Chapter 01

VIOLET

Everything hurts. So, it means I am still unfortunately alive.

Pain is the indication of the unwanted life. Always.

I force myself to blink my eyes open. The pain becomes intense. It’s like a chunk of flesh was ripped off my shoulder when that werewolf lunged at me and I was thrown on the hard ground, my head hitting the stones with full force.

Brutal. It’s the usual brutal treatment werewolves are used to giving humans.

It will be an absolute lie if I do say that I am used to pain now. Pain is the only thing you can never get used to. If affects you the same even after years.

My nose flares when I pick up the heavy smell of blood, sweat and urine in the air. My eyes blink rapidly, trying to adjust in the little to no light in the dark dungeon.

There is blood everywhere. And there are bodies piled upon bodies, beside me. Some alive. Most dead. And a few dying.

The word personal space or respect to the dead is a joke here. Everyone is thrown over each other, their clothes gone just like their other belongings. Blood drips from everyone’s body just like mine.

I, too can feel that the surface under me is awfully…fleshy. It’s not hard as a ground, like it’s supposed to be.

I am cruelly and helplessly lying over another human body. This thought alone is enough to make me feel some energy in my body - just enough to help me get away from on top of the poor human crushed under me.

“ Do - Don’t move. P - please… ” Hearing the plead of the one under me, I pause and go still.

“ Are you hurt? ” Such an unnecessary question. I guess it’s just my human instinct to ask such questions.

“ I - I think my bones are broken…It hurts more when you m - move. ” The young voice chokes in reply.

I can feel some hot liquid getting poured over my arm and I can tell it’s her blood.

I look to my right and catch the sight of a girl lying beside me. She is bleeding too. Now, I can say that her blood is smearing over me too.

I stay unmoving - too afraid to move and ending up hurting the girl under me.

My eyes stay fixed at the young face beside me. She is blinking lazily. Her eyes seem hazy like she is not even here or not even conscious.

I know the look.

My eyes trail down her naked body, stopping at the sight of gashes under her left breast. Three claw marks they are. Horrendous and deep.

She is dying.

“ Yo - You can move now. ” The voice sounds from under me and I don’t waste a moment in just getting away from her.

In the pile of bodies, I hardly manage to find a corner to myself. A corner where there is no body or blood reaching out to me.

I don’t know why, but my eyes try to see the same girl again - The girl who was dying on my right side. I could tell she was only fifteen something. Too young to live such horrors and too young to die such a twisted death.

She must be in pain. She must be in a lot of pain - I can only think about it and relish in the feel of my own pain which is not letting me sit straight against the wall behind me.

Closing my eyes, I gulp and clench my hands together.

Why did Elias ask me to choose a monster named wolf as my master instead of asking me to find a way to run away like he always taught me before?

Who was this monster nicknamed Wolf anyway?

I am dying to know, but more than all of this, I am turning cold with worry.

What happened to Elias and Sylvan? Are they alright?

All these questions are distracting me from the pain momentarily.

All of a sudden, I hear metal scrapping against ground and a shiver runs down my spine.

My eyes shoot open, going straight to my left where I caught glimpse of a door earlier.

They are here. That’s my first thought.

And then, I see three figures.

They are so human yet there is something about them that is so different, it’s so visible. Perhaps, it’s all about the upward curves of their lips.

No human can smirk after seeing such a sight before them. Only monsters are capable of such a terrible thing.

Lights are turned on in the dungeon, but I don’t dare look at anything or anyone around me. I just keep my eyes fixed at the three tall men in the bloody dungeon.

The one in the centre of the other two has chocolate coloured eyes, filled with menace that I can sense from so far away. His hair are the same colour as his eyes. His nose is a little crooked and his skin is pure white - no redness or even a hint of tan visible anywhere.

The one on the right side has jet black hair and deep black eyes. He is looking at everyone in the room with no expressions on his face. He looks unbothered by all of this. His features match the one in centre, almost making me think that they are related in some way.

The last one - the one on the left side has grey eyes and black hair. He has a smirk on his lips just like the chocolate eyed one. He looks fairly amused.

As I am done observing all three of them and my eyes land on the chocolate eyed werewolf, I find him staring right at me. There is no smile or smirk on his lips now - something grim is swirling behind his eyes and his stare makes my blood heat up under my skin. Fear, I realise. It’s fear.

“ Everyone alive…walk out of the dungeon and make a row outside. We are going to dispose off the rest. ” The black eyed man tells all of us.

I take my eyes off the man in the centre and get up from the floor like a robot.

In order to survive, I have to do everything they ask of me. That’s the only way I know. Fighting back is not an option.

I walk towards the door, keeping my head down and avoiding looking at all three of them. Before I get to the door, the man in the centre grabs my arm and makes me stop.

A wave of fear passes through my body, my blood turning cold instead of hot this time.

“ I like this one… ” He tells the other two like he is choosing an object.

His hand leaves my wrist and reaches out to my shoulder which is missing some flesh. When he places his hand on my shoulder, I shudder with pain, but don’t let any sounds of pain leave my mouth. I am not doing this deliberately…This is just something I am conditioned to do.

His hand travels lower, a thoughtful hum escaping his lips. Down from my shoulder, he reaches out to my left breast.

I stand still. Bile rising in my throat due to disgust.

“ When you are given the right to choose…say the name Kane. ” He smirks and takes his hand off my body.

I nod my head in a trance and make my way past him.

I can’t do that. I couldn’t tell him or he was going to kill me. Werewolves don’t like to be defied as I have already known.

A group of werewolves is waiting for us outside the dungeon. They make us all line up before they lead us to the main hall of the pack house.

Those who know how to survive are silent as dead and those who don’t know how to survive…are already lying dead in that room.

When we are out of the dungeon corridor, I hear the screams of the people in the dungeon getting burned alive along with the dead. I don’t flinch even if my heart has dropped to the floor.

When we are in the Main Hall at last, they make us line up horizontally before they tell us the names of all the members of the pack. Mostly, nicknames instead of their real names or ranks.

Two names catch my attention. Kane and Wolf.

When they ask us to choose names blindly, I wait for my turn. My heart drums in my ears. Secretly, I hope that Kane is not here.

I lick my dried up lips and look up when the man standing on my right is taken away after he chooses a master.

It’s a game for all these werewolves, I conclude for the nth time. They feel so amused and excited when they drag away someone from here. They know what awaits us and yet no one here feels pity for us.

“ Choose one, human. ” The terribly familiar voice of Kane commands me.

I look to my right, where he is standing, his arms folded over his chest and his chocolate brown eyes boring into mine.

I only did one mistake here. I looked at him and I am now trembling in fear.

If that Wolf - whoever he is - gives me to this Kane after the defiance I am about to commit, this man is going to shred me to pieces. I can understand this much.

I gulp and a whisper escapes my lips. “ Wolf. ”

Well. Now, I guess I will know if what my brother said about ‘ wolf keeping me safe’ was true or not.