Slave of the Alpha's Heart

Chapter 6

That someone is rather going to be me.” Gwen’s face was set. She stood looking at Blade like she wanted to strike him.

Kael voice rang out again. “If she is to take her place so be it then”. He struck his sceptre onto the chair for the second time as his face reflected his fury on the turn of events. However, he could do nothing about it.

The law of indemnity held good in all wolf clans. It superseded even Kael’s command.

“Take her to the dungeons, feed her on bread and water till we hold the stands at the manor again.”

Gwen was matched to the depth of the manor . She watched at the pitiful eyes of her friends and fellow farmhands. She felt most of all the red eyes of betrayal. She felt the hate for her mate rising to the top as she was matched down the stairs to the cold damp room.

The door shut with a loud bang and stirred her woes further. The walls of the prison was littered with lichen and smelt like a dog’s breath. She sat for several hours until the door opened again. Her guard came back for her and took her to the hallways that led her to a cell with chains around the wall and a table and a chair in the centre. He gestured with the end of his staff towards her food tray and she ate without any complaint.

It was stale bread, but at least it was something and after her days of eating bland food from the dining hall, this was as good as it would get.

The other prisoner had been there all night, sitting on the floor by a barred window watching her through slitted eyes.

There wasn’t much to see, just her back, hunched over. She hadn’t moved since he’d taken his seat beside her. He knew her name – Astrid – from his own time spent here. The guards had never talked about her; she was just another person in the prison. He didn’e even know if they let her out for meals anymore. He didn’e really care, to be honest, as long as she did the work he expected her to do when asked and didn’t complain about how it got colder during the nights.

He watched her now, her back still to him. They weren’e supposed to talk to each other, but he thought maybe that wouldn’e make any difference with her in such an empty place. There were no other prisoners here, not even the ones who worked here before. He guessed those were probably dead too, like most of them. He didn’t have anyone else left to kill – the guards didn’t allow any prisoners to leave their cells. No one could go outside without special permission, anyway.

So he sat there in silence, waiting until it was dark enough that he could sneak around the block and grab some food.

He was hungry and tired and cold and wanted nothing more than to sit down somewhere and eat. Maybe even sleep if he felt like it. It was getting harder and harder every day to keep himself awake, especially these days. But first he had to steal some of the stale bread from the mess cart where he slept. After that, he wouldn’e have to worry about starving or freezing tonight. If he remembered right, the guards used to throw away old rations they couldn’t use, and he should be able to find plenty to fill himself up with for once.

If he found anything interesting to eat, that is.

He slipped away from the cell block without disturbing her and crept past another guard who was patrolling, nodding respectfully when he saw the boy’s face. Then he took off, darting past the kitchen door and into the hallway.

He made his way quickly around the corner and almost ran headlong into one of the guards who must’ve been walking in that direction as well.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going!”

He stumbled back and glared, ready to snap back. Then he recognized him – the blond guy with the big dumb dog. He had to remember his name, but all those years of fighting together in the trenches had left his memory pretty hazy. He didn’t recognize him from his squad either

but that might just be because his head was starting to hurt so bad.

The blonde turned around then and started walking back to where they’d parked their car. The man who he was with followed behind him, still glaring at the other soldier, clearly not happy about something. Something told him it wasn’t a good time to ask what.

The headache was starting to get better now – it was actually tolerable. His vision was starting to return too; he could see the two soldiers were wearing helmets, which meant there were no windows or blinds. It also meant, if he focused hard enought anything good. He watched them go and when the other soldier finally disappeared he leaned back against a tree and closed his eyes. If there were trees here, that is. This place must have been on fire once upon a time, since everything around him was completely black and burned. That explained why his vision was returning. He felt for his phone. No signal – probably cause of the flames. And his hearing had gone too; if he listened real close he thought he could hear someone yelling. Someone like the blonde soldier, anyway.

But he wasn’t sure which direction they went and he couldn’t tell which direction he needed to go in. So instead of following he tried to stand again. But the pain in his head made him dizzy and fall to the ground. s**t, he really should have known better. He hadn’t even checked his head wound and now it was starting to swell. Damn, he needed to get out of here quickly before the others found him unconscious and took advantage of him.

With a grunt he pushed himself up from the ground and stood, looking around carefully. He saw some trees further down the road and took off running towards them. If they led to another way out of here then he’d take it, especially now that he knew there weren’t any windows and blinds to block him from getting shot by the enemy. Or maybe he could run away from the German soldiers if he was careful, he mused as he ran. Probably not the best idea, but that could be an option, right?

After running into a few more trees and stumbling over rocks he found himself standing in front of a large gate. Well, s**t, that was weird. There weren’t supposed to be any buildings nearby. He walked up to the gate and peered inside. Nothing seemed to be in the house, just a small shed. Maybe someone else had crashed there before this place had burned down. But this wasn’t a part of the forest where people would live. This was a desert zone. Was there anything at all worth looting in this town that didn’t belong to someone? What if he got shot?

