Did I pass the test?

My brain short-circuited without being able to understand what was happening. It must have been the lack of sleep, food, and water, my tiredness was so much that I could barely keep my eyes open, much less was I going to be able to analyze what was happening around me.

It was all a farce. The click came several minutes later, temporarily waking me up. Those good-for-nothing assholes, I wanted to free myself from the chains and kick each of their asses, Zaziel included.

Shit, that had to be the reason he was missing. Let's mentally torture Roselyn before we fake kidnapping her. Wonderful, one of the best fucking experiences of my life.

Had all the members suffered the same? It was a somewhat extreme way of ensuring the loyalty of the candidates, although coming from a group like the rogues it was not that surprising either. Being tough was part of their essence.

My new friends must have also known what was happening and none of them said anything. Great, once again I had been deceived by the people I had decided to trust. Surely there was a plaque waiting for me to congratulate me for breaking a record.

I was for sure going to turn into an insensitive monster soon if everything kept going that way. Maybe it wasn't so bad, I could get to the same level as my family to return them the fair for what they did to me.

"Is it over? That fast?" asked the man who still had the pliers in his hand.

Fast? They called a full day of torture fast? I didn't want to imagine what standard time was like for them. They were for sure tough people, if they can survive the torture of the test they can endure anything.

How did the previous candidates forgive their torturers? They had to leave all of the physical and mental pain behind and live next to those who made them suffer for so long.

Zaziel approached us and stood next to me. The look he gave to my false captors was enough to make the strongest falter.

"I said that's enough," he repeated his words without further explanation.

"Otis is right," the redhead said. "We just went one day, the rest of the candidates had to endure three."

Three? That's a lot for a trial.

"I don't fucking care what anyone else did!" Zaziel shouted, startling us all. "She's already proven more than enough."

"How can we be sure it's enough?" Otis asked, more unsure than the first time. "We only left her without food and drink for a while, we didn't even hurt her a little. I'm not saying we have to do a lot of damage, but at least something basic, a couple of—

"I said it's over! Who's the alpha here? Do I have to lock you in the dungeon for a week so you remember who’s your leader?" Screamed Zaziel, burning with rage. “If you say one more word you can say goodbye to the rogues. Let's see how you do it in the wild.”

The three of them lowered their heads and their bodies began to tremble. They finally made the right decision, Zaziel looked like he was about to explode, and it was likely that if he did they would end up in a worse state than mine.

"My apologies," the redhead said. "Besides, there's no point in continuing if she already knows it's all a lie.”

“Get the fuck out of here,” Zaziel said, clenching his fist.

They didn't wait a second to run away. On the way to the door one of the three tripped on a tile and almost fell.

Their level of desperation was very funny and enjoyable to me after what they had done to me. Although in a way I understood that it was not something personal, all the candidates had to go through the same thing.

Zaziel broke the chains that held me to the chair as if he were breaking a small branch. His strength never ceased to amaze me, thinking about it, I shouldn't challenge him so often, he could split me in two at any moment if he wanted to.

He crouched down next to me and lifted my face.

"How do you feel?" His eyes focused on my nose.

"Are you really asking me how I feel? I think the answer is pretty obvious." I let out my frustration on him.

"You shouldn't feel so bad if you still have the strength to argue with me after I came to save you." Zaziel's words were harsh but they didn't match his worried expression.

"I'm sorry for being offended at having been deceived and tortured." I tried to stand up but fell to the side.

Zaziel stood up and stopped my fall, putting his arm around my waist.

"Everyone has to go through the last challenge if they want to join us. I can't risk the safety of the group for a new recruit. You were luckier than the rest."

"How wonderful. I'm dancing with joy," I said in an apathetic tone.

Zaziel chuckled and pulled me closer to him until my face touched his chest.

I leaned against him without thinking, his warmth made me feel safe, as if all the suffering couldn't reach me next to him. I sighed, cursing the mate bond for making me so weak in front of Zaziel.

The part of me that had been scared through the challenge wanted to scream, to get away from him, and hurt him like I had been hurt.

Still, I stayed next to him, listening to the calming beats of his heart. The comfort that his company gave me couldn't be compared to anything in the world, so I decided to let myself fall into his arms for a while, I could take my revenge in another moment.

"I'm exhausted," I confessed in a whisper.

"Let's get you somewhere more comfortable then," Zaziel said. He kissed my head and carried me bridal style. "You can rest now if you want."

"No, I’m good for now," I answered.

But I was lying. We didn't even make it out of the room when his warmth embraced me completely, making me close my eyes.

×

I woke up when the warmth surrounding me disappeared. It was automatic, as soon as the cold touched my body my eyes were already open.

Truth was that it had nothing to do with the temperature, the reality was that the absence of Zaziel's proximity was what took away my calm and warmth.

I looked around, trying to process the information while a part of me was still asleep. Zaziel had placed me on a bed, there was no doubt that there was a comfortable mattress beneath me, but the darkness did not allow me to recognize the place.

"We're in your room," he told me.

He must have noticed my confusion.

I relaxed my body, lying on the bed, and let out a sigh. “You can leave now if you want.”

