AVA
Back home with my parents my only moments of pleasure had been when I could run into the woods behind our house and climb trees, over the years I had become adept at shimmying up trees and was yet to find a tree I couldn't conquer, as such climbing the old cotton tree I had chosen to be my perch today wasn't a particularly daunting task. Setting my basket down, I set my basket down and shimmied up the branches, intending to find sturdy and suitable branches before returning for my basket.
Imagine my joy when I looked up from my perch to see a water fountain in the distance, in hindsight I realized I should have been more cautious. I had been in the woods countless times before and hadn't even noticed the slightest clue that a water fountain was nearby or heard a gurgling no or the splash of waves.
At the moment however all I could think about was how wonderful it would be to taste the crisp fresh water from the fountain and swim in the coolness of the pool at the bottom of the fountain when the sun finally found its way out from behind the clouds and the day turned hot. The tall full coconut trees I noticed at the edge of the fountain were also a compelling factor, they looked like the perfect place for a drying up nap after a swim in the pool.
Coming down from my perch so fast I skimmed both knees on the rough bark, I jumped down the last few steps, snatched up my basket and headed in the direction of the water fountain at a dead run. That was all I remember before the blackout.
I was cold, so cold my teeth shattered and the hairs on my arms and legs stood straight as goosebumps crept all over my skin.
My mother had probably taken my blankets again, this was a common punishment of hers in the winter, she would snatch the blankets off me while I was asleep over some wrong doing (whether real or imagined I had no idea) and hoard them till I completed a myriad of contradictory tasks that would take me days. Most times I ended up with a cold, but of course that did nothing to deter her from her ill treatment of my person.
As was my usual strategy when such happened I tried to curl into a ball, but found that no matter how hard I tried I couldn't.
After a lot more fidgeting and squirming, I found out that some one had tied me to what felt like the side posts of a carved wooden bed.
" What's happening?" I wondered out loud.
Had this narcissistic mother of mine taken her torture to another level?
Taking a deep breath, I focused and managed to pry open my eyelids. I finally succeeded at the third attempt and realized I shouldn't have bothered. Wherever I was, it was so dark I couldn't even see my own hands.
Letting my eyelids drop once more I decided I might as well go back to sleep ( if I could ignore the cold) perhaps the sleep would clear my headache and I could face whatever my dear mother had decided to dish out today.
No sooner had I reclosed my eyes than the memories came flooding back. My rudeness to the Alpha on my birthday, and how he had bundled me away from home and turned me to a servant in his home.
How he had worked me to the bone and made the other maids to hate me by putting me in charge of his personal belongings and how he had given me a day off, only for me to end up here ( wherever this was).
The jiggling of a key lock and sudden slam of a door jolted me out of my thoughts.
Footsteps on what sounded like a rough floor sensitized me to the fact that someone was in the room with me.
The sudden glare of a bright lamp had me blinking my eyes rapidly. " Open your eyes." A familiar female voice demanded.
" I know you're not sleeping." She added, hitting me across the face when I didn't give action to her words in five seconds.
Opening my eyes halfway to shield them against the glare of the lamp, I gasped when I recognized the face looming up at me with an evil smile in place.
" Sel..... Selena?" I sputtered.
" In the flesh and blood little b*tch." She replied, her evil smile widening into an evil grin as she spoke.
" Where am I? What am I doing here? What are you doing here? What's happening?" I fired a volley of questions at her.
" I ask the questions here." She retorted, hitting me across the face again.
" Easy Lena." A deep voice called from the shadows.
" You wouldn't want to damage the merchandise, she looks pretty enough to fetch us some good money on the slave market once we're done with her." He added, causing shivers to run down my spine, which judging by the level of cold in my body was saying something.
" I still haven't got my answers." Selena whined.
" Lena dear." He said stepping into the light to reveal a tall, ribbed Blue eyed and brown haired man clad in a pair of tight black breeches,knee length boots and a billowy cotton shirt.
" I want her to answer your questions as much as I do, and I know numerous ways of making people talk without leaving visible scars, why don't you let me handle her?" He suggested.
Selena opened her mouth to protest but quickly snapped it shut when Blue eyes lightly trailed his index finger down her arm.
" Alright then." She said with a smile. " You can have her." She added.
" Please Sir." I begged as Blue eyes sat on the edge of the bed.
" Please Sir," I begged as he reached into his pocket to bring out a cigar and a match box. " I don't have the answers to any questions, please let me go." I pleaded.
" Sir." He said with a smirk, rolling the word around his mouth like he was testing the heft. " I like the sound of that, you're a b*tch who knows her place, aren't you?" He asked.
" Please sir." I begged again, choosing to ignore his derogatory statements.
Naked and tied to the bed was not the perfect time to talk about female wolf equity.
" Hmmmm." He said reflectively, neatly biting off the end of his cigar and lighting it.
" Maybe I won't get rid of you once I'm done with you after all, I just might keep you, you sound like you have potential, a little training and you'll be a worthy bed partner.
" Just let me go." I begged again.
" No sweet thing." He replied, taking a long puff of his cigar and blowing the smoke in my face. " You still have a few questions to answer for me." He added.
" But I don't have the answers." I protested.
"But I know you do." He declared, loosening the bonds on my hands and pulling me up to a sitting position.
" Now tell me." He demanded in a tone that brooked no argument. " Who are you?"
" Ava Taylor." I replied promptly.
" That wasn't so hard was it?" He asked, bestowing a smile on me.
" A few more questions and I'll let you rest for a while, so I can figure out what to do with you." He added.
" Who is Ava Taylor?" He demanded again.
" A nobody." I replied just as promptly as the first time, but this time he wasn't satisfied with the answer and he chose to show his displeasure.
His smile never wavered as he took one of my hands in his and pressed the lighted end of his cigar to my skin till my skin sizzled, his single handed hold strong enough to control all my squirming.
" Now, who is Ava Taylor?" He asked again, smile still firmly in place.
" I'm nobody I swear." I cried, cradling my burnt hand in my free hand. " I'm just a servant in Alpha Aiden's home." I hastened to add.
" Where are you from?" He demanded.
" The northern end of the millennial pack." I replied. " What powers do you have?"
" None."
" Don't you dare lie to me." He growled, menacingly reaching for the burning cigar hanging between his lips.
" I don't have any powers,I swear." I said in a jiffy before he could reach for the cigar.
" How did you cast an illusion spell on Alpha Aiden then?" Selena demanded from her perch by the door.
"I'm asking the questions Selena."Blue eyes thundered, turning to glare at Selena before turning back to me.
"Go on answer her." He urged.
" And while you're at it, pray tell me how you managed to cure Aiden of his malady." He added.
" I don't know what you're talking about." I declared, staring right at him and hoping I managed to sound convincing enough.