Transformed
1725 Words
IRIS POV
My throat hurt from thirst. It felt like I swallowed broken glass. Every time I tried to breathe, my dry, swollen throat burned.
The sun had set and the hot afternoon that baked the blood onto my skin was gone. Now the night was freezing cold. The air cut through my torn uniform like knives and made me shake hard against the thick wooden post.
The courtyard was deserted now, everyone had returned to the warmth of their quarters.
Flies buzzed against my ear, their erratic, high-pitched droning echoing loudly in the silence of the night.
I could feel dozens of tiny, heavy legs perching on the wound at my back, and feeding on the sticky half-dried blood.
I twitched my muscle uncomfortably, trying to chase the pest away, but it was useless. The minor movement sent pain shooting straight up my spine.
A breathless sob escaped from my lips.
My forehead pressed hard against the rough, unforgiving bark of the post. The heavy iron cuffs holding my wrists behind the wood rattled weakly. I was completely paralyzed, trapped in a cage of physical torture, waiting for my body to give out.
“How does it feel to be whipped!” A familiar voice said, approaching me.
The footsteps were soft, clicking lightly against the gravel, entirely unbothered by the darkness. I didn't even need to look up to recognize the cadence of that walk.
Mira— I gritted my teeth.
The raw fury that sparked in my chest was so intense it temporarily numbed the burning fire on my back.
I forced my heavy eyelids open, tilting my head slightly to look through the curtain of my matted hair. She stood just inches away, illuminated by the pale moonlight, her face twisted into a smug, mocking expression.
“What did you want?” I rasped, my voice barely recognizable.
She chuckled.
“Checking up on my friend.”
Friend? The word now sound foreign. It felt like poison on my tongue, twisting my stomach in a knot.
Do friends betray each other? Real friends doesn’t laugh at someone’s hurt. Real friends don't watch with a satisfied smile while you are broken and stripped of your dignity.
She stepped closer with confidence and shifted my hair backwards and exposing my battered, pale face to the cold night wind.
Then her hands wanted to touch my back, her fingers hovering just above the deepest lacerations on my shoulder blades, but I moved away. Wrenching my body forward as much as the iron links would allow.
“Don’t touch me, snake!” I snarled, my voice trembling with an explosive mixture of agony and pure hatred.
Mira folded her hands back in. Her jaw clenched, the soft, playful facade she had worn for weeks instantly vaporizing into something incredibly dark and sinister.
A dangerous fire flared in her eyes. Without a single word of warning, she lunged forward, her fingers knotting tightly into the roots of my hair, and she forcefully dragged me backward.
My neck snapped back at an unnatural angle, forcing me to look up into her venomous face. The agonizing tension pulled at the raw wounds on my spine, making me hiss in pain.
“You want to know how I feel as you are this miserable!” she whispered loudly, her breath hot against my cheek as she tightened her grip on my scalp.
I gritted my teeth, refusing to give her the satisfaction of another scream. I stared back at her, my vision blurry but my eyes burning with defiance.
“It a wonderful feeling, Iris, seeing you bleed makes me happy.”
The sheer malice in her voice made my breath hitch. I looked at the girl who had brought me tea, the girl who had smiled at me when I was terrified, the girl who had pretended to be my only anchor in this living hell.
“But you were kind to me!” I choked out, the raw shock of her cruelty still stinging worse than any physical blade.
“Kind?” She laughed bitterly, the sound sharp and grating in the empty courtyard. She threw her head back, shaking me by my hair as if the very idea was the funniest joke she had ever heard. “That was not geninue, fool.”
I scoffed, and realized how blind I had been.
“Why will I even be kind to the child of the man who murdered my mistress.”
I froze. Wait, what?
The words echoed in my ears, freezing the blood in my veins.
“You are Lola’s maid,” I breathed, the realization hitting me like a physical blow.
She nodded her head, her smile stretching wider, turning into something completely unhinged.
“Smart thinking! The first day I saw you, I feel like tearing you off right away, but I couldn’t because of the Alpha. Seeing how vulnerable you were, an idea came. I gained your trust because you are so foolish, and I planted the ring on your bed.”
I scoffed again. What a fool I was to think I could have friend in an enemy pack. I had practically handed her the knife to cut my own throat. I had let my guard down because I was desperate for a single drop of warmth, and she had used it to build the perfect trap.
