Claimed by the Scarred Alpha

Chapter 3- Waking in the Cave

Rowena open her eyes. The ceiling was dark rock. A small fire burn near her feet. It smell like smoke and wet dirt.

She try to sit up. A sharp pain hit her right ribs. She groan loud and fall back on the ground. She lay on a pile of animal furs.

She look down at her body. Her iron chest plate was gone. Her chainmail was gone. She only wear her thin linen undershirt and her leather pants. Cold panic hit her chest.

"Don't move," a deep voice say from the dark corner.

Rowena snap her head to the sound. The cut on her head throbbed.

Rhydian walk into the firelight. He was a tall man. He have wide shoulders and heavy white scars across his chest and left eye. He wear only rough wool pants and no shirt. He hold a wet cloth and some crushed green leaves in his big hand.

Rowena reach fast for her sword at her hip. It was empty. Her breathing speed up.

"Where is my steel?" she demand. Her voice sound weak.

"Outside," Rhydian say. He walk closer and sit on his knees next to her. He smell like pine needles and a campfire.

He reach his hand toward her face. Rowena flinch away hard. She press her back against the cave wall.

"I need to put this on the cut," he say. He don't wait for her to say yes. He press the wet cloth and the wet leaves against her forehead. It sting bad. The smell of the leaves was sharp.

Rowena grab his thick wrist to push him away. His skin was very hot. The weird heat in her own chest flare up again instantly. It burn right through her linen shirt. She freeze.

Rhydian don't pull his arm back. He stop moving. He look down at her small hand gripping his wrist. His yellow eyes look very bright in the dark cave. The cave get very quiet. Only the fire crackled.

"Why am I alive, beast?" she ask him. She let go of his wrist.

"My name is Rhydian," he answer. He put the cloth down on the dirt. "And you are alive because I take you out of the river."

"You are a monster," Rowena say. "My men will come for me."

"They will die if they come in these caves," Rhydian say direct. He pick up a wooden cup from the ground and hold it to her mouth.

"Drink water."

Rowena push the wooden cup away. The water spill onto the dirt.

"I don't drink from a beast cup," she say. Her throat was very dry.

Rhydian don't get angry. He put the cup down near the fire. "Suit yourself."

Rowena put her hands on the cold stone wall. She try to push herself up. Her legs shake hard. The dark cave spin around her. The broken ribs grind together and a sharp pain stab her side. She fall forward.

Rhydian catch her fast. His big hands grab her bare arms. His skin burn hot against her cold skin. The weird heat flare up in her chest again. It hit her so fast it make her breath stop.

"Let me go," she hiss at him. She hit his chest with her fist. It feel like hitting a warm rock.

"You break your bones when you fall," Rhydian say. He hold her tight so she don't hit the dirt floor. "If you walk out there, you die in the cold."

He lift her back onto the animal furs. He do it easy, like she weigh nothing at all.

Rowena lay back down. She hate how weak she feel. She look up at his face. The thick white scars over his eye look rough in the fire light. "Why you don't kill me in the river?"

Rhydian look down at her. He don't look away. "Because you smell different."

Rowena frown. "I smell like steel and blood."

"No," Rhydian say low. He lean a little closer to her. "You smell like the moon."

Rowena heart beat fast against her broken ribs. Pack laws say humans are enemies. The King say wolves are monsters. But the burning heat in her chest don't care about the laws.

Outside the deep cave, a loud horn blowed in the night air. It sound very far away up the cliff. Commander Kren horn.

Rhydian stand up fast. He look at the dark tunnel entrance. His jaw tighten and his hands turn into fists. "Your men are looking."

Rhydian turn his head to the dark tunnel. His ears twitch. The horn sound again. It was closer.

He walk away from the fire. He pick up a heavy iron spear from the dark corner. He look back at Rowena on the animal furs.

"Stay here," he say cold. "Don't make noise."

"They are my men," Rowena say. She try to sit up again but the sharp pain in her broken ribs push her back down hard. She gasp for air.

"If they find you here, I kill them," Rhydian say. His yellow eyes flash in the shadows. "And they kill my pack. You stay."

He turn around and walk fast into the black tunnel. His bare feet make no sound on the cold stone.

Rowena lay alone by the small fire. The weird heat in her chest drop a little when he leave. The freezing cave air hit her thin linen shirt. She shiver. She look around the dirt floor for a weapon. She only see the wooden cup and wet leaves. She need to get out, but her body don't work.

Up on the cliff, Commander Kren stand in the mud. The rain start to fall hard. Brant and Corin hold torches next to him. The fire spit in the cold rain.

Kren look down the dark edge of the gorge. The river roar very loud at the bottom.

Vane limp forward. His arm bleed a lot from the brown wolf bite. He point down the steep slope. "She fall there, Commander. The rock break under her boot."

Kren walk to the edge. His iron boots crush the wet pine needles. He look down the cliff and see a piece of shiny metal stuck in a thick tree root halfway down.

"Bring the rope," Kren order.

Two knights tie a thick rope to an old pine tree. Brant climb down the wet dirt. The mud slide under his boots. He grab the metal and climb back up breathing hard. He put it in Kren big hand.

It was Rowena steel shoulder plate. Deep scratch marks cut through the iron. Large claws.

Kren jaw tighten fast. "The beast take her."

He drop the shoulder plate in the mud. He pull his heavy sword from his belt. The steel ring loud in the rain. "We don't go back to camp. We cross the river. We hunt the black wolf tonight."