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Jaime came back fast, he was good at that, even better at pretending to still be out. It was an important skill, allowing him to gauge expectations and take a moment of reprieve. He was in an unfamiliar room with a smell he couldn’t place. Eskender was pacing somewhere behind him. The wall were roughhewn rock and the floor was dirt, worn smooth from years of use.
The smell was worrying, it could be a new weapon, some contraption from the south. Though Eskender’s pacing was even more concerning. The hunter did not pace, preferring to take his frustration out on Jaime or whichever wolf was closest.
Jaime braced himself and rose to rest on his calves, hands folded in his lap. All for naught, as no sooner had he settled than Eskender was pinning Jaime with a hand around his neck.
“This is your fault,” Eskender growled, “Your fucking wards did jack shit and now we’re in the hands of those fucking mutts!”
The last two words were a roar, as Eskender tossed Jaime to the side. The other man had the benefit of not being starved every day for years.
Jaime was still processing the words when a sharp pain bloomed in his side. Eskender was standing over him now, and delivered another sharp kick to his ribs, and another.
“All. Your. Fucking. Fault. You. Useless. Cunt.”
Each word was punctuated with a kick, leaving Jaime gasping for air. He was too focused on breathing to realise why the kicks had stopped before a familiar burning pain was splitting him open and Eskender was on top of him, pressing him into the dirt. He leaned in close, mockingly intimate, to whisper in Jaime’s ear, “Now you’re going to be sorry.”
Jaime didn’t know at what point he blacked out, but he came to mercifully empty. Eskender was sitting with his back against the adjacent wall. Jaime wrapped his arms around his abdomen, making himself as small as he could, and tried to fall back into a fitful sleep.
The third time he awoke was to a door creaking open. Eskender, in all his idiocy, charged the figure with a wordless cry. Of course he stood no chance to the wolf, who kicked him back with enough force for Eskender to land hard on his ass.
The wolf tossed a tray of bread on the floor, and opened his mouth to speak before scenting the air.
“I’m glad you’re at least having fun.” He smirked, “We’ll hold a little trial tomorrow so you understand why exactly you’re dying.” He rolled his eyes as if their execution needed explaining, before swiftly slamming the door shut.
Jaime eyed the bread, wondering if he would get to eat before dying. Death. It sounded so peaceful. No more hunters, no more pain. Jaime had dreamed of death many times during particularly cruel punishments, even dreamed of the camp suddenly being raided by wolves who killed everyone. Sometimes, in his favorite fantasies, Jaime got to watch Eskender choke to death on his own blood before being killed, maybe the wolves would allow him that kindness.
Eskender grabbed one of the pieces of bread and began pacing again, muttering to himself between bites. When he had finished the first piece he took the other, and a small part of Jaime cried before he could quash it. He hadn’t earned food in a while, and his stomach was beginning to cramp painfully.
Eskender continued his pacing and muttering long after the food was gone, before stopping abruptly and spinning to face Jaime.
“Okay, here’s the plan: We wait until the ‘trial’” He stressed the word, making clear fun at the idea of savage animals holding him trial, “Then you do whatever magic bullshit you need to, make sure they’re all dead – all the important ones will be watching the farce. Then we find the others and book it, kill as many as possible on the way.”
One of Jaime’s hands crept up to brush against his collar. Eskender snorted at the movement, “Don’t worry, I’ll let whatever magic you need through.” He ambled towards Jaime before surging to pin him against the wall, a hand on either shoulder. Jaime winced as the rock scraped his back and his ribs protested.
“You try anything funny and you will regret it.” Eskender growled. Jaime nodded slightly, and was released, sliding to sit down with his knees against his chest. He didn’t get another change to rest, however, as Eskender was already pulling his cock out. So Jaime got to work doing what he did best.
If Jaime were someone else – someone who wasn’t so broken and afraid – he would be amazed at Eskender’s stamina and intensely high libido.
Instead he allowed himself the defiance of cursing whatever gods still listened, he was dying tomorrow after all, it was probably fine. He fell in and out of darkness, sometimes with Eskender inside him, sometimes still leaking cum, sometimes blissfully empty.
