Once rejected, now fated to the lycan king

Giselle  I sat on my chair, wincing in pain as I pressed the damp cloth on the purple marks marking my skin. The sting of the alcohol shot up my arm like fire; I felt the pain reaching and exploding in my brain with a blinding whiteness as I continued to clean my wounds. Each touch reminded me of the torture I had faced, paying for a sin I didn’t commit, as I looked into the mirror to search if there were more bruises on my face; my eyes looked soulless. I couldn’t recognize who I was looking at. I didn’t believe I could cry again, as I hadn’t cried in years; I had become numb. It felt like I existed in a vacuum and could no longer muster any reaction to stimuli. Because I was broken. They broke me. It wasn’t the first time the members of the pack had hit me or made it clear to me I was now a maid. I plodded through the overgrown plantation; my hands had become battered from excessive washing, and my back ached from the unending bending and lifting. They hurled their dirty clothes on me, the stench of their disdain seeping into my pores. I was used to the mistreatment, but this time their fury knew no bounds. Mrs. Mikaela's voice rang in my head as I remembered the conversation we had this morning replaying in my mind. “You think you can wake up whenever you like to start your duties. Are you bigger than the other maids? Your father isn’t here anymore; the sooner you realize it, the better for you.“ She rained her fists on me, her punches finding their mark with precision. Each strike felt like hot iron, and I couldn’t dare fight back; I had no right to explain myself. If she woke up on the bad side of the bed, the maids would be the ones to pay for her temper. My vision blurred around me as I fell to the ground. I lay on the cold, hard tiles, my body aching all over. As I felt blood trickling down my face and the bruises forming, I had never felt so helpless in my life. I looked up, meeting the eyes of some of my pack mates. They were laughing and jeering, obviously enjoying my pain. I wanted to scream and curse them out, but I had no voice left. I tried to sit up, but the pain was too much; my legs were trembling. I took a step forward and then another and limped to my room in the barn feeling defeated. Madam Mikaela was the matron of the barn where the maids stayed; she made all our lives miserable, but she had a special type of disdain towards me; they all did. The atmosphere hung heavy with the stench of impending death as I approached the sabotage field. It was an event that brought back the darkest memories I had always tried to push away but could never avoid. The towering guards standing at every corner, with their eyes hovering around, lacking empathy. The alphas were seated in their ornate thrones, exuding an aura of authority, the different packs standing, consisting of the crowd, cheering and chanting for the ceremony to begin. This ceremony was enjoyed by everyone, but I never understood the fun in watching people being slaughtered. I had no choice than to be present, I was a maid and my service was needed, the ceremony was commencing fully as the cheers from the crowd grew louder when some uniformed guards were bringing out the rogues and outcasts , their eyes were hardened by years of rejection and bitterness. I was familiar with that feeling so I knew immediately I looked at them, they looked defeated and battered like they had a years worth of dirt engrossing their bodies , I took my place among the other maids , forced to bear witness to this terrible tradition . All day I had been having an internal battle with myself to not revisit the dreaded memory I had tried so hard to forget, but it finally came back creeping with full force. I remember my papa on one of these podiums where he was stripped and hung above a stone-encrusted well-like structure with wood inside burning with fire. The fire burnt him from his legs all the way to his face till he was left with only ashes. My papa was once respected; he was the alpha of his pack until a mistake cost him his life and my predicament now. He was the only family I ever had after my mum died during childbirth. I never got to meet her. All my life I lived with guilt, thinking that if I hadn’t been conceived, she’d have never died in the first place. I felt like I killed her indirectly, but despite my father being a tough and strong-willed alpha, he always treated me like a precious stone; he’d always assure me that it wasn’t my fault and give me a sense of security. He was my everything. I was too young to make sense of what actually happened, but the stories I was told were that he betrayed his own pack, and they all decided to take him out. When an alpha betrays the pack he is entitled to rule and protect, it's an abomination, and they planned an execution. I was forced by the members of the pack to watch my papa burn; maybe he was wrong, but no sane person should make a little girl see her father stripped and burnt to ashes. I was distracted from my thoughts by a weird rage of emotions and a feeling that I couldn’t explain; my palms became sweaty, and my breath caught in my throat. It felt like my heart was jumping inside; I didn’t understand what I was feeling. I started to hear whispers and murmurs that the alpha king and his son had arrived, Prince Stephen. I knew all the girls had a crush on him; it was all everyone talked about. They all hoped he was their mate. I, too, wanted to meet my mate one day. Maybe if I met him, my pains would come to an end. I always thought about it, but I didn’t want to let it linger in my mind for too long because I knew nothing good ever happened to me, and I feared disappointment. Hope was something I didn’t have anymore. As the alpha king and his son walked in, I felt a shift in the energy; they exuded an inexplicable aura of power; their presence was commanding, but it wasn’t just about them being powerful; my wolf was on all fours. I couldn’t control myself; I was raging with pheromones. This was my first time being in the same space with the prince and the first time I experienced this feeling. They were both tall and handsome; the king was aging gracefully, and the crowd gasped in exasperation. The prince was a sight to behold, his jaw chiseled and his blue piercing eyes, he wore his dark hair cropped short and walked majestically. “He’s even more handsome than I imagined,” one girl whispered to her friend. “I know, right?” the other girl replied. “I think I’m in love.” “I heard he took out all the wolves in his opposing pack all by himself. He’s a skillful warrior, like his father,” said another boy. I would have loved to say the constant praises I heard from the whispers and murmurs were what fueled all the emotions racing through my veins, but it really wasn’t; I felt like I was exploding with these feelings; it felt so unreal, something I had never experienced before. This was the feeling I heard people feel when they came in contact with their mate, but I shrugged it off. It couldn’t be possible. I rolled my eyes at the collective sighs and fluttering of lashes from the women and their failed attempts at whispering. They were all drawn to him like moths to a flame. “He’s so gracious; I wish we could get married.” This is the first occasion the king and prince have attended this year. He was walking in the path created for him and his father, and I was so eager to know what he smelt like. As the king and his son strode by, the closer they got, the more intense my wolf felt; his smell engulfed all of my senses. It was almost like the sudden rush of emotions was driving me crazy; a sudden rush of heat surged through my veins. The king was ahead while Prince Stephen was at the back, and he suddenly halted right in front of me. He looked at me for a short fifteen seconds and proceeded walking forward; immediately he looked at me, the heat I felt could no longer be contained, the air around me crackled with an electric charge, I felt shivers down my spine, and a primal instinct that stirred deep within my core was awake, and confusion clouded my thoughts; the desire was overwhelming, and my wolf realized instantly, my mate.