~BREE~
I looked at the table satin one more time to make sure it was in the shade Alpha Zander wanted. I didn't want to give him a reason to lock me up in that rat hole again; my stomach was still hurting from the starvation, and do I even remember why he locked me up there? The truth is, he did it for every reason. Even asking him if he wanted orange juice or apple was a crime, as he would lock me in the dungeon for days without giving me food, claiming I was being disrespectful. I don't even know how I was still alive—well, alive and dead at the same time as the pain in my stomach and the wounds on my body were eating me. I just had to carry myself through today because today is a special day. Today is my birthday; I am finally twenty-one, and I will find my mate. There was no party or anything, but today seemed to be my lucky day as Alpha Zander was hosting a ceremony to announce his engagement to his chosen mate, Luna Ruby. Ruby is from a strong pack; the Bloodmoons, her brothers who are twins, have been managing their pack since their parents died. I heard they are overly protective over their little sister, which only reminds me that I was alone. I had no one. Well, at least I had someone who cared for me, but what did my stupid self do? I killed her. My sister was not someone I liked talking about because I didn't know what hurt me the most—was it that I caused her death or how her death affected me? My life was like this all because of her. I shook myself out of my thoughts and brought myself back to reality. ‘Your mate will find you!’ The voice of the old witch from the dungeon echoed in my head. We were in the same cell; she was the one who encouraged me to get through today; she said my mate was going to find me, as I was pretty skeptical of my mate finding me when I had no wolf—not that she never came; she did, twice, for that matter, but every time Zander would summon a witch to come and bind my powers and send her into a deep slumber. “Maybe she was right,” I muttered to myself. “Maybe he will come and find me,” I said, although still not convinced, as I knew a rat like me would only be mated to an omega like myself, so finding my mate was not even a good thing as he would never stand up for me. ‘If only I had a way of ending my life,’ I sighed but quickly jumped when I heard my name. It was Gamma Stephen. “Why are you still lurking around? Is this the reason we feed you?!” He roared. He was standing in front of me. I looked down and tried to control the beating of my heart, which was now causing my head to move up and down. Stephen was one of my torturers. I feared him the most because he didn't use a knife, whips, or other torturing tools like others; he instead used electricity. He said he liked that he caused me pain, but nothing of it could be spotted on my body because, unlike other torturing tools, it doesn't leave scars, but the pain was comparable to being set on fire. “The ceremony will start soon; I don't want anything to go wrong,” he warned, and I quickly nodded my head. Responding with words was another form of disrespect, and with years of experience, I knew better. “And you…” He came close to me, and I involuntarily moved back. I don't know what he was doing, but he disgusted me. Everyone in this pack disgusted me. He raised his hand, which I was sure was to yank my hair, but stopped midair at a voice. “Beta Kaden,” he moved from me, and I swallowed my saliva, but that wasn't what I wanted to do. I wanted to clear my throat, but clearing my throat in their presence would only get me into trouble as I was not even allowed to breathe in their presence. “Is she giving you trouble?” Beta Kaden asked in a commanding tone. I could feel his gaze piercing through my skin. “N-no, I… I was making sure she wasn't doing anything funny.” Stephen stammered. Yes, he was the Gamma, but Kaden was the beta, and so he held power over him, I knew he was scared because he could get in trouble not for trying to hit me but for getting close to me. Everyone was allowed to torture, humiliate, and enslave me, but not to get close or they would be in so much trouble, which was easy for them as they claimed my smell disgusted them. I mean, without a wolf, I was bound to smell funny and unattractive. “You can go and help Alpha Zander get ready; I will deal with her,” Kaden instructed, and Steph agreed as he excused himself after bowing his head to him. Feeling Steph's fading steps, I took a step back and almost picked up the dust feather I used to dust the tent as the ceremony was held in the tent, but Kaden was quick to yank my hair and pin me against the tent. His grip was brutal, but I didn't feel pain as I was used to it, I felt strands of my hair falling off as it wasn't strong. Weeks of torture, no proper meals, and talk of baths or shampoo to wash my hair. I understood why they were so fragile, so I faked a painful face as if he realized that I wasn't in much pain, his grip would only tighten, causing my poor hair to suffer. “Look at me!” He