At some point Jaime was able to retreat inside of himself, letting time and pain flow by him. It helped, he didn’t have to think about what was happening, what was going to happen. Eventually Eskender’s presence faded and Jaime started pulling himself back together.
There was no telling how much time had passed inside their prison, and Jaime couldn’t fall asleep again, could only curl up and look forward to when his pain would finally stop. Each breath made the pain from Eskender kicking him flare, and he wondered absentmindedly if any ribs were broken.
In a different future he would have known, if he had the chance to become a healer, if the hunters hadn’t found him, if, if, if.
He didn’t let himself think about ‘If’ for long.
Finally the door opened again, Jaime didn’t even bother opening his eyes as he was hauled up and prodded forward. Only cracking them slightly to make sure he didn’t fall. The wolf from yesterday was in front of him and Eskender, accompanied by another wolf. Behind them were two more, one with a blunt spear she was using to push them forward.
Every step made Jaime’s ribs burn, and his breathing was quickly coming in ragged breaths. His back also hurt, likely from rubbing against the wall and floor with only a loose tunic to protect him.
Eventually they reached another door, and were ushered through to stand in the center of a large room. Jaime dropped to his knees, thankful for the rest. Eskender remained standing, and a wolf had to shove him down to kneel. The hunter glared at everyone.
The wolves who escorted them retreated to stand by the door, and Jaime took the opportunity to take in his soon-to-be-killers. There were two female wolves standing in the center exuding authority. To the right stood a wolf about Eskender’s age, tall and well-built. To the left was an older wolf, Jaime didn’t think he was a fighter, maybe a healer or councilor? There were assorted wolves in a ring around the two humans. Some succeeded in appearing intimidating, others did not.
None of them looked cruel, not like Emeline or Eskender. Maybe they would give him a quick death.
One of the two female wolves at the front opened her mouth, but was cut off as Eskender surged up and shouted “Now! Mage! Kill them all!”
Jaime had though a bit about what to do. Truthfully, even if he wanted to save his own life, let alone Eskender’s, he didn’t have the energy. He hadn’t gotten a full meal in years, a full nights sleep was even more scarce. He was tired and hurting and spiteful. What Eskender wanted required a lot of magic Jaime didn't have, even if he were in peak condition.
Also, he didn’t want to hurt the wolves. He had caused to much pain, killed so many of their kind. He wanted to give them the vengeance they deserved.
So he did nothing.
Wolves rushed in, some grabbed Eskender, who continued shouting at Jaime. Most of them shifted and circled Jaime, growling or baring fangs.
He could feel the channel to his magic open, a tiny trickle only a few drops wide. Jaime let himself cast the only spell he wanted to, taking the edge off the pain in his chest. He deserved nothing more, didn’t even truly deserve that much.
“Come on you useless fucking whore! I fed you and clothed you and this is how you repay me?! I’ll fucking kill you! Kill them! Do your mage fuckery! Fix this shit! You useless cunt!”
Somewhere Eskender was still shouting. Jaime let his voice melt into the background, but the commands were still true. The collar was tightening around his throat, constricting faster with every order to ‘murder the useless mutts’ given. Soon Jaime was choking, chest heaving to draw in air he couldn’t access.
His ribs were on fire, and black spots started to dance across his vision in a beautiful ballet.
Jaime was sorry he would die before Eskender.
Blackness enveloped him, and he was acutely aware of one final thought before he drifted off.
Please let Eskender die slowly.
Dimitri was a bundle of nerves. Excitement, anxiety, grief, peace. The rest of the hunters had died yesterday or during the raid, the only ones left were the leader and their mage. These two deserved a long, slow death for everything they had done, all the pain and suffering they had caused.
Aki had mentioned the two fucking last night, at least they got the mercy of dying together.
The pack had deliberated over how to kill them. They couldn’t wait too long, as the mage was still an active threat. Lada had decided on a ‘trial’ of sorts, justice the hunters had most certainly not given any wolf unlucky to meet them. She would list out their crimes, if they were lucky the hunters would plead guilty, but it didn’t actually matter. Then Lada would rip out their throats on behalf of the Hearthstone pack and any other packs the hunters had robbed.
Dimitri was so excited he was practically vibrating. He felt like a cub discovering butterflies. Ash gave him a pointed look.
