Louisa's POV
As I stood at the entrance of the stable, I immediately sensed the smell of blood and flesh.
My heart was pounding so fast that it almost got out of my chest.
I could feel that Will held me tighter. He buried his face in my chest and wrapped his arms and legs around my body.
"Do you want me to hold him?" Lucian asked.
I lowered my head and looked at Will. He was unconscious, with his eyes half-open and half-closed. He looked so sick.
"It really wouldn't be a good idea to take him inside," Lucian added. He stretched out his arms and took Will into his arms.
Lucas pushed me from behind and said, "Get in there now."
I was pushed down to the floor. When I lifted my head, I saw Darren.
Or to be more specific, I saw the remains of him.
He was lying there naked in a pool of blood. The skin on his chest and arms was completely peeled off.
His eyes were closed. I couldn't tell if he was alive or dead.
"Darren..." I gasped in fear and crawled towards him.
I wanted to hug him in my arms, but I didn't know where to put my hands.
Tears, like a stream, like a ceaselessly flowing fountain, flowed down from my eyes, dropping onto his lips.
His lips started trembling. Then, he opened his eyes.
"Lisa..." He whispered. "Is this a dream?"
I opened my mouth and tried to say something, but I choked on my tears and couldn't speak a word.
I wiped the tears and blood smear from his face and shook my head.
He lifted his arm. I know every single movement of his body would bring him tremendous pain. So I held his hand in my mine.
His hands were freezing cold.
He murmured, "If it's a dream... Don't wake me up..."
I put his hand on my face and said, "Darren, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."
"I made you cry again..." He said in a shallow voice. "I'm so sorry... for everything..."
"You've done nothing wrong, Darren. It's all my fault..." I couldn't continue my sentence. My tears kept falling down like a view, blocking me from seeing clearly. I couldn't wipe them, because I didn't want to let go of Darren's hand.
Darren's pupils dilated when he noticed something behind me. I turned my head and saw Lucas standing behind me.
"Master... Please have some mercy and give me some more time... I..." Darren pleaded.
"Make it quick," Lucas said.
Darren struggled and tried to sit up and get closer to me.
I held him in my arms. His whole body was burning hot.
He gasped in pain and said, "Lisa, this might be the last time I see you in my life... Please don't cry and listen to me..."
"Yes, I'm here... I'm listening, Darren..." I lowered my head, pressing my forehead against his, and said.
"I... I've never wanted to hurt you and... I want to tell you that... that I..." He couldn't finish his words.
I heard Lucas' sick voice from behind, "Fuck it. I can't fucking watch this second-rated bitter romance shit."
"Master, no!" Darren shouted as his body suddenly started to get stiff and rigid. Then, before I realized what had happened, he used all his efforts to push me away from him. At the same time, his body was consumed by flame.
"Darren!" I screamed at the top of my lungs and tried to jump at him, but as my hands were about to touch his body, I was grabbed and pulled away from him.
I looked back and saw that it was Lucian grabbing my waist.
"Are you out of your mind?" He looked at me and scolded, "The fire is triggered by his imprint. You'll be reduced to ashes if you touch it."
"I don't care!" I tried to push Lucian away.
Lucas strode towards Darren at a steady pace and looked down at him. His face was illuminated in the darkness of the stable by the fluorescent light coming from Darren's body.
He watched Darren turning and twisting in excruciating pain with his cold dark blue predator eyes. They were filled with morbid excitement and satisfaction. Then, a sadistic smile appeared on his face.
"This is what you've got when you try to betray me." He said to Darren in a frigid cold voice. Then, he turned his head towards me and pointed at Darren.
"And that's what you've got when you try to defy me," he said.
"Stop it! Stop the imprint! You're killing him!" I howled.
"Killing him? I have no intention of doing that. Death is a fucking mercy that he has to earn." Lucas smirked at Darren.
"Stop! Stop it right now! Don't hurt him!" I shouted in despair. My voice started to get hoarse. It sounded so alien that I couldn't even recognize it. Lucian's grip was so firm that I couldn't break away at all.
My crying and screaming made Lucas impatient. He grabbed me from Lucian and pulled up my hair, so I was forced to watch Darren burning in pain.
"I will stop when I feel like doing it." He said next to my ear.
His breaths were tickling my neck and ear. I was shivering and got goosebumps all over my body.
"Please stop it..." I wailed, feeling that I was crashed from both inside and outside.
"Beg me." He said while wrapping his arm around my neck as if he was going to strangle me.
Looking at Darren, I closed my eyes.
"I beg you..." I said in a low voice.
"Louder." He said while tearing off my pants.
"I beg you..." I raised my voice while trembling in his arms.
"Are you going to run away from me again?" Lucas pressed my shoulders to force me to kneel on the ground and bent me down.
I looked at Darren and wept silently. In affliction, he saw me being captured and pressed down to the floor by Lucas. He wanted to stretch out his arms to help me, but he just couldn't touch me, because his arms were on fire.
We were so close and were undergoing so much suffering, but we couldn't do anything to help each other.
Lucas noticed my intention and pulled me up.
"I'm fucking talking to you! Are you deaf?!" He asked and slapped me again.
Blood dripped from the corner of my mouth and mixed with my tears.
I gave up.
"No... I will never run away from you again... Please stop hurting him..." I cried as Lucas unbuckled his pants and pressed himself inside of me.
I couldn't help myself but groan in agony, which made him even more excited.
I felt so ashamed of myself that I couldn't face Darren. I didn't dare to move a bit under Lucas' body, because I knew it would anger him.
I lifted my head and saw Lucian holding Will in his arms. Will was still unconscious. His delicate face looked so innocent and peaceful when he was asleep.
"Take him away... please..." I mouthed to him while Lucas pressed himself against my body over and over again.
Lucian sighed and turned away from us, walking off the stable with Will.
Watching his back, I felt that my heart was deluged by tears and I was drowning in pain.
My body was about to be split into two halves and my spine was torn.
Still, Lucas didn't have any intention of letting me go. Alpha Zackery's ring was still in the upper chest pocket of my hunting jacket. Lucas wouldn't feel the pain I was going through as long as this ring was with me.
I used all my strength to press myself up and pulled the jacket off my body.
Then, I stretched out my arm towards Darren and held his burning hands.