Isaac could feel his fingers starting to swell, but he kept trying to wiggle them around. Even though it hurt, he needed to try to keep the hand somewhat useful, in case they were able to get out of here. He imagined socking the woman straight in her jaw, no matter the damage it would cause him. He'd cut off his own leg and beat her with it if it got them out of here.
"You know, I'm getting kind of annoyed with you two. I still haven't even asked my question and we've already used up an entire hand. At the rate we're going, I'm gonna run out of bones to break. Maybe I should switch to the little one?" the woman suggested, leering at Stiles. The scared boy audibly gulped, looking at Isaac with wide eyes. Any injuries the normal human got would take ages to heal compared to his. And even though he couldn't access his wolf right now, he still had some of the mojo running through him. While these injuries hurt like hell, they would be absolutely debilitating for someone like Stiles.
"Bored with me already?" Isaac asked, scraping the bottom of his reserves for a little bit of the swagger he'd put on after he first got the bite. He had to keep the focus on himself. "Or are you afraid of the big, bad wolf?" The woman cocked her head at him, a sly smirk pulling at her lips.
"You may think you're brave," she started, stepping in front of him again, "but I could have you begging in seconds if I wanted to." She unsheathed her knife again, specks of his blood still visible on the blade. He tried not to react to the sight of it, or from the fear of what she'd do with it. She rested it against his chest, running it down until it got to the top of his belt. Isaac held his breath, terrified at the thought of what she was about to do. She turned the blade, hooking it under the bottom of his shirt and pulling it up, slicing apart the fabric like it was nothing. The shirt fell open, exposing his chest and the stab wound from earlier. From the angle he was looking from, it didn't seem too bad. The woman started walking her fingers across his stomach and he tried to shy away from her touch. This was veering into a form of abuse he hadn't experienced before and he didn't know if he'd be able to deal with it, on top of everything.
"Oh relax kid, you're not my type. My friend was the one who preferred them young," she chuckled, continuing the lazy path with her fingers.
"Kate," Stiles moaned, shaking his head, "your friend was Kate."
"Yep," the woman said, swirling her finger around his belly button. Isaac tried his hardest to suppress his twitch at the slightly ticklish feeling. He'd heard the name Kate a few times from members of the group, but had never asked about the story behind her.
"Of course you were friends with that abusive bitch! You're like a watered down, store brand, bargain basement version of her!" Stiles spat, a look of pure hate and disgust on his face. There was certainly history there. Isaac couldn't help but feel a little annoyed that he was involved in a revenge plot for a person he'd never even met.
"Watch your fucking mouth!" the woman snapped, jamming her finger into Isaac's stab wound. He threw his head back and cried out, the sudden pain startling the sound out of him. She twisted her finger, each movement punctuating her angry words. "Kate was a good person, doing what she had to do to protect the world from monsters! You'd understand that if you opened your eyes. We wouldn't even have to exist if they didn't!" She ripped her hand away and Isaac tipped his head forward, gagging at all the sensations he had just felt. Nothing was in his stomach to come up though, thanks to his train depot diet. The woman calmly wiped off her hand on the cleaner side of his shirt, walking back to stand in front of Stiles. He was panting angry breaths out of his nostrils, vibrating with rage.
"Since you know who my friend was, I think you can guess who I'm looking for, but I'll say it just in case you're as stupid as you look. Where are Peter and Derek Hale?" she asked. Isaac let out a low laugh. Of course it was about his emotionally repressed Alpha and his slightly deranged uncle. If she was just looking for Peter, Isaac might be tempted to give him up. There was no love lost between them, especially after the enjoyment he took jabbing his claws into the back of his neck to try to look into Isaac's memories. But he couldn't give up Derek, no matter how the man had treated him. That was his Alpha and he would be loyal until the end. If he suffered years of abuse from his own father and never spoke a word, he wasn't going to snitch on Derek. And there was the slight issue in the fact that Isaac had no idea where Derek was. He hadn't seen the man since he had been booted from the loft. If he wasn't there, he had no idea where he'd be.