ordered his voice, sending a shiver down my spine. I hesitated but tilted my head and looked at his face. He was a bit taller than me, so his face was looking down. My eyes met his green ones for a split second before I looked away and concentrated on his nose, as I couldn't bear to look into his eyes. My thoughts would end up controlling me, and I would end up spitting on his face, as that's all I could do. “I do not want to see your fucking face anyway near this tent during the ceremony; we are not locking you in the dungeon because Alpha wants you to see that killing two of his mates didn't stop him from finding a perfect mate.” I knew what he meant, and being reminded of it just made me feel terrible. Killing two people was not a good thing. “Now, get lost!” He yelled and forcefully freed my hair, which made me almost fall to the ground if not for the tent. My shaky hands picked the dust feather and prayed that he wouldn't change his mind and decide to punish me, as this was the first time he was letting me go without any punishment or hurting me, not just yanking my hair. After finally getting a hold of the dust feather, I stood straight and almost left when I heard his voice. “Go and make sure that there is enough champagne.” I answered with a nod and then rushed out of the tent. I was still in so much pain, and walking so fast hurt my every being, but I just had to do it. He seemed to be in a good mood. I mean, the partnership with the Bloodmoons would benefit the pack. Reaching the kitchen, I placed the dust feather on the kitchen counter and headed to the alcohol cabinet, but just as I was inches away, something hit my inside, which made me stop. “Rain?” I said out loud excited that my wolf was back; I even forgot that I didn't have to speak out loud for her to hear me. ‘Hi Bree, I'm so glad to be back.’ She sounded both happy and sad; I could feel her emotion, so I knew why she was sad; she was afraid that they would put her into a deep slumber again, but either way, I didn't expect my wolf, and now that she was here, it got me thinking. Maybe the witch was right; maybe I will find my mate tonight.~BREE~ I was excited that Rain was back, but I knew if Alpha Zander or any of the pack members heard of it, I would be tortured, and he would summon the witch to bind my powers and Rain because I knew whenever Rain was here, my powers were also back. I quickly moved back. I knew Beta Kaden just wanted to get rid of me; he didn't need me to check the champagne as it was always enough—Luna Rosa, Alpha Zander's mother, can never go a day without a glass, so when my back hit the wall, I got to my senses and dashed out of the kitchen and went straight to my small room. Yes, I had a room, or, let's say, a shoe closet, as there was a little bed; it used to be a shoe closet, but the time they started torturing me, they moved me here as it was inside the mansion since they didn't want me far away in case one of them wanted to release stress. Reaching the little room, I closed the door and rested my back on the door as I caught my breath. My head moved up and down, and I placed my hand
~BREE~My legs were shaking; I could barely hold my weight, but knowing better, I took the pain and forced myself to stand on my feet because that's all I could do. Alpha Zander didn't give a shit about me, so crying or falling to the floor would just give him a reason to punish me.“Alpha Zander,” someone pushed me off the way and rushed to Alpha Zander; I guess he mind linked him and asked him to come here.“Kaden,” Alpha Zander sounded like he was in a little pain, but he did well to mask it as next he stood to his feet, and I don't know why, but I was now watching his every move. He whispered something in Kaden's ear, which he didn't need as he usually said, and did anything in front of me.“You piece of shit! You…” I wasn't expecting Kaden to kick me in the stomach, as when the pain hit me, I fell on my knees and held my stomach, which felt like it busted from the inside—a man's kick is painful. “You killed them for yourself; I bet you're a witch or something because how did she
~BREE~“I won't come back here.” Kaden's voice brought me back to reality as I struggled and stood on my feet before I made my way to my bed, where my bag was.“Ouch!” A whimper escaped my lips as I tried to clean my cheeks, but they were sore from the slaps.‘I'm so sorry, Bree. I'm sorry I'm weak.’ Rain apologized, but it wasn't her fault. I didn't want her to take account of Zanders' behavior, but unfortunately, I couldn't say the words as I was in so much pain, and with Kaden's warning, I quickly got to my bed and opened my bag; nothing was in it since I didn't have anything. The only thing I had was my old jeans and a tee; those were the only belongings I had, including the clothes on my body, track pants, and a white tee, which Kaden gave me earlier as I would be serving his guest and I couldn't look dirty.I walked to the little mirror and looked at my reflection. I know I always looked messed up and bruised, but looking at myself like this on my birthday was heartbreaking, and
