CHAPTER 3: The chopping block

Hope's Pov

"No! Please, no!" I screamed as I was thrown into another cell, different from the one I had been in. The guards laughed as I struggled weakly.

I tried to run out but the guard’s hard fist connected with the side of my face sending me to the floor, whimpering in pain as my jaw stung. I felt fresh tears form around my eyes.

I didn't want to die, not when Lucian was still alive. I didn't want him to win by taking everything from me. I wanted to make him suffer, but I wouldn't be able to do that if I was dead.

"Please," I called out weakly to no one as I lay on the cold moist floor. My eyes felt heavy from how much my body ached. Even my growling stomach couldn't compete with how tired I was.

I let the darkness envelope me, hoping that it would all be a horrible dream and I was back in the car with my parents going for the Pack meeting.

***

"Wake up!" Someone banged the metal bars. It felt like I had just closed my eyes. They flashed a light on my face and I winced, but I was too tired to shield my face.

"Here's your meal," the guard said before he threw the plate on the floor. The content spilled everywhere. I crawled slowly to the content that had mixed with the dirt of the ground.

I stuck my dirty fingers into cold food and placed it in my mouth. It was horrible, but I was so hungry.

"Look at her, eating like the dog she is," the guards laughed before they left, leaving me once again in darkness. My eyes prickled as tears rolled down my face.

This routine went on till it was the day of my execution. I had cried my eyes sore because this wasn't the plan I had for my life. This wasn't how I planned to mark my 20th birthday.

Today, I turned 20. Today was the day I was to find my mate. But I feared it would be impossible because I hadn't transformed into my wolf yet, and my mate may not be from this pack. I needed at least a few months before I could meet my mate, if I was lucky. Some could go years before they met theirs.

"Happy birthday, Hope," I said to myself as I hugged my knees. I didn't want to give up, maybe I could talk to Orion, maybe I could find a way to stop all this.

What was I thinking? I was better off dead. I was a pathetic wolf who hadn't even found her wolf at the age of 20. I had no parents and probably wouldn't find my mate as well. I was better off dead. Lucian had won.

I repeated this in my head to convince myself that I was prepared for my death, but I knew I wasn't. I felt oddly sick, like a steady discomfort in my belly. I assumed it was the horrible food and the worse hygiene of this place. I was definitely sick, but what was the use of complaining when I wouldn't be on this earth for another day?

As the hours ticked by, I felt worse. The little discomfort had turned into a burn, like someone was dragging a steel knife along my internal walls. I folded myself into a foetal position, hoping to alleviate the pain. But it got worse by the minute.

The metal door clanged as it opened.

"Get up," the guard who consistently served me meals, said.

"I can't," I whispered as loud as the pain would allow me.

"I said, get up!" He kicked my stomach and I yelled in pain. I wanted death at this point, anything to make the horrible pain stop.

"Please, I can't," I cried. The guard bent and held my arm roughly. He yanked me from the ground and pushed me out of the cell. My legs wobbled as I continued to grip my stomach. Tears flowed freely from my eyes as I was led to where it would all end.

I was pushed to the theatre once more but this time, there was a block carved to support my neck. There was a man standing beside it with an axe and a cloak over his head. It was really happening.

My bones began to ache as I stepped under the glare of the full moon. I fell to my feet as I felt my ankle snap. I howled in pain as I heard my dirty dress rip. I closed my eyes as the pain ravished my body. I felt a hand grab me by my neck but I couldn't move, neither could he move me.

"She's about to transform! Bring her down here!" I could hear the faint voice of Orion.

The guards struggled to pull my weight towards the chopping block. I bowed and I looked at where my hand was supposed to be, I had paws, I was transforming.

They placed my head on the chopping block. I felt something sharp amidst the pain, push pass my skin. Then a burning liquid flowed into my veins. I was dizzy from the amount of pain I was feeling.

"We've stopped her transformation, we've given her Wolfsbane," a guard said. My first transformation was incomplete.

"It hurts!" I struggled to get up but was pressed on the block. Suddenly, I smelled something. Something sweet and savoury, something that mixed with the smell of earth after rain.

I looked through my swollen eyes, enchanted by the scent and my eyes locked with someone who stood a few feet away.

"Mate," I heard someone whisper in my head.

My blood sizzled for a few seconds, and then turned ice cold.