"We don't know where they are," Stiles insisted, looking down at the floor. Isaac couldn't blame him for not wanting to look at him right now. They both knew that Isaac was going to be punished for any answers she didn't like. Isaac wouldn't mind one less witness to his torture.
"Back to this again?" the woman asked with a sigh. She snapped her fingers and the ogre struck, sinking his fist into Isaac's ribs. Isaac choked on his breath, his lungs seizing up from the shock of the assault. He couldn't breathe. His lungs were spasming inside his chest, not expanding enough to let in any oxygen. It was like a sledgehammer, too much force focused on too small of an area. Those bones were definitely broken.
"Breathe man, you gotta breathe," Stiles called out to him, barely breaking through the oxygen deprived fog that had taken over his senses. Easy for him to say, sitting safely on the other side of the room, mostly untouched. If Isaac had the ability to breathe, he'd be doing it right now. But it was impossible.
He was going to die from one punch. How pathetic. His inner voice was screaming at him and of course it sounded just like his dad. Telling him he was proving him right. Isaac had been born weak and he would die weak. Anyone who counted on him would be ruined. He was a burden to anyone who had the misfortune of being near him.
No, he was better than this. He was stronger than this. One punch wasn't going to take him out. He was a werewolf. Isaac was something to be feared and respected. He forced himself to take in a breath, no matter how bad it hurt. Pain was just a thing. It didn't matter. Isaac's second breath came easier, and then the next even more so. The room slowly came back into focus.
Stiles was staring at him, silent tears streaming down his face. They were both going to need therapy after this, if they made it out alive. Maybe Deaton knew someone they could talk to? Deaton knew everything.
"What a weak puppy you are," the woman giggled, tsking a little at his glare. "It would be a lot easier on you if you just told the truth."
"I don't know where they are," Isaac groaned, trying to shift a little to provide some sort of relief for his aching body. If only he was able to get at least the tip of his toe on the floor, some of the pressure would dissipate.
"I'm supposed to believe that a Beta doesn't know where his Alpha is?" the woman scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Word on the streets is you live with him. How cozy, curled up in a den together."
"You heard wrong," Isaac muttered, looking down at the floor. His Alpha wasn't the type to get cozy with anyone. He'd kept his Betas around at first, when he was trying to build the pack and grow his strength, but that didn't seem to be his goal anymore. Isaac knew Derek finding his presumed dead sister after all these years was a shock, but it didn't have to change things that much. The loft was big enough for all of them, even if Isaac had to sleep on the floor in a corner.
"Then why did we find your stuff in his place?" she asked, laughing as his eyes widened in shock at her words. She'd gone to the loft? When had that happened? He was thankful that Derek had already disappeared before that confrontation could occur. He knew Derek was strong, but he had been a little off since the discovery of Erica's dead body. It would've been too easy for him to make a mistake that could cost him his life.
And yeah, Isaac still had some stuff at the loft. Derek hadn't given him much notice before he threw him out, only able to grab the already packed bag he took to school. Isaac didn't have many things, but he did have a bit more than what could be carried in one duffle bag. He just hadn't had the courage to go back and ask for the rest of his stuff yet. And now that Derek had disappeared, it wasn't like he was going to break in and take it.
"He kicked me out," Isaac chuckled, not bothering to lie about that fact. What did it matter? So what if Stiles was looking at him with a confused stare? It didn't matter anymore who knew. Poor, sad Isaac, mistreated by every authority figure he had. He'd been pissed when he found out Derek took Scott to his house after he'd been turned. It was one thing for people to hear about the abuse, but it was another to have someone see the evidence of it. And then hearing later that Scott had Allison lock him inside during the full moon made him want to throw up. He understood that desperate times called for desperate measures, but that was taking it a bit to the extreme.
"He kicked you out?" the woman asked, bursting out in laughter. Isaac closed his eyes, feeling his cheeks burn in embarrassment. His rejection was just so hilarious. "Gosh, that must've hurt, huh? The person who made you, tossing you to the side? Do you know how tight the bond is between Alpha and Beta? The need to be together and cohesive is like a living, breathing thing. Being so separated from his Beta has got to be hurting Derek so deeply, but he still chose that pain over keeping you around."
