Fate in circles

CHAPTER TWO

“Quiet!” Mr Thompson growls at a crying Christie. “One more word and you’d be left alone in this jungle. Left for all the weird animals there are in here and we all know you can not save yourself.”

“She’s so weak…,” Abigail smirks “Weak! Weak! Weak!”

“Daddy, I do not want to go please,” Christie begs. Clasping her hands together and crying her eyes out.

“Right! So what would you be doing with me?” Mr Thompson’s voice was rough

“I - I could be - I could work. Do all the house chores.” Christie stutters. The fear and pain of going off to the Lycan king’s house for a plot of land is evident in her voice.

For the life of hers she couldn’t understand why she had to be the one given off for a plot of land and even though it wasn’t worded like it truly was, she knew she was being sold for a silly land. The realization broke her heart in ways words couldn’t perfectly put.

“Please, Daddy! Please-eee,” her voice broke and anyone around would think Mr Thompson would feel just a little sympathy and give her a chance but his mind was set.

“Abigail…,” Christie calls out, turning to her sister

“Who??” The excitement was evident in her face. “Do not call me. You have to be married off. Besides everyone, we’d have mates one day. I would too” She gives an evil laugh

“I know, but can I at least choose who?”

“Choose??” Abigail exchanged stares with her father. “You wanna choose??” She asked in feigning surprise. “You’ve gotten bolder, haven’t you?” she asks in a drawl.

“That’s not what I meant,” Christie shook her head so fast it hurt. “I … I just wanna be able to …”

“Quiet!! You self-entitled nitwit. When you get there, you’d tell the king that.” And with that, he drags her into the gate of the Dunson Pack.

The building was really big. The Dunson pack was one of the strongest packs if not the strongest in the werewolf clan. Christie looked around, trying to find a comforting face amid the people walking seriously with faces as blank as sheets.

“Stop there!” a loud voice barks. They turn around to see a man whose body frame matches his voice.

“I… we…,” Mr Thompson stutters.

“Choose a pronoun.” the guard barks at a terrified Mr Thompson.

Christie, who had never seen her father this terrified, furrowed her brows. For a moment she forgot about her suffering and watched between her father and the guard in sheer amazement.

“We were invited by the King, sire.” Mr Thompson, who isn’t exactly short, trembled as he looked small beside this giant. His face was turned upward and a scared Abigail at his heel.

“For?”

“Marriage. I mean… I mean, mating”

“Huh?” The guard spat

“We brought her…” he moves Christie gently forward.

For the first time in what Christie can remember her father was being nice to her and it disgusted her that he had to be this frightened to be nice to her. At that moment she wanted to run away from him. From this intimidating angry guard to a mountain top far away to scream her lungs out.

The guard did an angry swipe of them all and began walking away.

“Father…” Abigail started. Her voice was laced with confusion and was barely above a whisper. “What do we do?”

Just then the guard looked back

“What are y’all standing there for?”

Christie stumbles forward. “I think this is our cue to follow” she announced as she walked gingerly behind the guard.

Inside was like nothing they all had seen. Beautiful and so big. Artwork hung on all the doors of the house. There were vases as large as a tree. The stairs leading to wherever they lead have beautiful rugs on them. Just then a lady walked in.

She looks old but beautiful and her hips sways pleasantly when she walks. She smiled at the strangers.

“Hy Anna, kindly take her to her room,” the guard said

“Who?” Her brows furrowed as she tried to decide which out of the two girls in front of her she was taking

“The brunette,” he replied curtly and left.

“Alright.” She looked at Christie and smiled. She had noticed her the moment she walked into the hall. The child’s eyes had held what hers had many years ago.

She walked to the small group “alright sweetie… ” she stretched out her hands in front of Christie.

Christie, who has never been used to people being nice to her, looks at the outstretched hand, contemplatively.

It didn’t make sense. None of what was happening made sense. One moment she was being sold off, next she was at the house of the person who was to buy her off her family offering a plot of land and in that same house, she was being called sweetie and offered a hand.

“What’s she smiling for?” She thought squinting her brows suspiciously.

She gave one more look at the hand tracing it to its owner and turned back at her family.

“Father. Abigail… ” the tears in her eyes threatening to drop “Please, I do not want to stay here. Let me come back with you guys.” She turned to Abigail “I’d be nice back at home.”

Abigail attempted to say something. The moment they walked into the hall, she had taken a look at the exterior and decided she’d rather be the one being sold off to this beautiful place. She wanted to protest when Mr Thompson answered “Nah. You have to be here.”

As the tears came down, she wiped them off angrily.

“The king would require your presence shortly, sweetie,” Anna said

That was all the prompts Christie needed. With her heart shattered beyond redemption, she turned around, taking Anna’s outstretched hand, walking up one of the stairs without a second glance at the people she had called family. Into a future so bleak and uncertain.

Anna opened one of the doors in the long passage. The room was bigger than what she had been shoved in back at the Crimson pack and decently decorated.

“Do take a shower and relax, sweetie.”

Christie nodded, trying to take in everything in the room all at once.

“What’s your name?”

“My name’s Christie, ma.”

Anna laughed sweetly. “Christie.” She repeated, testing the name on her tongue.” Now; that’s a very nice name.” She laughs again. Christie blushed and looked at her feet.

“My name’s Anna. If you need anything let me know.

“Yes ma” she curtsied, and held her hands in front of her.

“Go shower. The king will send for you soon” and with that, Anna walked out of the room.

Christie spent minutes admiring the room before remembering Anna’s instruction. She has heard a lot about the king and she wouldn’t want to fall off his good graces before she even had a chance to be in it because she was late when he asked for her.

She rushed into the small but cute bathroom to shower.

She was just done eating the meal Anna had sent someone to give her when she heard footsteps.

“Hi…,” a gruff voice called out and before she could think of anything, her room door was pushed back and opened.