A look of confusion appeared on his face as he looked at me. With a sigh, and in a strangled voice, Alpha Cyrus said. "I can't accept you as my mate."
Three Days Ago
"You can have her." My stepfather's voice was a strained whisper. He avoided my eyes and adjusted his position on the stool he sat on.
My mother said nothing to object; she never opposed anything he did even when it was going to kill her. I sucked in a sharp breath and continued to stare at her, waiting for her intervention.
She looked at me, and then at her feet. "Agnes, please make this sacrifice. For the sake of your siblings."
I always thought I knew what betrayal was, until this very day. The porcelain tea jug I was holding clattered to the ground, hot tea spilling on my legs, and the shards flying about.
"Mother?" I questioned, still not believing it.
My father had been killed when he worked in a coal mine. It was not murder per se, but the working conditions were poor for such little pay. We barely had enough to survive on, and his health began to deteriorate with no money for treatment.
When I was about seven years of age, he passed on.
My mother was relatively young then and age had not kissed her beauty away. She had met Judas a few months later. He was youthful with great ambitions and a rebellious spirit, not following the footsteps of his father in politics but had decided to be a tradesman. Importing around the world.
They got married within that same year and I liked him. He was nice, and compassionate and constantly brought gifts home for me which made me happy. Although, he could never replace my father. Along the line, the twins came. It was a rollercoaster of chaos because Judas's father had died and it was revealed that despite the extravagant lifestyle they lived, his parents were in a load of debt.
Judas used all of his savings to settle his father's creditors to prevent harassment.
Since then, Judas's attitude had changed. At first, it was negligible. I understood he no longer had money for gifts. What I did not understand was why he made my mom work immediately after her pregnancy. He no longer had his youthful spirit and the zeal to trade. He relapsed into a lazy shell; sitting at home all the time and waiting for dinner.
Gone were the days he would be out early in the morning on the market days, and home in time for supper. Gone were the weekends when he made breakfast for the family.
He would simply wake up and sit on his wooden recliner chair, old newspapers in his hand while drinking strange concoctions.
He became needy, asking my mother to make sure she provided certain things for him. One morning he asked her to buy the crossed buns from the bakery and when she said she did not have the money for it, he beat her. After that, he brought out a jewelry piece he had gotten for her and asked her to sell it and then use the money for it.
He apologized for it later that night, but his attitude did not change. If she refused him, he would beat her and then sell her belongings.
Maybe that was the reason why my mother never questioned his decisions or instructions.
"For the sake of your siblings," my mother repeated. "Give them a chance at a better life."
"How long have you had this planned?" My voice broke as I asked the question. "Or is this a shock to you too?"
My mother did not respond.
"Are you agreeing to this because you do not want to offend him?" I asked, tears streaming down my face. "Because you are scared of—"
"You will live a good life. Probably even better than your siblings will if you make this sacrifice," it was my stepfather who spoke. The coward was still avoiding my eyes.
"A good life? As a slave?"
"You are not just anyone's slave," my mother commented wryly. "I have helped you pack your bag." There was finality in her tone. "If the young master is ready to leave, then get your things and follow him."
I settled my teary gaze upon the man. He was relaxed and his expression was unreadable. His black hair was casually tousled back and almost touching his shoulder. He had a chiseled face and incredible jawlines.
"Why are you staring at me?" He asked in a cool voice.
I said nothing in response, allowing myself to be mesmerized by his strange and somewhat scary eyes. They were green but occasionally flashed with an orange glow— it was not humanlike. The aura he gave off was not pleasant. Everything about him screamed dangerous and that I should stay away, but how exactly was I as a slave supposed to stay away from one's master?
"Get your things, I am ready to leave."
With a nod, I walked into the room I shared with my younger sister. Her twin brother was present as well and they both had looks of sorrow on their faces as they gazed at my bags which were truly packed.
"Agnes, mother said you are leaving us."
"It is only for a little while," I lied with a smile looking at their innocent faces.
"I can't imagine what it will be like without you here," Gertrude sobbed. I pulled her into an embrace and wiped her tears. She looked up at me with her hazel-doe eyes, "Why are you leaving with that man? Are you getting married?"
I smiled wryly and ruffled her hair, not answering the question. Won't it have been better if I were sold into marriage? I thought to myself. "I'll see you guys soon."
Picking up my bags, I walked back to the living room where the man stood behind my stepfather. He acknowledged me with a cool smile and a sinister grin. I raised my eyebrows and gasped as he brought out a dagger and stabbed my stepfather's neck. "I don't take it lightly with those who betray their family members.”
