It's been three days since I completed that application. My mind considers it as I wipe the table, ensuring everything is clean. Alpha Draven has been visiting Alpha Ethan and his pack.
Apparently, the deal they are making is going well. Well enough for Alpha Draven to leave his own pack and travel
It's good, though; it means I haven't been touched for three days. I have barely had to kneel as Beta Luca and the others are busy doing Alpha Draven's work.
Hell, I have even managed to get out of the constant cleaning and finally had time to consider the implications of that application. I'm sure Alpha Prime Darius will punish me for lying about it. I could be killed; I lied to the king essentially.
It was an order to answer honestly, and I didn't. So will Alpha Draven have fun telling them I lied if he ever finds out the truth? Finishing cleaning, I sit on my mat, my eyes close, and I try to relax; I was told he is returning today. So I've made sure I cleaned at the hours I was required to.
That way, if he comes back, I'm right where he expects me to be based on what time it is. Most would hate this, sitting in a cell with nothing. Boredom would be a quick thing they would complain over.
I guess when you're constantly cleaning and doing things for everyone else. This is perfect. Why would I want to do anything other than relax right now? That thought quickly vanishes when I realise what day it is.
Standing, I walk through to the laundry room. The maid smiles at me, and I begin to get the correct items for Alpha Draven's bed. I still have plenty of time to get it done before he can complain.
"They are getting the women." I turn to the maid, confused. "The guards of Alpha Prime Darius began to collect the selected ladies today."
"Lucky them." I smile, and she reaches out.
"It could be lucky you." I look at her with a confused expression, and she smiles. "I saw, don't worry, no one else did."
Crap. I stand and panic. "If..."
Her hand goes up. "I won't be telling Alpha Draven, Elara, so you don't need to worry; I have everything crossed for you." She says that, yet she hasn't considered the consequences, just as I didn't.
I'm claimed; the mark is impossible to hide if he were to ask us to strip and confirm we're not claimed. I never considered the consequences of my actions, and right now, It's too damn late.
All I can do is hope I wasn't selected, and why would I be? Wolfless, packless, orphan, with no last name. I'm at the bottom of that list.
After replacing the sheets and bedding, I take the dirty ones to the maid, although they aren't dirty. They were put on two days ago. No one has even slept in it. As I leave, I hear the door. I quickly walk to my cell to avoid them. If I'm not there, I am hoping that I'm out of their minds.
"Mutt." Or not. Standing, I walk through and kneel. "What is this?" I look up.
"A cloth Master." Why is he asking me that?
"And who uses it?"
"Myself, Master, they are the ones given to me to use." No one else uses them. He has a weird habit, like everyone has their own cloths. Why? So he can see whose cloths are used the most?
"Then why was it next to the computer?"
Shit. My mind races back. I was cleaning that day and took the sheets to the maid. When I went to the computer, I had a cloth in my hand.
"I don't know, Master."
"That is a blatant lie." I hear him move. "Get it ready. Ensure the entire pack will be watching."
Wait, I stare at him.
"You went into a room that is forbidden. You used items you are not allowed to. Did you think this would go unpunished?"
I thought he wouldn't know. He wouldn't have if I didn't leave the cloth.
"Master, it was not me who put the cloth there." Maybe he won't punish me if I lie and make out that it was someone else.
"Lying is only increasing your punishment." He turns to Alpha Luca. "Drag her out." I feel my body get pulled up and pushed out. He rarely punishes me in front of the entire pack.
My body is thrown to the ground. Kneeling, I keep my head lowered. I know that I caused this. Now, I consider his plan, maybe to keep me kneeling here and battle the weather with them watching.
"If I give orders, I expect them to be followed even when I am not in sight."
I feel the cuffs wrap around my wrists. So, I’m not going to be punished by having to face the elements?
"So this is a reminder that I won't allow it to happen," I scream as my body is pulled up by the cuffs around my wrists. My toes barely touch the floor.
