Strike ( Book 4: Stronger Series )

11. The Queen

I woke up on the couch in the bedroom feeling like total shit. My skin shuddered at the flashback of the nightmare I had been running from during my sleep. Dogs. Rabid fucking dogs chasing me through the night in the damn woods, Darren riding behind them on his horse and sneering as he hunted me. I woke when I tripped on a branch and felt the first scratch of teeth at my shoulder. I had already almost been eaten by wolves once. I didn't need to relive that experience even though I just watched someone else live it.

Darren had once saved me from the same fate he'd just condemned that poor girl to. Yet I knew somehow if I argued with him, he would turn it around and blame me. If I hadn't tried to save her life first, if I hadn't interfered, her death would have been quick and painless. I'd learned that with Holly when she was gifted with Darren's bullet rather than some other horrific form of torture I would have had to witness.

A month ago, I wouldn't have batted an eye. I would have just looked on as Darren exerted his brutality and cruelty and not give a damn about the who or why. Anyone associated with him deserved to die as far as I was concerned.

But when I looked in her eyes and realized the truth, I found my exception. Not everyone was here willingly. You were disposed of if you served no purpose, and luckily, that girl had been given another chance at life under a different title when her face was no longer pleasing to the eye. Cleaning was better than fucking by a long shot, but you still weren't free. And now she was dead because my dog had been trained to react the way she had.

Camaro was still sleeping in her kennel next to me, unaware of the turmoil she had just caused. Would she have reacted the same way those hunting dogs had? Camaro was trained to destroy people, to attack without mercy at all costs, and she was very good at what she did. I hadn't seen it in real life yet, just realistic practice drills, but I never wanted to see her hunt someone innocent the way Darren's hunting dogs just had.

I didn't want Camaro to become a monster, but I couldn't help but notice how all my commands as well as Darren's were ignored. Had her mission to protect me overridden all other commands? If she couldn't be controlled, I had no doubt Darren would eliminate her, finding her to be too much of a risk for my safety. That would crush me.

But she and I had both defied his commands today. And there would be consequences for that. I knew watching that girl die wouldn't be enough. I would suffer more, and the thought of what Darren would do to me had my heart skipping in fear. The recollection of his belt whipping my bare back from my time in his basement had me cringing inside. My memories were the chains that often kept me in check.

I could feel each lash, strike after strike until my skin finally split open. I remembered the smile on Darren's face as he wrote his name on my skin with my blood. My screams never ceased, and he fucking enjoyed it. I remembered the satisfaction on his face every time his cock was buried inside me, tears, blood, and semen staining my skin while he brought me to heel. He loved to conquer me, and the fact that I had to continue to withstand that strict regimen was honestly exhausting. But what could I do but endure? Obviously, I was fucking good at it.

Camaro finally stirred then, pulling me from reliving my nightmare. Her body sluggishly rolled to the side so she could sit up and regard me.

"Hey, girl," I said softly, easing my hand through the bars of the kennel to pet her.

Brushing my hands along the side of her head, she turned her nose into my palm and licked me. I sighed at her apology and opened her kennel to let her out. She sat down in front of me, licking her nose as she looked me over. Leaning forward, I put my arms around her, finding comfort in her soft, warm body, and resting my head against her shoulder.

"You caused a lot of trouble today, Camaro," I whispered, running my hands over her fur, attempting to reassure her I was not hurt or mad. She nudged me with her body, pushing further into me, her snout resting on my shoulder.