Of course, things were frustrating for Doug and Orchid.

They were stuck in their wolf forms until they could finally find a way to escape and go home, so there weren't many things they could do. They still had Dessa with them as company, but she wasn't the best...to Doug, anyway.  He didn't like her, especially since she was so close to his sister.

Of course, all Orchid wanted was for them to get along, so she often tried finding ways for them to bond together.

Doug, unfortunately, had no part of it. He'd often just walk away and lay down by himself.

They were both surprised, however, as a silhouette stood in the entrance of the tent.

"Well, turns out you have a bigger reputation than I thought."

It was Rosa.

She had something in her hand.

Doug gave a low growl and stood in front of Orchid protectively.

"No need to get defensive. It's not her I'm after."

That didn't help him calm down any.  He gave an angry bark, snarling.  He was quickly silenced by something being put around his mouth.  It burned his skin, making him whine instead. He clawed at it, but it burned his paws too.

"There.  That oughtta keep you quiet."

It was then he realized what it was: a silver muzzle.  He flinched as he started feeling dizzy.  He weakly laid down on the ground.  Orchid licked him, whining from concern.

Rosa smirked under her bandanna and left them alone.

"Serves you right for being such a jerk." Dessa muttered under her breath, earning nothing but a simple whine.  "Wow, you don't have to get all whiny about it."

Orchid barked in her brother's defense, but Dessa couldn't understand her, making her whine again.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Rosa's voice spoke once again as she came back, this time with a whip. She tapped it in the palm of her hand. "I was supposed to use this. Hmm...now who to start with..."

She let the three rough leather cords fall and dangle from the handle. The spokes and barbs on them glistened slightly as she drew it back to strike the closest entity to her — Orchid.

Dessa immediately got in the way.

"Leave them alone. Strike me instead."

"Oh?  Hmm...you really do care about your friend, do you?  Ah, whatever.  As you wish." Rosa said darkly.

She then proceeded to whip Dessa, making her scream and wail in pain.  The shouts seemed like music to Rosa's ears as she continued until Dessa's back was all bloodied up.

Bits of clothing and skin clung to the barbs on the whip. 

"There.  How's that?" Rosa said, eerily sweetly.

Dessa panted, but managed a small glare.  "...I hate you..."

Rosa just gave a sharp cackle.  "I know!  That's what makes this so amusing!"

She decided to leave the two werewolves alone for now.  Orchid quickly licked Dessa's wounds, whining.  Dessa sighed and petted the young werewolf.

"...I'm fine, Orchid.  It's nothing I'm not used to."

She earned a whine and a confused head tilt at that statement.

"...I'll explain later.  But...I'm kinda tired right now." she muttered, laying down on the ground.  Orchid continued licking her back, cleaning off all of the blood.

It wasn't long before the injured siren drifted to a deep sleep...

...but it wasn't long before the blood was cleared, too.

There were, of course, several fresh gashes from the recent whippings, but there were faint, older scars and scratches from previous times too.  They seemed just as bad as — if not worse than — what she had just received.  Orchid immediately whined in concern.

Why?  Why was her life falling apart like this?  Dessa was her only comfort in this place, but now?...

She curled up on the ground next to her.  Doug managed to weakly go over too, collapsing beside the two and immediately falling asleep.

Orchid just laid there awake for a moment, her mind racing.  So many horrible things had happened recently.  It felt like it couldn't get any worse...

...she decided not to think about that.  She might jinx it.

She wasn't sure how much longer she managed to stay awake before she finally drifted into a deep sleep.