Chapter 01

Star’s POV

A wave of cold energy surged through me almost immediately as I shivered on the cold and bare floor. The cold pricked my pale, dirty skin and  I jolted back to reality the moment a pail of icy cold water was splattered on me, adding to my dilemma.

I was laying on a cold floor as weak as anything and all they could think of was adding to my trauma.  I couldn't blame them more than I would the beast I had for a husband. The reality that I had known nothing but misery in that pack dawned on me.

I had been beaten to a stupor earlier last night when I was brought to this room – an empty chamber they used for torturing. I was beaten to a stupor that sent me drifting from reality to the other world and back again.

I couldn't feel myself as much as I would have done on a usual day. My heart raced against my chest with heavy thuds that threatened to tear it apart such that I began to feel it would explode anytime soon.

“Get up you snoring pig," A voice echoed in my head, loud and crude. It wasn't what I was used to. I wasn't used to anything better but still, this was worse. It was Sharp and pricked through me like a crown made of thorns.

My heavy eyes fluttered open and everything swirled and blurred before me. I squinted hard, struggling to clear my vision when a terrible headache slammed against my forehead. It spread to my temple and burned my eyes from the inside, forcing them to an uncontrollable momentary shut.

I died, literally only to be hit by reality. The sharp and fiery reality was that I wasn't going to die, no matter how badly I wanted to.

I yelped in pain, squirming in the shackles that scraped against the flesh of my wrist, as I almost forgot I was chained. My arms and legs were confined in a shackle attached to a tungsten hook on both sides of the wall.

“Shut up, you wolfless weakling,” The same voice sneered, sending chills down my spine. My hands shook uncontrollably as I stared around, trying to process my new environment.

"Help me drag her, the Alpha king commands us to dump her in the dungeon till he decides what next to do to her," a thick baritone voice boomed through to me.

I needed no one to tell me what was going on.  It was as clear as the sky on a full moon night. He wanted me no more. I wasn't shocked by the new development. He had never treated me right before.

I lifted my face in lanced pain and watched as the squire who had been standing guard at the door hurried to the other side of the wall with a swift movement I barely caught.

They unhinged the metal from the tungsten hooks, but not from my sore hands and ankles. Perhaps, they had left that on purpose to prevent me from making off which was exactly what I wanted to do.

“Please let me go,” I cried. "I promise to run far away… never to come back. Please, no member of our pack will know of it. Please” But my cry for help fell on deaf ears, it was like pouring water on a rock.

They were adamant and nothing in the world could have made them change their minds at that moment especially after my husband had given the orders.

I struggled effortlessly with them in a futile battle as they connected the shackles of my hands and ankles with a short length of chain rope. They carried me in their strong arms and hauled me along as we darted underneath.

I wriggled restlessly but their grip was firm and sturdy. I was only a lady and hadn't been trained for a moment like this. Tears gathered all over again in my chest and I was sure I would soon run out of tears with the rate I was going at.

My continuous wriggles made the headache slam harder, running down my neck and making it stiff – almost impossible to turn. You couldn't blame me so much. I couldn't just sit still and allow them to do as they like to me.

It also earned me multiple slaps and slashes here and there, but I remained stoic and determined. I wasn't going to bow to their wimps. I had seen people being sent into the dungeon and I could tell it wasn't such a good place.

The hinge of the dungeon bars squeaked as it was swung open by the six-foot-three, heavily built brute that stood sentinel. I was tossed like a weightless children's doll behind the bars, not caring what happens to me.

The shackles impeded my movement and I fell clumsily on my elbow against the rough, stony floor, sustaining a cut. I ignored the pain and rushed to the bars, yanking on them, screaming at the top of my voice like a puppy drenched in rain.

"Please let me out of here!!! Please!! I beg of you.”

I clutched the bars and stopped screaming abruptly when I felt the headache sting harder. It propelled hot tears that burned from my eyes onto my cheeks. I trudged backwards and shrunk underneath the wall with all of my strength sapped from me.

I winced in pain at the sight of the strip of blood dripping from my cut elbow.

The pain lessened as I dabbed on it with my tattered frock. I had envisaged this for a while but not once had it even crossed my mind that he would be as cruel as having me locked up.

I curled to the floor, placing my head against my arms to serve as a pillow. My heavy head needed all the comfort it could get in that place that was a little better than hell. My heart pounded against my chest when a roll of wild thoughts reeled in my mind; what if these merciless guards rape me or perhaps starve me to death?

Or worse, what if Alpha Donovan grows weary of me and orders my head on a spike?"

The thought alone gave me goose pimples and caused me to shudder all over again. I couldn't imagine those beasts sleeping with me. I was irked and felt a strong urge to throw up.

