Chapter 2 - Two prisoners

The girl arrived in the village one week after the agreement between Lycan and werewolves was signed. Aram sent his betas who had better training in combat to go get her, he was still not sure that the agreement was not some trap.

She was handed over to them halfway that connected the villages, right in the middle of the forest. Szafir was Aram’s beta of trust, they had fought several battles and built together a stability for the clan. The friend was a wolf of honor, whom he could trust. If it was really a trap, he was the right person to identify and neutralize the attack.

However, everything went smoothly. When the group of Betas arrived at the indicated place to pick up the girl, their leader, Szafir, was very impressed with the aspect of the female that would be the new Luna of the pack.  She really looked pretty young and scared, it was obvious she wasn’t a welcome guest in that werewolf pack. She had her hands and feet tied and her mouth gagged.That seemed a little exaggerated, given the fragile constitution of the female. She went from one group to the other without contesting, just kept her head down. The werewolf leader warned them by handing her over:

— Good luck to you. I suggest you don't untie her, she'll try to escape at the first opportunity.

Szafir thought it best not to answer, doing business or making deals with four-legged wolves was never beneficial, just nodded to the other group and started their way back to their village. They had gone by car to the forest entrance point, and then followed the trail on foot. The female walked with difficulty with her legs tied, he realized that it was already causing wounds in her ankles for some blood dripping from them. Without warning, he bent down and cut the ties of her feet which frightened her by the abruptness of his movement.

— We'll go faster if you don't have it, but don't even dream of trying to escape. I wouldn’t need two steps to reach you, or two seconds to shoot you.

She didn’t raise her head at any time to face him, only silently agreed and continued to follow the path indicated to her.

Aram waited, a little impatiently, for the group to arrive, those would be his last moments of peace. The week before, he asked to make preparations for the wedding ceremony, it was painful to do all that again after having already married the female who wanted to share life. He tried to get involved as little as possible, let the priestess and women do whatever they wanted and gave himself up to the drinking for a few more days.

When Szafir got the girl out of the car, Aram thought so, the situation could always get worse. She was very different from anything he had imagined, looked very young, but they had guaranteed that she had already turned eighteen. She had pale skin and a fragile constitution. Her hair was impressive when first seen, of a grayish tone, as if reflecting the moonlight. Her name was Lucine, his uncle had mentioned.

After the hair, the second thing Aram noticed was that she had her hands tied, barefoot and gagged. She looked confused and frightened, looked around quickly and lowered her head again, as she was guided to the front of his house. She was very dirty and her clothes were in tatters.

He walked to the group that brought her and went directly to Szafir.

— What does this mean? Why is she tied up and in these conditions?

 He said indicating Lucine.

— They handed her over to us like this, advised us not to untie so I think it's best to keep your eyes on her.  Well, the package is delivered. — He gave her a slight push toward his Alpha and was moving away — See you tonight at the wedding, if you need anything call me, and good luck my friend.

Szafir and the other Betas withdrew and Aram approached the female leading her into the house to get her out of prying eyes. The clothes that the women prepared for the wedding were already ready, she'd need a long bath to get all those layers of dirt out.

When he entered, he closed the door behind him, she was standing motionless in the middle of the small hut room. He needed a moment to control his nerves, the whole situation was suffocating.

— They told me your name is Lucine, do you know who I am?

Lucine nodded and kept quiet with her gaze nailed to the ground.

—  So you know your clan owes me a debt of blood.  Apart from the fact that I made a deal for you to be handed to me, according to the ancient laws I have the right to claim a female from your pack, due to the offense that was made to me.

She kept still silent with her gaze low.

 Ela seguia em silêncio com o olhar baixo.

 — As you were the only one left, things ended up taking that turn.I want you to know that I don’t want this union, I even abhor it. But being the Alpha of the pack I more than anyone need to follow the ancient traditions. If they took away a wife from me, I must claim another. The way you got here I must understand that you came against your will, but I must warn you, trying to escape will not help. I got eyes and ears everywhere, this is more than a village, it’s a fortress. While you’re under my protection, you don’t have to worry about being hurt or mistreated as long as you act properly. If this marriage doesn't happen, among other things, I'm going to have to kill you and I don’t want the death of a child behind my back.

She raised her eyes, which were amber color, for the first time, Aram saw in them a mixture of pain, fear and fury.

— And I can bet I won't want to know what happens if I don't behave right! — She said in a weak but challenging tone.

He walked to one of the couches, sat down and rubbed his head impatiently.

—  Look, girl, I assure you, I don't want this situation as much as you do. But here we are, the two with no way out. If I don’t marry you my clan will be threatened in many ways, and your future, well, I don’t believe it lasts more than a week beyond our borders.

— You might be surprised. — she said enigmatically.

He ignored her comment and kept talking.

— What I suggest is that we just go with the whole circus, and let things calm down. You need to cooperate and keep as discreet as possible, because the people around here are not very fan of four-legged wolves. Honestly, it is better for you not to create problems, here you will have a roof and food. You can recover yourself and create some flesh on your bones. And rest assured, I have no intention of this marriage being real. I wouldn’t force you to do anything, you can sleep on the couch quietly without waiting for me to attack you. But I need confirmation from you that things will work this way, that you won't create problems and turn my life into an even bigger hell than it already is!

The girl pondered for a while what he had said, as if weighing the pros and cons, which was ridiculous, given the options he had given her. In fact, at the time she had no other alternative, it was better to stay calm and focused. Even if she succeeded in trying to escape, that male was right when he said she wouldn't get far. She was weak, tired and poorly fed, she needed to regain her strength and study the place to think of an escape strategy. Given that, she had no choice but to agree.

—  I'm not going to cause any trouble, you need to untie me, after all I'm going to get ready for a wedding.

He evaluated her for a moment, as if deciding whether or not to trust her, but he had no other option, after all he could not leave her tied up forever.  He let her go and indicated the bathroom in the room for her to wash, and warned her that the clothes were on the bed.