* * *

Another week had passed, according to the spoon, and Sage was making the preparations to end the month here. There wasn't much to expect, other than the occasional visits of both Willow and Ryan—As Sage found the human's real name to be.

Part of Sage understood that perhaps even Ryan didn't want to act on this, if he truly wanted to he could simply managed the first day. But with protocol and whatever other fancy words the other she-wolves used, they were abiding by tradition in hopes of getting a compliant wolf in the process.

Though Sage could already tell that there had never been a successful human hybrid, perhaps a witch had a child with a human but it certainly didn't stray farther than that...Could it?

Monday hadn't ended like Sage assumed it would. Ryan had taken her first handed to the other room, presenting her with a tray piled high with raw meat and plenty of water. "When's full moon?" She questioned, and it caused the male to look up the answer.

"It uh...It was two days ago."
"We can't mate. Have to wait for full moon, my wolf didn't know it was—" Ryan groaned in his hands, obviously not getting his own mission done. But she smirked into her next bite and watched in utter amusement the way he paced around the room.

Darius was right, males were similar through and through.

"We need to mate soon, Hera. I'm dying for you." It was clear that he wasn't, she knew when the male was aroused and this surely wasn't it. Instead, he issued a firm growl, one of which sparked a reaction that he was not hoping for and thus—earned him a fresh punch to the jaw and ultimately knocking him out and onto the floor.

Darius, what do I—

Work with it, Sage. Get him in bed and undress.

WHAT?!

Pretend something happened, humans can't smell sex and I don't think there's any cameras in here. Just do it, make it look like he completed his mission.

She reluctantly did just that, propping the human up and around her. Yet she managed to get the blankets to separate both him and herself. Shivering at the amount of contact, she begged Darius to try and distract her until she fell asleep.
Her self-control was starting to crack, and sure enough, he delivered.

The plan couldn't have worked out any better, and the joy of falling back asleep for the rest of the night was enough to settle the pain of whatever sort of experiment they had done while she was under.

Truthfully, the only phantom recollection she was feeling, were prickles over her body and the stiffness of her bones. But either her and Darius concluded it was the medication and the withdrawal of both blood and perhaps something else.

Though she hadn't caught on as to what that something would be.

It was pure coincidence that Ryan had managed to wake up before another guard came into the room to escort her away. Yet the bright smile she had plastered on her face had soon been terminated as she caught the sight of him at the other end of the hall. He was on route to their main room, and by the look of absolute fear—Everyone knew what that could mean.

This was the first time Sage had been placed at the awaiting line, and thus she kept her head focused on the tire marks imprinted on the ground as they awaited for him to appear. Not that he took that long at all, but seeing Willow just a step behind him caused an indifference in her head.

She desperately begged her wolf not to out them, and alas, her inner beast listened. But barely, as there wasn't much one could do in fighting against instincts when it was between fight or flight.

And Sage was prepared to fight.

Willow bent down towards Hera and escorted her closer. "This is her...She spent the night with her new mate." The coolness of his dirty hands had brushed the bottom of her cheek, but she knew better than to look at him in the eyes.

It was a universal rule that she heard a hundred times, as it was repeated for the pups as well.

"Hm, should we be expecting a pup soon?"
 "Not yet, a heat comes before that..." The growl caused a few gasps off behind her, especially when Sage was at the forefront of his anger. There was no warning, absolutely no mention of him taking a drink from any of the gals behind him.

And thus, Sage's eyes fell back behind her head as she felt her body convulse and shiver under his touch. It felt...Good.
The euphoric burst errupted, which caused her body to release just soon after the male removed his fangs, though the gentleness of him laying her down onto the floor caught Willow to help him.

"Mated wolves always taste better...They're not bitter. She's almost as divine as you are, my sweet." He says, bending down to cup Willow's cheeks with such fondness, while Sage attempted to remain awake enough to see the interaction.

