Alpha King: Red Riding Hood by Joanna Mazurkiewicz
"Time for some fun, William. You must stop staring at that pretty human of yours. She won't help you now," Ryll stated, nodding to some of his trolls to move. Then he took out his long sword, and ran his disgusting tongue over it, staring directly at Red.
"Remember what I told you. This isn't a game and you must promise to keep your mouth shut," he whispered to her, but she refused to acknowledge the fact that he could be hurt. Moments later, he was dragged out from the cage, putting up a good fight. The trolls were jabbing him with their pointed sticks, forcing him to get closer to the fire.
Red felt a moment of panic. She knew that there was nothing that she could do for him. She tried to remind herself that she was brave and that she could take William's pain, but her strength was slipping away. Red counted at least fifteen trolls around while her heart was pounding away. It was all her fault that this was happening to him. She should have stayed in the tavern and let him deal with One Eye. She thought that she had the perfect plan, and now they were both trapped. William wasn't supposed to get involved and trolls weren't supposed to exist. Her whole world was turning upside down.
"I never thought that I would live to see this moment. Trolls, we have captured the Alpha King, and tonight he's going to pay for the death of every member of the Turkus clan," Ryll shouted and his trolls lifted their swords, roaring with joy.
Red moved closer to the cage, knowing full well that she wouldn’t be able to help him in any way. She had no idea how far away from Farrington they were, or if William's wolves knew that he was in trouble.
"Just get on with it, Ryll. I really don't want to listen to your mouth," William snapped, but his jaw was tightly shut. He was on his knees, while his arms and legs were tied up behind him with heavy metal chains. Ryll smiled, and walked up to him, moving his sword back and forth in his hands. Red had no idea what the trolls were planning to do to him, but whatever it was she didn't think she could quietly stand by and watch them torture him.
"One Eye wanted me to wait for him. He wanted to see for himself what I was planning for you, but our alpha is right. We’ve all waited long enough for this moment—let the fun begin," Ryll said, smiling and removing something from the giant pot hanging above the fire. Red's stomach dropped and she gasped when he held a long metal rod that had been heated in the fire. The end was burning red, and Red's chest heaved with fear. "We’ll burn your skin first before we start dislocating your limbs. Then cut off your fingers one by one. Don’t even think of passing out, we’ll make sure you’re conscious throughout this entire process—you’ll feel everything. Once your wolves find you, they’ll see you’re not much of an alpha anymore—that’s if you make it out alive."
"You're a coward, Ryll. Why don't you just fight me, then your trolls might respect you more. Otherwise, they’ll see you as nothing more than a spineless wimp who has to torture his enemies and can’t fight his own battles." William laughed, spitting on the ground and staring directly at his enemy.
Ryll didn't waste any time. He bared his teeth and shoved the burning metal rod into Will's shoulder. Red had to look away, as her stomach kept turning. William hissed in pain, but he didn't scream. The smell of burning flesh wafted through the air. Will was breathing hard for a long moment, and small beads of sweat appeared on his face.
"I’ve been imagining this moment, and kept thinking about how you would react when I told you that your mate was pregnant with your bastard child when I killed her," Ryll said after a long moment of silence, almost in a whisper although Red had heard every word. Blood rushed to her ears, then William lifted his gaze to look at him, and his pupils dilated. His eyes darkened, and for a second his expression was unrecognisable, then he roared with fury, tensing his whole body. His voice was filled with pain and anguish that split Red's heart in two.
She didn't want to believe that Ryll was telling the truth, although he told her that he’d lost someone that he once loved.
"You're lying through your teeth, you piece of shit!" William snarled, breathing hard, trying to pull the chains, but he would have to dislocate his shoulder first, and Red didn't want him to do that. She knew that he needed to stay strong throughout this. Ryll laughed harder and inhaled the burning smell of human flesh.
"I twisted her neck. Knowing that she had your son in her stomach, it gave me much more satisfaction. She begged me to spare her, and soon you’ll be begging me to spare you too. First though, I'll have fun with that woman in the cage. My trolls will scalp her, then rape her right in front of you.”
Chapter Fourteen
William’s face showed no fear, only frustration and desire to make Ryll suffer. Red suspected that the troll was telling the truth about murdering William's mate, and her heart was aching for him. He must have genuinely had no idea that his mate was pregnant with his child.
"I'm going to skin you alive!" William roared trying to lift himself up, but the chains kept pushing him back down, and Ryll continued to laugh. Then he glanced at Red from the distance. She backed away further into the cage, knowing that she wasn't supposed to bring any attention to herself.
Moments later, Red had to close her eyes, because Ryll started pressing the metal rod to William's chest over and over.
She heard his agonising roars and she kept telling herself that he would survive. The trolls’ torture was far worse than she expected. Soon after, she brought her hands to her ears, trying to count in her head, but it wasn't helping.
