V

Kaiya

The creak of the enormous Iron gate and the rattling of heavy chains is a cacophony of sounds as I stand in the entry and nod to the guard. For five long years this place has been my home, but today I gain my freedom. 

I went half starved and thirsty for weeks or even months on end before I would be given proper food, and then there were the beatings and fighting rings. When I was allotted time outdoors, all I could see was the distant sky above the tall red walls.

With my wolf silent and knowing she was weak and unable to heal me well, my healing from the beatings was slower than normal for a werewolf. I still heal faster than ordinary humans, but not always fast enough to be healed before the next bearing.

Ah…the beatings! The severity and style of beatings varied with the guards. Sheila wasn’t any less harsh than the guys. Sheila's beatings usually left me battered and bruised, but also questioning just what stories she had been fed, because of what she would say as she hit me. 

“Jealous, traitor! I hear you are a power hungry whore who craves Alpha dick! What did you want them both?! Ha! You'll be lucky if anyone gives a traitor like you a second glance!” She would say while punching and kicking me as I hung suspended and cuffed with my feet barely grazing the surface of the floor.

Then there were the guys, Vaughn and Thomas. They weren’t too vocal until they threatened to do unthinkable sexual acts against my will. Fortunately, they never actually acted on those threats, but I was constantly in fear they would.

Speaking of sexual acts…I can tell when one or the other of my mates engages in the act, because sharp pains shoot through my entire body starting in my abdomen, sometimes causing me to convulse. Since no one knows why, they have given me medications. Some for the horrible headaches I have and others for the ‘phantom pains’ and ‘convulsive episodes’. Of course, neither Dylan nor Ace have told anyone we are Fated Mates.

I’ve nearly forgotten what the outside world is like, but this bleak place is harsh. Unlike the sloping valleys, lush forests and winding river surrounding the Red Shadow Pack’s home city of Emberfield. 

“Of course no one is here to get me, and I have no idea where I am going,” I mumble to myself as I step through the gate and up the long, dusty, red path.

Of course no one's here…I am an orphan. My mates hate me and I only have one friend…I stop dead in my tracks as a familiar face comes into view.

“Amina!” I shout, now running forward and embracing my only friend.

“I couldn’t just leave you totally alone!” Amina laughs. “I got banished by Ace and now I live in a nearby pack. I’ll tell you the entire story soon.”

“I-Wow!” I stammer. “I have missed out on so much in five years! Start with telling me about your new pack and then we can talk about how Ace came to have the ability to banish you and why.”

 “My new pack is small, but Alpha Maxim is kind hearted. He had come by the Red Shadow Pack for business or social calls in the past and remembered seeing me when he found me wandering the neutral city in search of work and offered me a place in his pack. He didn’t ask too much of me and I found myself a decent job within the pack. I saved up and bought my little cottage just a few months ago,” Amina says sweetly.

As Amina continues her story, I take in her appearance. Her long, dark hair is down in loose waves, rather than piled and bound to keep it out of her way for work or school. Instead of her maid uniform or school uniform she wears a tasteful but simple black dress and flats. Her tawny skin has a rosy glow to it especially her cheeks and a more relaxed, less drawn expression covers her face.

“The Freepelt Pack is just bordering the neutral city of Starfalls to its west and Red Shadow Pack to its south,” Amina sighs. “I still hear rumors of the goings on in The Red Shadow Pack.”

“Oh?” I ask with a brow raised in questioning. “Is there anything I should brace myself for?”

“Rebecca was in a coma, and she awoke with no memories, or practically no memories, but according to some rumors, she is making moves to set herself up as the future Luna. Ace is not faithful to her,” Amina says.

She leans in and whispers, “I know the truth. I was there, tending to Miss Rebecca after her earlier training, just beyond the wall to the garden. I saw Miss Rebecca’s reaction and followed her as she stormed back to the packhouse and grabbed the vial.”

I turn to her shocked as she opens the door to a beat up little car for me, and replies, “You know?”

“Yes, and I got banished for trying to bring the truth of everything to Alpha Ace, however Alpha Dylan was harder to reach,” she says so softly it would be hard to make out if I was a step or two further away.

“You need to fill me in on all of this,” I say as I slide into the passenger seat and watch her round the car to the drivers side while I struggle to sort out the tumultuous storm of emotions I am feeling.

“Alpha James got ill and then Ace and Dylan graduated university and took over as Alphas despite having no Luna. That was just shortly after Rebecca awoke from the coma,” Amina starts as she drives. “I went to Alpha Dylan but he was busy and I couldn't see him to talk to him about what I had seen and what I knew. So, I went to Ace, only this time with the entire story and what little evidence I had gathered. He snapped at me and banished me from the pack.”

 “Wow!” I gasp and turn to look at Amina as she pulls up to a little yellow cottage with a small porch and neatly trimmed shrubs.

Inside the cottage is a large, clean, fresh room, a small, sunny kitchen and a tidy bathroom. It’s not the biggest place, but after my prison cell the place is a dream, even if we have to share a bed.

I collapse onto the floor, crying as my emotions finally catch up to me.

“I haven’t spoken to my wolf since that day,” I cry. “Lilly is too weak and if Ace and Dylan get their way I will be rejected and possibly not make it anyway. I don’t know what to do.”

“Hush, Kaiya. We’ll start with what we can do.” Kaiya hums softly as she brushes my hair out of my face. “Why don’t you go wash up and I will lend you some of my clothes.”

A warm shower with fragrant body wash, clean clothes and a hot meal are luxuries I have not had in many years. I find myself, snuggling down into the pillows of Amina’s sofa bed as we chat and replay our histories.

“Remember the time we mopped the entire hallway and game room then Dylan and Ace came in from a football game covered in mud and grass and tracked it through the entire space, not even a moment after we finished?” Amina asks.

“Ace apologized later,” I hum as I think back, wincing as I remember the aftermath.

“Yes but Beta Carson beat us after Ms. Gentian reported our failure to have it completed in a timely manner,” Amina sighs. “Then we got stuck cleaning that dusty old attic on what should have been our day off.”

“Beta Carson was always cruel, but Alpha James had been kind until Luna Catherine passed away while giving birth to Princess Dahlia,” I sigh.

“Princess Dahlia lives with her Aunt in Sungarde, about a day’s drive west of here, where she is expected to take her aunt’s place as Priestess of The Blue Moon Pack,” Amina says. “I overheard Alpha James talking about it one day not long after you were sent to prison.”

“I always wondered but dared not ask,” I sigh, “I know she reminds him too much of the wife he lost.”

“Lets talk of more pleasant things,” Amina pats my shoulder and we change the subject.

I hate being a burden on Amira, I know she works hard and does not earn enough to sustain taking care of both of us for long. Besides, I need to do something, her house is small and clean, there is little for me to tidy up here and not having something to do makes me feel useless. 

“What jobs are available in your pack?” I ask, eager to take responsibility for myself and start a new chapter in my life.

“I’ll take you through the downtown area tomorrow and we can check out the places I know are hiring,” Amina offers. “Then I will present you to Alpha Maxim.”

Amina looks at me with eyes full of worry.

What is she not telling me?