Chapter 1
1279 Words
Piper
My eyes open at the sound of the heavy wooden door opening. I’ve grown familiar with this little routine over the last few months. Not that it started out this way.
At the beginning, King Andrew made an attempt to win me over. He gave me a decent room and had me eat dinners with him. He tried to make conversation, he even tried to make it seem like he wasn’t the bad guy here.
Unfortunately I knew he was full of s**t. Not that I needed to read his energy for that one.
He got pissed off about two weeks in when I still refused to speak a word. That’s when he decided that the cellar in his stupid castle was where I belonged. It’s where I’ve been ever since.
He has one of his cronies bring me meals but only because he doesn’t want to kill me. He knows he needs me to help him complete whatever f****d up goal he’s trying to reach. Not that I’ve budged any.
“I’m glad to see you’re awake.” King Andrew announces as he walks into the room. “Have you decided to cooperate?”
Sitting up, I give him the same blank stare that I’ve given everyday. He just looks at me and waits for a moment before getting irritated that I haven’t given him an answer.
“Fine.” He sneers. “You know the drill, I’ll be back in five minutes and you better be ready.”
He turns around and leaves the room, shutting the door behind him. I get off of the bed and change from the pair of leggings I’ve been allowed into jeans. Then I pull on my jacket and sit down to wait for my punishment.
Every day I don’t comply with King Andrew, he feels the need to walk me through his people to embarrass me. It’s been every day since I’ve arrived and still, he doesn’t get the reaction he wants.
The first week was the only time I let it get to me, but after that I’ve had to push my emotions to the side. It’s the only way I’ve been able to cope with being away from Jaxon and my pack. Especially since I haven’t been able to mind link thanks to the Wolfsbane King Andrew keeps around me.
The door opens again and here comes King Andrew. I place my hands out in front of me and he has a servant place cuffs around my wrist. Then the servant collars me like I’m a f*****g dog. He grabs the chain hooked to the metal around my neck and gives it to King Andrew.
I feel anger and animosity twisting in my stomach but I won’t let it show. I won’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me feel a damn thing.
He pulls on the chain and I stand up, forcing my face to remain emotionless. King Andrew turns around and begins to guide us out of the room in the cellar. We go up some stairs and down a hall until we reach the doors to the castle.
His guards open the doors and I take in a deep breath, letting it out as we get closer to the steps. He begins to lead the way down and I can already feel the eyes on me. This has become such an event he has people lined up now to try and shame me.
I keep my eyes forward, focused on ignoring those around me. I can hear their snickering and I can even hear the whispers they share. I just can’t pick up on the words because Wolfsbane has affected almost all of my abilities.
I haven’t been able to shift into my wolf form, that’s been a whole nother level of torture. I feel restless all the time because of it. I know I won’t be satisfied until I can finally get a run in, but that won’t be for awhile.
Even if by some miracle I get away from the Wolfsbane, it’s going to take awhile to work its way out of my system. I’m looking at weeks at least until I’ll feel normal and be able to use any of my abilities effectively.
“Do you see that Piper?” King Andrew asks with malicious intent in his voice. “Do you see how they look at you?”
My throat bobs as I swallow down some air. I don’t have to look at them to feel the judgment in their eyes. In their opinion I’m the scum of the earth because I won’t cooperate.
King Andrew stops and that’s what pulls my attention, he never stops when we do this. He watches as I look at him and try to figure out what’s going on. Even though I don’t relay any emotion it seems any kind of rise out of me is good enough for him.
“We’re doing things a little different tonight Piper.” His eyes darken as he closes the gap between us. “All you’ve done is take my people’s resources and you’ve yet to give something back. I think we need to fix that.”
I feel knots tightening in my stomach. His eyes are sinister and I can tell I’m not going to like what he has planned.
“You have one last chance.” He spits out. “Join me. Help this Kingdom rule over the very best of the wolves, or else.”
I continue to look at him, refusing to give him the words he wants. I know from experience he’ll just tell me what the alternative is. And as if right on cue, he does.
“Fine.” He yanks the chain and pulls me off of the path, right toward a platform raised above a crowd of people forming. “Then I think it’s time to return your power back to the Moon Goddess. If you’re just going to be a waste then I’ll be lucky to save myself the dead weight.”
I feel myself panicking as I look around. I try to find a way out of this but I’m trapped. The only way is if I agree to his sick plans but I won’t do that. I won’t allow him to win, so I’m prepared to face my own death.
My chest feels tight as he pulls me over to the middle of the platform. I can feel the emotions trying to surface but I refuse to let them out. The only thing that escapes is a single tear as he has his servants place three more chains at the collar before hooking them to the platform, making it impossible for me to move.
King Andrew says some words to the crowd in front of him. I ignore him as I focus on trying to remain calm. I know it’s just a matter of time before my fate is sealed.
He finishes speaking and I hear his footsteps come closer to me. “Show me your throat you bitch.”
Gulping, I close my eyes and move my head to the side. As I accept the fact my throat is about to be ripped out, I feel a sense of calmness come over me. I feel at ease and it doesn’t make any sense to me, but then I hear it.
There’s a loud howl that rips through the crowd and my eyes open. I can’t see him, but I can feel him. I feel the wolf side of me begin to stir and now it makes sense as to why I’m so calm.
Jaxon’s here.
- Writer
