Mistress Thessaly

"Greetings, Mistress Thessaly," she curtsied.

Thessaly met her bow with a stony silence, her jade eyes assessing Sheera with cool indifference. 

She had a delicate fragrance clinging to her clothes - one that Sheera loved. And the lady was really pretty - much pretty than Odessa, if Sheera had a say. 

"Um...how are you doing, my lady?"

Thessaly's response was a sharp retort, laced with impatience. "What do you want?"

"Oh. Nothing really. I just... I wanted to thank you for standing up for me the other day. You know, when Mistress Odessa had been trying to intimidate me before we went hunting."

Thessaly gave her a puzzled look. She threw back her head and laughed. 

"I stood up for you?" Her eyes held amusement. "Do you even realize who you are talking to? I barely even noticed you, girl. All I did was try to get under Odessa's skin, and you were just the available tool. Listen, I do not care about you. The only person I care about is Odessa and that is trying to hurt her as much as I can. And I could use anyone to achieve that. So, please, do not flatter yourself."

The venom of her words seeped into Sheera's every pore, leaving a sinister aftermath that tainted her thoughts. 

Huffing, Thessaly left. 

Sheera felt rejected. Hated. Used. Just when she thought there was something nice about her. 

She exhaled sadly and turned around to leave but ended up bumping into someone.

Ulric.

Apparently, Ulric had been closeby while she watched Thessaly leave. Hence, the reason she bumped into him the instant she turned around. 

"Oh!" She mouthed. "I apologize, my prince." 

"It's fine," Ulric let a small smile. Although, his eyed still mirrored sadness.

He tilted his head in Thessaly's direction. "She is one you should avoid. She is just as cruel as Odessa. Only difference is, Odessa gets more opportunities to display hers."

Sheera laughed at the fact that he acknowledged the Alpha's mistresses as 'cruel'. 

Taking two steps to stand beside him, she also looked in the direction Thessaly had taken. 

"I do not think she gets enough attention from the Alpha. How does she cope?" She mused. 

It should be 'impossible' feeling that comfortable with a prince to ask such questions. But Ulric had a welcoming presence. 

"There isn't much she can do about it," Ulric conceded with a shrug. "My stepbrother cares for no one nor their feelings. He crossed paths with Thessaly less than a year past, visiting a neighbouring Pack. Clearly, she is uniquely beautiful. She was very nice around him and intrigued him enough to bed her. I have little knowledge on the rest of the story. But in the end, Keegan returned with her as a second mistress. 

"Odessa was pissed, as expected. But she never objected to the Alpha's face, of course. Instead, she waged a silent war on Thessaly, setting her up at intervals and ensuring she got sidelined by the Alpha. Sadly, Thessaly has been no match for Odessa. There goes her story."

Sheera was intrigued. She was tempted to say Thessaly was lucky she was being sidelined by the Alpha. Better to be on the fringes than to be close enough to feel the sting of his cruelty.

But not everyone was like her. People like Odessa and Thessaly were power - hungry and would do anything to get it. Even if it involved getting hurt. 

"That is quite touchy," Sheera sighed. "I do hope they all end up happy."

Ulric scoffed, like she'd said the most impossible statement.

He began walking, prompting Sheera to follow. 

"Three days you vanished from sight," Ulric said a while later.

Sheera lowered her head, the memories of that dreadful night making her red. 

"I... I had certain things to take care of. Urgent matters that kept me captive," she stammered, weaving a lie as easily as a spider spins its web. She lied.  

Ulric was silent and made no comment on the topic. 

"How about we go hunting sometime?" He asked a minute later, a warm smile on his face. "I'd love to put good use to the skills I learnt from you."

"I'll love that. I spend the entire day doing nothing at the Fortress!" Sheera's eyes beamed with excitement. 

"Then, it is settled."

****†****†****†

It was a bloodbath. 

The hamlet was just as Keegan had been informed - so many teen wolves held captive by humans. 

All of them had been brutally raped and abused. The sight of it caused Keegan's icy heart to burn and made him want to re-kill every one of them. 

Keegan had expected to find some wolves mixed with the humans and partaking in the damning acts. But he didn't. Which made it very easy to defeat them despite the fact that they'd been five times larger than them in numbers. 

Their strength was nothing compared to Keegan and his warriors'. And in a time sooner than the humans had expected, they wiped them out - saving just a few for some questioning. 

They hadn't needed to fully transform into their wolf form for the fight. They had merely shifted enough to unleash their inner beasts – claws extended, fangs bared - then shifted completely to human form when they finished. 

Kalaril supervised the warrior Hounds as they gathered all the abused wolves they could find around. The poor teens were not strong enough to withstand certain attacks. 

However, when they were all gathered, Keegan noticed their numbers fell far short of his expectations.

"Is this all of them?" He directed at Kalaril, pacing in front of them. 

There was a smear of blood on the left side of his chin, but he made no attempt to wipe it off. 

In return, Kalaril turned to Eamon and Wulfric who had bloodstains smeared over them, not needing to repeat the question. 

"This hamlet is the size of a sneeze, Kal. We could practically see through the whole place blindfolded," Eamon responded, darting his eyes around. 

Just as Kalaril was Keegan's righthand man, Eamon and Wulfric were his.