"Now," I scream, feeling the whip hit against my back. My head raises, and I look at Alpha Draven. He had sworn never to do this to me.
"Again." I brace myself, but it does little to help. Screaming; tears flow from my eyes.
"Again." The pain from the whip has me slump forward, the scream getting tangled in my throat with the sob.
"Again." I stare at Alpha Draven. Screaming, I dangle from the chains, my eyes seeing Alex in the crowd. My head drops, I never expected him to give me this punishment.
The pain is worse than the other night. I can feel the blood running down my back from the lacerations. I hear cars and raise my head. I watch as the crowd disappears.
"Take it inside." Alpha Draven points to me, and I feel the cuffs being removed, and I fall down. A hand grabs me and drags me through. As we get inside the door, I'm dragged forward.
"Stop!"Alpha Draven shouts. My body is dropped, and I kneel, ready for Alpha Draven to begin yelling abuse at me. "Apparently, Alpha Prime Darius has sent guards for you, Mutt!"
Shit. I raise my head slowly to see him glaring and growling at me. Is this because they know I lied? I have a feeling tonight's punishment is only the start of it.
"Why me?" I look at the guards as Beta Luca pulls me to my feet."You're to join the other candidates at the Luna Battle. Alpha Prime Darius has requested that you attend after your submission made the finals."My body stills as I’m shocked by their words. I never expected to be chosen. I feel Alpha Draven's eyes on me, and I know his anger is rising because of this. He can't refuse, he can't go against Alpha Prime Darius's orders, but he has the power to announce that I am already bitten and claimed by him.Standing, I wait for his words, and I wait for his refusal or acceptance. Surely he will speak soon?"Mutt, I suggest you pack your bag." I move quickly through the house and to my cell, packing the few items I have. Pulling off the top I am wearing, I winch and hold in the screams.Someone steps into my cell as I begin to pull on my top."He sent me to cover your lacerations." Alex smiles, and I turn. "At least you are free." His words are whispered as I bite my lip to stop the s
We stand quietly and wait. The camera pans across the women as we stand waiting for the king. I notice the camera lingers on the other contestants for a longer time than they do me.The producer smirks at me; I don't need time on screen; it isn't down to the public who is Luna. So, him purposely cutting my time down is fine with me.I watch the door open, and the king walks in with Alpha Kellan. His eyes scan the contestants as he makes his way to the stage. He barely settles on any of them for longer than a few seconds. Then he reaches me and stares; I shift uncomfortably; no doubt this is him noticing I have no wolf.He steps onto the stage and keeps his eyes on me the entire time. I try to be confident and look back. Yet, it cracks, and I fail. My eyes drop quickly. I'm so used to having to kneel to Alphas and Betas. I don't even feel like I should look at him without permission."Ladies," William calls our attention back to him. "After the rules are explained, you will face your f
I sit with the camera in my face; it's far closer than it had been for any of the other candidates, and I feel like it's a way to try and make me nervous. It's working."Elara, we don't have a last name. Why is that?" He smirks at me. I knew it."I do not have one. I was an orphan."He glances at his papers. "An orphan? It says here you were sold?"Shit. How much does he know?"I was, yes, but I was first an orphan.""Hmm." He looks at me. "Elara, is it true that you were a servant and prostitute for your past Alpha?"I freeze, and I watch his smile widen. Opening my mouth, I close it again."End it here." I watch him turn the camera off. "You're done.""Wait." He can’t cut it off already."Sorry, but you couldn't answer a simple question. Not only that, but you sound bored and highly unworthy of watching. You’re finished, I think you beat the candidates. One minute, well done." He laughs."Ahm." He raises his head, and I watch the roll of his throat as he swallows. "Delete it. All th