Her theory had been correct, he would drink from those lined up behind him. Yet he managed to misplace the witch blood in her system for being a mated she-wolf. Thankfully.

I don't think he drank enough to inherit your abilities Sage, but you need to be careful.

I know, I am—

Sage's struggle to fight off the creeping darkness in her vision had failed. And that sparked panic amongst those in the line watching her.

It ultimately prompted the pups to hurry their way to try and hold Hera. Though the male certainly didn't like the sudden movement, nor the disrespect of breaking rank.

In instant retaliation, he reached out to catch Clem's throat, which was now at the mercy of his talons.

"Please...You know the pups started liking Hera." Willow begged, his fists coming to hold onto his prestige jackets in an attempt to rectify the situation with a pouted lip and doe eyes.

"Armond...I beg you, don't do this." The use of his name caused his black eyes to dart in her direction, while it was a rule to never look at him directly. It was more than against his written law to speak his name, but the room heard.

Better yet, Darius heard.

"Don't do what...My sweet? Punish them? Beat them? Isn't that what we agreed on? To train them into submission, to take the females and use them against the rest?" Willow nodded through his firm grip, yet it was much more than a struggle considering her own hands were attempting to pry his off.

"My love—Please." Armond huffed and dropped Willow back down to the ground, the she-wolf knew that her life wasn't expendable. That he could inflict as much pain as he wanted, but he'd never kill her outright.

The others in the room, however, were now in more danger than every imaginable.

So Armond had moved forward and didn't hesitate to kick either pup back into the line, and the rest remained kneeling at attention. "I believe it's the proper time to teach those two about discipline, wouldn't you agree?" He turned a titled head over towards Willow, yet she was in no place to respond properly.

Instead, Armond had singled off a few yells off to the guards stationed on the other side of the metal door, indicating an order that would surely cause the women to properly raise the two pups to have both manners and know the rules.

The vampire had left moments later and didn't bother to wait for Willow, as she'd been sentenced to spend the night with them.

And the first round of punishments started with the temperature in the garage to drop significantly.

Next, it was the lack of light. There would always be a type of flood light on and around the corners but they were turned off within seconds of the male's departure.

Maeve's head gestured up towards the celling, and just like she expected—The sprinklers would be set off for a few seconds at a time.

That, in addition to the cold air and freezing ground, would bring the witches close to death and break the wolves' spirits.

But it wasn't all, the start of the music caused a small groan to come from Isla. Especially when they were scattered about from any position near the sprinkler's reach—Though it didn't matter in the end, because the concrete floor was not meant to be flood-proof.

They were just hoping that Master Armond's mercy would come by morning, though by Willow's struggle to speak, it was likely that wouldn't be the case. And instead, the majority of the females had come over towards Hera's corner and slumbered together in one large clump.

Saving themselves from the water and providing each other just a bit of warmth and saving each other from the decreasing temperature. Yet there was no possibility of sleep, not when the same song was booming on the speaker and set on to play on repeat.

Until when? No one could be sure.

The witches had a beautiful strategy, to meditate in the attempt to experience a moment of silence. But it was dangerous, especially in the type of environment they were in. Meditating and being yanked out from it was an awful and should only be attempted in trusted company, and nothing about the Underground was considered trustworthy.

It had taken the better part of the next day for those near Hera to hear her awakening grumples, and alas, she rose up to sit up and instantly shivered in damnation. Her arms wrapping over herself as she looked about, the strain of her eyes wasn't the issue.
It was the blaring chirp in her head, right along side the sting in her neck.

It's alright sweetheart, Armond drank from you...You should be feeling better in a little bit.

Armond?

Willow managed to let his name slip, I don't know who he is Sage, but it's a lead. You need to get out and make sure somebody—Everybody knows his name. He's been preying off of traveling wolves going from one state to the other. It's no wonder you were taken.

And music?

It's a psychological tactic, they're trying to drive everyone mad and turn on each other. And Clem's not doing so well hun, she and Poppy were reprimanded.

