Taken
1129 Words
ISABELLA'S POV
“What do you mean?”
The words barely left my mouth, my voice sounded distant. Broken as if someone else had spoken them. I stared at my father, then my mother. Waiting… Praying…Begging for one of them to tell me this was a mistake. Neither did, the silence was answer enough. My heart pounded painfully against my ribs.
“No.”
I shook my head.
“No, tell me what’s happening.”
Still nothing, my father’s gaze remained fixed on the floor. My mother wiped away tears she refused to explain, I felt sick.
“Father?”
Nothing.
“Mother?”
Her lips trembled.
“I am sorry.”
The words hit me like a slap. Sorry? Was that all she could say? As a mother, couldn’t she do more to protect me and speak up for me? I took a step back.
“You sold me?”
The council chamber remained silent, no one denied it. No one defended them, no one defended me. The realization crashed over me all at once. They had known every person in this room had known. Everyone except me, rage burned through the shock.
“You sold me?”
My voice cracked.
“To him?”
I pointed directly at Lucien, the Sorcerer Alpha didn’t react. He stood perfectly still. Watching. Waiting. Like a king observing a storm from the safety of his throne.
“I am your daughter!”
Tears blurred my vision.
“How could you do this?”
My father finally looked at me, the guilt in his eyes only made everything worse.
“It had to be done.”
The room spun, those four words hurt more than any explanation ever could. It had to be done, as though I were livestock. As though I were a debt, as though I were nothing. Lucien’s voice cut through the room.
“ENOUGH!!”
Every head turned toward him, his silver eyes settled on my parents.
“The agreement has been fulfilled.”
His gaze shifted to me.
“Say your goodbyes.”
A cold chill crawled down my spine.
“What?”
“We leave now.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“Now?”
“Now.”
“You can’t be serious.”
His expression remained unreadable.
“I am always serious.”
Anger replaced my fear.
“You expect me to just leave?”
“Yes.”
“I need to pack.”
“No.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“You will have everything you require at my castle.”
I laughed, a short, hysterical sound.
“You think I care about clothes?”
For the first time something flickered in his eyes. Annoyance.
“You have five minutes.”
“I am not going anywhere with you.”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop. Nobody moved. Nobody breathed. Lucien took a single step forward. The dark power surrounding him pressed against my skin not enough to hurt. Enough to remind me exactly who he was.
“You are.”
My wolf whimpered and my courage nearly vanished but not quite. I lifted my chin.
“I hate you.”
"I don't care"
His expression never changed.
Then he turned and walked toward the door, confident and certain. As if the matter had already been decided maybe it had because nobody stopped him. Not my father, not my mother. Not a single warrior in the room. I looked around desperately searching for someone. Anyone to speak up for me and tell them how wrong this was. I was desperately looking for someone to give me a life line but no one did, no one met my gaze and that was then that I realized that my own family had betrayed me and sold me off to an alpha that had horror stories following him.
A few minutes later I found myself walking out of the packhouse with tears streaming down my face, no bags. No belongings, no future. Only the monster waiting beside a black carriage, Lucien climbed inside first. Without a word without offering a hand. Without looking back, I hated him for that.
I hated myself even more when I followed, the journey felt endless. The silence was unbearable, I sat across from him the entire time. Too afraid to speak too angry to stay quiet. Outside the windows, familiar forests slowly disappeared. The farther we traveled, the darker the landscape became. The trees twisted into strange shapes, the roads grew emptier. Even the moonlight seemed colder. I couldn’t stop wondering what awaited me.
A prison? A dungeon? A torture chamber? Every horrible story I’d ever heard about Lucien Nightbane replayed in my head. Yet throughout the journey he never once spoke, never once looked at me. Hours later the carriage finally stopped, my breath caught. A massive castle rose from the mountainside, dark towers pierced the night sky. Countless windows glowed with golden light. It looked less like a home and more like a kingdom.
Fear tightened around my chest, this was it. I was trapped, Lucien stepped out first.
The moment his attention shifted toward the castle, I made my decision. Run. I bolted. My feet slammed against the ground. Branches whipped across my arms, I ran faster than I ever had in my life…I was chasing freedom it was the only thing I needed freedom. Behind me I heard shouting, then footsteps…then growls. A hand wrapped around my arm. Hard.
I screamed, the world spun. Seconds later I found myself pinned against a tree. Breathing hard. Terrified. A massive warrior towered over me. His grip felt like iron.
“Let me go!”
The warrior looked amused.
“You almost made it thirty feet.”
”That is very impressive”
I struggled harder, the man sighed, then someone stepped from the darkness. Lucien. The warrior immediately released me and stepped back. I stumbled, Lucien’s silver eyes met mine.
Cold…unreadable and a little bit scary. For a moment neither of us spoke, then he glanced toward the forest.
“You cannot escape this place.”
His voice was quiet, dangerously quiet.
“I will keep trying.”
Something strange crossed his face, not anger. Not amusement, almost disappointment. Then it vanished.
“Try again if you wish.”
My heart pounded, his next words sent ice through my veins.
“But understand this, Isabella.”
It was the first time he had spoken my name.
“The things beyond these walls are far more dangerous than I am.”
And with that, he turned and walked toward the castle, leaving me standing in the darkness. Wondering if, for the first time in my life, I had just been warned by the monster everyone feared.
- Writer
