Kieran POV
Jameson is strung up by his arms in the basement of the North Pack pack house. It is more like a dungeon down here. An enormous metal door separates it from the rest of the pack house. Once you open the door, the smell of blood and stale urine hits your nose. It used to make me gag when I was younger, but now I have grown accustomed to the smell.
I circle Jameson, who has been stripped down to his boxers. He must be punished. He assaulted the future Luna of the North Pack. He must pay for what he has done.
I wrap the short whip around the palm of my hand while I study his body, looking for the perfect place to strike.
"Do you know why you are here?" I ask him coldly.
Jameson only growls in response.
I drop the end of the whip and slash it across his stomach. His skin breaks under the force of the hit, and blood bubbles to the surface. Jameson grunts through his teeth in pain but doesn't take his eyes off mine. He may be harder to break than I expected.
"Let's try this again," I hiss at him. "Do you know why you are here?"
"How does it feel to know that I know what your mate's pussy feels like and you never will?" Jameson growls.
My anger boils to the surface, and I hit Jameson with the whip twice in a row. I know I shouldn't let his words get to me, but after Mae asked me to leave her apartment earlier, I worry that he might be right.
"You are here," I snarl, "because you assaulted the future Luna of the North Pack."
"I didn't know she was your mate when I hit her," Jameson laughs.
I backhand him across his face, leaving a cut similar to the one he left on Mae's face. Jameson turns his head to the side and spits a mouthful of blood in my direction. He misses my face by a few inches, but it only serves to make me angrier.
I walk to the other side of his body and lash his skin several times in a row. The whip cuts through his skin until it looks like raw meat hanging off the side of his stomach.
Jameson is less mouthy now that he is bleeding out. The silver cuffs on his wrist allow him to heal, but not quickly. His eyes roll back into his head as he sways from the chains.
"I could kill you, you know?" I remind him. "That would be the proper punishment for what you have done and have said to me."
Jameson's eyes roll to the front as he tries to glare at me. "You won't kill me," he says hoarsely. "You have lost your nerve since you left the recusants."
Using the whip's handle, I tilt Jameson's chin so he looks right at me. "What do you know of the recusants?"
"More than you these days," Jameson laughs.
"Fuck," I grumble as I let his head drop back to his chest.
Jameson smirks weakly. "Now you have to keep me alive. I have the information you need."
"What information could a rogue possibly have for me?" I groan.
"Perhaps I know where to find Francesca," Jameson continues to smile in my direction.
"What do you know of Francesca?" A growl begins to rumble in my chest.
"Wouldn't you like to know," he moans as drool and blood drips from his mouth.
I pull on the chains that are keeping him suspended from the ceiling, and Jameson falls to the ground. His hands are still cuffed as he rolls from side to side, trying to right himself on the floor. Blood and dirt are coating his body.
I walk up to his side and kick him several times, and he rolls into a ball on the ground, trying to protect himself from my assault.
A firm hand on my shoulder tries to stop me from kicking Jameson. I spin on my heels and throw a punch, not caring who is behind me. My dad ducks just in time, and my fist grazes the top of his hair.
"Easy, Son," Dad says as he holds his hands in surrender. "I just came down here to check on you."
"He deserves to die for what he has done," I grumble. "But he has information about the recusant who tried to kill me. We have to keep him alive for now."
Jameson moans and chuckles stupidly on the ground. "You need me. Just like your mate needed my dick."
"Fucking bastard rogue," I growl and begin to kick him again.
"Kieran," my dad shouts. "You need him alive."
Jameson rolls over onto his back and breathes in heavily. "You better hope no one finds out who Mae is."
My wolf, Karr, pushes to the surface. He is ready to kill Jameson. "Is that a threat?"
"It is more of a promise," Jameson groans. "When the recusants find out who your mate is, not even you can keep her safe."
I am tired of hearing his stupid mouth. Grabbing him by his hair, I lift his head from the ground and punch him in the face. Jameson groans a final time before his eyes roll back into his head. I drop his head, and he falls lifelessly to the ground. He isn't dead, unfortunately, but at least I don't have to listen to his fucking mouth any longer.
I run my bloodied hands through my hair and stare at my dad. "We will have to prepare two rooms in the pack house."
"Why two?" Dad asks curiously.
"Because my mate has already made it clear that she will not be coming unless her roommate can come with her," I respond.
"Does she know the truth?" Dad asks in a low voice.
"She does," I say quietly. "So it will be hard to convince her to come anyway. But if I can convince Tish to come, maybe Mae will come too."