Chapter 6

                                                                                       ~CIARA'S POV~

~FLASHBACK~

"Auntie, please could you help me get my bike?"

I turned from my work and stared into the pleading eyes of my neighbor's child. I've seen enough teary eyes to know the real from the fake but if there is one thing I learned from all my years of being a teacher, is that when a child wants something he will go to any length to get it, until he does.

And this little boy wants something.

I smiled at the mischief that blended with the innocence of his eyes and I didn't have the heart to deny the child before me of his request, even though he had an ulterior motive because every child has an ulterior motive. To explore the life that we adults are too broken to enjoy.

So I set off into the forest, to find the bike of a child who would lose it again. I moved with haste, determined to make it back in time before Nana woke up so I could prepare our meal.

Except, I didn't go back. I couldn't go back. Not when I was attacked by wolves who were double my size and whose scent I couldn't recognize. They gave me the most vicious snare and the bloodlust that bled from their orbs couldn't be missed.

 They ran and I ran faster. They jumped and I jumped higher. They fought and I fought harder. But even that wasn't enough. And as I was dragged off to a place I didn't know, there was only one thought on my mind.

Nana. 

                                                                                                         ~~~

I peeled my eyes open only for them to collide with blinding darkness. The only source of light was the single window which was situated eight feet off the ground and the cracks on the ceiling which showed just how frail my confinement was.

Silver shackles adorned my wrists making it difficult for an average werewolf to call on their beast.  But those rules don't apply to me, because I'm a lycan and lycans need something stronger than silver to hold us down.

I was about to burst out of my sparkling restraints when an overwhelming scent flooded my nostrils. My heart pounded in my chest. My vision was stained with red and saliva fell from my parted lips as arousal slipped from in between my thighs. All because of the delicious scent that seeks to consume me. 

My wolf paced around my mind with adrenaline pumping through her veins. Not from the escape plan I had abandoned in my mind but from the scent that drives her to insanity. Well, that makes two of us.

What is happening to me? I should be in the middle of my escape not lusting after the scent of a mere wolf…

Wait. There hasn't been a wolf's scent that drove me like this before. So that could only mean one thing. 

Could it be that my…

"She's in here, Alpha." 

The delicious scent grew stronger outside the metal door and mixed emotions flooded my soul.

Dead. Excitement. Nervousness. Fear. Lust. 

The whirlwind of emotions that made a home inside me was so out of control that I almost couldn't hear the words of the person outside.

Alpha? My ears perked at the title and I zoned out every other sound so I could pick up on the conversation that was about to unfold. And that's when I heard it. The sexiest voice my ears have ever heard in my life. His voice was so sweet that I could taste it on my tongue and yet so dark that I could feel it in my bones. 

"Did she put up a fight?"

"Yes, Alpha. She knocked out two of my men and almost decapitated another. We only got her here thanks to the element of surprise. Other than that…"

"It's fine, soldier. I expected nothing less from a cold-blooded killer like her."

I was so lost in the erotic daydreams his voice brought to my mind that I couldn't hear the toxicity in his tone. But the nature of his words was strong enough to break through any reverie my mind could come up with.

Killer? What does he mean by a killer? 

Before I could phantom a solution to his statement, the metal door cracked open, and a figure bearing a scent that nearly sent me feral, walked into the inhumane environment that confined me. A heavenly being is all I can use to describe the creature before me. Because he was a god. 

Widened cobalt eyes that shone like diamonds stared down at me, reminding me of how bright a star can twinkle if given room to shine. Two perfectly shaped ears and a pointed nose held the deepest hue of pink on their tips giving his dangerous appearance an adorable look. A pair of sumptuous lips parted most sensually. A towering form that made me look smaller than I am. And a well-defined chest that rose and fell in heavy pants.

Mate.

It was so subtle that I almost couldn't hear it. But thank goddess I did or I would have thought such a thing was impossible but how could it be, when the man who stood before me was a god and I was a nobody who didn't even know where she was?

"You are ogling at me?"

I was pulled out of my reverie when he spoke in that sexy voice and a shiver ran down my spine.

He moved closer to me and my heart skipped a beat from how close he was. He knelt to my level and placed his hand under my chin. 