When I wake, I get myself ready. May had brought me some clothes this morning. All the contestants were given general clothing as they were only allowed to bring one small bag each.Breakfast was awkward. Some of the women were looking at me like I didn't belong here. I heard the whispers and complaints because Alpha Kellan had sat with me during my interview.That alone has already started to make the women complain and pinpoint me as a troublemaker. Yet, I've noticed they are more brutal to the other ladies.It appears they think I'm not a threat. Which is likely correct. They don't think I can possibly get through and become Luna, so while they are all taking bites out of each other and trying to make each other feel like crap.I'm here untouched. Sure, I get called mutt and Tramp, but it's far less than they are throwing at each other.~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~I'm sitting in the garden with Sage. It's still snowing. Something tells me this isn't going to stop any time soon. Yet the palace
After our casual chats, we all went back to our rooms to get ready for tonight's dinner. I haven't seen the producer since, but the cameras still stayed.They didn't get close enough to hear personal conversations. Still, they most certainly aimed to capture everyone's responses to what was happening in the room.I hadn't noticed that they were filming, so no doubt the footage of me and Lyra will get some views. From what I heard, the cameras picked up on our confrontation and were close enough to hear as they weren't warned to stay back at that point."Your dress for tonight." May holds it up. It's ocean blue with a sweetheart neckline. It's the most beautiful thing I own. It's simple, which is what was required for tonight's meal.Once I'm ready, I walk out, Sage meets me, and we walk down together. We walk in and see Darius and Kellan at opposite sides of the table."Okay, ladies. I will read out the name of those whom Alpha Prime Darius wishes to sit with him." William opens the p
I spent hours talking about dresses, looking at materials and colours. May has begun to work on it. I watch her from across the room. While I slept, she did some work on the dress, then got some sleep but returned to it this morning."What do you think?" She turns to me. Walking over, I pick up the fabric; it's beautiful. It's a gold fabric with black sheer fabric over the top. The two colours mix perfectly."It looks amazing, so do it." I smile and sit with her, talking about random things. She turns and smiles at me."You know, they weren't lying. Your video got the most views, comments and everything. Barely anyone mentioned Prince Kellan, just you."I highly doubt it makes a difference."I won't be winning this May. Even I know the public will change their view when it gets close to picking the final winner." I'm in no way a Luna."Oh, I don't know. People saw the showdown between you and Lyra. It made people question things. The way you spoke." She nudges me.Even so, I am far fr
I escaped to my room quickly, unwilling to give the others a chance to ask questions or assume they knew what our conversation was about. It feels like Kellan is purposely going against Darius' words when it comes to me.Why though?I spend the rest of my day with May, helping and watching her make my dress. Today is a day without an event, and that's a good thing. The ladies will need time to calm down and hate me less."I've also sorted out gloves." I look at May. "You need to wear gloves. They need to be a certain length. Gloves that are too short or not wearing gloves is against the rules. The King’s Luna needs to wear them." I nod at her words.She has made sure the dress covers my shoulders. I explained I have a scar there, one which isn't appealing, so all clothes she creates will ensure the scar is covered. I can't risk it getting seen.Later, I began walking down and saw Sage. I caught up with her, and we walked down together for dinner."So, Prince Kellan?" She looks at me.
I get woken early by knocking. Rushing to the door, I pull it open."Elara, the king has requested your attendance, please." The Beta looks at me. I look down at myself."Please give me a moment." Closing the door, I rushed and got ready; I was dressed and following him down within five minutes. He takes us through to the opposite side of the palace, the side we're not allowed in without permission.Stopping outside the door, he knocks, and I hear the king call out. The door opened, and we walked in. I stopped when I saw Aurora. Great, more drama!"Thank you, Beta Pete, you may leave." He nods and walks out. "Please, take a seat, Elara." Darius points to the seat next to Aurora.Walking over, I sit down, my head lowering."You two have made a spectacle of this competition. Your interaction last night was broadcast, and many have seen it." His words are loud."I apologise, King Darius; I never intended or wanted to make yourself or your family look bad," I speak quickly, knowing that t