Chapter 1: Captive.

“Where did you find her?” A gruff cold voice spoke stringently. The man was irritated and impatient as he looked chagrined at the cell.

“Somewhere far from home…she fell right into the trap laid out for a bait” The other man, who was grinning with mischief replied as he gripped the cold bars of the cell.

“Way far…from home” His voice was sardonic and his face darkened by the evil thoughts that he was inviting into his mind.

“You…get it fed. We set off at the first light of dawn” The older man spoke authoritatively and stepped aside, walking past the younger to exit the dark and acrid underground cell.

The younger man pulled back, his wicked grin retreating to reveal a void mask as his gaze hovered over the one behind the cell bars.

“I will take you to your new home. Get enough rest” And he too left the place, allowing the dead silence that pervaded the creepy cells to return.

Soft sounds of painful groans crept out of the cell the men had just been and the air hummed with cold sizzles.

“H-hurts…”

Parched throat that itched and tempted it to claw around the flesh of its throat. But metal cuffs, linked together by a short chain with a longer chain extended from it and hooked up into the rusty metal ceiling was preventing it.

Eyes hurting from the bruises around its face made it difficult to grasp the containment it was in. The darkness was all that filled it’s eyes no matter how much it tried to see.

And that smell… ugh! So pungent that it seemed that place must’ve served as a torture room…reeking of drying spilled guts, blood and echoing screams of past victims.

It irked a lot, what was this place? How long was it unconscious for?

‘I can’t link brother…what happened? Why am I here?’ Fear rattled and panic sunk in. It was scared, lost and alone.

Faint sounds of sobs drifted across from the inner depths of the dark corridor and it snapped its head in that direction.

Shutting its eyes to concentrate its senses, a gasp escaped its lips and it began struggling against the cuffs.

It growled and howled angrily, baring it’s dentition offensively in that direction. It was getting hostile by the second and it’s rage, aggravating.

Then came the loud bang and something ran into the corridor, stopping right outside its cell.

“We’ve got a problem” A voice spoke but it wasn’t from who was in front of its cell. It was from that direction that kept ticking its natural instincts.

“Call the boss down here, it’s stopped breathing” The voice came again and the presence before it slowly left.

It knew the other wouldn’t make it and the pain of a dear loss wounded its soul, crumpling its form into a coil at a corner of the cold and desolate cell.

It was now truly, alone.

                               ***

“Bitch! Get your ass back up and get back to work!” A whip came swooshing through the air and branding her back, wringing a scream out of her fragile little frame.

Her back arched inward as she bit down on her lip, fighting to hold back her cries of pain.

The man hissed and walked around her with a sneer, “Pause for a second and you get no servings tonight”.

No, she wasn’t going to miss another meal. She hadn’t eaten for five days and it was telling on her frail body and weakened mind.

But as she gripped the ceramic plate in her hands, it suddenly slipped and made a loud sound as it shattered across the floor.

It was over. He would lash her until she lost consciousness. And that automatically meant no dinner tonight.

It wasn’t until past midnight when she crawled into the makeshift bed she owned. She had pulled it together from the hay she collected from the barn and threw a spread of worn out sheets over it. Regardless of how bad it looked, it was the only thing she owned.

Curled up on the only comfort known to her, she finally shut her eyes since she had woken at four a.m that day.

But even that little peace wasn’t so easily granted. The wooden doors came swooshing open and the wind hit her with a powerful smack.

“Get up and get dressed. The alpha wants you” And he was out right the moment he came in.

That man was her nemesis, a scar she couldn’t conceal nor heal. He was pungent, like a stigma and robbed her of all peace.

Her hands gripping the sheets were trembling, her mind was bundled and her heart thundered with alarm.

He wanted her?

                                  ***

How long had it been since she was captured and brought there?

She had watched the seasons change one after the other but her life only plunged deeper into the misery she now wore like a favorite garment.

Though she was no longer alone, the hollowness in her heart would not go away. Not until she would attain liberation.

“Ma…”

Her head whipped around to see the little one who was rousing from his afternoon nap and she tucked away the thoughts that plagued her mind.

“Mommy’s here” Her bony fingers teased the infant’s and he smiled, now fully awake and excited to see his mother.

She wished she could freely be happy, smile and fill him with as much joy. But it was far from her eyes, the way she moved and the care she gave. That those were nothing but delusions.

The excited infant gripped her fingers, tugging energetically. But before she could grant his wish to pick him up, someone walked in.

“Get him dressed and be out in five. I won’t condole any lateness”. He commanded and left, letting loose the rain clouds that were stalled above her head and her smile was washed away by the pouring rain.

With sadness in her eyes, she carried the infant and went into the inner room. The infant was hers as much as he was that man’s. A mistake she would never forget.

But…with the love, tenderness and joy that arrived with motherhood, she could only ooze sweetness towards the infant and he became the hope she had left that the trying times won’t last.

The woman was different, from the silver-white of her long hair, the crystalline slate-blue of her eyes, the pale white fairness of her skin down to the genteel of her slender body, the grace in her strides, and the softness of her voice like the whispers of the evening breeze…she was awed at and fancied by all who stared her way.

Her beauty was surreal and untrue, unless one glimpsed at it with one’s eyes. It wasn’t supposed to but there she was, like the moon that lit up the dark night, a bewitching charm that held her admirers subservient to her.

She wasn’t permitted to join the Alpha’s family at dinner that evening so she was waiting in her son’s bedroom where she would breastfeed him once he was brought to her.

An hour quickly went by and she picked up familiar footsteps approaching. She bounced to her feet, dashing to the door and it sprung open to reveal his form presented before her face.

She stepped back in a cowering manner to allow him come in with the infant all bubbly in his firm hold.

“Put him to bed and don’t leave yet. Tonight, you spend it with me” It was an order and his alpha authority weighed on her with a heavy crush that bended her body into obeisance.

She expected him to leave but his presence was still dominant and it made cold sweat glide down her temple to the thought of him having another intention towards her.

Like she thought but did not expect, the back of his hand came brushing over her cheek and yielding into a trail down to her chin where his fingers gripped and she was yanked forward.

His eyes roamed hers, tiny dots of what she could not decipher painting his eyes and converging into a whole black color that indicated lust.

His large thumb slowly traced her chapped lower lip, her frightened eyes monitoring him fearfully and his tall frame leaning downwards.

His hot breath, thick with his amorous intentions mixed with the immoderate smell of his arousal that was filling the air, made her sick to the bones. But she had to put up with the irritation like she was forced to.

“A rare…snow beauty such as you” His voice was hoarse and whispery. It made her want to scrunch up her face but she held on, her fists tightening.

He pulled back with a smirk she knew too well. “Do not make me wait, Snow. You know how much I hate it when you don’t do as I say”.

All she did was offer a nod as she bounced her child in her arms, making him let out his baby laughter. The man dragged his gaze down the length of her body, muttered something and left.

That was when the breath she had been holding came spilling out, making the boy stop to stare at her with his large eyes that were just like hers.

Her face broke into a smile, “You must be hungry huh? Let’s have a sit”.