"But it's not like I can take my eyes off you either…"

Sparks ran through my form and my eyes closed from the contact but just as I leaned into his touch, something unexpected happened. Something so unforeseen that I didn't know it happened till a sharp pain ran through my face and the taste of metal touched my tongue.

I was punched by my mate. 

"...it's a shame because no one wants to stare at a vermin for so long."

Blood flowed from my nose and my eyes widened in shock as I stared at the man who had suddenly become the man of my dreams. Why did he hit me? Did I do something wrong? Was it because I didn't apologize for staring at him?

"I'm sorry," I whispered into the darkness hoping that he would hear my silent plea but what he said next was more surprising than waking up in this hellhole. 

"Sorry isn't going to take away the pain you caused. Sorry isn't going to mend the lives you shattered…"

"What are you–"

"...sorry isn't going to bring back the lives that you separated from us…"

"I don't understand…"

"...sorry isn't going to change the fact that you took everything from me!"

"I don't know what you're talking about"

"Don't lie to me, worm! You are the reason my pack was left in shambles years ago."

"That's not true. I did no such thing!"

"Then who?!"

"I don't know!"

A pregnant pause was shared between us and the chill from the darkness crept into our bones to devour us from the inside out. At least that's what they did to me, I don't know about the confused mate standing in front of me.

"I should have known that a murderer like you is also a good liar. Since you refuse to accept your crime on your own, then I would have to force you to admit to it."

"And how do you plan to do that?" 

A twisted smile broke on his lips and a chill ran down my spine. 

"By breaking you, of course."

"Good thing I can't be broken," I spoke with a twisted smile of my own on my face. Despite the feeling of triumph that coursed through my body there was still a feeling of dread that things were about to go horribly wrong…

"Good to know that, little worm. But thank goddess we have a long way to go. So let's start with this…"

…and things did go wrong. 

                                                                                      ~~~

Two fortnights is how long I've been punished for a crime I didn't commit. And it's also how long I've been rejected by the man who was meant to be my everything. My chance at happiness in this unhappy world. 

But as if my life wasn't unfortunate enough, the gods made it their mission to cause me more pain. And this painful moment came in the form of kidnapping. 

After I was beaten at the heart of the pack, I was forcefully taken by Noah Richard the Alpha of the Golden  Bay pack and his younger brother. 

My hands and legs were tied to each corner of a square slab. My body was covered in gashes and my essence spilled from my wounds onto the concrete.

I felt so weak that I struggled to keep my ears from hearing anything other than the blood rushing through them. I feel so weak that I can't tell if what I see behind my eyes is black spots or the darkness in my soul.

I was pulled out of my line of reasoning when a figure walked towards my naked form with fluid strides. His body language screamed murder and his aura was so dangerous that the king of the jungle would run from it. 

"Hello, vermin."

I didn't say anything. I couldn't say anything. Not when the lump in my throat grew to the size of a golf ball. Not when every drop of blood in my body ran cold. I couldn't speak because of how much this man resembles Noah.

The only difference between the man I was taken away from and the one before me is the color of their eyes. While Noah's cobalt eyes burned with resentment and disgust. Anthony's emerald green eyes held fun and amusement but the hate he felt towards me couldn't be missed.

"My brother did a number on you, didn't he?"

I stayed silent. Hoping that my silence would dwindle his interest in me and then he might decide to set me free. But he didn't. Instead, he inched closer like a moth drawn to a flame who knows that it's dangerous to get too close to fire. It knows that curiosity would only get it killed. And yet it still chooses to live dangerously. 

This little moth wants to touch the flames. And I would make sure it burns.

"He punishes you for the crimes you committed against us by torturing you…" he came close to me and ran his hand from my abdomen to my chest before reaching my collarbone.

Bile rose to my throat from his touch and all I could do was beg the moon goddess to save me from this man. 

"...but what he was meant to do…" Just then his hand wrapped around my neck in a vice grip before he choked the air out of my lungs and the life out of my soul.

"...was to suck the life right out of you." His hold on my neck didn't loosen, if anything it only grew tighter with each passing second. The patches of black behind my orbs that I couldn't place crawled back into my vision making it hard to see the face of the man who tried to end my life.

It's time to touch this insect.

I twisted my head into an uncomfortable position and bit his fingers as hard as I could with my fangs until two of them were in my mouth. 