They all heard the guard’s footsteps approaching, and Aki swung open the door. The two humans were ushered to the center and the wolves retreated, taking up positions by the exit. Everyone was on edge.
Dimitry took in the sight of his enemies, the hunter who had killed so many of his pack, and the mage who made it all possible. The humans’ leader was on the left, anger radiated off of him in waves. He had to be forced to his knees and Dimitri was sure the human was trying to kill every one of them with his eyes.
The mage on the other hand, was entirely unexpected. He dropped to his knees so fast Dimitri instinctively winced. The mage’s hair was matted, obscuring his face, but he looked so… defeated. If Dimitri couldn’t see the mage’s chest rise and fall he would have assumed the human were dead.
Not that it would really matter in a few minutes.
He saw Lada pull herself up in his peripheral, and she opened her mouth to announce the humans nauseating list of crimes. But the human leader lept to his feet and cut her off.
“Now! Mage! Kill them all!”
The room surged into action before the human had finished speaking. Four wolves practically tackled the speaker to the ground, while the remaining guards – Dimitri included – shifted and rushed for the mage.
But nothing happened.
The other human kept thrashing and shouting obscenities, both at the mage and the wolves, intermittently mixed with orders to kill all the wolves. But the mage just knelt there. If possibly he managed to slouch even further.
One of the guards finally managed to shut the shouting humans’ mouth, but Dimitri didn’t let himself take his eyes off the mage for a second. So he noticed when the mages’ shoulders started shaking slightly.
Is he laughing?
The shaking quickly turned to heaving, but the mage remained utterly silent. Dimitri felt confusion and anxiety rise from the wolves around him. Was this a trap?
Ash, emanating urgency, shoved his way through the ring of wolves. The healer was there to help if any wolves got injured, not the other way around. Dimitri positioned himself on the opposite side of the mage, ready to attack if the human tried anything.
Ash knelt by the mage, his movements efficient and precise. He inspected something on the man’s neck, brushing tangles of hair out of the way. Dimitri watched as Ash’s face went from confusion to realization to horror. He didn’t even stand as he spun to the wolves holding the other human.
“Kill him!” Ash called out, repeating the order when the wolves balked. It was an unusual command for a healer to give.
Dimitri heard flesh tear and gurgling as the human died. No sooner had he fallen silent than the mage gasped deeply – the first audible noise he’d made – and collapsed on his side.
Ash picked up something that had fallen on the floor by the mage’s head, a strip of leather as far as Dimitri could tell, and gestured for Lada to come closer.
The guards had backed away during Ash’s dramatics, some going over to assist with the other human, and Lada squatted by Ash, followed closely by Khalida. Dimitri moved forward so he was standing over the mage and could get a better view.
“It’s a mage collar.” Ash held out the leather band. “It blocks access to a mage’s magic, and chokes them if they don’t follow orders. It’s keyed to a specific person, and if they die the collar unlocks.”
The meaning of his words sunk in slowly, and Khalida got it first.
“He- what? He was a slave?”
“We will have to rethink his punishment.” Lada mused slowly, but Ash shook his head.
“Yes, we do.” He said definitively. “I need to do a further examination, but he’s severely malnourished and clearly in pain. I bet he didn’t even have the magic reserves to kill a fly, let alone all of us.”
Dimitri was half listening, a horrible thought curdling in his gut.
“If he couldn’t say no,” he blurted, “When- when Aki said they were fucking…” He let his thought trail off as horror dawned on Lada and Khalida’s faces.
“Let’s get him to the infirmary first,” Ash said with a grim face. “Then we can figure out how guilty he is.”
Perks of being the healer meant Ash didn’t have to carry his patients. He instructed Dimitri to lay the mage in the private room at the back, usually reserved for quarantining pups during flu season. While the Hearthstone’s lead tracker did that, Ash busied himself gathering every ointment and cream he could think of, as well as sending a wolf off for extra water and broth.
The mage did not look any better lying on a cot, if anything the bed made him seem smaller somehow. He was much too skinny, and didn’t smell like he’d had a bath in ages. Ash couldn’t even tell what the mage smelled like underneath all the grime.
Now for where Ash excelled.