~BREE~I don’t know for how long I’ve been locked in this dark room, but it must have been for hours as it was getting darker and darker. I used to be afraid of the dark, but not anymore; now it was just something that gave me peace. Yes, my once-fear became my peace, as at least in the darkness I would forget about my misery and try to live another person's life.If you ask me, I won’t even know when things started to go wrong—was it when my real parents died? When I met Jocelyn? When I got into that fight? Or when I mistakenly served Amber the wolfsbane? I honestly didn’t know, and I didn’t want to give it much thought.I turned to the old woman whom I’d been calling since I got here, but there was still no response. Maybe she had died because the smell in here didn’t just feel like rats; she was dead as if she had been asleep, I could have heard her snores.The thought of her death caused tears to roll down my cheeks freely; she was my only hope, and I once promised to get her out
~BREE~I was too tired to think of that, and even if I wanted to, I knew I couldn't go anywhere as my legs were sore, so I crawled toward a tree, when I reached it, I closed my eyes as the words came naturally on my tongue.“I Aubree Swan an Omega cut ties with the Moon Valley pack; from this day forward I should no longer have anything to do with anyone that comes from that pack.” I instantly fell back as soon as I was done saying that, as I felt my body being ripped apart and I didn't know if I was seeing things, but a shadow-like creature came out of me and disappeared in thin air.“Ouch!” I whimpered in pain as I felt the same stinging pain from when Zander rejected me. I knew this was a pain of cutting ties with the pack; the Moon Valley hasn't taken me in as their own, but I've been there for years, and it naturally became my home.I needed to rest, even if it was just for a few minutes. I didn't know where I would be going from here but wasn't losing hope. I was sure after a na
~BREE~Despite everything I went through, I've never for once thought I would wish this upon myself, but here I was wishing the floor would open up and suck me in. I couldn't go with Alpha Asher; he was a monster, and I didn't want to lose my body parts. Death was way better than this.Everything happened so fast that next I found myself seated in his limo. He was internally staring at me; his stare was burning my skin and I felt it tingle. I was so nervous that I wished Rain was with me; she was smart and could keep me company; she could tell me that everything was going to be okay even when I knew it would not. My life didn't turn upside down, as it already did years ago; now it flipped to the negative side because this was far worse than being in the Moonvalley pack.Even deep in my thoughts, I didn't miss his voice when he said we had arrived. I looked up at him as he was sitting on the seat across from me, but I quickly looked down as our eyes met—he hadn't stopped staring at me
~ASHER~My left hand trailed the corners of the glass as I used my right hand to hold the phone against my ear.“I’m sorry, Alpha; he was gone when we got here.”“How is that possible? Tyler, I thought you were smarter than that.” I was so upset that someone had gotten away from them.“I promise I won’t rest until we find him.”“I don’t expect you to; I’m only giving you twenty-four hours to find him Tyler if you don’t...” I didn’t need to finish that statement, as he knew what would happen to him if he didn’t bring me that asshole.“Got it.”“And don’t fucking call me until you get him.”“Got it, Alpha,” he said, and I let out a disappointing sound before I ended the call and took a swig of the whisky in my glass then placed the glass down and opened my computer and checked how much damage that asshole had done.I swear when I catch him, he will regret ever crossing paths with me. I will make sure to give him a painful death.‘We should have his head up as decoration,’ my wolf Tylan
~ASHER~Even Tylan seemed surprised but not against it, as he also wanted to figure her out, to figure out why my heart beat seeing her. That thing had never moved before; after I moved here, it had just become something I knew was there even when I couldn’t feel it.My eyes haven’t left her face since. She also looked at me, but just for a second as she looked down, something in me told me she was scared of me, which I understood as I was known for being ruthless—yeah I heard the gossip. I was sure she knew me, but I was determined to change that. I was determined to change it for her.I couldn’t sit and waste my time anymore, so when the waitress from earlier came to confirm if I wanted to purchase the woman, I stood up and told her I wanted to make the payment already.I guess this is what brought me here, her. She brought me here.After making the payment, a man delivered her to me. She looked scared of the man, so I took her from him and showed her to the limo. It was no surprise