The pain of having a fingernail ripped out of my finger was not something I expected. I thought it was something I could grit my teeth through. In my head, I would look past the man wrenching the fingernail from my nailbed and meet the queen's eyes with steady indifference.

That is not what happened.

The pain was sharp and fast. It tore up my arm, feeling like I had just plunged my wrist into boiling water. A scream was ripped from my lungs before I could even consider holding it back. It was hot and cold all at once. It made my chest constrict and my mind turn to ash.

When the pain subsided enough that I could bring awareness to anything other than my arm, I realized that tears were pouring down my cheeks and breaths were coming in and out of my lungs so raggedly, it was a miracle I hadn't fainted.

"Tell me who you're working for," Queen Keiko demanded.

Did her voice sound a little off or was that just the ringing in my ears? I couldn't tell. And frankly, I didn't care. Because as the sharp pain was gone, but a throbbing had replaced it. I felt each pulse of my body through that finger. Each time my heart pumped, an ache stretched through my hand, making me grit my teeth.

"You have a lot of fingers left to go. And I have all night," she pressed.

I think, if I had eaten anything within the past twelve hours, I would have vomited on the shoes of the man pulling my nails.

"I don't work for anyone," I lied. Maybe she would believe it this time. Hell, with the way my mind was consumed with the pain, I was almost starting to believe it. but I could just tell the truth. I could just confess. This could all be over. I just had to say those little words. Or any words that would make her believe me.

"Liar!" Keiko snarled. "Do you think I'm stupid enough to think that all of this could be a coincidence? Do you expect me to believe that you know nothing of all those wolves that we buried? Wolves that had arrows just like yours sticking out from them, knives like the ones you lost embedded in their skin? You're going to tell me the truth or Noah is going to pull another."

"Keiko," the man, Noah, groaned. He sounded a little sickly. Or maybe that was just me projecting onto him.

"Last chance," she warned.

I could not betray my team. Armond and Dawn had found me at the hospital. They dusted me off. They took care of my parents. They gave me purpose when I felt as if life was no longer worth living. Milo had fought to keep me alive when the others had sent me in to die. And sweet Cassey had barely been able to let me get out of the car earlier. I would not repay them by sending werewolves to their front doors. I said nothing, tipping my head back and bracing for the pain.

"Do it."

Like all of her other subjects, Noah always obeyed his queen. The first nail had come out quick, almost like he was well versed with this kind of thing. The second one showed me that he certainly was not familiar with the art of torture. It was slow and fumbling. I could feel every tug and every tear. I wailed and screamed for every second of it, relieved when the nail finally pulled free.

I pitched my body forward as far as the restraints would let me, fearing that I was going to throw up anyway.

"Are you ready to start talking?" Keiko asked.

I didn't even know if I was capable of words at this point. My mind felt so muddled that I barely even considered that this could be the beginning of wolf drain. It only made sense really. How long had I been around the werewolves now? At least a couple hours between being pinned in the forest, carried over a shoulder, and here with the queen herself and her henchman. Was it possible that royalty drained humans faster?

"Still not feeling particularly chatty?" the queen taunted, cocking her head to one side.

"I'm not going to tell you anything," I vowed, but it was getting harder and harder to trust myself.

Something shifted then. Her almond shaped eyes changed, as if she were taking me in for the first time. Slowly, her posture straightened. "You tried to kill my mate and you could have killed my daughter. If you give me the information I need, I promise that your death will be quick. It is the only mercy I can offer you."

"I will never tell you what you want to hear."

"Very well. I won't lie to you and tell you that I'm particularly well versed in this whole torture thing, but I can tell you that the internet has lots of options for me. I could force feed you until you feel like you're going to explode, or I can give you no food at all. Starvation seems like an awful way to go. Or dehydration. Apparently, it feels like your organs are cracking inside you."

It was all gruesome. It was all vile. My mouth already felt dry, my stomach already so empty. And it all made me wish that I had just taunted those werewolves in the forest into tearing me apart. Keiko was a commander, not a diplomat. She wasn't here to create relations. Could I just give up now? If I lied would she offer me a smooth death before she found out that I deceived her? or, was I just risking more torture and suffering once she found out that I had tricked her?

My mouthed opened, and I would have released whatever came to mind first – whether it be a taunt, a truth, or a lie. But the shed door creaked open. A silhouette filled the space. Masculine and large.

I saw auburn hair first. King Ajax. Up and walking, he was very much the opposite of what I wished him to be. With his arm in a sling, he sauntered into the oversized garden shed as if it were a palace. The queen immediately straightened from where she sat, an entirely human expression of concern on her face now.

"Ajax, you're supposed to be resting."

"Ah, so I was told, but I have a noise complaint to make. It's a little difficult to go to sleep right after I've been shot and listening to someone scream makes it even harder, sweetheart."

I was entranced, watching their dynamic. It was so strange, all of it. I saw the panic in her features. I saw the mirrored worry in his face when she rose to touch his good shoulder. And right there, I saw the fear. I saw the tragedy that flashed in her gaze and knew that she must have been thinking about how close that arrow had come to taking his life. How close I had come to taking him away from her forever. As if she could read my mind, she whirled around to face me.

"I'm dealing with it," she stated.

Ajax took a moment then to study me. I couldn't even tell the colour of his eyes from this distance, but the way he looked at me made my chest want to curl into itself.

"Dealing with it," Ajax repeated, now blatantly staring at the bloodied ends of my fingers where my two nails used to be.

"I can handle myself," Keiko pressed. "You need to go lay down."

"I'll go rest once this is over and I can have you safe and by my side again. I don't want to leave you alone with this mongrel. Noah can continue on for a while, but I've already reached out to the team. Someone will be here in the next couple of days and we can count sheep while they try to crack her instead. They'll be much better at it than either of us anyway."

"Right," Keiko said, smooth her hands down her plaid shirt as if it were a fine gown. "Noah, we're going to change tactics."

~~~Question of the Day~~~

What is the oldest thing you own?

My car, she's 19 years old right now!