002
1504 Words
Elara's pov
I hit the water and it felt like a bunch of needles stabbing me all over. The cold was so mean it stole my breath. I tried to scream but water just filled my mouth. My arms and legs forgot how to move. I sank down and down and down.
When I woke up, everything was quiet…I kept wondering what was wrong and what I did to deserve such treatment.
I used to feel my wolf inside me. Like a warm ball of fur curled up in my chest. She would nuzzle me when I was sad and growl when I was scared. But now there was nothing. Just empty. Like someone had reached inside and scooped her out.
I screamed.
Nobody came.
I was in my old room but it looked wrong…who brought me out of the river ?
The bed was stripped. My stuff was gone. The only thing left was a gray dress on the floor and a note that said "Scullery Maid. Report to the kitchens."
So that was it. Mia betrayed me and harmed my wolf and now I had to scrub pots.
The next few weeks were pure garbage. My hands got blisters. My back ached. The other maids whispered about me. "That's the pretty wolfless girl." "Did you hear? Her own best friend did her dirty." "She used to be so pretty. Now she's just... sad."
I wanted to punch them but I was too tired.
One night I was scrubbing a pan so hard I thought I would wear a hole through it. A shadow fell over me. I looked up and there he was. Prince Julian. His face was perfect like a statue. But his eyes were not nice.
"Aren't you the little traitor? I brought you here, you still looked beautiful dying" he said.
"I didn't do anything wrong," I said. "Mia pushed me."
He laughed. "Of course you say that. But a wolfless girl is useless to this pack. You should be grateful I haven't thrown you out."
I looked back down at my pan. "I am scrubbing. That is me being grateful."
He grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him. "You still have that smart mouth. I remember when you bit me when we were pups. You drew blood."
"You stole my toy wolf."
"You bit me."
"You deserved it."
His eyes got hard. He let go of my chin like I was trash. "You will pay for that one day. But first, there is the gala. The King demands all unmated females attend. Even broken ones."
"I am not going to an orgy."
"You do not have a choice."
He was right. I did not have a choice.
I felt so useless and powerless…didn't remember the last time I felt this exhausted still haven't wrapped my head around what's going on and how to feel last moment I was tending to flowers and taking to the like they are my audience cheering me up the next moment I was knocked out by my so called friend and she is no where to be found.
God!!!
I screamed internally…been doing since I gained consciousness.
********
The gala was so loud and stupid. Everyone was drunk. Couples were all over each other. On the couches. Against the pillars. Some guy was licking a girl's neck like a popsicle. I stood in the corner and prayed for the floor to eat me.
But the floor did not eat me.
Julian did.
His fingers locked around my arm so hard it burned. Before I could even ask what was happening, he dragged me straight into the center of the ballroom. My shoes scraped against the polished floor. The music died instantly, like someone had strangled it.
Hundreds of eyes turned toward me.
Whispers spread through the room like wildfire licking dry grass.
“That’s her?” “The servant?” “She doesn’t even have a wolf…”
My chest tightened. I could barely breathe. I did not understand any of this. I could not smell anything the way the others always described.
No sweet pull. No warm recognition. Nothing. Just confusion clawing inside my head.
Then he raised his voice.
“Witness this!” he roared. “The Moon Goddess has chosen. This wolfless thing is my fated mate!”
The entire ballroom exploded into gasps.
My heart stopped.
Mate?
The word echoed inside my skull. Heavy. Unreal. Impossible.
A silver light burst around us without warning. It wrapped around my body. I felt it sink deep into my bones, sharp and burning, like something ancient had forced itself inside me.
I stumbled back with a cry.
This was real…the bond had formed, just like that?
Across from me, Julian looked horrified.
Actually horrified.
His face drained of color as he stared at me like the Goddess herself had cursed him.
“No…” he whispered.
Then louder.
“No! No, no, NO!”
The veins in his neck bulged as rage twisted his face.
“I refuse this bond!” he shouted. “I REJECT YOU!”
Pain exploded through me.
Not normal pain…definitely not human pain.
It felt like invisible claws ripping through my chest, tearing flesh I did not even know existed. My body folded instantly. My knees slammed against the marble floor hard enough to crack skin.
A scream tore out of me before I could stop it.
The bond snapped.
I felt it.
Felt every piece of it shredding apart inside me.
The room spun violently. My heartbeat became uneven and wrong. It was like my soul had been tied to something for one single second… only to be brutally ripped away.
And somehow, even without a wolf…
I felt every bit of the rejection.
Tears blurred my vision. My hands shook against the floor.
Why did it hurt this much? why did it feel like I was dying?
But Julian was not finished.
Not even close.
He grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked me upward so harshly my cry echoed through the ballroom. Laughter burst from parts of the crowd. Others only watched with glowing eyes and cruel amusement, like they were enjoying a stage performance.
“You?” Julian spat in my face. “You thought you could stand beside me? A wolfless nobody?”
His grip tightened painfully.
“You are nothing.”
The words hit harder than the rejection itself.
“I should have known the Goddess was mocking me.”
The crowd laughed again.
My cheeks burned with humiliation. Fear crawled under my skin like insects. I tried to pull away, but he shoved me hard enough that I nearly fell again.
Nobody helped.
Nobody stopped him…I mean I was the only one who could stand up against prince julian though I get punished most times.
I looked around desperately, hoping to see even a little pity in someone’s eyes.
There was none.
Only disgust and entertainment.
Like I was some stray dog dragged into a royal party by mistake.
So I kicked him in the mouth.
His head snapped back. A tooth flew out. Blood poured down his chin. He screamed like a baby. "MY FACE! SHE RUINED MY FACE!"
I ran.
I ran through the kitchen. Through the garden. Through the gate. I ran until my lungs burned and my legs shook. I hid in a barn. I slept with the cows. They were nice.
They did not try to r**e me… I mean thank God I learned some basic self defense skills and didn't allow his filthy hand linger on me.
But in the morning, I woke up with a bag over my head.
The Iron Auction House smelled like piss and blood. They put a collar on me. A hot iron pressed into my back. I screamed so loud my throat went raw. They called me by a number " number8" They put me in a cage.
My back was stinging me and I felt so dizzy I wanted to pass out but there wasn't time for that.
I got lucky.
Some drunk buyer dropped the keys. I unlocked my cage and ran. I ran into the woods. I ran for a long time. Only God knows how long.
Before I ran into some guys in black armor. They grabbed me. "This is the spy! She has the mark!" They dragged me into another dungeon.
And that is how I ended up on the cold stone floor, touching myself like a weirdo, waiting for someone to save me.
So when the smell hit me…smoke and leather and something dark…I knew someone big was coming. I heard boots. Heavy boots. Getting closer.
The cell door creaked open.
And there he was. This huge guy. Black hair. Gold eyes that glowed in the dark. Muscles everywhere. He looked at me like I was dinner.
I should have been scared.
But my body said something else. My body said get on your knees.
So I did.
- Writer
