The Lost Goddess, A War On Mates

Chapter 3

“Prince Drake, we still cannot find princess Aeris. I think it is time to enlist the help of other surrounding packs and covens further out…” The coven warriors stood unsure of what else to do. Prince Drake looked terrible with bags under his eyes. He had been calling surrounding areas during the day, not eating, and just the other day he destroyed his office. No one has seen her since last week. It felt like she ran away but he did not know why she would run. He nodded at his men, “Contact all of our allies and ask if they have seen her. Send a photo of her to everyone just to be sure.” Drake walked away and went to Aeris’ room. He sat on her bed and picked up her stuffy. It was a fuzzy little black bat with green eyes. He brought it home for her when she was four and having trouble sleeping. She loved it. Drake hugged it tight to his chest in agony and let a tear slip. 

He had never felt his heart hurt considering he was dead but suddenly his chest felt constricted and like he had lost a huge part of himself. He laid in her bed to rest and inhaled her scent. It was an odd one, but it smelt amazing. She smelt of burnt citrus and the ocean breeze. It was intoxicating. He thought it was her body soap because some days she smelt like burnt citrus with the ocean and others she just didn't have a scent at all. He never questioned it though not knowing much about humans or their growth. Maybe it was normal for them to smell that way, he had never met one outside of Aeris though. He missed her so much. A small sob escaped his lips as he hugged the bat tighter to his chest and took a shuddering inhale of her scent. It relaxed him so much that he fell asleep in her bed after a few deep breathes while clutching the little stuffy. His last thought was why did he not take her outside like she wanted.

Jolting awake Drake went to his office and had not received any emails back about his beloved Aeris.  Something did not feel right, his heart felt heavy in his chest. He pulled out some whiskey from his office desk drawer that was unopened. He had it there because his father said one day the stress of the job would be too much, he never imagined it would be over his young fiancé. He did not bother with a glass and just started to chug from the bottle. He had never felt this reckless. His head started to feel dizzy after a quarter of the bottle had emptied. Drinking more whiskey, a warrior knocked on the door and came in. Bowing he sighed,” Your highness, we still have no trace of her anywhere. We think it best to send out our allies in our steed and continue forward with the peace treaty festival as planned as to not create war.” He seemed hesitant to speak to the prince in such a manner, but Drake nodded and chugged down more whiskey in front of his warrior shocking him at the prince's impulsive action. Nodding back, he left, and Drake broke down crying. How could he be so powerful and could not find one damned person.

Aeris woke up before sunrise out of habit and went to start her chores. She wanted to impress Fran since she was the closest thing to a mother she ever had. The maids at the coven were great but it never felt like a mother trying to help a child. More of an obligation to the crowned royalty. Fran seemed to want me to succeed here in the pack. As I started to cook a young boy walked in. He looked about her age, but he seemed grumpy.

She bowed, “Is there anything I can help you with sir?”

He scrunched his nose at that. “You can just call me Lucas, and I have to go to school, so I wanted breakfast before I got ready.”

Smiling she nodded,” What’s school like? I have never been before.”

With widened eyes he mumbled, “It’s boring and it takes forever to do anything. I spend eight hours a day there Monday through Friday. Does that mean you are stupid if you have never been to school?”

Beat red she snaps, “I am not stupid, I was homeschooled before I was brought here.”  

Smirking with realization, “Oh so you are the slave. That means I can tell you what to do and you have to listen to me!”

Gritting her teeth, she pushes out a “Yes, Lucas.” and suddenly he frowns pushing her to the ground.

“That is future Alpha Lucas to you pack slave.” He grabs the food I made and walks away. I look at my hands that are now red and have scratches. I just sigh. I guess I should accept the fact no one wants me here except Fran and she will never defend me. Frowning I get up and finish the pack's breakfast.

 I start to make my plate when a random member smacks it to the ground and it shatters. I look down shocked and when I look up again a fist connects with my face. Landing on the floor dazed I suddenly get a beating that I do not think rogues get. The glass shards push into my back and legs. I try putting my arms up to block some of the blows but they hold them down to the floor with their knees as they straddle me. I can feel blood seeping into my rags that they called clothes and onto the floor as I try to breathe. It almost feels like lead is in my lungs with each inhale. I can not see a thing because my eyes have swollen shut. I am unsure if the beating has stopped or if I am just numb. My head is pounding and I can barely hear anything going on outside of the ringing in my ears from my head slamming into the ceramic tiled floor. Suddenly I feel my hair being yanked up and I yelp. I try so hard to open my eyes, but they continue to stay shut while they are gripping my hair.

I can feel their hot breath on my ear, and I shiver in disgust as they yell at me with gritted teeth, “Did anyone give you permission to eat you fat slut?” I shook my head no as I realized I was beaten for eating without permission. They dropped my head to the floor as I coughed up blood. I was left there on the cold floor and rolled to my side to spit out more blood. No one helped me, not even Fran. I started to cry and after an hour or so I tried to stand on weak legs. I hobbled to my room in the attic and stayed there for the day. 