He groaned in pain and released me from his chokehold and I spat out his fingers and licked the blood off my lips. His pain turned to anger and the hatred he tried to hide bloomed into its true form.

Before I could take my next breath, he pounced on me and rained punch after punch onto my battered form. My body grew numb to the pain and blood from my nose splashed onto his face. 

He looked feral. Dangerous. Deadly. Everything that they think I am. 

In that moment a booming sound bounced off the walls in volumes. An ominous presence filled the room and for the first time since I was brought here, I felt fear.

A gush of wind blew over my face and Anthony was off me in a second and landed on the ground with a thud. I turned to see what had brought him down when my eyes collided with bright cobalt ones.

Noah.

"What the hell are you doing, Noah? We can finally have our revenge on this vile woman. So why are you–"

"Why did you take her from my pack?"

"Is that what you chose to ask me, Noah? When we could be slaying this woman for the lives she took, you chose to–"

"That's not my question, Anthony."

"Well, screw you!"

Before the animals of the night could take their next breath, a battle began between them, and for an ordinary wolf, it would all seem like gushes of wind colliding against each other.

Good thing I'm no ordinary wolf.

As I watched the battle unfold before me, a million thoughts and emotions flowed through my being but just two of them stood to my soul.

The first was the feeling of a butterfly fluttering in my chest at the thought of Noah fighting his brother just for me. He claims that he hates me with every fiber of his being and sometimes I believe him. But then he does something that contradicts himself all because of me.

The second thought on my mind was the ache in my heart from how long I have been separated from my Nana.

Nana, I promise that I will come back to you someday. But until then, I wouldn't stop fighting for my life. I would continue to fight for my mate. And I would never stop fighting to get back to you.

                                                                                     

                                                                               ~END OF FLASHBACK~

One and a half weeks later, I cried into the untidy fabric of the rags that covered my nakedness as I thought of all the promises I made to myself about being strong. All the promises I made to Nana about staying strong. 

I thought I had everything under control. I believed I had my emotions under control. I hoped everything would be fine. But it's not! And it never will be!  Not as long as the goddess has made it their mission to take a royal shit over my life. As long as the wickedness of this cruelty manages to smear the purity of my garments.

As long as the goddess allowed them to take my baby from me, then it would never be fine.

I looked at the cracks in the ceiling with tired eyes. The rays that spilled from them did nothing to ease the pain I felt in the swollen globes on my face. Because no amount of physical pain is enough to ease the agony that shined brightly within my soul.

"I'm sorry, Nana," I whispered into the cracks begging the goddess to do one job right and send my apology to my grandmother. So that she may feel the winds of my remorse gently graze the tips of her wrinkled ears, so that her aging eyes may be free from shedding tears of sorrow. So that her tired lips may be spared from the limitless number of prayers she would pray to the goddess for my protection. So that the void that exists in her aged heart may be filled by something or someone better than me. 

Because I wouldn't come back to her. Not after everything I've been through in their hands. 

I brought my wrists forward and crushed them against the sharp edges of the shackles that had held me down for the past seven weeks. Red-hot pain ran through my arms but I ignored it as I continued hurting myself against the metal, drawing blood from the wounds I was inflicting upon myself. 

Blood spilled from my wounds onto the disgusting floor and the blood from my wrist mixed with the blood from my embryo and more tears fell from my orbs.

My little peanut. I'm so sorry I lost you. I'm sorry I couldn't look after you. I'm sorry I couldn't take care of you the way you deserve to be treated. I'm sorry I will never get the chance to meet you. 

I lay on the floor and prayed to the goddess that she let my soul into the fortune of the sky along with my baby. Black spots appeared in my vision and my wolf clawed at my mind, begging me not to end her life, our life.  But nothing she or anyone else can change my mind.

I closed my eyes and thought of all the things I never got a chance to do or say.

"I'm sorry I couldn't fight for us, Noah. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, peanut. I'm sorry for not fighting for our life dear wolf,"  I felt an overwhelming sense of relief along with the familiar sparks I grew to love,  running through my bleeding form as I went into an eternal slumber. My wolf fought for control over ourselves but there's so much you can do against fatigue and despair.

 I'm sorry for not coming back to you, Nana… I'm sorry for losing my fight.