“What the hell?” I exclaimed, rushing at him. My stepfather lay limp on the chair, blood gushing out of his neck in a mad frenzy. He held my hands which had been raised to attack him. “Let us be on our way.”He began to drag me away but I resisted, looking behind me at my mother who still sat, her eyes emotionless as she stared at her husband's dead body.“He has children,” I cried as we stepped out into the open. My mind was a chaotic haven for emotions I could not recognize. I did not even know how I felt about the death of someone who betrayed me. Judas had been good to me once upon a time and I was not going to forget it. “He doesn't deserve them,” the man said coldly. “They need their father!” I exclaimed, exasperated. “How do you think they will react to seeing their father's dead body with a dagger to his neck?""I did not leave my dagger in his neck." This man has the guts to flash me a smile. "This is pure silver, too expensive to be left in the body of filth.""You are un
There was only one probable explanation. I was living in a dream, a funny and terrifying one. "N-n-northern wolves?" "Yes," Cyrus said, then acknowledged the man in front. "Theo, has the crisis been averted?""Considerably so. We reached a compromise.""They should know better than to mess with us," snarled Cyrus. "Greedy pests," he hissed."Who is she?" "Ah, my new slave. I paid a fine price for her.""Again? A fine price? For a human? Those lowly backstabbing creatures?" He asked with raised eyebrows."Yes.""You have an obsession." The man named Theo gave a tight smile and let out an exasperated breath. "Let's hope this one survives," he whistled then turned to me. "And you are?""Agnes." I ignored the hand he had out to shake me. "What do you mean by your statement?""What statement?" He asked, his hands still hanging out, waiting for a handshake that was never going to come."Let's hope this one survives?""Oh, it was nothing," he responded airily. "And it is not polite to lea
"Oh please," I scoffed. "The job was done. You had your tea the way you liked it. Why should it matter who made the tea?""I am telling you that in future, I will not tolerate such." It was when he said this, that I noticed he had taken off his tailcoat and his shirt was unbuttoned. I looked away quickly. "Oh, how nice!" I exclaimed, my voice laced with sarcasm. "Maybe in the future, you should get someone to train me to do certain tasks that I am not used to doing.""What have I told you about respect?" He stood up coolly and walked to my front. I took a step back and he moved forward. "I am the Alpha of this pack. Your master," he hissed. With shaky legs, I moved backward until I was against the wall. Previously, I had a comeback for everything he had to say but suddenly, his aura felt too intimidating and I could not respond. He leaned against me, his angry eyes boring deep into my soul, daring me to defy him. I whimpered slightly, trying to shrink into the wall behind me. His
Agnes POVCyrus did not return until hours later. At first, I had been bored to death and roamed around the palace, trying to explore places of my own. I had initially considered escaping from this place but it was not worth it. We had spent two days on the road and I was sure it was not a journey I could make on my own if I intended to return home. From what I had speculated, there was no safer place here than the palace. The neighboring city belonged to the Southern Wolves and that zone was not human friendly. Stepping one foot in there meant I was going to die and never see my siblings again. They were the only family I wanted to return to. Midway into my wandering, I stumbled upon a large building that happened to be the library and I had picked up a book that told the story of how werewolves came to be. I had been so intrigued by reading about their history, culture, and ceremonies that I did not notice how much time had gone by. One thing that intrigued me the most about the w
Agnes POV I was taken aback at first but it did not take me long to recover. Mate. But that was not possible. That much I knew he was right about or at least from the books I’d read in the library, we could not be mates. That only happened between werewolves of which I was not. I looked at him and I could see that his confusion was genuine. He could feel something deeply that I felt only vaguely. “Leave, Agnes, Leave!” He barked but I could not bring myself to. Everything around me felt like a haze. It was as though my body was not mine and it refused to believe that I had just been rejected by an Alpha. “I I want to… I can't…” I struggled to say. He looked at me alarmed, cleared his throat and I saw him try to stand up from the bath but he could not either. It was as though a force stronger than us was pinning us down. Whatever it was, we were powerless against it. “You're a witch. That is the only explanation and I swear…” but he could not talk and in panic, I rushed forwar
Cyrus POV I could not comprehend what had happened to me just last night. There was no explanation for it. I could not even get one because I was the Alpha. I was supposed to know everything. The only people I could confide in were perhaps the priest and Theo but even at that they were still my subordinates and my ego could not suffer injury. However, I had never read in any literature that the moon goddess would gift a werewolf, especially an Alpha, a human as a mate. I was in a fix. The only explanation I could think of was that Agnes was a witch; she had to be. But still admitting that a witch could cloud my senses and pretend to be my mate would be exposing a weakness and I could not let that happen. “Your Majesty? You are very distracted about something, do you mind sharing?” It was Theo at our daily meetings in the morning. I had ruminated about the possibility of Agnes being my mate or a witch all night and I still had no answers. “What? I… I am alright Theo. I think
“And why should that cause problems?” I asked with a raise of my brows. “Well… he is the son of Lord—”“I heard you clearly the first time,” I told Theo in a cool voice. “Are you trying to tell me to pardon him because he is a Lord's son?”“Not at all I—”“You know what this tells me? His father needs to be investigated too,” I said, cutting him off. “After all, the apple never falls far from the tree.”“I understand your point Cyrus but what I was trying to convey is that the people love Lord Salmon, doing that to his son—”“Conduct an investigation on the Lord and prepare a trial. It should be held by this evening. Make sure you have secured all evidence against the governor.”“Which one should be held this evening? The trial only right?” Theo asked to be sure. "Yes!" I said in an exasperated tone. "If you'll excuse me, I have things to do.""We have other matters to discuss—""Save it for later!" I snapped, striding away towards my study. From just a few meters away, I could perc
Agnes' POV"What the hell have you done to me? What dark powers are you using on me?" Cyrus' eyes no longer held a burning desire for me. I could see unveiled hatred and rage in his eyes. They had become a violent storm of green gradually changing into a bright orange colour."What the hell have you done?" He roared, grabbing me by my throat. "I-i" I began to stammer, too flustered by what went on minutes ago and too stunned by his sudden change in attitude. "I shan't repeat myself! Answer me!""I don't know what you're talking about," I finally managed to say. He stares at me in a deadpan manner and suddenly grabs my wrist, dragging me away from the table and towards the door. It didn't take long before I found myself being led through a musty corridor that had moldy walls which was dimly lit by torches. I could hear screams of anguish in every direction making fear to grip my heart. "Where are you taking me?" I managed to ask. He ignored me and he finally stopped in front of a