She knew that she might be next, and she was trying to mentally prepare herself for what was coming.
After some time, she looked up and saw that William had dropped his head down on his chest. The wounds on his body were horrific, and the smell of burning flesh was making Red sick. Many trolls were walking around looking excited; others were watching their master, waiting for more.
Several seconds later, he finally lifted his head and Red exhaled with relief. He wasn't dead yet, but she realised that he was most likely in a lot of pain.
She couldn't imagine what must be going through his head right now, learning the truth about his unborn child, and that Ryll had murdered his mate.
"I thought you were going to be much more creative. Even after all that scalping, I’ll still be better looking than you. Those warts must really bother you." Will taunted, and Red was ready to burst out laughing, but she thought better of it. After all, nothing about their situation was funny, and she hated that William was only winding the trolls up. She didn't want to see him suffer any more than he had to.
Ryll exhaled sharply, and a vein in his neck started pulsating dangerously fast. The troll parted his lips as the silence descended around the camp.
"I think I'm going to cut off your limbs right away. Wait, I just came up with a better idea. Villo, bring me the girl. We need to make sure that she watches her lover suffer. Let's see how many fingers William has to lose before he loses that arrogant smirk," the troll stated, and the others laughed, looking excited.
William started to curse them all, but his voice became muffled when the trolls surrounded him. The other two approached Red's cage as she backed herself against the far wall. They smelled of vomit and blood—their presence turned her stomach once again.
The two of them grabbed her and started dragging her toward the centre of the camp where Will was being tortured.
She was finally able to look at him, and he looked broken, staring at her with longing in his eyes. Red couldn't keep looking at the wounds on his chest. She realised that this was just the beginning, and soon the real nightmare would truly begin. The head of trolls vanished somewhere in the forest without an explanation, and everyone else waited. The silence descended around them, and it kept ringing in Red's ears. William was lying down breathing erratically. She was trying to come up with something, anything, but her mind seemed completely blank.
Then out of the blue she remembered the town hooker and the fairy dust. In an instant her heart began to pound faster than ever before, and a glimpse of hope flic
William started to move, he kept insulting the trolls that surrounded him, while Red was trying to figure out how to release the dust.
The trolls standing next to her were laughing, not paying much attention to her. She discreetly shoved her hand inside the pocket and pierced the bag with her nail, hoping that no one noticed what she was doing. Her breathing was shallow and she knew that she had to be careful.
Martha didn't give her any instructions, and Red had no idea what she was supposed to do next. For a long moment nothing was happening, so mentally she started calling for Jack, and the rest of the members of William's pack. Her heart rate was speeding up again, and drops of sweat were running down her neck.
The wind blew from the north, and Red let out a bit of dust and watched as it drifted around her. She started whispering, calling for help, having no idea if it would work, but she knew she had no other choice. The trolls were far too busy pushing William around to pay any attention to what was going on around them. They were inspecting his wounds, waiting for Ryll to come back and finish what he started. Red was praying for him to hold on for just a bit longer.
She didn't understand how the trolls couldn't see the gold powder all around them. It drifted towards the trees, vanishing and hopefully doing what it was supposed to do. Soon, its energy began coursing through her veins—she sensed it again like when she was with William that one night.
A short while later Ryll returned, and then one of the trolls standing to her left grabbed her face, digging his sharp nails into her cheeks. Red started screaming, kicking her legs, trying to defend herself somehow, but despite the troll's height, he was strong. The creature licked her face, and she screamed louder.
Finally, the filthy creature threw her to the ground, and when she gathered herself she realised that Ryll had come back with a machete. And now he was staring directly at her. His eyes moved over her body, flickering with lust.
"The Alpha King will be squealing in pain just like his mate did when I killed her with my bare hands. I wished that I marked her as my own, that I tainted her with my semen," Ryll said, approaching William who kept staring directly at Red, his eyes full of disgust and pain. Tears started streaming down her cheeks, knowing that she couldn't bear what was about to happen next. "Which fingers should I cut off first? Or maybe I should cut off his genitals instead? This way he’ll never be a man again."
Red wanted to shut her eyes when the Troll squatted down and grabbed William's wrist. A bead of sweat ran down her back, as the seconds dragged painfully by.
The wounds on Will's chest were still bleeding, and his jaw was tight. Red was ready to beg Ryll for mercy. She didn't care if it made her look weak, she was ready for anything just to save William.
Then the moon appeared in the navy sky, lighting the entire camp. The wind picked up, and she realised that a storm was on the way. Years ago, when her grandfather was still alive, he taught her how look out for signs, how the temperatures shifted and wind changed its direction. She could almost taste it on the back of her throat.
