The Sorceress & The Alpha

The Ball

The castle was hectic with movement all over the place, all the servants were either in the kitchen preparing the food or in the ballroom setting up the decorations for the gala that was taking place today. Everyone except for Aubrey. 

“Oh for Hell’s sake, my Precious” Elias moaned as he finished inside her. She just stayed still, holding back the tears and thinking about anything else with her eyes fixed on the ceiling. Her attention was diverted by Elias hand cupping her chin, forcing her to look at him “you are mine, never forget that.” he finished with a small peck on her lips before getting up and heading towards the bathroom to take a shower. 

She stayed still until she heard the water running before standing up and dressing up. She walked slowly towards the door making sure to not make a sound, an impossible task considering the hearing that vampires had. 

“Oh Precious, did I say you could leave?” Elias was still in the shower but he could clearly hear her steps getting away.

“No, Master” Aubrey stayed still next to the door and waited for Elias to finish his shower. 

“Why are you in such a hurry of leaving?” he said, teasing her, while exiting the bathroom with nothing but a towel around his hip.

“I need to help with the preparations for tonight’s ball, Master” she said staring at the floor.

“Nonsense, you have done enough today” he said with a wink while grabbing her by the shoulders. 

“You’re very kind, Master, but I can do my chores.” Anything but being here, she thought. 

“Oh, my Precious. I insist! You don’t have to work tonight” Aubrey looked at him suspicious, this was not a common behavior. Before she could react, Elias pushed her at vampire speed against the wall opposite to the door and a loud ‘clank!’ sounded near her. She suddenly felt the cold sensation of metal against her skin. She reached out and noticed a chain around her neck that connected directly to the wall. She looked directly at her Master with her eyes full of panic. He was glaring at her angrily. What was going on? Has she done something different?

“You will stay here the whole night and don’t bother screaming, the room was magically sound-proofed.” 

“But Master, I don’t get it, Please I haven’t done anything.”

“Oh, my Precious. You haven’t and you better don’t. That stupid wolf thinks I didn’t noticed his arousal when I entered his office smelling your scent. He won’t find you here and you better not try to escape, understood?”

Aubrey was completely lost right now. What wolf? What was he talking about “But Master, I…” a slap crossed her face before she could continue.

“Do not talk back to me, remember your place, slave.” Elias sneered, Aubrey nodded vigorously while her legs gave in and fell to the floor. “Much better.” Aubrey was crying silently while Elias finished dressing up in an elegant tuxedo and pulling his black hair back. After he was done, he left the room without a second look at her and locked the door behind him. They will not be taking his precious slave away from him. 

People started arriving at the party, women with exquisite dresses and men in tuxedos were filling out the ballroom. The decorations in golden and red filled out the room while servants were passing around serving diverse drinks for their guests. Leaders from all the Western lands were gathered here, excited to see each other, speaking about politics and updating each other about novelties regarding their respective districts. 

Donovan arrived an hour later, trying to act as casual as possible. Sniffing the air searching for that sweet smell that intoxicated him the other day. “Donovan, welcome! So glad you’re finally here! Everyone’s been asking about you.” Elias approached him with extreme elegance and fake diplomacy. Donovan glared at him with suspicion, he could faintly smell the freesias in his body but he couldn’t smell it nowhere else. “What is it Alpha? Something bothering you?” Elias said teasingly.

“Nothing at all. My apologies, I had some other urgent matters to attend before arriving here.” he said while looking around. “I have to admit you excelled yourself, Elias. This looks... exquisite.” he said dryly. 

“Well I’m sure that flattery must have been difficult to say, but I’ll take it. Please, do enjoy the party, my servants are at your disposal for anything you require” and with nothing else to say, he turned around and left. 

‘I’ll be greeting people. You two know what to do.’ Donovan mindlinked his Beta and Gamma that were standing behind him. Without another word they split casually. 

The door to Elias’ room opened and Aubrey looked up scared, she let out a breath of relief when she noticed Summer at the other side of the door. “Oh my good, Aubrey!” The blonde left the tray she was carrying and ran to her, kneeling in front of her small figure and hugging her tightly. “What happened this time? Master Elias told me to come bring you something to drink because you’ve been here all day.” Aubrey hugged her back and let the tears fall. Aubrey tried to explain what was going on but most certainly she didn’t know how. 

After calming down, Summer stood up and brought a tray with some water and a sandwich. Aubrey took a sip of water gladly but she wasn’t sure her stomach would be able to handle anything right now. Besides, she has been chained before and she wasn’t sure when she would be able to go to the bathroom. “Thank you” she mumbled to her friend. 

Summer sat next to her and exhaled deeply. “All this is so sick.” Aubrey chuckled lightly. “What?”

“Sick is the lightest word I’d use to describe this.”

“Why is he so obsessed with you?” Summer asked bluntly. Aubrey looked at her for a moment, pondering her words.

“I’m not sure. I do know it started that last time I tried to escape” she said while touching her bracelets absentmindedly. “I have wondered the same, you know? At first I thought he was just punishing me… but… other people that tried to escape were murdered or put in the dungeons for months.”

“So why are you different?” 

“I don’t know…” Aubrey said, feeling suddenly numb. She didn’t understand Master Elias' fixation towards her. She has seen far more beautiful vampires and creatures share bed with him, so it couldn’t actually be that he felt attracted to her. She knew that it had to be about power, but she was already her slave, he already had the power… and she was the only female treated this way. She didn’t know what she did to deserve all this. Summer exhaled again, making her return to reality.

“I better return to the party, Master Elias said that I shouldn’t linger here.” she said while standing up “I’m sorry, Aubrey”.

“Don’t worry, you go ahead” Aubrey answered with resignation. But Summer didn’t move, Aubrey looked up and saw her staring at her exposed wrists. Right below the bracelets, faint clear scars were visible against her darker skin. 

“You tried to take your own life” she stated more than asking. Aubrey nodded slowly.

“Tried is the key word. Yes, once I understood that I have no way of escaping alive from here I… well… It doesn’t matter. Elias got to me before I was done. He licked the wounds so they would heal and then punished me a whole month for trying. After that I just… accepted my reality.” 

“I don’t think I’ll be able to accept this as my reality…” 

“You’ll soon find you don’t have a choice” Aubrey said bitterly. Summer kneeled again and looked straight to her empty stare.

“I can’t even imagine what you have gone through, Aubrey. But if I’m certain of something in life is that you ALWAYS have a choice. You might not be physically free, but you’re still free inside. Free to decide what you can do with the options that life gives you.” Aubrey looked at her, shocked to hear such motivational words. “Don’t give up on living, Aubrey. Just don’t. We’ll find a way out…” Summer said in a whisper. She hugged her one last time before exiting the room. Aubrey stared at the door letting what she said sink in. She could still remember when she used to have that feisty spirit. But that spirit died so many years ago…