Slave to the Ruthless Lycan King

THE BROKEN URN

AUDREY

Talia threw a dress at me, which landed on my face. I had gathered my courage as I took my bath in the river. I would ask her questions, especially the ones I needed to know so much about.

"Who is she?" I asked as I donned the dress. The dress was ripped in different places; it was indeed rag, but it was better than wearing nothing. Talia's brows creased at my question.

"Who?"

"The lady in the kitchen... she was also in the room where we received instructions."

"That's Mia, our late Luna's sister, she handles the kitchen department, and you would work under her. She gives the rules in the kitchen."

My stomach churned as she spoke, reminding me that I had not eaten anything for god knows how long. My heart skipped at the revelation. Mia hates me, no doubt, but the thought of working under her was excruciating. I sighed, and Talia helped me work the zipper of my dress, and we set out of the room I was supposed to share with the other slaves at night.

"What of Malik? Does anyone go by that name here?" I asked, staring eagerly at Talia, hoping she was generous enough to provide me with an answer and quench my curiosity. She glanced at me and turned to look ahead.

"Why are you asking too many questions?"

"I'm sorry..."

"Malik is the Beta's brother, and I am bothering to answer your questions because you need to know who and who you shouldn't look in their eyes."

I smiled inwardly. I think I like Talia. I feel she didn't really hate me but was going on with the trend. I will have to find out if my instincts were correct or if I was assuming the wrong thing. We passed people of the tribe, and they shot me glares, but I wasn't as affected with Talia beside me. There was a Malik here, but I don't know if he was the same young man who had visited me for over two weeks. My heart lept with joy. But the Malik I know wouldn't be a beast. He was calm and kindhearted and could never take part in brutalizing me; he wouldn't even lie to me about being human if he was a beast. But I remembered the image I saw back in my village. It was surely Malik and the one I saw passing the chiefess' hut. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me.

"Why are you asking about Malik? He is the palace joke," Talia said, drawing my attention toward her.

Once I heard that, I knew it wasn't my Malik. My Malik was intelligent, and he was not a joke. I was busy thinking about Malik that I didn't know when we got to The King's court. We walked up to the building. The werewolves around the court were primarily men, with golden arrows and swords hanging off their sheaths. They were fearsome, and I felt their gaze on me, which made me cringe with fear, but I kept my gaze glued to the ground. I tried to remain calm as Talia led me into a long alley.

"This is The Alpha's palace, and no one comes here without an invitation except the nobles, the elders, their direct family, and slaves like you." She waved to her right. "There is the courtroom where all the decisions in this tribe are made." She pointed to an inner courtyard, where I saw men training in leather skirts and bare chests. "That is the training ground. We are on the brink of war, so our warriors are on training day and night. You are not allowed over there."

We walked into a long large hallway, and I kept my head down as we passed some people we didn't speak to. I wondered if they don't greet themselves here. Talia came to a halt abruptly, and I jerked to a stop.

"You are not a werewolf and do not have the telepathic power to communicate through your mind, so when you see nobles or anyone, open your human mouth and greet."

"Oh," I said. That answered my question.

"And, the Alpha can read the minds of anyone standing closer to him, except that of his mate, so don't harbor any stupid or evil thoughts in your mind."

Wow, she was giving me exclusive tips because I would have thought a lot when I saw the man called Alpha. My body was still rigid with the fear of him. Talia continued walking, and I trailed behind. We finally got to a door, and she stopped.

"This is The King's quarters. His living area, bedroom, his study, and library. Plaques indicate each place. This is as far as I can go. He requested your presence, so go in." I gaped at her. There was no way I was going in there alone. She motioned me to go ahead. "The Alpha King's library/study is where you are to wait for him. Now, go in; The Alpha King is waiting." She turned on her heels and walked away without looking back.

My hands quivered, and my heart beat so fast that I could hear it in my ears, cold sweat broke out on my skin as I stared at the door, standing between me and my demise. I was terrified of the man called Alpha. He was too brutal and angry with me. What would he do with me? How would I survive his brutality? I reached out and knocked on the heavy door, but no answer came.

I looked around and clutched my hands tightly to stop them from shaking badly. Why was everywhere dead quiet? Did he not want anyone to hear when he was tormenting me? Okay— I had to stop thinking because h might be listening to my thoughts.

But my brain was too alert not to think, different thoughts ran through my mind, and I finally reached out for the door handle and turned it. The door pushed back and cracked as it opened to a smaller courtyard that looked like a garden. It was a beautiful place. A bench sat under a flowering tree. There were different doors, but no one was there. I started taking shaky steps forward, looking at each entrance to be sure of where to enter. I finally found the library and went in.

I was amazed at what I saw. The library was a standard one with floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with books of different sizes and volumes; there was no one in there. If I were to clean here, it would be my favorite place in the palace because I would get to read many books. I loved reading so much, but a woman was not allowed to read so much. There was a sturdy oak table and a seat behind it. Different books were scattered on it, and an urn stood there. I went over to the table to look at the books and read the inscription on the urn. It was the ashes of the late Luna. I felt terrible and reached out to touch it, running a finger through the name inscribed on it.

"Why are you touching that?" A deep gruff voice that could only belong to one person startled me.

A yelp escaped my throat, and I spun immediately to face him, but my hand hit the urn, and it crashed to the hard floor and broke into pieces, the ashes pouring on the floor. My soul left my body. I stared at the man called Alpha in terror, forgetting the rule of no eye contact.

He was staring at the ash and broken urn with something that looked like disbelief. I knew I was dead and prayed for the sweet lord to accept my poor soul.