“My plan turned out perfect, can’t you see the moon goddess favors me.” Mira boasted, her chest heaving as she soaked in her victory.
“You are pathetic!” I growled, my voice vibrating with a primal rage that began to stir something deep within my soul.
She laughed like a psycho, a manic, high-pitched cackle that broke the silence of the night. Suddenly, the laughter cut off, and she reached into the folds of her skirt, bringing out a sharp black dagger. The obsidian blade caught the pale moonlight, gleaming with a lethal, sinister light.
I watched in horror.
My heart beat increased. So she is planning to kill me silently and blame it on the punishment. If I died chained to this pole, everyone would simply assume my body had succumbed to the thirty lashes. Ryker wouldn't question it. The head maid wouldn't care. She would get away with murder, and I would die a disgraced thief.
She grabbed my hands forcefully, twisting my chained wrists to expose the pale, vulnerable skin of my forearms.
“Leave me alone!” I screamed kicking my legs out, but she pinned me down with the weight of her body.
“Go to hell, Iris,” she snarled and raised the dagger up then cut into the skin in my hands.
Ah—
The black blade sliced deep into my wrists. Blood rushed on the floor, hot and crimson, splashing onto the cold gravel beneath us.
A violent jolt of pure pain shot through me, vibrating up my arms and shattering the last of my physical strength. My head fell back against the wood, my breath coming in ragged, shallow gasps as the world began to spin.
Mira watched, triumphant. She leaned over my bleeding hands, her face illuminated by the moonlight, looking entirely intoxicated by the sight of my life force draining onto the stones.
“Now you will bleed to death and no one will suspect me,” she whispered maliciously and looked up at the sky with a dramatic breath.
“Mistress, I’ve avenged you!”
As the darkness began to pull at the edges of my conscious mind, a sudden, blinding wave of anger surge through me. It wasn't just my anger. Deep within the core of my soul, I could feel Snow rage building up, a roaring, untamed fire that completely incinerated the weakness in my limbs.
Don’t hurt Iris!
Snow's voice echoed in my head, no longer a whimper, but a terrifying, deafening roar of a protector pushed past her limits.
She growled, a primal, earth-shaking sound that rattled the very air in the courtyard. Suddenly, an explosive rush of adrenaline flooded my veins. My bones began to shift, lengthening and expanding.
With a sickening c***k, all my body twisted. The sheer force of my sudden transformation expanded outward, and the heavy iron chain shattered into pieces, the metal links exploding off the wooden pole and flew across the courtyard.
Mira eyes widened in horror. She stumbled backward, tripping over her own feet, her eyes reflecting Snow towering figure.
Howllllll
Snow threw her head back, unleashing a deafening, blood-curdling howl that echoed across the entire mountain.
Mira scrambled backward on her hands and knees, her face completely drained of color. She wanted to transform, her own wolf fighting to come to the surface to save her, but she was too slow. Before she could even begin the shift, Snow's sharp claws landed on her chest.
With blinding speed and brutal force, the heavy white paw slashed downward. Mira screamed as she fell to the ground, weak and bleeding, her chest torn open. She coughed violently, and thick blood dripped from her mouth, staining the gravel as she lay paralyzed under Snow's colossal weight.
The heavy iron doors of the guards' quarters and the manor slammed open. Within seconds, guards and maids had already gathered, holding fire torches high in the air. They ran into the courtyard, but the moment the light hit the center of the yard, they froze.
Hundreds of eyes stared at the massive white wolf standing triumphantly over the bleeding body of the pack's maid. The torches flickered, casting long, monstrous shadows across the stone walls. Nobody dared to move.
The adrenaline suddenly vanished from my system as quickly as it had arrived. The overwhelming pain from my shredded back and sliced wrists came rushing back in a tidal wave. Snow whimpered, her massive legs buckling beneath her.
I fell down to the floor, the white fur retracting into my skin as I transformed back into my human shape, laying naked and shivering on the bloody stones.
Footsteps rushed towards me. I forced my heavy eyelids open one last time. My vision became blurry, the flickering torchlight spinning around the courtyard. Through the haze, a massive figure knelt down beside me. I saw Ryker face doubling before my eyes closed, darkness completely consuming my world.
- Writer