My wolf cried at my words, she didn't want to let him go, if she could she would throw herself at Zaziel to make him stay with us forever.

“No, someone has to take a look at your wounds. Wait here for a minute.”

“You can ask Xara to take care of me.” I kept trying to push him away against my instinct.

“Stop being so stubborn and let me do it. Don't move and wait for me.”

It wasn't like I could move either, my muscles hurt and I barely had the energy to breathe. The words got stuck in my throat as Zaziel got inside the bathroom, there was no point in answering when he was already coming back.

“I thought I told you not to move,” he said, turning on the lamp. He sat on my bed and put a first-aid box next to me. “Let's take a look at your wounds. Where are you hurt besides your nose.”

“My right leg and my back I think.”

He raised a brow. “You think?”

“I was in a pretty bad situation, I was trying to keep myself calm instead of counting my wounds.” I winced when he touched my wrist. “I feel pain in those places, that's all I know.”

"Where does it hurt the most?"

"In the back."

"Alright, I'm going to start there. Can you turn around or should I help you?" Zaziel asked me, his tone was surprisingly soft.

"I need your help." I hated having to accept my weakness but I had no choice.

He supported my body, guiding me to lie on my side. The pain did not leave me for a second, causing me to clench my teeth to keep from crying.

"I'm going to lift the shirt," Zaziel warned me.

His touch, despite being delicate, burned my skin. The burning spread through the small of my back and I moved forward involuntarily.

"Sorry," Zaziel told me, placing his hand against my abdomen to hold me in place. "You have a big cut that luckily isn't very deep. How did this happen? I thought they hadn't started hurting you yet."

"I got hurt before they sedated me when I tried to catch the intruders."

Zaziel continued cleaning the cut. I pressed the padding with my hands to not move.

"I'm going to need to pull your shirt up a little more, I want to see if you don't have any other injuries.”

"I'm fine, I don't feel any more discomfort in my back," I told him.

It was better if he didn't see the rest of my back, the scars left as a reminder of my family's abuse were something I preferred to keep to myself. I was afraid of people's reactions when they saw them. The disgust was the part I could bear, what hurt me the most were the expressions of pity. I hated being considered the poor, weak girl they had to protect.

"Please," he said.

That was the first time I had heard him say those words. Zaziel was the alpha who gave orders, he never had to ask nicely for what he wanted. It made me feel important just by hearing him say those words, the part of me that wanted to feel special danced in joy.

"Alright, just do it quickly."

I closed my eyes and waited for the usual comment of false empathy.

"There's just a small scratch, I'm going to clean it up just in case.”

My body immediately relaxed and I remembered how to breathe. Zaziel saw the scars, there was no doubt about that, but he decided not to say anything about them or maybe they didn't seem strange to him. It felt great not to be belittled by the past that I couldn't change.

Zaziel lowered the shirt when he finished and continued with the wound I had on my thigh. He worked slowly and quietly. He showed no sign of discomfort when I complained about the pain, no matter my words he made sure to make me feel comfortable whenever he could.

"I let you take the test because I figured you wouldn't want special treatment." Zaziel broke the silence as he cleaned the wound on my wrist. "I thought you were going to yell at me if I let you into the group without taking the test."

"It wouldn't be fair to the rest," I replied, looking up into his eyes.

Zaziel came a little closer to me, sitting almost touching my body.

"Then I was right." He chuckled. "When we started the group there were only two challenges, but we had many problems with members who betrayed us. When it comes to the most powerful group, everyone wants to join to gain protection but not everyone has the necessary loyalty."

"I understand, but is it necessary to torture them for three days?"

Zaziel shook his shoulders. "I have to be very sure."

"Then why did you stop my trial?”

He finished bandaging my wrists and held my hands.

"At first I had the intention to make you endure the same time as the others. I was more than sure of my decision, I am used to sending candidates to suffer torture but I began to doubt during the morning of the trial." He let go of my hands and looked down. "I doubted every time I saw you, I think it was my wolf that made me feel so uneasy."

"That's why you ignored me all day."

He nodded. "Once the challenge started I thought I was going to calm down but I started to feel your pain and my wolf took control of my body. When I shifted back to my human form I was already in front of the door to the torture room. You know what happened next.”

I took his hands in mine and gave them a squeeze. “Thanks for helping me. I know that sometimes I act like I don't care but I’m grateful that you stopped the test. I was just pissed off at that moment.”

“You should thank my wolf for that,” Zaziel said before standing up. “Why don't you take some sleep, you look exhausted.”

“I am exhausted.”

“I’ll leave you alone after I put this back in place, then.” He grabbed the first aid kit and walked to the bathroom.

I had the intention of staying awake until he left the room so I could thank him for taking care of my wounds. My tiredness didn't want to hear me, it insisted on pushing me to close my eyes and relax.

Sleep was millimeters away when I heard footsteps approaching me. I kept my eyes closed, pretending to be asleep.

"You make me so weak."

I heard Zaziel's voice and then I felt a kiss on my forehead.

"If you keep this up I'm going to end up losing.”