Seizing the Hierarchy {Pup Book 1)

CHAPTER 2

The beta dug his nails in deeper, lowering his lips to my ear as I squirmed, "Show some respect, you mutt!"

"Sean, that's enough." Nathan's eyes passed angrily over the spiky-haired beta. My arm relaxed as the relief from Sean's nails retracting flowed through me, "You still won't kneel?"

"I don't see why I have to. I'm not a member of your pack." The relief I felt had renewed my feeling of confidence. Not to mention, seeing Nathan get upset at the torture I received gave me a minor revelation. He wanted to scare me, not kill me. And if he did want to kill me, he didn't want me to suffer first.

Of course, I could still be wrong.

I looked over at the archway where Dane had been dragged away. That was also strange. He was the one left in charge of the pack while Nathan was gone. Would he be treated as an outsider just because of me?

"You're extremely defiant, Pup." Nathan rose from his perch, placing his hand at the top of the throne-like chair as he looked down at me. "You don't think I can hurt you? Kill you? You don't think I can do the same to Dane?" His eyes glinted something dark. "You must know that I'm not someone so kind that I'd let you step on me without any repercussions, right? And Dane, well, you seem to be attached to him."

I yelled, "Leave him alone! How can you even do that to him when he's done so much while you've been gone?"

"Exactly, he has. And look how easily I've made him into nothing. So who are you, huh? What makes you think you're so special that I would keep you around after you defy my orders? After you speak to me like that in front of others who could, at any time, take my position?" 

He smirked, stepping closer. "Do you think you're special?" 

I shook my head. 

"Do you think I haven't killed you because I'm someone soft?" 

I swallowed hard, shaking my head again in response. 

"Then, why won't you do as I say?"

He continued to walk toward me. The hands that held me in place slid away, and I found myself wishing that they hadn't let me go. I had placed myself in a false sense of safety. That if I was still lodged between those two betas, nothing would breach their impenetrable barrier. But now, the barrier was gone, and I was exposed.

Nathan gently lifted his right hand, caressing my cheek as his fingers warmed my skin. Scared that it was my neck and not my cheek that his hand would grab onto, I flinched.

"Do you care about him?" he asked.

My trembling lips parted slowly as I stared at Nathan's grey eyes. "Do I care about who?"

He smiled gently, a stark contrast to the expressions he'd been showing. "Dane. Do you care about Dane?"

I flushed, pulling my cheek away from Nathan. Of course, I did. The only reason I'd stayed so long with the Colts was that Dane was there. He had become my friend in a place where I needed one. I cherished his warmth and familiarity, so much so that I could never bear the thought of knowing that he was hurt because of me or my actions.

I thought of him and the resemblance we shared. His brown hair and light blue eyes gave me a sense of family. More than just feeling like we were related, we looked the part, and I didn't want to lose him. Ever.

"I do. What does that have to do with anything?"

The hand that once caressed my cheek quickly twisted into my hair, yanking my head in a painful dip.

"The point is if you don't bow, he dies." The fingers that had kindly slid across my cheek were assaulting me. Nathan had me trapped. I yanked backward as he held my hair firmly within his grasp. "You can either do it willingly, or I can make you. The only difference is how much blood gets spilled and whose."