Chapter three

Ariah's POV

The orphanage was like a prison, with Miss Sheldon as its warden, but it was nothing compared to the dungeon I had been thrown into. Each night, I froze and the cold squeezed into my body relentlessly. The grey walls of the square-shaped cage were cold and smelt of cement, there was no window, hence the light from the sun never penetrated the room. My biggest dream had turned into a nightmare in less than ten minutes, but that was only the beginning of my tragedy.

I was fed only once a day, with an iron tray where a small portion of whatever was served was placed. For days I lived like that and I cried bitterly each day, this wasn’t what I had been expecting. Nina had been right about what she said and I had been a fool for not believing her. I had heard conversations of the guards, the dungeon was as silent as a graveyard so every word said within thirty meters traveled clearly.

“Will that one get out?” A guard asked on the fourth day of my imprisonment.

“Can you ever tell? No, you can’t. Whatever he decides to do with her, he does, and there ain’t nothing anyone can do about it.” Another replied.

“He's as evil as ever.” The first voice remarked with a tone of disdain.

“Well, who cares?” the second voice replied indifferently.

I listened intently and when they stopped talking, I slid down the wall and dropped to my knees in tears, I sobbed silently as a wave of silence and self-pity flooded through me. My fate was in the hands of the ruthless Alpha of the pack, who was supposed to be my mate. I missed a lot of things at the moment, especially Nina's company, I had gotten too used to Miss Sheldon’s manly voice, and as much as I despised her, I missed her voice. I missed the sound of the stupid bell that had woken me up every morning, I missed the pointless meetings Miss Sheldon held every morning at the courtyard. I felt so empty and alone, like the first time my parents had died and I was left in the care of Miss Sheldon. 

I felt like I was going to die, maybe I was going to be left to rot here forever. Maybe…

At midday, the iron cage door rattled and I thought it was just the sporadic delivery of the little chunk of food I was served each day, but it wasn’t. A guard walked in with a nasty snarl plastered on my face.

“You, get up, the Alpha wants you.” He said in a harsh voice.

My heart suddenly started beating fast as I scrambled to my feet, I stumbled and the guard caught me roughly by the wrist and pushed me out of the cell. My knees felt wobbly and it took a while for me to get used to walking again. Each time I slowed down, the guard nudged me from behind with a grunt.

“Keep it moving!” He barked.

Whatever he decides to do with her, he does… the words of the guards came back to me and my heart hammered harder. Funny how the thought of Alpha James realizing and finally accepting me as his mate never crossed my mind. We stopped in front of a female servant and she led me into an empty bedroom.

“Use the bathroom, I’ve set a bath for you. Freshen up.” She said with a sad look of pity in her eyes.

I didn’t understand the look in her eyes, but it frightened me and I feared for the worst, but I wasn’t prepared for it, emotionally or physically. I freshened up and when I came out, there was a dress on the bed. It was made of a thin material and it fell way above my knees. I felt so exposed and I glanced a questioning look at the maid.

 “Why do I have to wear this?” I asked. I felt like a whore going to strip at a club, or rather act in an adult movie.

“You’ll find out, it’s the Alpha’s wish.” She said, still with that look in her eyes.

As she led the way out of the room, from the corner of my eyes, I saw her shake her head. What was going on?

She led me into a bigger room, it was more beautifully decorated but I only knew that when the lights came on. When I walked into the room, it was pitch black and after the door closed behind me, the lights came on, and standing next to me was Alpha James. He reeked of alcohol and the first thing he did was grab my hair and pull me roughly to him.

“Hey…You.” He drawled.

He was slightly drunk and that frightened me more. He held me to him and his hands slid down my body and grabbed me roughly and fuddled with wherever his hands touched. I had never felt so uncomfortable and I broke away from his grip.

“Alpha James-” I started to say but a hand flashed in the air and struck me across the face swiftly.

I gasped with fear and the next moment, I was off my feet. He carried me towards the king-sized bed in the center of the room and when I tried to speak again, he slapped me again, this time harder and more viciously.

“Did you try to resist the wish of the Alpha of this pack?” He snarled with a fierce look in his eyes that sent shivers up my spine. “Put your hands out.” He commanded.

I obeyed like I was being hypnotized. He did it so swiftly and with amazing expertise that I only realized he had handcuffed me when he was done. My eyes widened with fear, I was completely helpless. He traced a hand on my lips and the next second, his lips were on mine. All I felt was brutal lust and I didn’t respond, for I knew that I was just an instrument at the moment. Another hand drew a beeline down to my breasts and ripped the fabric into two. In a minute, I was completely naked and he unbuckled his belt.

“Please, Alpha James!” I cried as I looked upon his hardness, it frightened me.

He grabbed a handful of my hair and laid me down while he climbed over me. He placed another hand on my mouth to prevent my screams while he thrust violently into me. I had never felt so much pain and I screamed but the sounds were stifled by the force of his palm. He didn’t stop and the tears flowed freely from my eyes, when he slowed down, I begged frantically but all I received was a slap, then another. I felt myself leaving my body and as he kept thrusting into me, everything became blurry, and in a moment, all went black.

 That night I woke up on the cold floor of the dungeon, I couldn’t move and when I finally did, I felt a sharp pain in between my legs. I let out a loud, shrill cry and the tears came streaming down my cheeks. My life had been shattered. On two more occasions, I was abused sexually by Alpha James and after the third time, I made up my mind to run away.

If I didn’t run away, I was sure I was going to die here.