Chapter 6 Bloody Memory

POV Damelza

I kept running indeterminate directions and occasionally looked back to see if anyone was following me. Luckily, the sunlight was able to penetrate the darkness of the forest, so I didn't have trouble running among the very tall bushes. Several times, I rubbed my tear-soaked cheeks until the skin of my face felt sore. My breath was heavy because of the mixture of fear and sadness that had accumulated in the recesses of my soul.

I sniffed hard as I closed my eyes, then howled low. Within seconds, my skin was overgrown with white fine hairs until my whole body was covered with feathers. Then my body bent down and turned into a two-meter-high white wolf. My wolf quickly ran through the dense teak forest. Various times my feet were slipped by the abundance of moss growing on the ground and large rocks.

GROWL!

GROWL!

The sound of a wolf's growl terrified me. From the corner of my eye, I can see that there are five Beta-type wolves chasing me at high speed. I didn't expect that they had learned of my departure from the mansion. Many times, my head turned back and sideways to find out to what extent the wolves were chasing me.

“I would rather not die in vain before my goal is reached,” I said as I jumped over a three-meter-high rock. My face looked up, seeing the disappearing sun covered by dark clouds so that the focus of my eyes became unclear.

I stopped my footsteps as five wolves emerged from behind a tree. Their eyes lit red with a snout of a wolf snout that squirted as if I was a shred of fresh meat. 

“What should I do? If I fight them, then my body will be destroyed,” I muttered as I circulated my gaze throughout the woods. I tried to be calm, rewinding my steps back, turning around then running fast through a tall bush with tears that didn't stop flowing from both of my eyes.

My throat felt very dry as my nose inhaled Beta's concentrated pheromones. I was surprised as five wolves ran fast towards me, besieging me from the opposite direction. Two of the wolves jumped high and then lunged at my wolf's body until it fell to the ground.

“Let me go!” I exclaimed as I kicked the belly of the white fluffy wolf who was trying to bite my leg. While my canines bit the brown fluffy wolf's face to howl in pain. However, because they are more numerous and have fighting experience, they easily turn the tide.

The brown-furred wolf carried my wolf's body using its wolf snout. The grip of his fangs pierced my flesh until blood seeped down my fur.  

No! 

I would rather not stay there, or I'm going to die. I should be able to be free and find out the reason behind the death of my family. If I resign myself to this cruel destiny of life, then I cannot seek justice for my family who have sacrificed lives. 

With all the strength still there, I stomped my body while clawing at the brown-furred wolf's face. When the wolf howled in pain, then my body slipped from its bite. I breathed a sigh of relief because at this time I managed to get free. 

“Stay there little wolf!” exclaimed a hoarse voice mixed with a low growl from a black-furred wolf with golden yellow eyes. 

I shook my neck. “This time I should be able to escape.” I ran indeterminately because I didn't know where the way out of this forest was. 

The clouds in the sky formed large black plumes and then followed by lightning that struck the trees to collapse. Luckily, I quickly dodged by hiding under a boulder so that my body wouldn't be hit by the fall of a tree trunk. My legs have been numb, my eyes have been blurry, and my body is weak because it has not received any energy intake at all since yesterday evening.

"Come here, Damelza or I will drag your weak body!"

My body tremored when Alpha Theo's voice entered my eardrums. I shook my head quickly and without thinking I went back to galloping. The deeper I ran, the darker the atmosphere of the forest became. There wasn't even any light coming in there, plus the thick fog enveloped the trees, so I had to be extra careful if I would rather not get mired in the abyss. I tried to strengthen my energy and continued to run down the rocky ground.

“Ouch… it hurts,” I whimpered in pain as my hind legs got caught in the roots of a tree. Several times I moved my legs to be free, but all I got was a deep wound caused by the rubbing of my skin with the rough roots of a tree.

“Try harder if you want to live on one leg.” The wolf's muzzle is gaping so that its sharp canines are visible. Behind his body are five Beta wolves who have been chasing me since the beginning and are now joining Alpha Theo.

Alpha Theo's wolf approached me. His nose was oozing hot steam with a spooky face that successfully frightened my animal instincts. His dense black feathers wagged as he moved his head right and left. My goosebumps stood up as our eyes locked on each other. The wolf's muzzle sniffed my neck, and then the last thing I felt was a pain so deep that I couldn't describe what it was like. 

*****

The first scene when I opened my eyes was the ceiling of the room in Alpha Theo mansion. It is unclear to me why my body feels stiff, it can't be moved at all. I swallowed my saliva hard while inhaling the scent of citrus pheromones. 

“Theo,” I called at Alpha Theo, who was walking towards me. His stern face did not show any expression. 

“Do you know what you did wrong, little wolf?” he asked with raised eyebrows. His massive body clads in a navy-blue suit ducked, imprisoning my body within the confines of his burly arms.

