Episode 4
1354 Words
Elara’s pov
My eyes fluttered open to the faint scent of crushed leaves and warm water.
When I slightly turned my head to the side a woman knelt beside me, gently wiping my skin with a damp washcloth, her touch was firm but very soft and nurturing.
“Who….who are you?” My eyes widened briefly before I narrowed them.
She didn’t speak. She just continued cleaning my body with the washcloth.
Freshly squeezed herbs had been pressed into the open cuts along my arms and shoulders, their green paste stinging as it seeped into wounds that were still fresh.
The cracked skin beneath my feet was coated in thick, scented oils that glistened under the light. It smelled and looked extremely expensive.
As I slowly scanned my whole body it was then I realized I was completely naked.
A jolt of panic shot through me and I twisted trying to pull away from this strange woman but her grip tightened instantly. Her strong fingers pressed my back against the bedding.
“Stay still.” The woman finally spoke, murmuring under her breath.
I struggled once more, my breath quick and shallow as the fear of not knowing where I was began to creep in.
But the woman held me down with effortless strength, continuing her work as if me escaping was the least of her problems.
“Please let go of me….I am of no importance to anyone here, only pain and misery follow me.” I tried to warn her but she won't let me go.
My eyes landed on a tiny dagger just a few inches away from my head. If I can stretch my arms long enough I’d be able to reach it and eventually fight for my escape.
I might not have been taught basic combat techniques but I watched long enough to know a few things.
She might be strong but I’m smaller and quicker.
As I moved my arm a little to reach for the dagger she brought the damp cloth to my face and cleaned it softly.
“If you were of no importance to our Alphas then you wouldn’t be having the royal treatment, you wouldn’t have even lasted the night…”
She dragged the cloth down my neck and I winced because she touched a sore spot.
“No maiden who had been in the presence of the Alphas survived the night. You did, so you are either of great importance to them or to someone they respect.”
Her words made me instantly remember what they had announced to the members of the rouge pack.
The long lost daughter of the alpha king.
The thought made me let out a miserable attempt of a laugh and the woman narrowed her eyes at me.
“Do you know about the Lycan king–”
“Thank you for your services, Mariela. You may leave now.” A voice boomed from the entrance of the tent I was laid in, cutting me off abruptly.
I could feel the fear that engulfed her the moment we both felt his presence.
Her hands shook and her fingers gripped my arm harder than usual.
“But I haven’t gotten to her back, Alpha Kael,” she tried to explain but another voice cuts in.
“Since when did you begin to talk back?” The voice snarled. I recognized this voice immediately as the bigger looking one that landed a heavy blow on my head.
My guard immediately came up.
“Of course not…I was just–” the next thing I heard was a slap.
I turned my neck instantly to watch the woman fall on her behind, holding her face as blood poured out of her nose.
The bigger looking one who had just slapped her towered over her like a giant.
“If not that you served my father with loyalty I would have slit your throat for your disobedience.” He sneered at her.
My eyes darted back to the dagger still resting above my head.
My hand moved but I froze when I noticed the one she had just called Kael locked eyes with me.
My throat instantly went dry from the intensity of the stare.
As he started walking closer to me my body reacted out of fear before my brain could catch up and I grabbed the knife, slicing the air with it.
I crawled out of the bedding and stumbled slightly due to the dizziness that clouded my vision.
He used that opportunity to take one final step forward but I was quicker and sliced his hand that was about to grab me.
The woman screamed in shock.
The other one who had slapped the woman tried to move toward us but his brother raised his bleeding arm stopping him.
He looked from his arm to me and then the dagger.
Within seconds the wound had closed up and the blood dried.
“You are brave,” he smirked, then reached for his arm, licking the remaining blood that wasn’t absorbed back into his body. “But very stupid.”
He moved and this time with intent.
Before I could s***h him again his hands grabbed my neck and he pinned me to the bed.
I was still completely naked while all this was happening and he pressed into me with his knee on my behind.
“You are very lucky you pose importance to someone who ranks above us.” He growled into my ear as his skin brushed mine roughly. “If not, I would have had your head right here.”
His brother stalked toward us and sat on the bedding, watching as I struggled under the weight of his brother.
“You are nothing but a leech, an abomination to this earth,” his hands came to my hair. “But you don’t seem so bad, all cleaned up, and your scent…” he dropped lower and sniffed the nape of my neck.
Just then I felt something wet against my neck. He licked me.
His tongue dragged from my shoulder blades to the back of my ears.
“Arrgh…” I screamed as his tongue formed wet circles across my skin.
“You smell like you won’t taste bad too.” He whispered as his alcohol breath fanned my face.
“Let go of me!” I screamed it with the little strength I had but the one on top didn’t let go of me.
Instead he hoisted me up, letting my whole body be exposed to his brother.
My breast dangled as he dragged me out of the bedding.
His brother looked at me, eyes dragging over my body with so much lust.
I could feel the heat rising from my lower belly.
Something about the way he stared at me felt sinful but very exhilarating.
He inhaled. “I would decorate your body with so many markings if you were mine. But you are not, because I will never accept a nobody like you as my mate.”
While his brother hoisted me up, his hand went to my throat and he began to suffocate me slowly, his smirk widened with each gasp I let out.
I raked my nails against his hands, trying to pry them off my throat, but without claws they were useless, more like weak pats.
My gaze darted around the tent, searching desperately for an escape, a weapon, anything I could use. But there was nothing.
Then I saw the woman still on the floor.
I reached out to her with trembling arms, silently begging for help but she turned her face away.
He didn’t stop squeezing my wind pipe. Not when my attempts to stop him weakened, not when my fingers slipped from his wrists.
Not even when my vision began to blur at the edges and the world started to dim
Only when I was on the verge of my last breath did he finally let go.
But the job was already done.
Darkness swallowed me whole, and I fell into the darkness without a sound.
- Writer