What does that mean?

Punished. They got punished, hun.

Sage's nose went into a panic, sorting out all the smells before she finally found the two that ceased her wolf's worries. And much like before, the small whimpers caused her to snuggle up beside them, either being skinny enough for both of them to fit in her lap without much difficulty.

She whispered an apology through the blaring speakers, yet her only solidance was to place her hand over the pup's ears as they pressed against her chest. Hoping it'd block out the noise.

Hours passed, and the torture did not stop.

Sleep was impossible and the cooling temperature was surely starting to reign havoc on the witches. Yet in hearing the small sprit of air, it reminded her of a shower.

"What's that noise?" Sage said, turning to Elena. "The music? Or the sprinklers?"
"Sprinklers...How long they on for?"
"A few hours, Adelaide said she felt it creeping up on her blanket already. We'll need to move soon or else we'll all get soaked." Sage nodded, smirking to herself before gently moving either Clem to Elena and Poppy to Maeve.

"What are you doing—Hera, please. You need to sit down and rest." It earned her a pause in what she was about to do, and perhaps she was right. But damn it all, she could not stand for the fact that the pups were hurt.

No. She couldn't. She wouldn't.

Walking directly into the center of the room she embraced the cold water and felt rejoiced. The threat of hyperthermia had diminished the second her skin collected the water. And that instantly prompted her to crack her knuckles.

"Everyone awake?" She called over the music, and it earned her a few mumbles of 'I'm up,' or 'Here!'

"I need everyone awake and ready, okay?" It was strange, sure. But the gruff attitude of Thalia—Who was bitter and exhausted caused Sage to come strutting forward. "Do you want to leave or not?" She hissed, and that certainly gained the attention of everyone.

Especially Maeve and Isla.

"H-Hera? What do you mean leave?" The she-wolf questioned and Sage sighed. "That's not my name, and we need to get ready. Grab all blankets and I need more water." She dictated, and if it was any brighter in the room then perhaps Sage could see the shock written across either of the woman.

"Now!" Sage growled, and the scatterment of those around her instantly followed. But she caught it was much more wolf oriented to go with her order, and thus she returned back a decent way.

Can't wait anymore Darius, we break out today.

Break out now sweetheart. The best bet you can try is to see what is on the other side of the wall behind you.

That was Sage's first course of action, and when she caught the two wolves rushing out of the bathroom. With both the sinks and showers running with plugged drains, she knew that she earned another fountain to use.

It started with a few inhales and exhales, her abilities being pushed down to hide them away and not allow them to spark. And before those around her could understand what the scent was, they watched the small outline of Hera slashing forward. Dictating the water and it's movements to break through the other end of the garage. While it was the perfect prison, the combined likeness of her water and earth abilities allowed for her to call upon both.

The clatter roared louder than the music, but there was no alarm for this type of escape. However, the building being torn down allowed to leak through in patches.

Hera looked back towards the others and huffed. "Water...Not this way. Ready?" She called out, and the others found themselves rising to their feet—Still exhausted but enough fight in them to really be called upon to the task.

Sage knew this would be difficult, but after looking down from her position on the cliff to see the water source below—It brought her to raise her hands above her head in a windmill motion.

The force came in whisks, and wether she meant to summon the weather was beyond her at the moment. Especially when the vocal scream that came from her body was not of a wolf, nothing about Sage was Lycan in this very moment.

She was embracing her Halliwell nature and didn't dare stop her assault on the other wall until it was fully demolished. "Lets go!" She shouted, and walked without hesitation into the hallway without an escort.

______

Date: 07/29/2022

Time: 8:37

Words: 2549

Author's Note:

 Darius said to wait until there was an opening and when she received some information, and here we have it! Better late than never, hopefully all goes well👀

Also, we now have a proper name for the antagonist, Armond!

One more chapter for this phase!

Hope everyone has an amazing Friday and weekend! See you Monday!!