My tongue licked my dry lips, then nodded slowly. “I can't stay here with you--”

SLAP!

Not having time for me to continue my remarks, Alpha Theo had landed his hand on my cheek. He slapped me so tightly that my face turned to the left side. My cheeks were sore and hot at the same time. My eyes heated up when I saw him looking at me with a face flushed with emotion.

He squealed loudly. “Every once in a while I have to discipline you!” he exclaimed as he pulled my hair hard until my thin body got up from the mattress. He forced me to my feet, and then dragged me out of the room.

I limped because my leg was so badly injured that I tried to keep up with his wide steps. My hair kept pulling until my scalp was hot. My hand tried to hold his arm, but he quickly shook it off. Alpha Theo led me towards the first floor, where the guards and maids were lined up neatly while keeping their heads down and hands handcuffed. I don't understand why Theo brought me before them. 

“Look at the faces of all of them, Damelza. Do you remember them?” Theo let go of my hair and instead his arms wrapped around my shoulders.

I turned my gaze to him and nodded. “They are the bodyguards guarding in the hallway of my room and the maid who serves me,” I replied in a low tone. One of the maids over there looked at me with a worried look, but I gave her a genuine smile; a smile that means fine. 

Theo laughed out loud with his face chuckling upwards. His arm slipped from my shoulder, then moved closer towards the line of bodyguards and maids. 

“All of you I assigned to take care of one Omega. And you guys easily don't realize if she ran away!” His index finger pointed at me, looking at me lightly like trash. I knew the meaning of his gaze on me because I once lived in Alpha Alaric's underground cell and studied every werewolf face that met me.

His feet on black leather shoes walked behind my body. Hugged me from behind, but his right hand was on my forehead while his left hand was on my neck. Honestly, I couldn't move, and my gaze became the focus of the front, where the workers in the mansion were neatly lined up.

“Always remember in your mind, Damelza. Your position here as my Omega, and you submit under me and obey all my sayings,” Theo whispered in my ear, his hot breath hitting my ear making me shudder in horror.

“I'm not your slave, Alpha Theo. You can't act arbitrarily on me just because your caste is higher than I!” It was enough that I endured all my accumulated annoyance. I would rather not continue to be treated lowly like a disgusting animal. It's been enough of my life to suffer at the Omega auction place and don't want to repeat the same events. 

“Is your brain senile, Damelza? I was the one who saved you at Alpha Alaric's Omega auction place and bought you at a sky-high price,” he retorted, immediately making me gasp in shock.

“So, you want me to pay what I owe you. Fine, I'll pay for it,” I replied confidently. I was determined not to want to owe anyone, even to my Alpha. 

A smirk was imprinted on his red, full lips. His sharp eyes coded the other bodyguards standing around the rows of mansion workers. I shook my head quickly as the guards in bulletproof clothes pointed guns at the maid's head and the guard guards of my room hallway.

“No! What are you guys doing? Alpha Theo, don't hurt them. I beg you.” Tears had shed from my eyes. My lips didn't stop uttering pleading with him. 

“It was a punishment for all of them for being negligent in doing the work,” he explained casually with a smile on his lips. “Shoot their heads with back-to-back shots!” he ordered with a stern exclamation.

I screamed loudly in Alpha Theo's arms as the sound of bullets pierced their heads. My body moved wildly, trying to remove Theo's embrace from my body. However, all my efforts were in vain. His two hands still holding my head made me clearly see one by one the maid and the bodyguard stretching their lives.

“Listen, Damelza. If you do trouble again, then the people around you will be affected,” he growled with a loud snort.

“Heartless Alpha, you're so evil and cruel!” I exclaimed as I tried to rebel from the embrace of his massive body. My chest went up and down as a result of my guilt for them. In my heart, I continue to apologize to those who have died and their families who are still alive. If only I hadn't escaped from the mansion, maybe they were still breathing at this time.

“Yes… that's what I'm called,” he retorted with a proud look on his face. His lips pressed against my cheeks and kept running to the corners of my lips, but I moved my face away so that his lips landed on my jaw. 

My gaze was blank, recalling the tragedy one month ago, in which my brother died with his head cut off. My greatest fear returned again when my eyes looked at the gore that flowed from their heads and soiled the floor. I couldn't stand up anymore, and it felt so heavy as if a big rock were falling on my head. My ears buzzed, aching as many voices began to fill my head, telling me to die.

“Oh… my God …. I'm sorry. I'm guilty. Ah…. It hurts!” I screamed loudly as my head was so dizzy. The puzzle pieces of all the bloody tragedies that befell my family overlapped in my brain memory.

I can no longer afford the torments of living in this cruel world. My life is meaningless anymore because my presence in this world only brings disaster to other werewolves. That's right, I have no right to live. I have to end all this.

Soon!