Chapter One

KAZIA

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I huddled at the far end of the cold cage. My entire body aching massively. The wounds inflicted on me stung as though my body had been bitten terribly by a group of ants. I bit down hard at my lips to reel in the pain and suppress the heat that burned up my insides. 

Taking deep breaths, I tried to find my footing but failed miserably as I crashed down to the cold, hard surface. 

"Kazia.." Someone called out to me. I recognized the familiar voice of Moira, my cellmate who was also locked up in the cage with me.

She reached out to me and tried to push me up but I wouldn't budge. 

"Get up Kazia!" She cried out desperately, careful not to touch my bruises and open them up for the second time.

"Keep your voices down!" A guard yelled from outside the cage. He whipped the bars continuously to silence our voices.

"She's sick!" Moira croaked out "She's burning up. If you don't help her, she will die!"

"And do you think that I'm the least bothered if she lives or dies?" Came the guard's snide remark "Slaves die in here every single day so it doesn't matter if she does! She's just as worthless as the rest of them."

"So shut up otherwise you'd be clearing up the mines alongside the other slaves assigned for the night. Do you understand?" He grunted in anger and I heard his receding footsteps until they were gone.

"Moira... I don't feel too good! I hurt everywhere!" I whispered wearily while Moira held me closer to herself.

She pushed out my damp and sticky hair that had glued to the side of my face and tucked them behind my ears. I felt the sweat break out of my skin as my entire body trembled and shook under her arms. 

"Nothing will happen to you Kazia." She breathed into my neck soothingly "You'll be fine. The goddess will not let anything happen to you my dear." She sobbed sympathetically.

Moira was the closest thing I had to a mother ever since I was brought in here.

When I was twelve, my village was raided by bandits. My people, including my mother, were killed while my father and I were taken as slaves into captivity. 

I have been a prisoner, working and serving under the jurisdiction of Lycan King Murad, who attacked my village. My father and I have been separated for six years and even though I don't want to admit it, something deep inside tells me that he could be dead but I refuse to believe it.

"Did anything happen to you at the mines?" She asked, still sobbing. 

Yes! But how do I bring myself to tell her that I have been assaulted countless times by the male guards that supervised the mines. 

Each time I tried to protest or show any form of resistance, they punished me as a way of teaching me a lesson.

Earlier today, one of them had tried to force himself on me and because I had hit him, the chief guard took it upon himself to whip me till my back became numb and that's why I had ended up falling sick to the point of dying.

"I am f-fine Moira." I smiled weakly, "I am just tired from all the hard work."

"You are just too young Kazia." She cried pitifully, "No one should ever have to go through this."

She was right but my fate had already been decided since the day I was born. I will live and also die here. There was no hope for a common slave like me.

"Lycan King Murad is approaching the dungeon!" I heard the sudden announcement made by one of the guards and I panicked.

He's here. Oh no!

I trembled in fear as I suddenly became restless. Ever since I was brought here as a slave, Murad had taken an interest in me and had always made it a point of visiting my dungeon once in every week. He never misses a single week and those days are always considered the worst days of my life.

He was a ruthless king that was feared across the seven borders of each kingdom. His presence not only instills fear in people but only a glare or an intense stare can make someone wet themselves. 

Why did he choose to come here today of all days? 

I heard clattering of keys and before I could assimilate what was happening, he was already in my cage. His huge framed body occupied the space and I suddenly felt small and insignificant in his presence. I could feel his peering gaze on my skin even though I wasn't staring directly at him. 

"Kazia..." He drawled in his deep voice that startled me and I suddenly went numb in the knees but still I forced myself to kneel down in front of him, my head bowed to the ground. Moira did the same as well.

"Welcome my l-lord!" I greeted him in the usual manner I was used to.

He crouched down beside me and lifted my chin to meet his scary and solemn face. I squirmed when my eyes came in contact with his dark and scary ones. He was fuming in anger and I could see the rage registered in them.

"Who did this to you?" He uttered, one sentence that voiced so much authority and command.

"I...I...." I stuttered and he slapped me across the face till I tasted blood which caused me to yelp in pain. 

"When I ask you a question Kazia, you answer immediately." His grip on my chin tightened and I struggled to breathe through my mouth. "I do not tolerate it when I am put in an unnecessary suspense."

"F-Forgive me my lord!" I whimpered, my hands flew to caress my bruised cheeks. 

"Now, who did this to you Kazia and don't make me repeat myself?" His eyes trailed my injured skin to my bare back that burned up as though it was lit on fire.

Tears trailed down my bruised cheeks as I struggled to maintain eye contact with Murad's compelling ones. 

"Denali...the chief guard." My lips quivered as I uttered his name. 

"He whipped me because I had refused to sleep with him!" I sniffed "I had tried to get him to stop but he refused so he flogged me as punishment" 

"What!" He flared up in rage and released my chin from his firm grip. "How dare he touch what doesn't belong to him? How dare he hit my slave? My own property?" He growled, his eyes took another shade of color and I could sense that his feral animal was close to the surface.

Rising up to full length, he gestured to the guard at the gate. "Bring me that bastard!" He yelled at the top of his voice. His vibrant tone shook the four corners of the cage. 

The guards took to his heels immediately and soon enough, Denali was standing in front of the Lycan king who had him pinned to the wall.

"How DARE YOU!" He spat in outrageous rage. "How dare you lay your filthy hands on her?"

"Forgive me my lord, I had no idea that she belonged to y-you." He stammered, as he tried to pull Murad's hands away from his grip. "She tried to force herself on me!"

I shot him a frightened look "No. I would never!" I tried to say in my defense. "He was the one who tried to force himself on me! He had tried to rape me countless times" 

"You not only tried to sleep with her but you also hit her and now you're trying to lie to my face?" Murad threw him across the cage and he handed on his butt. His head came in contact with the huge bars and he bleeded profusely.

"I made you the chief of all guards and sentinels because I wanted you to work for me and not because I wanted you to work with your dick instead!" He picked him up from the ground like he weighed nothing and flung him in the opposite direction. He spurted out blood from his mouth at the impact of the hit.

"Now tell me" He started towards him slowly "Why shouldn't I just kill you this very instant Denali? Give me one reason why I shouldn't just sever your head from your body"

"My lord!" The guard scrambled to Murad's feet almost immediately in a desperate plea "Forgive me my lord. Have mercy on this lowly servant! Please do not kill me." He held onto his feet but he kicked him away. 

Murad went silent for a while before saying "I will forgive you Denali but I would make absolutely sure that you never repeat your actions ever again." He sneered with a smirk "Have him locked up in the lethal dungeon. Do not give him food and water for the next three days until I say so. Let him suffer like he had made her suffer." He ordered and the guards set out to carry his bidding.

"You are lucky that you didn't give yourself to him Kazia" He pulled my slave collar with one hand and touched my cheeks. He trailed his other finger down my neck till it landed on my almost exposed chest. "You are mine. You belong to me and I do not want to share your body with anyone else!" He claimed with lustful eyes while I tried to calm my ragged breath.

I swallowed the bile that had risen to my throat. My hands shook visibly as I tried to steady myself and not hide or look away. 

"I will reward you today because you choose to remain pure." He stared down at me "From this day henceforth, Kazia shall be known as my branded slave. Make arrangements for her to join the consort of slaves as one of my women."

I froze. My brain suddenly went numb. Consort? Branded? Pet? Those were the only words that constantly rang in my ears. 

Murad was letting me go in order to make me his pet. Could this day get any worse?