He cut off the mage’s clothes, noting down the scars crisscrossing skin like a quilt. Most looked like they were caused by knives, but a few were burns and one looked like a brand. Ash checked the mage, over, finding what was likely two broken ribs on his left side and one on his right, though they didn’t appear to be misaligned.
Dimitri helped flip the mage over, and Ash was glad he had brought so many jars over. The human’s upper back had been shredded recently, dried blood and dirt crusting the skin. Ash wiped the mage down and applied an antibacterial ointment and then a mild painkiller. Dimitri lifted up the mage’s torso while Ash wound bandages around the man, careful that none crossed too close to his neck.
The scar where the mage collar had been was old, but still irritated and raw. Ash used more antibacterial cream, letting it air dry.
Ash moved down the the mage’s lower body. His legs were heavily scarred but only his knees bore any recent trauma. Again Ash anointed and bandaged, making sure the wraps were neat and secure.
“You can leave for this part.” Ash told Dimitri. It may be messy went unsaid. Dimitri shook his head, determination and guilt warring on his face.
The mage had certainly been raped recently, if the bruising was anything to go by. Ash supposed no one with three broken ribs would consent to such vigorous intercourse. Ash used a wet cloth to wipe between the man’s thighs, then a separate one inside him. There was brutal tearing, and the cloth had to be swapped out as it became saturated with blood.
Thankfully the mage wasn’t still bleeding, so Ash applied more antibacterial ointment and redressed the mage in a pair of spare trousers and shirt with Dimitri’s help. The clothes were many sizes too big, intended for wolves much more well fed than the human, but they would keep him warm.
Ash tucked a blanket around the mage and followed Dimitri out of the room.
The healer was used to bad injuries, rape was less common but he had still treated victims of it before. He was upset, but wouldn’t- couldn’t allow it to impact his work. Dimitri on the other hand had no such defenses.
The wolf was staring into the distance, clearly shaken. Ash knew how excited he had been for the people who wronged them to face justice, to have that ripped out from under him so suddenly, and be confronted with just how much of a victim his enemy was, could not be an easy thing to absorb.
Ash stood next to him, a reassuring presence, the silence between them ebbed but was not uncomfortable. Eventually Dimitri appeared to gather himself and left, a quiet nod towards Ash as thanks.
Ash sighed and set to work making a treatment plan.
Jaime woke up.
This was unexpected.
He was under a blanket, on a bed. He was wearing clean clothes, he felt clean. He wasn’t sore, not in the way the hunters usually left him.
It took a moment for him to process what happened, before memories flooded back to him. Eskender couldn’t have overpowered all those wolves, which means the wolves had killed him and kept Jaime for some reason.
Well, ‘some reason’. The wolves did not need him to trap wolves, which left only one reason.
Jaime sat up, gritting his teeth at his protesting ribs, and began maneuvering himself out of the cot. He could not afford to take this much so early into his keeping. He needed to figure out how to pay the wolves back.
“Ah ah ah,” a voice chided to his right, and Jaime turned so fast he nearly fell out of bed. “You need to rest.” The older wolf from the trial was standing in the doorway holding a steaming bowl. The scent wafted towards Jaime and his mouth watered, it smelled delicious.
He would do anything for whatever was in the bowl.
The wolf handed it to him. Just – handed it to him! Was this a test?
“Eat.”
Jaime didn’t wait.
The mysterious warm food was stew, with meat, and vegetables! Thick stew, heavily spiced, with chunks of beef that fell to shreds in his mouth. It was the best thing he had ever eaten.
“-ots of rest, hydrate, walking when you feel like it.” The wolf was saying. Jaime could have kicked himself, he hadn’t been listening at all and now he didn’t know the rules. The terror of being in a new place with new owners came rushing back, shoving down whatever warmth the stew had brought.
He gulped down the stew still stuck in his throat and tried to make his hands stop shaking. The wolf noticed, of course, and fell silent.
“As I was saying, you have three broken ribs and need lots of rest. Make sure to drink water often. If you get bored let me know, Lada – our pack leader – will be along later to talk to you.”
Jaime nodded, keeping his eyes glued to his lap, he most definitely would not be letting any wolf know when he was bored.
“My name is Ash.” The wolf said, clearly expecting Jaime to respond in turn.