Ryll smiled wider, revealing his huge teeth, when the howling of the wolves broke the disturbing silence around the camp. Everything happened quickly. Red screamed, launching herself forward. None of the trolls expected to see other members of Will's pack attacking them from all around. There was loud snarling. Red heard tearing of skin, and bones cracking as she started crawling towards the trees. All of a sudden, two trolls slammed on the ground just inches away from her.
She finally heard William's voice nearby. When she looked up, she saw him standing. His eyes were fully black now, and his whole body was shaking—he was trying to shift, while Ryll was coming at him with his machete. He waved it ready to slice Will's skull in half, but he was pulled back to the ground by another wolf that came out of nowhere. The leader of the trolls shrieked loudly, as the beast sank its long claws into his neck, nearly ripping it from his shoulders—it was shredded on one side.
"Leave him, Jack, he's mine to kill," William snarled as his spine began to expand, his legs and hands were changing and black fur replaced his skin. Red had no idea how he managed to break the mixture that was supposed to be blocking his abilities, but in that moment none of it mattered.
The trolls outnumbered the wolves, but Red saw groups of them running towards the forest, while others were fighting around her. She finally managed to snap out of her shock. It looked like she used Martha's fairy dust correctly, because William's pack was able to locate the trolls after all.
She quickly grabbed a sword lying by her feet, and stabbed one of the trolls who crept up behind her. Adrenaline was pulsing through her now, and she was ready to kill anyone who stood in her way.
William had already shifted into his beast and then launched himself on Ryll. Red stopped for a second and watched how the other wolf backed away, and William's beast gripped Ryll's throat—it was already in pieces.
For a split second, she watched how her alpha tore Ryll's skin with his sharp claws—blood sprayed everywhere. Red was slowly backing away towards the forest, seeing that most trolls had already escaped, and the ones who hadn’t were dead. Suddenly, the smell of blood and death became too overwhelming.
Just when she thought it was all over, somehow Ryll managed to grip his machete. Red saw a glimpse of his blade in the moonlight. She screamed at William to watch out, but it was already too late.
The troll managed to stab him with the blade from the side. Straight after, Ryll collapsed back on the ground, and didn't move again. Red's blood rushed to her ears. She was screaming, seeing that he was shifting back into a human again. Other wolves were tearing Ryll's body apart.
Red touched William's stomach, and her hand was soaked with blood. He seemed to be unconscious at first, then he was trying to lift himself up, but struggled. Blood was pouring from his wound. She pressed her cloak over it, but red liquid soaked everything. Red screamed for someone to help her, but his wolves were tearing Ryll's dead corpse apart. It was too dangerous to get close to them, and she was aware that they could wound her too in the heat of the moment.
Then she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head and everything went black. She drifted away into oblivion along with her beloved Will.
Red recognised the pleasant smell of lavender and lemons, but her stomach was growling with hunger. Her breathing was steady for a change, so she opened her eyes, and glanced around. She had no idea where she was.
The room was dark and her eyes were burning. She suspected that she must have dislocated her shoulder, because it hurt like hell when she made the slightest movement. Her memories started coming back too, and she gasped for air.
"William! Gran! Where are they?" she shouted, abruptly sitting up on the bed.
"Calm down, or you’ll pull your stitches," said a voice to her right. Red wiped the sweat from her forehead and glanced at Jack. He was sitting on an old rocking chair, staring at her with his wide yellow eyes.
Sharp pain moved through the back of her head, Red touched the wound and felt rough patches. She didn't remember getting hurt. Someone must have hit her when she was checking on William, because everything was blank from then on. She didn't want to remember him being tortured, but the sound of breaking bones kept ringing in her ears.
"What's happened to Ryll and William? And how long I have been unconscious?" she asked, looking at Jack.
"You have been unconscious for several hours. One of the trolls crept up on you from behind. Yeah, Ryll is dead, and there isn't much of him left. The whole pack literally tore him apart. Martha told me about the fairy dust and we heard your cry for help. William was lucky that you were there with him; otherwise we would have been picking up his body parts all over Ryll's camp," Jack explained, smiling at her. Red gasped, and threw the covers away. Her heart was beating extremely fast.
&n
Red didn't like that William wasn't with her right now. He was bleeding badly when she got to him, but she couldn't read anything from Jack's expression.
"He's in bad shape, Red. This night is going to be critical. Ryll's machete was made of iron and even Martha cannot stop the bleeding. She’s tried every magical spell that she knows, but nothing is working," Jack said, sighing loudly. She shivered, ready to barge into his room and help out any way she could.
"I need to see him. Where is he?" she asked, thinking about the worst, but refusing to say it.
"His wound is infected and Martha is looking after him. Maybe you should wait for a bit. We’ll know if he’s going to make it through over the next several hours," Jack said. "But you should rest for a bit longer."
"I don't want to wait. I need to see him and my gran too. I guess that the other wolves haven't tracked her down?"