Lies and Truth

“Stop crying. You’re hurting my ears.”

Someone said at the opposite cell, right in front of me. Everything was dark. The moonlight didn’t reach these parts. I got up from the ground and got closer to the bars. It has been two days since I’d been thrown into this place.

“I am not crying. If you don’t want to listen, close your ears or get used to it.”

“What did you do?” his voice struggled to appear soft.

I swallowed. “I was naïve, stupid and too trusting,” I wetted my lips. I didn’t have water for a day now. Thirst ripped me, hunger as well. “I don’t know what they will do to me. Will they kill me? Will he keep using me? What will happen to his child?”

“You’re with child. Such an unfortunate one you are but you deserve it.”

“No, I don’t deserve it,” I yelled.

“Look at me and tell me you don’t. I will rip you apart woman. If you were next to me, I would have killed you. Because of you, I am stuck here.”

The man got closer to the bars as well. There was one torch lighting us. As his face came to light, I found it familiar. I tried my best to remember him but I couldn’t.

“Nope, it doesn’t ring a bell,” I shook my head.

“I see that the miss remembers me well. I… What did you say?” he growled. If he was here, he must be a criminal. And yet, I wasn’t a criminal. “How can you not remember me?” he yelled. “You’re the one who threw me in this dungeon. You ruined my life.”

“Sorry, I threw a lot of people in the dungeons. You are not the first man who hates me because of it.”

He was tall and muscular, with broad shoulders. His hair was thick, a little messy and tousled in a way that looked effortless and sexy. My mouth opened at how handsome he was. I didn’t get a good look at a lot of men. I was aware of my position in the pack. The bottom of the bottom.

“I didn’t ruin you. So… Who are you?” I crossed my arms.

“Adolphus Bloodseek, the Alpha of Bloodmoon pack or what’s left of it.”

“Sorry, it doesn’t ring a bell. I know the Bloodmoon pack though; it’s that pack that attacked us and tried to take the Crescentmoon territories.”

He cracked. His laugh echoed like a monster’s sneer.

“Take the Crescentmoon territories? Are you dumb or playing me for a dumb?”

“Well, I mean I wouldn’t know anything about a lot of things. I simply strategized and concocted good plans for the war back then. I didn’t know they would work. I am surprised they left you alive. I doubt he’ll allow me the same privilege.”

“You deserve it for all that you did. Happy that you’ll rot in this place with that child of yours. What do you expect of a criminal?”

What I did… A criminal? I guess I am a criminal. My plans took the lives of a lot of people. Well, it wasn’t like I cared about them. Frederick was the only one who treated me well. Everyone else just bullied me, never accepting me.

 “Why are you here? What did he want with you?”

I doubted Frederick would leave this man alive for nothing. It wasn’t his style.

“It’s not your business, princess,” I could see he was lying on his back, near the bars like I was. “What’s your story?” he inquired. “What was the trap that ruined you?”

“It’s not your business, Prince.”

“You know of mine since you took part in it. It’s only natural that I want to know yours.”

I ended up telling him everything. All my life. I cried around a lot of parts. For the first time in my life, someone listened without interrupting. It took hours but it felt nice.

Now, I feel guilty for ruining his life.

“So not only you’re dumb, you don’t have a brain at all. I can’t understand how you can excuse the hints he showed you. Leaving you behind while he partied is already enough to prove that there is something wrong with your bond. No matter if you’re a human or a werewolf, once you’re mated to one of us, you’ll feel it when he cheats on you. If you didn’t feel it then he never claimed you.”

I didn’t want to believe what he said. I showed him my mark and he laughed at it.

“It’s just a tattoo, princess. Sorry to destroy all the excuses you gave to stay with him but he never claimed you. If he did, you’d feel it, whether you’re human or not. The mark will make you feel hell. The mark glows under the moonlight, princess. Keep this in mind.”

A long time passed and I gave birth to my child. It was a little boy, but I couldn’t hum my son to him anymore. He was snatched away. It broke me when he did. I consoled myself that my son would be in good hands. And then, Frederick sent his men to me. They forced themselves on me, breaking me more. I couldn’t heal them.

After that, Frederick summoned me in front of him. His men dragged me and threw me at his feet.

“I am so happy to see you, Ebony,” the coldness of his voice slapped me. It was the first time I have seen him this pissed off. Frederick had a deep scowl. “Why didn’t you heal my warriors? What’s so different from what you were doing before?”

“Don’t you feel pain when someone touches me?”

“You are not my mate, Ebony. You’ve never been my mate. You’ve always been a means to an end, a tool for me to be an Alpha,” I narrowed my eyes, squinting through the tears. “The thing you have on your shoulder is only a tattoo. Anyone can paint those.”

I felt as if I was unconscious for a long time and I finally found a way to face the harsh reality. Why did I give excuses to everything he said? Everything he did? Adolphus was right.

Nialliv walked past me and sat on Frederick’s lap. She didn’t bother to hide her disgusted expression anymore.

“What about our child, Frederick?”

“It’s Alpha for you, peasant. It was a plan that started a long time ago, since you appeared…” I looked at Nialliv. “Ammm… I think before that. Right, Honey?” Frederick nodded, bringing her to his lap. His gaze was devoid of any softness, nothing from what he showed me before. “I am his mate, the only one, do you understand? You should feel gratitude because of my mercy. I let you touch him without ripping you apart.”

When Nialliv beckoned, a warrior brought her a blanket or something wrapped in a blanket. It was cold. She whispered something and the warrior threw the thing at me. I stared at it, my heart falling, tightening, I didn’t know what to feel anymore.

I crawled to the blanket and slowly untied it. Seeing the corpse of my child inside made me break. Everything shattered in me. The tears spilled further, my heart hurt, my head couldn’t make sense of what was happening. My hands and lips trembled.

“If it was a girl then perhaps I would have kept her like a dog on a leash. But you had to give birth to a boy… Useless till the end,” Nialliv sneered.

“Show me that you lost it. Your life's on the line. If you show me that you still have the ability, I will move you back to a room in the mansion and give you a better life. But you’ll continue healing my men. Choose: the dungeons or the mansion.”

My eyes widened at what Frederick said. No matter how much I wanted to act as if nothing bothered me anymore, I couldn’t do it.

The warrior approached me and I found myself crawling backwards till I lost what made me fight all this time. I had no one anymore, nothing to fight for.