What the man had said came to pass and in less than 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 raised my eyes to meet his, 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 any for cuts but coming up with nothing. His eyes held the world and held 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 they brought to me.
With my eyes half closed, all I wanted was the man to make me his.
"Mark me" I whispered without thinking just before his eyes searched mine and lips crashed into mine and without words, a promise was made.
***
Light streamed into my eyes as I cracked them open, 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!" Aria said and chuckled while taking a good look at me.
I felt disgusting and dirty as I noticed the state of my dress and the way my hair was dissolved.
"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.
" Aria, no! It's not what you're thinking" I shouted but Aria 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 Aria 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 Lucius breaking the crowd into two.
"Sire! She's a slut."
"Yeah! She slept with an unidentified wolf last night"
" And during the moon alignment!"
" An insult!"
" No respect for our sacred laws!"
They all chanted while Aria kept quiet and watched as they wanted to beat me to nothing. A smirk played on her lips.
Lucius stopped the crowd from laying a finger on me and circled me.
"She smells of filth and sin!" Lucius suddenly shouted and I was shocked.
I felt he was going to vindicate me has been that 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 going to demote her!" Lucius shouted and I collapsed.
How was I going to survive if I got demoted more than this?
I was going to work in the dirt if he demoted me more.
"Lucius! Please" I begged but his face held no mercy
" That is final," he said and the crowd cheered while Aria looked disappointed.
I couldn't stand even when the crowd had dispersed leaving just me and Lucius in the open field and boundary of the pack's territory.
"You can't do this to me Lucius," 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 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.
Lucius scoffed and looked at me with scorn.
"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 stood up. He looked me up 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 at"
***
A few days 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 the constant nausea that hit me every morning.
The thought resounded in my head as I worked the mines.
"Melissa! 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 worked.
I cleaned 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 a bit too fast and I pinned
"Melissa? Are you ok?" I heard someone say but I didn't hear 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 Aria smirking at me.
"Gee, you're sick?" She asked and I got irritated faster than I wanted to.
"Fuck off Aria," I said
"You know what I think?"She began but I was already walking inside.
"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, I was a—
Flashbacks of my very sexual night in the forest 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! Aria, 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 Aria kicking me in the face.
I woke up to my hands being held and dragged on the way to the throne room.
Aria was in front of the mob, her smile stretching ear to ear and angry people walking behind her.
The guards tried to deny us entry as we got to the doors of the throne room but Aria said something to them and the crowd bypassed the guards at the doors and threw the doors open, the same time that an object landed heavily on my back and I screamed in agony.
"What manner of insult…
Those were the last words I heard before more beatings descended on my back.
"Please! Stop!" I screamed as I cried out in pain.
" 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 with fright 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 toward me.
My eyes caught his eye color.
No. It couldn't be.
"King Avalor..." Lucius 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 on 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 here!" Alpha Russels commanded and the crowd fell silent.
" Speak!" He bellowed and everyone gave way to Aria to speak.
" She's a mateless, wolfless slut who just so happens to be pregnant sire. We need her gone as she's everything we stand against" Aria echoed.
" Good" Avalor said and for the first time tore eye contact with me.
" Because she's coming with me," he said and I froze.
Memories of my parents dying flashed before my eyes. I knew that if indeed I was pregnant, I was going to need to do something drastic and get the hell out of there before he killed me and my baby like he killed my parents.