I continued to be beaten for the most minor things and eventually after a week I was beaten just for fun. The only reprieve I felt was after my chores during the day. I spent all day in the library and a large part of the evening on the packs hidden beach grotto training. I felt weak every day because I typically only ate a slice of bread a day with the packs permission. They thought it was enough. It was not ideal, but I do not remember much anymore before I moved to the pack. Its all fuzzy, I keep dreaming of identical men with beautiful green eyes. It has been two months already since I was brought here. 

The Alpha Lucas beats me more then the others for fun. I get called all sorts of graphic names and he encourages it. They told me I would never have a mate and even for a human that hurts because they basically mean no one will ever love me, true love or not. I stopped crying myself to sleep. It just wears me down more then I can afford to.  Everyone is leaving for the peace treaty festival next week and I cannot wait. They are just going to leave me here with a few patrol warriors. It will be a great week. The patrol warriors usually leave me be. One of them, Jake, even tries talking to me. He is sixteen and said no one should be treated as badly as I am. I hate that he does not help me, but his life would go down hill if he did. I understand not wanting to be made an outcast. I remember this feeling of being loved but it feels unfamiliar now, almost distant. I get more depressed as each day passes.

As I start cooking Jake comes into the kitchen with the other patrol warriors,” Hey Aeris, what’s on for tonight?” He smiles at me, and I melt a little. I love when people smile. It shows me I am safe for now.

Smiling back, I answer, “I am making beef and pork ribs, baked beans, coleslaw, and mac and cheese. Is there anything else you guys need?” He looks at me with an emotion I have never seen before and my smile falters. Is he angry about dinner. “Uh if that’s not okay Jake I can make something else…”

He shakes his head quickly and smiles again, “That sounds perfect Aeris.” The other warriors look at him smirking and ruffle his blonde hair. He has gorgeous blue eyes and a sharp jaw line, he looks like a fierce opponent before you even see his muscles. For sixteen he is shredded.  He walks out with the warriors, and I get back to work humming to myself feeling one hundred times better. They were the nicest people in the pack, I theorize it is because they see death and tragedy constantly so they do not see the point in abusing anyone when they could be torn apart or left for dead in a gruesome battle. I shudder thinking about it.

As Jake walks out with his two best friends he pushes them and huffs, “Guys that’s so uncool, she’s ten and the slave I am just being nice to her…no one else in this stupid pack is.” He blushes thinking about Aeris cooking for him and the other warriors so happily because they treat her nicely.

Basil and Adrian look at each other, then at Jake and burst out laughing, “Dude it doesn’t matter that she is ten you look at her like a lovesick puppy and have been training harder since she moved here. I think your wolf already likes her to. “Basil quipped making Jake tackle him onto the floor.

Adrian starts in, “Oh Aeris, whatever you make is fine by me my love!” and he proceeds to make kissy noises mocking his friend who is now beat red.

Jake whines, “It’s not like that. She is pretty but she is not my mate, and she is a ten-year-old human! Guys stop mocking me!” they roll around wrestling and laughing.

Then Basil states rather seriously, “What if she is, your mate I mean.” and suddenly everyone went silent. 

Dinner went by quickly after Jake, Basil, and Adrian had a serious thought on Aeris. She technically could have a mate and all three of them felt extreme guilt. If she could be someone’s mate, would they want to have someone treat their mate this way? It made them all reflect heavily at dinner.

Aeris had not noticed when Jake came into the kitchen with his dishes and he came up behind her. She turned around and accidently ran into his chest and his breath hitched. She did not have a smell before but now suddenly it was all he could smell, and she smelled amazing. It was like zesty warm citrus and something salty. He looked down at her and was shocked to be mesmerized by her eyes. He slowly reached for a strand of her hair and moved it behind her ear making her turn red.

 He smiled and leaned forward whispering, “I am sorry to have scared you, do you want some help with the dishes?” She shook her head no and quickly took a step back and put her bracelet back on.

Jake was extremely confused when she did not smell like anything again, just human. He looked at her confused and then it clicked. She was not human. She was not a wolf, but she was not human. He looked at the bracelet and back at her and she put her arms behind her back and left the dishes behind quickly running off.  

As Aeris ran off to her room she cursed herself for letting Jake see her bracelet. It was the only valuable item she had, and he looked at it like he just noticed. She had never taken it off here at the pack house before but ever since she started to do the dishes it would leave a rash that would itch because soap would get stuck under the band and create chafing. I felt like an i***t to have been careless. Now they would take it away from me and I only had this left from before I moved here. Tears started to brim at her eyes, and she curled into a ball on her mat on the floor waiting for them to come and rip her bracelet from her wrist. Oddly enough they never came.