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1081 Words
A scream tore through Freya's lips as she turned and ran.
The faster she ran, the closer the thundering of immense paws sounded behind her.
The wolf was closing in.
“No…no…” Her voice trembled.
“Somebody please help me!”
Only the wind replied.
Tears blinded her as she stumbled through the neglected bushes and plants. Her dress snagged on a thorny branch.
Her ankle caught, and she pitched forward onto the icy ground, a searing pain blooming in her hip.
“No…” She scrambled backward, hands sinking into the snow.
Blood smeared its dark fur around its jaws, and those terrible, crimson eyes were fixed on hers.
The metallic smell of blood filled her nostrils.
Freya closed her eyes tight. “Moon Goddess… If this is my end… make it quick.”
A growl resonated through the earth beneath her.
For the first few seconds, nothing happened.
Why wasn’t it killing her?
Hesitantly, Freya's eyelids fluttered open. A monstrous paw hovered inches above her chest. Trembling, it shuddered.
The beast looked into her eyes, the growl receding into a soft whimper.
Confusion flickered across its blood-red gaze, as if it recognized her. Slowly, the beast lowered its head, as if bowing.
Freya simply stared in shock. “It’s letting me go…”
The beast took a step back. Its gaze never wavered. Freya didn’t wait to give it a second thought.
She snatched her shoes and ran. The wolf remained in the same spot long after she was gone. Its body shuddered once, then twice.
Bones cracked, fur retracted, and its hulking form shrank until a young man knelt alone in the snow, gasping for air.
Ronan ran a bloody hand through his dark hair.
“Mate,” His wolf’s voice roared in his head.
He stared down the path Freya had taken. “Impossible…”
Freya burst through the kitchen door, slamming it shut behind her.
“Oh heavens!” An old woman was interrupted from her dough kneading, “You scared me.”
Freya leaned against the wall, taking ragged breaths. “There’s a wolf outside. It almost killed me.”
The old woman blinked and then chuckled, “My dear, that’s quite normal around here. The Northern Wolves get out of control before nightfall. You should never be outside alone after the sun goes down.”
Freya's stomach churned. Gamma Rayes had told her to obey Alpha Roman, but she hadn’t said anything about wolves.
Before Freya could respond, the door shook from a booming voice yelling Freya's name.
Everyone in the kitchen froze.
“Alpha Uther…” The old woman quickly shoved Freya towards the kitchen door. “Run!”
Freya had barely escaped before the doors swung open and Alpha Uther strode into the room.
Everyone went silent, heads lowered, as Alpha Uther walked past.
“You left the room I assigned to you.” Alpha Uther didn’t ask a question.
Freya swallowed. “I… I was just trying to get some fresh air…”
A sharp slap echoed throughout the kitchen. Freya gasped and before she could recover, Alpha Uther grabbed her wrist.
“Come.”
Freya stumbled after him as no one dared intervene.
He dragged her towards a stone staircase leading underground, and they disappeared into a darkness beyond the great iron doors.
Cold, damp air blew out as he shoved her inside and the heavy prison gate slammed shut. “You will remain here until you learn what obedience means.”
“Please,” Freya pleaded through tears, “I made a mistake. “It won’t happen again.”
Alpha Uther stared at her without emotion. “We shall see.”
His footsteps faded into the dark.
*****
Freya huddled in the darkness. The cold seeped through her thin dress as she wrapped her arms around her knees and wept silently.
“So…” A dry, raspy voice echoed from the dark, “you have finally come to join us.”
She looked around wildly. “Is… is anyone there?”
A match was struck, its flame momentarily dancing before lighting a candle. Face after face emerged from the shadows; dozens of women, young and old, stared blankly or offered hollow smiles.
“You thought you were brought here to become a Luna,” an old woman said, stepping forward.
Freya nodded weakly.
The old woman laughed. “No, child,” she said, her voice breaking. “We all thought that but we are not brides.” She narrowed her eyes. “We are slaves.”
At first Freya thought they had lied to her until she experienced it herself.
Days blurred into a routine of endless labour and chilling chains.
The women, including her, scrubbed floors until their hands bled, hauled buckets of frigid water, and were punished for any misstep.
Each night, they were locked in the dungeons. The old woman from the kitchen would sneak them scraps of bread and sometimes whisper comforting words through the bars, but more often she would just weep.
The light slowly faded from Freya’s eyes as she no longer counted the days or hoped for rescue.
But one morning, guards unlocked her cell and told her to follow them. Expecting more punishment, she followed. However, when she arrived at her destination, servants dressed her like royalty, none of them daring to meet her gaze. Their silence is more terrifying than any threat.
That evening, Freya was escorted to Alpha Uther's chambers and the great doors closed behind her.
The next morning, Freya sat motionless in the hot water, staring at it without seeing, all her tears gone. Her spirit felt hollowed out. The maids worked around her in absolute silence.
Suddenly, the bathroom door burst open and a maid stumbled in, panting. “You won’t believe what I just heard!”
Another maid rushed to slam the door shut, whispering, “Have you lost your mind? If anyone hears you…”
“I’m telling the truth,” The first maid said, kneeling and cradling Freya's cold cheek. “My sweet girl… I think your suffering here is about to change.”
Freya’s vacant eyes lifted. “…Mine?”
The maid nodded eagerly. “You won’t be marrying Alpha Uther.”
The room went still; even the other looked shocked.
Freya blinked. “If… not him…” “Then who?”
She smiled. “The Alpha has chosen someone else. You are going to marry his son…. Alpha Ronan.”
- Writer
