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Ezra would not be able to really recall the following couple of days.
He was conscious for most of it. At least, he thought he was. There was more walking, fiery pain blanketing his back. His body ached, his feet were shooting with pain every step of the way…
And then he was in a wagon. Seven sat with him in her wolf form. Her eyes were fixed on him the entire time, despite the fact that the damned rope was still around his neck. Sometimes she would pin him with her large body, alternating between growling and licking him. It was terrifying and made him quiver in disgust. It shouldn’t have, it wasn’t really much different from when Kanan would comfort him, but it just felt so wrong.
He went numb. It was a familiar feeling, especially in those months before he met Kanan. He just had to survive. And part of surviving was taking the pain and fear and viciously shoving them under a heavy stone in his mind. He was breathing. He was given water and some form of food (he thinks). Keep his head down, appease those around him, and he’d be okay.
There weren’t really any thoughts. Nothing beyond survival. And a small hope he held in his heart that Kanan would find him soon.
The next time he was aware, Ezra had the sickening realization that he had no idea where he was. The plants were different. The mountains in the distance were different and wrong. “No…” he breathed, fear making his chest tighten.
His head snapped forward as he was smacked from behind. It didn’t hurt, but the shock of it had him stumbling forward with a sharp gasp. Ezra glanced up only to immediately look back down at the ground when he saw the man glaring down at him. There was a tug on his neck, and he followed. Seven was still in her wolf form, trotting next to him. Ezra’s stomach was tied in knots, and he couldn’t get his body to stop trembling. What were they going to do with him?
Then his feet were treading on wood and the sun went away. They were entering some sort of building. He glanced up. It seemed to be just a small hut. There were various items scattered around. A ball. A cup. A lone chair. But then in the far corner, there was a cage with a chain and metal collar attached to it. Ezra’s breathing came in short shudders as he was led to it.
With the now familiar cacophony of cracking and straining, Seven transformed into her human form. She stepped up to Ezra and started to undo the knot on the rope around his neck. A small amount of relief had Ezra relaxing, but then he saw the Grand Inquisitor pick up the metal collar.
They were going to chain him up and leave him here like a dog.
“Bring him here.”
Seven shoved Ezra forward, and he could only weakly resist. The Grand Inquisitor snapped the collar around Ezra’s neck. “This is just until you learn your place.”
Then Seven had a hand on Ezra’s shoulders as she shoved him to the ground to kneel in front of this man as he stood back and clasped his hands behind his back. “Welcome to Operation Hunter. Here you will be trained to be a weapon for the Confederate States of America.”
Ezra stomach sunk. The Confederacy?
“As a Bitten half-breed, you will learn your place. You are an animal, and you will obey the pureblooded Lycans and even the pureblooded humans who handle you. You will begin your training with the Seventh Sister before progressing to one of our attack dogs.”
Ezra jumped as he felt the back of his shirt rising. Seven hummed as she placed her hand on the skin of his back, her fingers tracing over the lashes. Pinpricks of pain danced across the sensitive still-healing skin. Ezra tried to pull away, but she tightened her grip painfully on his jaw. “I’m going to enjoy breaking you in~” she cooed.
Then she ripped his shirt off before shoving and pinning him to the ground. Ezra grunted and tried to scramble away but Seven was too heavy. She grabbed his wrists and pulled his arms back, tying them with twine. There was a sizzle and Ezra turned his head to see the Grand Inquisitor walking back in. He had an iron in hand, the end of it red hot.
Ezra renewed his struggles, ignoring the pain shooting through his back. No. No way. They weren’t going to brand him like livestock, were they?!
Seven was still sitting on his back, now pushing down at the points of his shoulders and digging him into the ground. It wasn’t until Ezra could feel the heat of the iron that he found his voice. “NO!” he screamed, struggling and bucking his body to try and flee.
A hand suddenly twisted in his hair, pulling his head up before...crack!
White lights danced before his eyes, sharp pain ebbing away for the deep ache that radiated through his head. He moaned, the world swaying and everything else momentarily forgotten.
Then there was a hard pressure on the back of his shoulder blade.
Then there was pain.
Ezra let out an unholy howl, his entire body tensing and his mind trying to claw away from reality. But it didn’t stop, the iron seemingly searing him to the bone and radiating across his back. Ezra broke into harsh sobs, his body breaking out into a cold sweat and shaking uncontrollably.
It wouldn't end. Oh God, why wouldn’t it end?!
Even when the pressure let up, even when the body pinning him had disappeared, the pain remained. It thrummed harshly through his body, and all he wanted to do was pass out. Or die.
There was the sound of bootsteps, but Ezra hardly registered them. In fact, the last thing he remembers before falling into oblivion was a man’s voice sounding far away.
“Your training begins tomorrow… Thirteen.”