The personal slave of the alpha king

Sophie was only 17 years old when her life turned upside down. She and her family were part of the gentry, noblemen of rather low status, but they nevertheless ruled over a pack of respectable size and the territory that came with it. She had lived a very sheltered and blessed life, as she was the daughter of Alpha Louis, count of Varlen and Luna Linda the countess. Since she could remember, she had received the best education available and spent most of her days reading, drawing and strolling the grounds of their county territory. She never had to experience, or even witness the grim sides of life as she had the privilege of a lighthearted and unburdened childhood. Sophie was a smart and well-spoken young she-wolf, who had the ability to charm the people around her with her kindness and her canny wittiness. Although she sometimes considered herself to be a little bit overprotected, she always chose to focus on the positive aspects of matters. Alpha Louis and Luna Linda had developed great plans for Sophie from the moment they observed, not only the intellect and kind-heartedness of their daughter, but also since it became obvious, how beautiful and graceful their little girl had turned out to be. And so they had begun to aspire for her, to one day become a member of the royal court of Avinon, the kingdom the county of Varlen was subordinated to. Sadly, their ambitions for their daughter had come to a halt, when the political situation in the kingdom, that had already been unsteady for a while, finally climaxed in a brutal bloodbath, after the neighboring kingdom of Tania declared war on the kingdom of Avinon. The devastating war went on for two full years, until it finally reached the region they had been ruling over. Sophie and a small entourage were sent to withdraw to a fortress, in ordner to be safe in the midst of the attack. Within three days of the ambush on Varlen, the enemy had reached the fort. None of her close family members had joined her in the hideout, since her parents and her older brother Finnian joined the forces on the battlefield, in order to fight for their land, their pack and their people. When the enemy finally pushed through to the fortress in victory, Sophie was concerned that she would never see her family again. She knew they had lost the battle and she was certain she would meet her creator, the wolf goddess, soon. But it turned out what would happen could be considered worse than death. ****************************************** The noises of battle came closer and closer, Sophie could hear the clinging of metal, the howling of the wolf warriors, the shouts for help by the people of the folk, the cries…. As she heard the turmoil outside, she realised she couldn't just sit there, locked up in a room, waiting patiently for her life to end. Sophie couldn't stand hearing the dreadful sounds of growling and screams. They were dangerously close. She couldn’t stay in there… she had to go and fight alongside her people. She wanted to help, she wanted to unleash her wolf, but she wasn’t old enough to shift and she wasn’t taught to fight. But still, she couldn’t die without even trying… ****************************************** Sophie woke with a throbbing headache, she sun was blinding her and she felt disoriented. As she bounced back and forth, she realized she was sitting on a flatbed carriage, like farmers would use to transport hay. Although her vision was blurry, rough images started to form around her. About a dozen silhouettes indicated that she wasn't alone on the carriage. 'Hey, you're awake finally' she heard a soft voice right next to her. Sophie was puzzled and looked to her left, the direction the voice had come from, when caught sight of a girl about her age, blinking at her with huge blue eyes. 'I was afraid you might not wake up, considering that huge bump on your head', the girl continued, her eyes scurrying to Sophie's forehead. 'W- what happened?' Sophie asked, still not sure where she was and why she was there. She touched her forehead and could indeed feel a painful bulge lingering there. 'It's over, whe lost the war, king Ferdinand is dead', the girl whispered quietly, her voice breaking at the words and her eyes tearing up. 'What? That can't be… I mean, that can't be true. Where are we and why are we moving?' Sophie gasped. Her stomach tightened painfully as fragmented memories of the attack on Varlen came back to her. Without thinking clearly, Sophie instinctively jumped up to stop the wagon, but she tripped forward and realized her legs and arms were tied up with thickly layered ropes. She stumbled headfront against a man in his fifties, who was sitting opposite to her. He had a dirty face with a long, ginger beard and his clothes were all muddy and torn. Sophie noticed a breathstopping stench emitting from him. He gazed at her with an annoyed look on his face and grumbled at her mishap, but Sophie didn’t care about his smell or his demeanour, she knew what she needed to do. She had to speak to her wolf, Lizzy, maybe she knew more. But no matter how much she focused and concentrated, Sophie wasn‘t able to contact the wolf. Lizzy wouldn’t respond. ‚Lizzy? Lizzy are you there?