"Mother, how come I'm not allowed to leave the cabin?" Olivia remembered asking, as she handed her mother a bowl of strawberries freshly picked from their backyard.
Strawberries meant to serve as the decoration for the birthday cake her mother had spent the night baking.
Amelia's benevolent smile sharply contorted into a distraught frown, as though the child had brought up a bitter memory. Fortunately, she recovered sharply and said in a gentle tone.
"That is because, outside of this cabin, lies an unforgiving world, that only the cruel and heartless can stand on top."
Holding a fiery torch, visually impaired, her mother's words resounded in Olivia's head, ever since she had left that cabin, all she had faced was cruelty. Her mother had been right all along, it was just…unfortunate she was too dead to claim she was right.
"Grab that bitch!" The warrior with a dagger sticking out of his eye charged, throwing the others into motion.
They approached Olivia, careful not to get burned by the flaming torch she brandished here and there, aiming to seize her by the elbow or whatever they could hold onto.
"I said don't come close!" Olivia screamed, but it was far too late, one of the warriors latched onto her elbow and pulled her vigorously to himself.
"Hold still you worm!" He barked at her, but Olivia was relentless, she fought back, crying and flinging her head back, using everything in her arsenal to escape.
'I can't let him get mother!' she told herself, wanting to preserve the only family she could lay eyes on. In a desperate bid, she brought the fire to the warrior's face, slightly burning the base of his chin.
"Damned brat!" The warrior lost his patience and curled his other hand into a tight fist, prepared to blow her head off with a single punch.
"That's enough!" A loud growl from behind placed a lid on Olivia's punishment. The warrior who held her like a rag doll looked over his shoulder, pissed off at who dared to stop him.
But his quickly anger dissolved into panic, the moment he laid his eyes on the older looking man with a gruesome claw mark drawn fully over his face.
"Commander Ivankov!" The warriors all greeted simultaneously, lowering their heads to the commander of all units under the third division.
Olivia didn't know who was being referred to, but she could feel the fear exuding the warrior who apprehended her. His grip on her elbow weakened, and his breathing turned uneven.
The commander marched through the path paved by the warriors, walking past Olivia, barely acknowledging her presence. He continued his march up until he was standing directly in front of the warrior Olivia had thrown the dagger at.
"Commander Ivankov, it's a good thing you're here. This brat managed to survive and did this to me. I was just about to bring her to you for punishment." Abel said with a palm over where the dagger used to be.
Olivia twisted her lips, 'Liar.' she noted, he had already declared he would be burning her alive, along with her mother's corpse.
The commander's hazel eyes roamed from Abel's wounded eye to the sole of his feet, particularly at the expensive boots he had on. Nothing but the best for the son of the first division commander, Ivankov thought at the back of his mind.
Abel went on to say, "I'm thinking of having her head hung on the gates of our borders, don't you think that'll scare away our enemies?" He proposed, standing next to the commander. "What say you—"
Midway in his sentence, commander Ivankov turned away from him and turned to the warrior who held Olivia.
"Pass her here."
Impulsively, he replied, "Pardon me commander?"
Ivankov didn't waste a moment to repeat himself, instead, he marched over and yanked Olivia by himself. Startled by the sudden tugging on her arm, Olivia jabbed the burning torch at the commander!
For a moment, there was nothing but silence, Olivia genuinely believed that she had gotten him, but the soldiers who saw it all kept quiet. All convinced that it would've been far better if the brat was beheaded by Abel.
Effortlessly, Ivankov extinguished the torch with just his palm. He sunk his fingers into Olivia's cheeks, forcefully prying her lips open. Olivia struggled against him, but couldn't even land a scratch on him.
And, in the blink of an eye, he hand chopped the back of Olivia's neck, landing her unconscious in an instant, and falling face first onto the unforgiving soil.
"Take her and hand her over to my servants, they'll know what to do." The commander announced, using his eyes to signal the nearest warrior to carry Olivia off the floor.
He turned to leave, but was intercepted by Abel.
"Commander, what do you think you're doing?"
"I don't believe I need to answer to you." Ivankov retorted sternly without disrupting his march.
Abel hissed and followed after him, despite the bitching pain in his wounded eye. "We are meant to murder every last one of these scum, taking one is against the Alpha's rules." He receited.
"So is burning children alive."
Abel widened his eyes, 'He had heard that?' he panicked inwardly, the third division commander was the last person he wanted to have leverage over him.
"It's always been pack rules, we don't mix our blood with theirs. Our kind is superior, having that filth in our midst would…" Abel was explaining, only to get cut short by Commander Ivankov.
"Filth?"
His tone lacked any emotion, one couldn't easily tell if the commander was upset or genuinely curious. But Abel who knew the reason behind that reaction kept to himself, deeming this squabble just wasn't worth angering someone so high up the ladder.
"Finish up here and report to your commander, we were given direct orders from Gamma Hosea to start the return journey tonight." The commander announced, and then took his leave, without sparing Abel a second glance.
Once Ivankov was out of hearing reach, Abel muttered to himself, "Fucking halfcaste." With a severity so deep laced in his ocean blue eye.
"Commander, are you certain that this is the wisest decision? The Alpha will not be pleased to learn about this." The commander's right hand man, Zeke asked while holding open the door to his carriage.
"I know, but I believe that slave girl could be the one."
Zeke blinked twice, "The one?"
Ivankov tore his red cape off his shoulders and tossed it on the seat next to him. He crossed his legs and reclined against the carriage's window, relaxed yet uncertain.
"Commander, what do you mean by the one? She's just a runt, and one in bad shape. I reckon she won't survive the trip back."
"That's debatable. If there is even the slightest possibility that my guess is correct, then that runt will stand to become someone very crucial. More than any of us can imagine." The commander cryptically explained, while stroking his beard with his fingertips.
His mind flashed back to when he put out the flaming torch, he recalled the blood that ran down the center of his palm, drawing from his wound.
He narrowed his eyes when he recalled his wound coming in contact with the blood on Olivia's mouth, and instantly getting healed.
The commander brought his healed palm to his line of sight and cracked a wide grin. "I really have struck gold."