HIS CAPTIVE, HIS MATE

CHAPTER 3

Within an hour, I had experienced so much within Alpha Jack's tent. When I stepped out and came to Zara's side, her eyes were fixed on me, and her expression was one of concern. I knew she expected me to cry or break down from the horrors I had just witnessed, but instead I kept my expression blank and my gaze fixated on the ground. Even meeting Zara's gaze made me feel ashamed. When her hands attempted to contact me, I backed away.

"Lyra... did he hurt you?” She asked, her voice shaking with terror.

I stayed silent and my lips refused to move as if locking the truth inside would keep the horror away. I didn't want to talk about what had happened, and saying it out would force me to relive it. I just didn't have the energy to talk about it; else, I'd cry.

Zara's eyes were on mine, anxious for a response, but I couldn't give her what she wanted. The reality was too nasty, and I should just keep it within my head. Nobody should know about it, not even Zara!

"I will wait until you are ready to talk to me," she added a few minutes later, and I was delighted she did.

Later, we were compelled to march across new territory. When I looked at Zara, I could see the remorse on her face. She felt accountable for everything that had occurred to us, but all I could do was bear the burden of my own anguish. I was unable to console her. I was imprisoned in my thoughts, plagued by what Alpha Jack had done to me. We had to walk for a few days, which was terrible.

"Zara..." I was finally able to whisper her name one day.

Her head sprang up, and she hurried to my side, relieved.

"Lyra! You're talking again!" She exclaimed. "I am sorry for all you have had to go through because of me; it is all my responsibility!"She cried.

I muttered, "Yes, everything is your fault."

"I'm so sorry, Lyra. I'm sincerely sorry."

"I'll only forgive you under one condition," I murmured, barely above a whisper.

She blinked, shocked. "A condition?" What is it?"

"Stay alive. "Don't provoke Alpha Jack," I said, my tone chilly.

I felt nauseous just saying his name. There was a shadow in me now, which he had left behind. I have a scar that is too deep to heal, and I have no idea how to survive after that. I was so confused and devastated, and even though I tried so hard to remain calm, how could I bear the humiliation for the rest of my life?

"Promise me, Zara."

"I promise. We will get out of here…alive," she promised me, but I sensed hesitation in her voice. I was likewise skeptical that we could get out of Alpha Jack's clutches alive. That is near to impossible! I shook my head.

"I do not think I will make it. He treated me cruelly and violently, but... But my body responded to him." My voice cracked as I admitted the shame that had been festering inside me. "He kept calling me a slut over and over. And, I think... Perhaps he’s correct. I'm a w***e, Zara!”

The tears I'd been keeping back eventually came out. For the first time since it happened, I allowed myself to cry. I was broken, and I couldn't hide it any longer. Zara put her arms around me and shook her head vehemently.

"No, Lyra. You are not a slut. I've read in books that the body may respond to things... Things that are forced upon us. It is not your fault. Your body's reaction to that bastard does not make you any less of a victim. You did not ask for this. He is the monster, not you.”

"He is horrible," I said quietly.

"I agree," Zara said softly. "He is a monster!”

I looked at her and said, "Zara, don't forget your promise.. Stay away from him.

She nodded solemnly. "I will." I will not let him hurt you again. I won't let him injure me either.

But, as she spoke, one of the guards shouted that we were approaching our destination—The Nightshade Pack. My heart fell deep into my chest. I knew we were coming to an end. The children were hungry, and the women were fatigued. There was nothing I could say to alleviate their anguish. Zara was already upset with our circumstances.

"I heard from one of his servants that the Nightshade Pack is beautiful," I murmured, attempting to divert myself from the horror that gripped me.

Zara moaned beside me, "Maybe, but to me, it's just a beautiful prison."

Her words struck me hard, and I found myself nodding in accord. "I hope someone will come and save us," I said quietly, though I wasn't sure I believed it.

"The beta! When the Beta returns, he will most likely question why the pack is empty!" Zara said.

I hadn't even considered the Beta, but Zara was correct. Perhaps he'd come for us. Perhaps there was still hope, after all. But as we entered the Nightshade Pack, that hope vanished as swiftly as it had appeared. The woods opened up to show a stunning expanse of land, but it felt like a cage—a beautiful, terrible trap!

Before I could process it, the soldiers screamed orders for us to bathe. I hadn't anticipated this, and the prospect of being stripped naked in front of them drove waves of humiliation through me. They started pulling off our clothes without any notice. I slapped one of the men in rage, but he hit me back so hard that I nearly lost my feet.

The pain stung, but the helplessness hurt much more. There was nothing I could do. They threw me into the common bath, and I felt completely exposed, vulnerable to their leering gaze. I folded my arms over my chest in an attempt to hide, but it wasn't enough. As I trembled in the water, I realized this was more than simply a bath. It was the final denial of our dignity. And I was afraid I wouldn't live long enough to regain it.

Zara murmured, "I think dying is preferable to this," and I knew she was fighting her own devil.

"You promised me," I reminded her, but as she appeared to be about to cry, I couldn't hold back my tears.

I broke down, collapsing to my knees with tears flowing down my cheeks and burying my head in my hands. I cried harder than ever before, and my chest was heaving with uncontrollable sobbing.

"Lyra, what's wrong? Hey?"

I choked out.

"I think…I think I was born to suffer," and my voice cracked.