Captivated

Next Door

Malik stumbled out of the room in shock.

"No", he whispered.

The bastard had done it. Mikhail had managed to get ahold of his one fatal weakness. The one thing he couldn't live without, it was as if he was being sentenced to a death sentence. He was a fool, a complete fool. He was stronger than Mikhail but only by the slightest. Having a mate whilst making him vulnerable, made him invincible. It would heighten his senses, increase his strength and unlock his wolf once again. Not only had he lost what he needed to put Mikhail down but he lost the one thing that kept him going.

Mikhail was right, he didn't deserve to be an Alpha. If he couldn't take care of one person, how could he take care of a pack? He was weak and pitiful. He allowed himself to be weakened with those injections, allowed himself to be imprisoned for years on end. All for a mother who didn't even realise what was going on, whose mind was so far gone she couldn't remember that she could control the son who had imprisoned her.

Malik felt his legs give out from underneath him and a shock jolted through his body as his knees made contact with the floor. It cut through his self-hatred like a heated knife, reaching his core.

Arya was alive. He wouldn't be if she wasn't.

He had time. How long, he didn't know but he was determined to drag Mikhail to the depths of hell with him if Arya was to die.

There was a perceptible change of his eyes from the usual simmering gold to a molten one. His eyes almost gleamed with pure rage as he turned to leave. His steps were that of a vengeful predator on a hunt, light but purposeful. The muscles in his arm rippled as he clenched and unclenched his fist tensely.

Just as he was about to leave the house, he took a deep inhale, preserving the remnants of her scent in his brain. He could also smell another animal, a cat. His keen eyes picked up on the lingering cat furs that decorated the sofa. She definitely had a cat, he had seen strands of fur on her skirt sometimes.

Where was the animal?

It was as if luck was on his side when he heard a faint meow coming from the adjacent house and a loud male voice following after. That must be the cat, it wouldn't hurt to check. Malik turned to look at the whirlwind of the mess that was Arya's house.

She had fought for herself. She fought for them. That thought simultaneously killed him and relieved him of some of his overpowering burdens.

The way she fought, he must fight even harder

In one fluid motion, spurred by her dedication, he jumped over the fence and landed on the front garden of the next house. The house was identical to hers but a messier version with the grass uncut and the stones mossy.

Malik headed to the door and knocked a single, sharp knock.

"Who is it?" An irritated male voice called out as it approached the door. The door opened and a young man stood there with blue eyes and a rusted head of hair, in shock.

"Holy fuck...", he stuttered. "Your- your eyes!"

"Who are you?" Malik growled impatient, picking up on his fear and hesitation.

"Uh- uh Karl", the man whimpered, taking an involuntary step back.

Malik snarled. Karl, he knew that name. This was the man Arya mentioned? He was pathetic, a whimpering, cowardly mess.

"Karl, what is going on?" Another man called out as he hobbled into the passage on crutches with a cat following close behind him, a loose-fitting shirt hanging from his tone frame. "Oh shit, Karl, fucking get back", he swore as he laid eyes on Malik.

Malik stepped forward, without care. They had her cat. He recognised the scent from Arya. Why did these men have her cat?

"Stay fucking back!" The man on crutches yelled. "I have a gun and I will shoot you, you son of a bitch".

"Try", Malik snapped, vexed. "I will take your head off before you can even blink".

The man at the door, Karl, groaned as his eyes darted wildly around. "Is he... The one who?"

"Yes, Karl", the man on crutches said through gritted teeth. "Shut the fuck up, let me deal with this".

The cat meowed once and leisurely made its way to the door, weaving in between Karl's legs. It stopped in front of Malik and looked up critically as if examining him. Its eyes were bright and vibrant, staring with such intensity with wide, unblinking eyes that even Malik felt a tinge of discomfort. It blinked after what felt like forever and then meowed once again as if satisfied, rubbing itself on Malik's legs, purring contentedly.

"Luka", Karl whispered, frozen.

"KK", Luka coaxed. "Come back here girl, come to me". His eyes shot up to Malik. "Don't you dare fucking hurt her, she's just a cat".

"Why would I hurt a cat?" Malik asked bemused, staring at the bold cat who sat, curled between his feet, its chest rising and falling as it watched the altercation lazily.

"If you can fucking hurt her, you can hurt her bloody cat!" Luka snapped, leaning heavily on the crutch. "Where the fuck is she?"

Malik felt his patience growing this and grabbed the cowardly man - Karl -by his throat. "That is what I want to know. I'll give you five seconds before I kill this weasel".

"Oh my God", Karl cried, trying to grab onto Malik's hands but failing pathetically. "Luka, fucking do something, he's going to kill me".

"Shut your whining, I'm on fucking crutches, what the hell can I do?" Luka snapped to his whimpering brother. He turned to face Malik, "You're the one who took her-"

"Fuck", Malik swore and he released Karl, Karl immediately slumped to the floor in an undignified heap, gasping. "You were with her when Mikhail came?"

"Mikhail?" Luka asked puzzled. Karl took that opportunity to shuffle back towards his brother.

"The bastard who took her and probably did that to you as well".

"Shit, he looked exactly like you", Luka whispered. "Was he your-"

Malik growled to cut him off. He didn't want to admit any connection to that son of a bitch, no less a blood one.

"Are- are you going after her?" Luka asked.

"This is a waste of my time", Malik sighed. He glanced at Karl and smirked as the man squeaked, enjoying his squirming. "Look after her cat for now".

"Wait!" Luka called out but the doorway was already empty, the only sign someone was ever there was a mark on Karls neck and a lone leaf drifting down from the updraft of Malik's sudden exit.

Luka exhaled deeply, leaning his head against the wall. That man, he gave the same vibe as the one who took Arya - Mikhail, but this was more dangerous like a wounded predator. He had no shirt on strangely but Luka could see that man was strong and muscled with scars marking various sections of his body.

He hobbled to the nearest chair and fell into the chair as streams of pain shot up his leg and his muscles protested in pain.

Luka looked to the door where KK still sat, her tail flicking slowly from side to side.

"Traitor", he hissed at her as she smugly groomed her fur.

God, ignore the typos please T-T (or point them out to me so I can fix them)

I'm on my last thread here lmao