Isaac knew she was lying, just trying to break him down, but it was working. He couldn't stop the tear from running down his cheek. After all those "stronger together" pep talks and lectures, Derek didn't care if he sent Isaac off to be alone. He didn't care if Isaac was weak and vulnerable without his care and direction. That Isaac was still a kid and had been lacking protection for so long that giving him a taste and then snatching it away was crueler than he could imagine.
"Shut up!" Stiles shouted, but the woman was on a roll.
"You'd never do that if you were the Alpha. I can tell you care so much. You'd protect your Betas no matter what," she said, reaching up to cradle his cheek in her delicate hand. He couldn't help himself from leaning into her touch. "If you help me find Derek, I'll let you kill him. You can take his spot and be a better Alpha than he ever was. We'll take off and forget we ever met." Isaac moaned, opening and closing his mouth as if he was searching for the right words. The woman leaned in eagerly, waiting to see if her new angle worked.
"Go fuck yourself," Isaac growled, expecting the fist that slammed into his other side. It didn't take long for him to realize something was really wrong this time, with the way his mouth was filling up with blood. He choked on it as the woman dug her fingers into his chin, a look of disgust on her face.
"You're still willing to die for a man who treats you worse than trash? Because that's what's gonna happen here. You're going to die, along with your little pal over there. And do you think Derek will care? Do you think this meaningless sacrifice will even ping on his radar? It won't. And when we end up finding him and killing him, which we will, all this that you've gone through will be for nothing!" she screeched, slapping him hard across the face. The blood that was pooling in his cheeks flew out, barely missing her shoes. Isaac spat, trying to clear his throat so he could breathe properly.
This was the end, wasn't it? While he may be able to heal from this injury with his werewolf abilities, his temporary human state would not be able to hold out for much longer. The only chance he had was to get the cuffs off his ankles, but they were too tight to get off without the use of his hands.
"Oh my God, oh my God!" Stiles panted, watching him drown in his own blood. Isaac was going to die and leave him to the mercy of hunters. Stiles wouldn't stand a chance. He'd never give anyone up.
"Aww, you broke him!" the woman moaned, sidestepping the steadily expanding puddle of blood Isaac was leaving on the floor. "Now we have no choice but to switch." No, Isaac couldn't let this happen. Not as long as his heart was still beating. Stiles was too important to everyone. Isaac renewed his struggles to get free, ignoring how it stole his breath and made everything hurt worse than before. He felt the cuffs sliding further up his ruined wrists and the beginning stages of an idea started to form in his head. A terrible idea that probably wouldn't work, but they had nothing to lose.
"Not broken yet," Isaac wheezed, painfully lifting his broken middle finger to flip her off. It got the desired reaction, turning her focus back onto him.
"Oh, you dumb little puppy," the woman said, signalling to the man with a raised brow. He grabbed Isaac's already ruined hand, crushing the rest of the bones in his giant paw.
Isaac screamed.
He screamed louder and longer than he thought possible as the man kneaded his fingers into the delicate flesh of his destroyed hand. When he finally let go Isaac sagged in exhaustion, feeling his body tremble in shock. Every shaky exhale let out a mist of blood.
"Stiles, m'srry," Isaac gasped, unable to look at the other boy. This was his last hurrah. "Tell you, wanna know."
"Isaac, no," Stiles pleaded, tears audible in his voice. Isaac wasn't sure if he meant don't say anything or don't give up. Or don't die.
"Shut up!" the woman snapped, cradling Isaac's face again. "It'll be better after, you'll see."
"Give couple m-minutes, say g'bye," Isaac wheezed, digging deep for the ability to force out the stuttered words.
"Sure, anything for my good boy," the woman agreed, giving him one last pat before she made her way out the door with her stooge. Isaac sighed when he heard the click of the door closing behind them, leaving him alone in the room with Stiles again.
This was it.
