GIVEN TO THE TWIN ALPHA KINGS - Chapter 35: Chapter 35

Delaney
"How many more women, Ronan? Commander Vex...who else?" I questioned looking at him in the eyes. He stood stiffly, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.
"Delaney, look." He hesitated, exhaling loudly as he stood.
"Don't," I voiced out softly, shaking my head. Kai stood beside me, arms crossed, jaw tight, but he didn't speak. He knew not to meddle at that point.
"You sat there, behind your fucking desk like nothing was wrong, looking at her nudity." I raised my voice as a boiling feeling bubbled beneath my skin.
"I kicked her out, Delaney."
"And yet she was stretching her arm to touch you," I snapped. "Perhaps you didn't really make it clear that she needed to leave." My wolf had jumped when we laid our eyes on Chloe, nude, in front of our mate.
"So, Ronan." I walked around the desk, facing him up fully. "Do I need a list of the ladies I need to be wary of?" I insisted.
"They were flings, Delaney, before I found out that you are our mate. Believe me when I say that I haven't looked at any since," he said softly, trailing his fingers lightly over my arm.
Then he added, "I swear I didn't know Chloe would—"
"That's exactly the point, Ronan." I cut him off. "You didn't think Chloe would try to get between us. Just like you don't know who will waltz in here next, strip for you and hope you will give in."
As he opened his mouth to answer, Kai's phone rang. I turned my head towards him, my heart leaping in my chest. Kai had instructed the warriors to give him a call in case Rick turned up. After searching for hours, he suggested we pass by the office for a break, only for us to find Chloe trying to seduce my mate.
"Bring him to the dungeons, I'll be there," Kai spoke after listening to the caller, his face blank of any emotion.
"What is it?" I asked when he hung up, holding my breath.
He looked at me, then at his brother. "They found Rick," he answered.
"Is he alive?" Ronan sneered, his eyes tightening up.
"Barely," Kai answered, his voiclow , and icy. I could feel the energy in the office shifting, both their wolves surfacing.
I looked at Kai, my brows knitting together. "What do you mean, 'barely'?"
"The warrior didn't tell me much, just that he was tied to a tree, beaten up and not healing," Kai explained.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go," Ronan stated, cracking his knuckles. Kai placed his hand on the small of my back as we exited, as assurance that he was there.
When we got to the dungeons, a sudden chill creeped down my spine. The memories of my cries as the alpha kings dragged me down there pushed forward. The way they looked at me with so much disdain, like I was the most evil thing they had ever laid their eyes on.
"We are sorry, Del," Kai whispered beside me when I halted on the concrete stairs leading down to the cells.
"What we did was wrong," Ronan agreed behind us, placing his hand over my shoulder, while Kai tightened his arm around my waist.
I closed my eyes tightly, trying to push back the wetness. "We will understand if you can't go down there," Ronan said after a tense short silence, his voice shaky.
"I want to." I opened my eyes. "I need to look into his evil eyes and make sure he never hurts anyone else," I firmly stated, holding my chin up. Then I took a step down and another one until the cells came into view. There was a narrow hallway, with cells on either side, facing each other. The stench of urine and the iron scent of blood were much heavier now that I had my wolf. It almost made me gag as my stomach stirred.
"Alpha kings," one of the guards acknowledged.
"Which cell?" Kai asked, his voice void of any emotion.
"The last one," the guard answered, bowing.
I could feel the alpha kings' eyes on me because the cell the guard was referring to was the same cell I had been locked up in. A part of me was screaming for me to go back, but another part of me was pushing me to move forward.
"Are you sure you want to go in there?" Kai asked hesitantly, his voice softening.
"Afraid I will remember how you threw me in there without even blinking?" I turned, looking at both of them.
"Don't worry, I will not break," said before resuming the dreaded walk to the last cell. It was just like how I remembered it: dark, damp and isolated. There were two warriors inside, one holding a whip, the other a tool I assumed was for torture.
Rick was chained up, the chains dangling up from the concrete ceiling. His face was swollen, his nose broken and his lip was split. He was covered with a dark cloak that reached mid-thigh. Blood was dripping along the inside of his thighs, onto the floor. The same floor he had pinned me on, trying to force himself on me. One minute I was standing on the open cell door, the next I was mmarchingin, eyes seeing nothing but red.
"You monster!" I slapped him hard, the sound of my palm connecting with the side of his face.
He hung his head, spitting saliva mixed with blood. It should have disgusted me, but I didn't have time to process it because Kai's fist connected with his mid-abdomen. He coughed up blood, grunting in pain.
"You had some guts, trying to force yourself on our mate!" Ronan roared, stepping closer to him, hands clenched into fists.
The cell felt suddenly smaller, like the walls were closing in on me. A memory of him prying my legs apart flashed in my mind, making my throat tighten around me. It was like I could no longer breathe, like I was taken back to that first time.
"What is the punishment for your crime?" Kai steered, standing beside his brother.
Rick wheezed instead of answering, tears coating his swollen eyes. "Where is your confidence now?" I mocked.
"You were very smug in the mansion and the first time in this very cell as you held me by my wrists, calling me a slut," I spat. The silence that followed after that was nothing like I'd experienced. It was the very calm that came right before a storm.
A low growl reverberated in the cell and across the dungeon, one that made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. Then Kai spoke, his voice more animal than human. "What...did you just say?"
"Are you saying that the attempt in the mansion was the second time this son of a bitch was touching you?" Ronan added, his voice gravel, and that is when I knew that shit was about to go down.