closer. Lilly had hoped to throw her off guard. The child of her previous Aloha and Luna. It had been a shock for sure. Ada thought they were all dead. They had obviously taken the infant as well, but kept her and ada separate. It was a good move. Too bad Mary had not been old enough to remember anything. Ada had felt nothing but surprise. This woman was still an enemy.

They were so distracted with what Ada was saying and they didn't notice her cutting through the rope that they used to bind her hands. Sure she was in a lot of pain because of her thawing limbs, but as soon as she was able to move her hands she began to cut herself free.

Mary grew out her claws and raised her arm, ready to rip into Ada. Before she could, Ada kicked out her leg and slammed a kicked into Mary's knee. She felt the woman's knee break and it snapped back. She screamed and before Lilly could react to attack Ada or help Mary, Ada pulled her now free arms forward and dove onto the older wolf.

She was too injured to shift, but she didn't need the teeth of a wolf to tear flesh. She sunk her human teeth into Lilly's neck as they two of them went down and she felt the crunch of the woman's wind pipe.

Mary dug her claws into Ada's leg and Ada whipped around, kicking Mary in the face. With adrenaline pumping through her, Ada sprinted from the warm tent and back put I to the cold of the dark winter night. She sprinted forward without looking around, knowing that this had happened fast enough she should be able to get into the trees before they caught up with her.

She darted past the other tents, dodged a scout and made it into the trees. Howls from behind her told her that they were already after her. She was not going to get very far, but she was not about to just give up.

She wanted to get as close to home as she could. If she was going to die, she was going to die fighting. She was going to die fighting for her freedom.