Chapter 1

Naomi

Clap, clap, clap. The whip lashed into my back, tearing through my skin like a hot knife through butter. I wouldn’t make a sound. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of knowing they were causing me pain. Worse, it was fucking Simon who was using the whip. We had grown up together, but alpha’s orders, or should I say luna’s orders. Bitch! The whip cracked again and my skin ignited, turning sticky as my blood spilled from my body. My wolf howled as I bit my lips to stop from screaming. It fucking hurt.

It wasn’t exactly an unwarranted punishment … harsh, but as much as I hated her, if I had been in her shoes ... I would have done something far worse. I loved our alpha. His brooding, domineering personality just turned me on. And before he met his mate, I was his chosen one; I was set to be his luna. The way he fucked me was unlike any other. It was primal, savage and yes, it hurt, but the pleasure … the pleasure was oh so sweet that a gal was hungry for more. So I saw an opportunity as far as everyone in the pack knew she was dead. Only he was still deluded enough to think she would come back, but I saw the signs we all did. He was falling apart he needed someone by his side. I just did something about it.

The keys jangle in my cell as I hear the lock click into place. Guess that’s the end of my whipping today. I wait until Simon’s footsteps retreat before I slump to the frigid, hard floor. The lights flicker on and off as a buzz of electricity pulses through them, I close my eyes, unable to rest against the wall due to the pain rushing through me. There’s no bed in here, nothing that would describe comfort a bucket sits in the corner for well, you know. Not that it matters. I get fed once a day. As part of my punishment; I am to remain here for a month before being put to work, so I need my strength, but not enough to allow me to fight back. 

There would be no point to that, anyway. What's done is done. I kneel on the ground, wrapping my arms around me as my braids fall by my sides. It’s cold, the kind of bitter cold that sinks into your bones. I don’t regret what I did. My alpha needed me, many of the other she wolves thought about doing something similar, I heard them whispering. Only I dressed up and headed to his office to comfort him, be there for him.

Then I don’t really understand what happened. It was hot and steamy, those molten glances as he watched me part my legs. I swear I saw him hardening before he said something, and then I couldn’t stop. It was like a command, but I was unable to resist. I had no control over my body no matter how much I willed myself to stop. Then he made me. My hands locked into place, but not before he got a proper look at me, bare exposed before him after he watched me touch myself. The scent of my arousal hung heavy in the air only adding to my shame. 

It was humiliating. I thought I would have gotten away with it. If she never work up, I know he would have caved and I would be in his bed becoming his luna instead of in this grimy cell. But she did wake up and worse, he told her what happened. For someone who appeared so weak and timid, she sure didn’t hold back on her punishments. I guess I should be grateful. Her so called ‘friend’ who found her way here was starved to death before she was killed. At least my back will heal, but if I had the chance, I would leave there is nothing for me in this pack.

No one wants to be known as the ex alpha’s girlfriend. The thorn in their side. But I am, and after my little stunt, so does the rest of the pack. My family didn’t even so much as utter a word in my defence when I was dragged to the cells they were ashamed enough for me. As far as I was concerened I had no family. 

Footsteps appear once more as I smell some sort of food … it smells gross, but I’ll eat it anyway because there is nothing else and I need all my strenght to heal. Gone is my once smooth mocha skin now. It is marred with the lashes from the days before. I can feel my skin knitting itself back together, thanks to my werewolf healing. I spin, feeling a pair of eyes on me and when I look up, Simon has returned a snide expression on his face. He unlocks the door; in his other hand I realise what smells so gross. He holds a steel bucket full to the brim with an acrid liquid all wolfs recognise and a whip tipped with shards of silver. My eyes widen in horror. This wasn’t part of my punishment. The wolfsbane splashes over the side, making a hiss when it lands on the floor. Fuck.

I clamber to my feet as the door opens. “What are you doing? You already whipped me today!” I protest, but he ignores me. Placing the bucket down, I notice the thick rubber gloves on his hands as well as a covering for his uniform. How strong is it? He locks us in before storming towards me where he grabs my wrists, spinning me to the back of the wall where he cuffs each wrist in metal chains. My heart hammers in my chest. Are they going to kill me now? “Simon, please,” he gives me a curt look as he presses his lips together before he whispers. “Alpha’s orders.” I swallow my blood running cold as he retreats, picking up his whip as it scratches along the floor.

“How many?” I ask my arms stretched up above my head with my feet on tip toes there is nothing I can do to protect myself and if I thought things hurt before … “Twenty,” he uttered as my wolf whines and my eyes close sucking in a deep breath. I hear the whip fly through the air as it lands on my skin, reopening the wounds from earlier along with new ones. As the silver is dragged through my flesh, it shreds my back to pieces, causing the pain to explode and making me scream out. “Count,” he demands as my body shakes, my eyes watering. He can’t be fucking serious.

“O-one,” I mumble. My lips tremble as I wait for what happens next. Did he just snicker? Fucking prick. “You know, Naomi, you always thought yourself better than everyone else, but the truth is out now. You're nothing more than the alphas whore he tossed aside.” He taunts as I hold back a snarl. That’s not true. He cared for me. I know he did. The whip bites into my back again a second, third and fourth time as my vision spins. I'm feeling so dizzy now as a pool of my blood and chunks of flesh are laying on the floor. I whisper the numbers and if Simon hears me or not he doesn’t wait for me to continue. He's too busy with his onslaught lashing into my skin, my top is only holding on by a thread my blood helping it stick to my skin or it would be left in tatters on the floor.

My body shakes uncontrollably as I struggle to remain conscious. By the time we reach fifteen, I can’t support my weight. The metal cuffs dig into my wrists as I dangle, swinging by the chains from side to side. My wolf has retreated, unable to help ease the pain. My back throbs, a fiery heat warming me from the bitter cold before I hear the crack of the whip shred what’s left of my skin. The cell wall zones in and out as I struggle to focus. Goddess, it can’t be worse than this. “Now the cherry on top,” Simon’s smug voice comes, but I don’t register it. It’s a muffled sounding far away.

“I would have helped you, you know, saved you from this pain. You just needed to repay the favour,” he whispers against my skin as he pulls my shredded top from my body and I find his callous hand roughly palming my breast. “There are much smaller than I thought. Did you pad your bra when you were younger? … this won’t do at all,” he complains before he pinches my nipple hard. I feel his nail dig into my skin, making it sting. I don’t have the energy to fight him off. It’s a relief that he is leaving me be. Splash. My eyes shoot open as a blood-curdling scream escapes me, my body shaking, spasming violently as the wolfbane singing my flesh. He tosses the rest of the bucket as my vision darkens, the pain so intense I lose consciousness. 

When I wake I’m laying on the ground, goosebumps mar my skin and I find all of my clothes are gone. Pig. He laid me on my back, the cold mental both helping soothe my sore skin, but also I fear I have stuck to the ground. I try to shift, feeling too weak, but despite the heat in my back, the rest of my body shivers. The pungent scent of wolfsbane and blood lingers in the air as I gradually roll onto my side, letting out a yelp in the process. Oh fuck, the pain is mind numbing and I think I’m going to pass out again. Then I notice something, something that sparks a flicker of hope inside … I must be imagining things the blood loss has affected my vision. I blink multiple times, but still it’s clear.

There is a goddess, after all.

I crawl along the floor of my cell floor, careful not to make a sound. I don’t want anyone to realise their mistake. As I get closer, I can see it clearly ... the door to my cell is unlocked.