I winced in pain as I tilted my head in the direction of the small barred window at the end of the dungeon that was the only source of light and air in there. The tiny streaks of light searing in were enough to tell me it was a bright, warm day.

Although nightfall was nowhere near, I parted my lips to whisper prayers to the moon goddess, asking for protection and a lifesaving miracle. I closed my eyes and fell into a deep slumber. How I was able to achieve that remained a mystery to me.

•••

A few hours had passed and somehow, it felt like I had been sleeping for the whole day. I had no source of time to calculate how long I had slept so I let it slide.  I rubbed my eyes with my balled fists and stifled a yawn that flexed my neck muscles. My muscles snapped and the chains clanged as I sprung up.

I felt my head and it relieved me to know the slamming headache was gone. My elbow cut was also healing. My stomach grumbled noisily. I had not eaten anything since yesterday and it was slowly taking its toll on me.

I placed a hand on my stomach that just wouldn't stop grumbling. I was pissed at it and wondered why it just couldn't keep calm.

My dirty, cracked feet brushed against the rough stony floor as I wobbled to the window. On slight tiptoes, I clutched the short bars and peeped outside, still feeling a bit drowsy. It was night already.

My lips lifted to a faint smile when I saw the moon. It was bright and glowing, flanked by dots of stars that were plastered around it. Its rays silvered the atmosphere, and my eyes shimmered.

I heard heavy footsteps thudding toward the dungeon. It was the brute. My blood pressure spiked as I watched him unlock the bars. He was probably here to rape me. The fear and alertness I felt were enough to shake the remaining drowsiness off me.

“It is time for you to entertain me, my lady weakling wolf.” He leered, literally undressing me with those dangerously riveting eyes of his. He stunk and the stench was sapping the life out of me without restraint. I placed a hand over my nose to at least solve the first problem that had reared its head.

My breathing was fast as I frisked around, hoping to find a weapon or anything close to a weapon but there was nothing. The bars creaked open. "Oh my goodness! I'm in for it!" I exclaimed in a low whispering voice as my pupils dilated around.

“Please don't do this, I’m begging you., " I said, clinging to the wall after dazing around the room like a mad dog in search of a weapon. There was desperation in my voice and I didn't care about how I sounded as long as I'm able to get my ass out of there.

He took a few steps forward when suddenly, a torrent of howls cut across the entire atmosphere of the forest. His jaws tensed and a deep furrow emerged between his eyebrows – a look that reminded me of a ferocious bird of prey.

“I’ll be back for you,” he assured and then marched back, locking the bars behind him.

Loud groans and disturbing screams shrieked out there in the night. I tiptoed into the small window but couldn't catch a glimpse of anything. Everything blurred under the silver moonlight.

I hurried to the bars, squeaking in pain as the shackle rims raked my flesh. I pressed against the bars and squinted from the spaces when I saw him. An Alpha Lycan in its full transformation. They’ve come to invade and take control of my pack.

My heart dropped and sank in my stomach as I saw him thud down the stairs with his large fingers enveloped around the brute’s neck. The brute was whimpering and choking in silent pain. The grip was so tight, he couldn't break free.

He continued to struggle under the Lycan's grip but to no avail and I kinda liked it.  Part of me knew he deserved it but what if I suffer the same fate? The thought alone made me shiver. If a heavily built, full-grown brute couldn't break free from such a grip, then what chance does a wolfless weakling like me have?

Bile rose and I threw up beside me as he squashed the brute’s neck, blood gushing out and splattering. I wiped the remains that dripped to my chin with the back of my hands and spat out the acrid taste of bile that filled my mouth.

I raised my head only to see him right in front of me, the dungeon bars, the only thing demarcating us. Our gaze met. His flamy red eyes held the depths of a blazing fire as he stared at me. My chains clinked and I staggered to the floor, cringing from the bars.

A lump formed in my throat as I watched him rip the dungeon bars open with his hands.

 He swaggered in, his impossibly broad shoulders flaunting as he shimmied to me. For a moment, I didn't see him as the bloodthirsty beast he was, but as a miracle, a miracle sent by the moon goddess to rescue me.

I snapped out of my impossible reverie when he closed up to me with a snarl that fanned across my bruised face and messy hair.

“Please, don't hurt me.” I cried, shifting my gaze from him and forcing my eyes shut. I began to mutter some silent and incoherent words, hoping he would at least hear me out.

He held my right shackled wrist with his left and sliced through the air with his right, perhaps to savage me to death. Seconds passed and a few minutes passed, and I was still breathing.

I slowly turned my gaze to him, forcing my eyes open. When they met, I realized he was softening. His arm still hung in the air like an invisible force was holding it.

"What just happened now?" I wonder within myself, and the moon goddess came to my mind.