Influence
1266 Words
Lira Ashera POV
I placed my hands on my hips, my stance bold when I was defiant him. "Except me!"
He seemed a little taken aback by my confidence.
"Where do you get this courage from, Lira!" Maeve exclaimed. She must have been terrified of my opponent this time.
"Girl, you're incredibly brave! What's your reason for being here?" The voice sending a small tremor through my heart.
The other prisoners looked at him in fear. All right, I'll take this opportunity.
I gave him a meaningful smile, a playful glint in my eyes. "Guess," I challenged.
"Perhaps you offended Lady Seraphine?" his curiosity piqued.
"Wow, how did you know? Actually, I did offend her. But it's worse than you think. Because I'm so beautiful, her immediately felt I was a threat," I said. I even winked at him again.
He seemed a little enchanted by my audacity. So I say again, "I'll give you a prize for answering my question correctly."
To my surprise, he smiled, genuinely happy, and even clapped his hands. "What kind of prize are you going to give me?" he asked eagerly.
Alright, this guy isn't as fierce and intimidating as he seems. "Tell me your name first," I replied.
"Diego."
"Wow, what a great name. It means 'Saint James'. Your parents were so smart choosing a baby name." I held up my hand for a high-five, a friendly gesture.
But his expression suddenly turned so sad that I gently touched his large, tattooed arm, which read 'I love Mom' in bright red ink.
"Hey, a man as strong as you shouldn't be sad. How about I give you the gift of a good night's sleep?" I said calmly.
His eyes widened in shock. "You... you know I can't sleep?" he whispered, his vulnerability showing.
I pointed to my own eyes. "Let's start the spa session," I joked gently.
He nodded, quickly leaning back against the cell bars. I reached out and touched his head softly. "My family was burned seven years ago, and I became a life prisoner," I explained.
"You're so pitiful, I'm sorry. But my beloved mother was too. She was human," he replied.
So he's a hybrid. No wonder he looked a bit like a werewolf, but with the fiercer traits of a human. I used to live on the border and saw many humans doing laundry by the lake before there were any restrictions. But one thing still made me curious. "So you can't shift?" I asked.
"I can!" he answered. "But my mother was killed right in front of my eyes six years ago. A few months later, I rebelled by killing the soldier who shot her. But I was captured and locked up."
I gave a small, compassionate smile without trying to reply to his story. After a few minutes passed, I heard his soft snores. "How was it? Was it good?" I asked.
"Hmm, Mom..." His voice sounded weak and pleading.
I fell silent. He must be dreaming of his poor mother, a sense of quiet contentment settling over me.
Diego had a cellmate. A very scared, lanky man who was constantly crouched in the corner.
I waved to him. He hesitated for a moment but then chose to approach, walking as slowly and cautiously as possible.
When Diego stirred, his cellmate fear.
I continued to hum a beautiful, melodic tune in his ear. To my surprise, Diego's snores returned.
Finally, his cellmate bravely walked closer.
"You, move the bed," I instructed.
He shook his head, refusing at first, but I reassured him that there was no danger.
Once the bed was moved to Diego's left side, I said, "Move him slowly."
"How?" he asked in disbelief.
"Just do it," I insisted.
So, I helped calm Diego by humming my song again.
I noticed everyone was looking at us. You could say this moment was very tense
After Diego was successfully laid down, his cellmate quickly returned to his corner. Meanwhile, everyone else was smiling happily. They were so delighted that they started high-fiving each other.
"Shhh," I whispered, trying to stop the celebration.
No one could speak, but they had chalk. They all wrote words of thanks to me on their walls.
I bowed my head respectfully. From their chalked words, I learned that this prison was so terrifying because Diego couldn't sleep. He would often become emotional when he heard sounds, and if it got a little noisy, he'd throw sand at the surrounding prisoners, then start screaming and crying uncontrollably. He also liked to hurt people who passed by, making him difficult to control.
But today, I had managed to soothe him.
And after a full day of rest, his face looked so much more peaceful.
Unfortunately, now he was calling me, "Mom."
"I'm not your mother!" I said, annoyed. Come on, I'm still a virgin.
The people in the cell pleaded with me, "Just go along with it," they begged hopefully.
I gave a sly smirk. "Alright, as long as you're willing to tell me each of your backgrounds."
For the sake of peace, they agreed.
I sat down with my hand held by Diego.
Then, one by one, they told their stories.
"I was arrested for reporting a robbery case involving a palace official."
"I was arrested for offending Violet, Lady Seraphine's assistant."
"I was framed for murdering my own friend. The real culprit has never been caught."
And all the other stories. Although they were the victims in their tales, I couldn't fully believe all of them. But still, it was touching.
One thing was for sure: they missed their families dearly.
"I'm good at singing. How about I sing all the songs you've been missing?" I offered.
Everyone smiled happily.
"Alright, send me the lyrics," I requested.
Alpha Kael POV
I imagined her, crying in fear in a cell full of convicts, praying to the moon goddess to save her. Damn it! I wanted so badly to help her. My compassion for her was greater than my anger.
But I couldn't go to her now. My pack duties required me to focus on them more than anything else.
I was checking all the natural resource reports for our territory. This included the distribution of food, clothing, and housing.
And it took up all my time.
Suddenly, a woman entered. I ignored her, knowing I had to check these reports myself to prevent something bad from happening, like what happened on the border. I meticulously calculated the differences and comparisons.
But the woman in the sexy red dress leaned forward right in front of me. Her slender fingers touched my shoulder, sending a chill down my spine.
"What do you want?" I asked, annoyed, without looking up from the reports. Her scent wasn't as sweet as Lira's.
And her fingers bravely traced my neck, my ear, and my jawline. I grabbed her hand and shoved her away, making her lose her balance and fall to the floor.
"How can you do this to me!" her shrill voice completely grated on my ears.
"Get out!" I snapped, ordering her to leave.
"She's your fiancée now!"
I froze when I heard my mother's voice. She had entered my room and was helping her assistant to her feet. Yes, the one who had been bothering me was Violet. They were both equally annoying, to be honest. But Lady Seraphine was my mother, while Violet was just a foundling she had adopted as her assistant.
"She! Is your fiancée! Now!" she declared, her tone assertive.
"I don't care," I answerd flaty.
- Writer
