chapter 4

The cold forced my body in to a violent shiver. Even though I was damped with cold sweat and I was shivering, my body was on fire. 

The open wounds on my head, my foot and my ankle were throbing. In the past twelve or so hours, none of my wounds have healed.

I'd already lost concious multiple of times and each time I woke up, I felt ten times worse than I did before.  

The wound on my head had bled heavily and the blood had run down the side of my face.

With the constant flow of the blood, it didn't dry up so the wound could naturally heal.

Nothing about this is natural.

When the sun went down and the cell was swallowed by darkness, I felt truly lost.

I closed my eyes and tried to think of a happy place, one I could easily get lost in.

The only place I could think of was the safely of my bedroom. The four walls had always kept me safe.

Born the youngest and only girl of the Alpha had put pressure on me. While my brother's were destined to be Alpha's and warriors of the pack, I was destined to bring alliance.

It was at a very young age that I was told that I needed to be mated to the strongest Alpha out there, so his pack would eventually be my Father's.

If it's not an Alpha, then it has to be a high rank wolf.

That very reason was why I was home schooled. Father kept me away from every boy in our pack, except for my brothers, close family and the betas, who lived in the main pack house with us.

Mika was our beta's son, which meant that he would be beta after his father retires.

The first time I met him was when I was six years old. He was a year older than me and like all young boys, he hated girls, mostly me.

Mika had thought of me as the princess of the pack. While he had to prove himself worthy of his future title, he said that all I needed to do was act pretty.

I wasn't offended back then, because all I had heard was 'pretty' and I was smitten.

Besides, Mika wasn't wrong.

I grew up knowing nothing about the pack system, training or the people of the Red Blood pack.

I was taught only the rules of a good mate so one day, I could make my mate happy.

I was never allowed to learn about Pack politics.

'A woman is needed to warm her mates bed and that is what you will do' was what my father had told me many times when I wanted to learn more about the pack

Much to my parents disapproval, I'd started following Mika everywhere around the main pack house. Even though he'd tried to shake me off, he eventually grew to tolerate me, then later, to love me.

My chest warmed at the memory of his loving gaze.

When we found out that we were mates, the joy had been unimaginable. And even though I didn't get to experience Mika's reaction, I'm sure he was just as happy as I was.

A heavy throb of my head drew me out of my thoughts and I let out a hiss.

My room....

I quickly closed my eyes again and thought back to my room.

That place was the ultimate safety.

When father and mother were having their arguments, I locked myself in my room.

When my brother's went through the transition, I locked myself in my room.

When I was punished for something I didn't do, I locked myself in my room.

When Mika was being mean to me for no good reason, I locked myself in my room.

And the entire month I was waiting for my mating ceremony, I locked myself in my room.

Oh, what I would do to lock myself in my room again.

The books and day dreams kept me company.

I imagined myself back in my room, snuggling my pillow under the covers in bed, reading the same book over and over again, looking out the window to get a glimpse of the full moon and day dream about the time I would one day run with the pack.

Letting out a sigh, I opened my eyes and looked at the small window.

A soft glow of the moon drew my eyes. It's no longer the full moon but I guess, I should never look at the full moon again. Because, I might never get the chance to meet my wolf at least once.

The thought of my wolf caused me more pain. If she was with me, I would have healed long ago and maybe, just maybe, I would have been able to escape on my own.

The pain eventually took me in to a deep sleep, one I didn't wake up from until it was the next morning.

***

My eyes popped open when I heard the cell getting unlocked and swinging open.

I was facing the wall with my back to the door of the cell. The sight of the bars were more of a headache.

Fear consumed me when I thought it was the Alpha who'd came to visit me.

Last I saw him, he was ready to rip me to shreds.

But when I heard soft footsteps, I realized that they belonged to the small woman from yesterday, Beatrice.

"Get up." She ordered in a cold tone, just like she did the day before.

I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep again. This was not me being rebellious. I know better.

But with each breath I took, my body screamed. From head to toe, I was consumed with immense pain and I feared a single movement would cause me more.

"Get up." She ordered again, but I didn't move a muscle.

I heard the woman sigh from frustration before I felt her hand on my shoulder. She forced me to turn on my back and I let out a whimper when my side twisted and my entire body tensed.

Tears blurred my eyes but through them, I saw the woman looking down at me with confusion.

She crouched in front of me.

"What is wrong with you?" She asked just for the sake of her curiosity.

What kind of a question is that? Could she not see what was wrong with me?

I watched as she reached out for the wound on my forehead and pushed my red hair away from it.

The blood was making my hair stick to the open wound, causing more discomfort.

She pressed her index finger against the wound as if she was a scientist examining an alien.

Tears spilled out from my eyes, running down the side of my head as I let out a hiss and turned my head to the left, trying to get away from her.

The woman pulled her hand away before she looked down at my feet.

My right foot was a mess from the rock and right above it, my ankle was swollen from the scratch Raphael gave me.

"Why aren't you healing?" She asked, then it hits me.

That was their plan all along. Hurt me, then leave me so I could naturally heal before they hurt me again.

How much cruler could these people be?

I opened my lips, willing myself to scream at the pain and frustration. But my dry throat stopped me.

A full forty eight hours had passed since I'd eaten food or drunk a sip of water.

With the amount of blood I'd lost and the lack of food and water, I was at my limit.

When I gave the woman no answers, she stood up and walked away from me. I watched as she walked out of the cell and closed the door before she locked it.

Is this it? Am I really going to die like this?

The thought of death scared me. But the thought of continuing to be in pain scared me more.

Because the more pain I felt, the more Mika will get hurt.

Each blow I felt yesterday, including the fear I felt the entire time, Mika would have felt them to. Because he is my mate and because I am his, we were bound to feel each other's happiness, love, sorrow and pain.

I couldn't imagine the suffer Mika is going through. If my death wouldn't have been a potential risk to him, I would have preferred that more that causing him continuous pain.

Would Mika be okay when I finally die?

Would Mika miss me or would he move on?

Would he survive the loss of a mate or would he be fine?

Continues question jumped through my head before I finally felt faint again.

Before I could pass out though, I heard the door of my cell open before I heard Beatrice's soft footsteps again.

But this time, she wasn't alone.

There was someone with her.

My eyes were closed but I could still make out their voices.

"I'm not doing this." A woman hissed.

It's not Beatrice's voice.

"You have to, or else she will die.I think the wounds are infected and she's not healing either." Beatrice commented.

"Good riddance." The other woman hissed again. "I'm not healing her, not only because I might die for going against the Alpha's commands, but also because I'd rather hang myself from the closest tree than even touch the likes of her."

I heard Beatrice sigh.

"Please, Monika. I'm asking you as a favor." Beatrice begged and for a moment, I wondered why she was begging this much to save my life.

"No." The other woman refused, and that was when I heard another voice.

This one belonged to a man, deep and authoritative.

"If you won't do it as a favor then do it as an order." He growled.

It's not Raphael's voice, nor was it the older man who looked like Raphael.

It was a new voice, one I haven't heard before.

"But..." The other woman tried to argue.

"Do it, Monika. Don't test my patience." The man ordered again. The authority in his voice confirmed to me that he is a high rank wolf but I couldn't tell which rank he was.

I heard a small frustrated growl escape the other woman's throat.

I heard footsteps coming closed to me before I felt a figure loaming over my body.

Something dropped beside me and the thud echoed through the dungeons. The sound of zippers reached my ears and I tried to picture what was happening around me.

In a few seconds, I felt hands on my wounded leg and the pain immediately took me in to darkness once again.