“Jaime,” he managed to whisper.
“It is nice to meet you Jaime,” If his ribs weren’t broken he would laugh. “I’ll be in the other room, for now you need to rest.”
Rest sounded nice. Maybe the wolves wanted him in good condition, broken ribs could kill him pretty fast if they punctured anything.
Wanting him alive might be worse though.
Lada arrived at the infirmary two minutes late, a fact Ash made sure she was aware of. Repeatedly.
She had spent most of the previous night talking with Dimitri and Khalida, and then later just Khalida, about what to do. Dimitri had relayed the damage, likely caused by the same hunter they had imprisoned the mage with. They couldn’t have known about the rape, but Lada could have at least noticed how thin the mage was, how he didn’t protest or struggle.
She had to make this right.
The mage – Jaime – was sitting ramrod straight in bed. He tracked her movements with wide eyes and Lada could smell the terror radiating off of him. If he had enough energy he’d be shaking.
“I’m Lada, the uh- the healer is Ash.” She coughed awkwardly. An excellent start. The mage said nothing.
“We were going to kill you with the other hunter,” At this Jaime flinched. Fuck, Khalida would be so much better at this. “But we won’t!” She rushed to say, this did not seem to make him feel better.
“Ash cleaned your wounds and explained how the collar worked, and I would like to apologize. We have reason to believe you are innocent-”
“No!” He interrupted her, then cringed in on himself, but kept talking, “I’m not innocent, I’m a hunter.” He stammered out. Lada was not entirely sure how to proceed.
“Did you want to be a hunter?”
Jaime also did not appear sure how to proceed, he didn’t respond for several seconds, before deflating and shaking his head.
“Then you are innocent, you would have died if you hadn’t followed their orders.” He looked ready to protest again, and while Lada was proud she needed to continue before she lost her nerve.
“We know about the rape.” Very tactful. Jaime managed to look as small and vulnerable as he had yet. “The other hunters are all dead, they can’t hurt you.” The terror in the air faded a bit, then swelled again. Lada sighed.
“No one here will touch you, we do not- do. That. You will be fed and safe, you will not be collared.” What else? “If you want anything we will do our best to help you.”
She fell silent, unsure what else to say. What was she supposed to do? She could not fix this, no matter how much her wolf wanted to.
“Do you want a bath?” She asked suddenly. Jaime’s hair was still a disaster, and Ash wiping him down could only do so much. “Privately.” She added hastily.
He considered her offer, before nodding slowly. Lada brightened, her wolf perked up. Something she could help with.
“We’ll get that set up!” She said, hurrying out of the room to inform Ash they needed his fancy soaps.
Jaime was warm, and clean, and safe. He had forgotten what safe felt like.
They hadn’t just gotten him a bath, they had heated water, and gave him soap with flowers, and a clean towel that looked so fluffy.
“This will help untangle your hair.” Ash had explained handing him a tall bottle, and it worked! The bath water had turned dark brown ages ago, but there was a water bucket with more warm water to wash off any remaining dirt.
He had scrubbed off all the dirt, and brushed his hair with an actual comb! He used the soap twice, and by the end of the bath he felt so clean.
He mourned the loss of the warmth when he finally got out, but the towel was so soft it didn’t really matter. Ash had given him another pair of clean clothes too, explaining that they would fit him better.
Jaime wanted to cry.
His knees were fine, but his back hurt when the fabric brushed it, so he steeled his nerves and cracked open the door to the main room.
Thankfully Ash was alone, and did not seem to mind when Jaime stammered over his words, simply pulled out an ointment and fresh bandages. He spread the ointment with light fingers, and Jaime shivered at the cool sensation, then wrapped the bandages snugly around Jaime’s torso.
Ash worked fast and smoothly, and his hands didn’t stray once. His gaze didn’t dip or linger, and he didn’t dig his nails into Jaime’s wound.
He just… helped.
“Thank you,” Jaime murmured, risking eye contact.
Ash smiled. A nice smile, not like Emeline or Eskender or any of the other hunters.
“Of course.” The healer replied, as if he cared that Jaime wasn’t in pain for reasons other than putting him in more pain later.
Maybe he did.
Maybe Jaime could do this.
Maybe he could hope.