‘ she tried to call her inner wolf again. But noone answered. Then, it struck her… Wolfsbane. Still standing unsteadily amidst the wagon, Sophie quickly gained her composure, wiggled back to the bench behind her and cleared her throat before she spoke in loud and demanding tone: 'Don’t you know who I am? Cut me free or I will get you punished by my father, the count of Varlen' Sophie looked around the people with an assertive glance and realized that everyone on the carriage was staring at her in disbelief. As she tried to understand the wary faces of the other passengers, the wagon came to an abrupt halt. The coachman driving the vehicle turned around and gazed at her with suspicion on his face. He had obviously heard her demand. He looked at her for what felt like an eternity, as if he was trying to sort his thoughts, until his face turned angry and filled with hatred. „You stupid little w***e. Don't try pulling dirty tricks on me. Noone of that scumbag family was spared. I know from the general himself, that they killed every single one of those useless fuckers. Don't you dare try to lie yourself out of your fate. You are a worthless lowlife. You will receive the appropriate role for such. Your a prisoner of the kingdom of Tania, so if you open your mouth one more time, I will cut your tounge out and I will enjoy it. Stupid cunt.“ Sophie felt as if the whole world around her stopped. She felt the blood rushing to her head as she started to breathe heavily. She knew there was no point in insisting to prove to the driver what her true identity was, he wouldn’t believe her anyways and the truth would probably cause more harm than a lie. Furthermore, with the information he just gave her, she couldn’t find the strength to argue with him. Sophies heart slowly filled with despair. It couldn't be true… Her family, were they really dead? Suddenly the memories of the attack on the fortress she was hiding in, came back more vividly than before. Remembering the sounds of the battle, a shiver went down her spine. She knew her family had probably already been killed, the second the attack, on the fortress she was hiding in, startet. But hearing it this way still shattered her heart just as much as if the news came by surprise. Her parents, the count and countess of Varlen where dead, their King Ferdinand was also dead and her brother… ‚Oh Finnian, why did you leave me? You were supposed to protect me!‘ Sophie thought sorrowfully. Tears burst into her eyes. What will she do now, what about the pack and all the people in the kingdom? The girl she had been talking to before, noticed the tears on Sophie's face and said in a pitiful voice: 'Everything is going to be okay. We all lost someone or something.' ***************************************** Hours passed and they were still driving on the carriage. Sophie wasn't crying anymore as she was starting to force herself not no think about the terrible fate her family had gone through. Why did she survive? She remembered leaving the room she was hiding in, when the attack proceeded. She had wanted to fight and do something about the tragedy unraveling in front of her. When she had left the building and entered the courtyard there was turmoil. People in their human form and wolf form were running around, fighting, fleeing, screaming, the stench of fresh blood in the air, pure chaos. Sophie remembered seeing an old woman being pushed over by a trembling wolf. She recalled wanting to help her, but before she reached the woman, she blacked out. That was all she could remember. And now she was here. She knew none of the people on the carriage… had never seen one of them on their grounds. Why had she been spared… why have those people been spared? Then a thought struck her. Was she? No, it couldn't be. The terror of the idea creeped up on her and turned her stomach upside down. As she was about to puke, the girl next to her spoke again: „My name is Dhalia by the way“ Sophie swallowed her nausea and replied „I'm Sophie“ without thinking. Dhalia stiffened and looked at her thoughtfully for a second. Then she widened eyes and slowly nodded to her, whilst she answered: 'It’s really not a good idea to pretend you’re the daughter of Count Louis. You’ve heard the coachman. What is it with you and that family? Did you work there or something? ' Sophie felt fury running through her body. Why didn’t these people believe her? She wanted to tell her who she was, that all this was a big mistake, but she quickly gathered her composure as she remembered the threat of the coachman to cut out her tounge if she continued to talk about it. Furthermore, Dhalias undertone seemed a bit suggestive, and Sophie wasn’t sure what to think of the way the girl accentuated her statement. Did she even believe her own words? 'Um...yeah' Sophie replied. 'I worked in the kitchen there. I thought maybe they will let me free if they think I'm someone...of importance and since I share the name with my former employers daughter, I just thought of her i guess...' Dhalia breathed out in a sigh of relief and whispered to Sophie, so no one else would hear: ‚Good… you had me worried there for a second. You know...they would do horrible things to you if you were a noble. I heard the king of Tania is a ruthless and cruel man, that punishes his enemies harshly. He is known for torturing his foes for pleasure...he wants to see them suffer.' Sophie's heart started beating rapidly. She had heard about King Benedict. His reputation was bad, really bad. Rumors said, that he didn’t only like to see his enemies suffer. Her rank would not help her out of this, the opposite was the case. She decided it might be best to hold back with the fact of who she really was. At least for now.