04

What the man had said came to pass, and in less than two seconds, I was free, and bodies were decapitated in disproportionate portions.

I scurried away, trying to hide inside a tree, as the man approached me with blood splattered generously across his rock-hard chest.

Fear didn't allow me to look up at him, for fear of what I would see.

 

"Hello pup," he said and inched closer to me, his face obscured from my vision as I kept my head bowed. Something in me felt dirty, but the moment his hands touched me and I raised my eyes to meet him, I felt safe, and his startling blue eyes made my insides jump in excitement, and suddenly I was in heat again.

I caressed his hands, feeling for cuts but coming up with nothing. His eyes held the world and nothing at the same time, and something in me wanted to be at the center of whatever it was that he was doing.

Slowly, my heart pulsed with need, and his smirk spread out fully on his face.

I wanted this man. I didn't know why, and to think I just saw a feral part of him and wanted him still

I took his hands and placed them on my breasts, loving the warmth that it brought to me.

With my eyes half closed, all I wanted was for the man to make me his.

"Mark me," I whispered without thinking just before his eyes searched mine and his lips crashed into mine, and without words, a promise was made.

***

I had my eyes closed for a long time before finally waking up. My eyes blinked for more than a minute as I felt the hard floor on my back. My body ached, and I wondered where I was.

I could see the outline of someone looking down on me, and my eyes immediately flew open.

"She's finally awake!" Catherine said this and chuckled while taking a good look at me.

I felt disgusted and dirty as I noticed the state of my dress and the way my hair was disheveled.

"I wonder what a naughty girl like you was doing last night." She started, and I began to arrange my hair without answering her. Blank memories of what could have happened flashed through my eyes, but I blocked them.

"Let's see what other people think about this," she said, and my eyes flew open.

" Catherine,no! It's not what you're thinking," I shouted, but Catherine had already run back from where she came from, and in seconds she had an angry-looking crowd with her.

"You slut!" The crowd murmured as Catherine screamed at me.

I was almost tempted to ask her who out of the two of us was a slut, but the crowd wanted blood, as it was taboo for a mateless and wolfless wolf to have sex with anyone who wasn't her mate.

I tried to put my hands up to explain, but my cries were muffled by the roaring of the crowd.

"What is happening here?" I heard the distinct voice of Lucas breaking the crowd into two.

"Sire! She's a slut."

"Yeah! She slept with an unidentified wolf last night."

"And during the solstice!"

"An insult!"

They all chanted while Catherine kept quiet and watched as they wanted to burn me.

Lucas stopped the crowd from laying a finger on me and circled me.

"You're not wrong! She smells of filth and sin," Lucas suddenly shouted, and I was shocked.

I felt he was going to vindicate me since he didn't know the full story, but a part of me felt it was fair given that I kicked his ass last night.

"Which is why I am further demoting her!" Lucas shouted, and I collapsed.

How was I going to survive if I got demoted more than this?

I was going to work in the mines if he demoted me more.

"Lucas! Please," I begged, but his face held no mercy.

"That is final," he said, and the crowd cheered while Catherine looked disappointed.

I couldn't stand even when the crowd had dispersed, leaving just me and Lucas in the open field and boundary of the pack's territory.

"You can't do this to me, Lucas," I said, my knees still on the floor as my body gave up on hope.

"I don't plan on," he said, surprising me. I looked up at him, and I could tell he had a payback plan coming up.

"You will become my personal sex slave. I'd love to see what your body can do when I bend you over my

"No," I said with every fiber of resilience I had in me.

Lucas scoffed and looked at me with scorn.

"Are you sure about that? Women would kill to be my sex toy, even for a day, and you can even get

"I said no," I repeated, and I stood up. He looked at me as though I weighed nothing and smirked.

"You're going to be begging me once you see where you'd stay and where you're going to be working."

***

A few days had passed as I finally started getting into the idea that I was now among the lowest forms of the pack.

It would have been better if I just ran away, if only I could get over my constant nausea that hit me every morning.

The thought resounded in my head as I worked the mines.

"Hilda! The chief wants to see you!" I heard some chattering voices.

I wasn't even qualified to be among the cool ones; I was in charge of bringing coal to the men and women who actually worked.

I was a ball of sweat as I had just finished bringing my sixth trip, but everywhere suddenly smelled musty, and I couldn't breathe.

I raised my head up a bit too fast, and I spun.

"Hilda? Are you ok?" I heard someone say it, but I didn't hear it at the same time.

I rushed out of the premises and started to throw up, my stomach reeling in as I cried and threw up.

I eventually stopped and tried to cover the mess when I saw Catherine smirking at me.

"Gee, you're sick?" She asked, and I got irritated faster than I wanted to.

"Fuck off, Catherine,"  I said.

"I bet you're pregnant," she said, and I stopped breathing.

I couldn't be pregnant when I didn't have sex; I was a virgin.

Flashbacks of my very sexual night at the solstice began to come in full versions.

It was a one-time thing; I couldn't be pregnant. It was just in the moment; it's not possible.

"Just wait till everyone hears this!"

"Wait! Catherine, wait!" I shouted after her, and just like before, a crowd gathered around me, and the next thing I remember was the blunt force someone used to kick my knees and Catherine kicking me in the face.

I awoke to my hands being held and dragged on the way to the throne room.

Catherine was in front of the mob,her smile stretching from ear to ear, and angry people were walking behind her.

The guards tried to deny us entry as we got to the doors of the throne room.

The crowd bypassed the guards at the doors and threw the doors open at the same time that an object landed heavily on my back, and I screamed.

The throne room paused, but my screaming did not stop as more people gathered to hit me with more sticks.

"Please! Stop!" I screamed as I cried out in pain.

"If you touch a hair on her head, you die."

The intensity of the threat felt familiar, and I looked up, and something struck me.

"Is this how you treat your subjects?" He thundered, and the crowd moved back in fear away from me.

"I assure you, King Avalor. I'm just as shocked as you are." Alpha Russels spoke, but the other man started to move towards me.

My eyes caught his eye color.

No. It couldn't be.

"King Avalor..." Lucas trailed

King Avalor? Where had I heard that name from?

"We meet again, pup," he whispered as he touched my wrists to help me up. At the same time, I saw an engraving in it.

I was given a new mate, and it read...

I looked up at him, and his eyes mesmerized me.

It couldn't be!

"What sort of rubbish is this? What is the issue?" Alpha Russels commanded

"She's a mateless,wolfless slut who just so happens to be pregnant. We need her gone, as she's everything we stand against," Catherine echoed.

"She's coming with me," Avalor declared, stunning the room while still looking into my eyes.

I shook in fear as memories of my parents dying flashed before my eyes. I knew that if I was indeed pregnant, I was going to need to do something drastic and get the hell out of here before he killed me like he killed my parents.