No, he wasn’t going to think like that. He could hear footsteps coming down the path behind him and he didn’t want to know how many soldiers were coming after him. Better to get out of here while he still could. He stepped around the gate and looked around, trying to figure out which way to run. He glanced behind him and saw one of the soldiers emerge through the trees. f**k! He turned to run the other way – but just before he did something caught his eye. A large wooden beam sticking up out of the ground next to the shed. Perfect! He ran toward the fence separating the property from the main road, jumping up and grabbing hold of it and pulling himself over the top. Now all he had to do was find cover.

Once he reached a relatively safe area he dropped to the ground, taking a look around for anyone who might have followed him. It didn’t seem likely, however; he figured they wouldn’t be able to track him down this far away from home. He crouched down in the tall grass, trying to stay hidden under the cover of a large bush, and peeked around the corner. There was nothing but trees, a road and…

A truck drove past slowly, heading toward the main road. As soon as it went by his heart skipped a beat, but the only other thing he could hear was the sound of birds chirping in the trees. He stood up and cautiously approached the truck, looking up at the driver’s seat. He was young, younger than him, maybe fifteen.

He jumped at the sight of the driver’s face, realizing that the boy was looking straight at him. “f**k!” he cursed, backing away.

It wasn’t that he wanted to get shot – hell no! – but he was afraid that the boy might shoot him for sneaking up on him. He heard a gunshot ring out a second later, but it didn’t come from inside the house. Had that been a warning shot? He couldn’t decide whether he felt relief or fear at the thought of being alive. Either way, he decided he had to make sure there were no more shots fired, so he crept back onto the road and began to follow the other truck. Hopefully the boy wasn’t as good of a shot as that first one.

He followed the vehicle for about five minutes without incident, until suddenly he came across another road.

He didn’t like the look of it; it was completely deserted, so much so that his stomach lurched a little bit with each step he took in that direction.

When the van pulled up at what looked like an abandoned house from afar, he made his decision and hopped off the highway, running as fast as possible in the opposite direction.

A few seconds later, he ran headlong into a tall figure who had been standing outside the house. The man let out a small yell of surprise, but otherwise remained motionless, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. “You okay?” he asked.

Harry stared up at him with wide, frightened eyes. His legs felt weak underneath him and for some reason he couldn’t catch his breath, so he just sat down on the ground, clutching his chest.

The man crouched down next to him. He reached out a hand and placed it on Harry’s shoulder. At first, Harry flinched away, but as soon as he felt the contact, all the tension seemed to leave his body. He leaned back against the wall behind him and closed his eyes. As he breathed in deeply, he could smell something familiar in this stranger’s scent–a warm, earthy scent, which reminded him of the woods at home.

After a long moment passed between them, Harry slowly opened his eyes again and saw that the man was still kneeling beside him. “You… You scared me.” His voice cracked halfway through the sentence.

The man laughed lightly. “Yeah, no s**t. I didn’t even see you coming!” He stood back up and offered his hand to Harry once more. “My name is Ron Weasley.”

Harry hesitated, then accepted his offer and allowed the other boy to pull him to his feet. He winced when his knee popped loudly. “I’m Harry Potter,” he muttered quietly.

“Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine.”

Harry had thought he’d seen Ron’s face contort into confusion, or maybe fear, for a brief second, before the other boy smiled softly and shook his head. “I’ll take your word for it. Where are you heading?”

“Um…” Harry wasn’t sure how to respond to Ron’s question. If he told him the truth, would the redhead run off screaming and tell others? Or worse, would he call an ambulance?

In the end, it turned out to be easier than he thought to just keep quiet. He glanced around one last time, taking in the surrounding area; nothing was different there, so why was his heart racing, anyway? “Do you live here?” Harry finally asked.

Ron nodded. “It seems that we do.”

“What’s inside that house?” Harry tried to point toward the abandoned house. It was obvious that there were some serious magical workings going on there, but he hadn’t been able to identify any of their purposes yet. Not that he understood them anyway.

Ron shrugged nonchalantly. “We don’t know much about it. We haven’t lived here in years, actually. I used to live over at Godric’s Hollow, though.”

Harry looked around, trying to get a better idea of what exactly they were dealing with in front of them. “Where are your parents now?”

“Gone to Australia with my cousin for a few months now.”

“So your dad owns a house?”

This time, Ron laughed. “Not quite, but pretty close. What did you think it was?”

Harry thought back to his encounter with Ron earlier that day. There was something about him that set Harry’s teeth on edge. He couldn’t place it, however, and Ron’s smile was beginning to fade.

“Well, thanks for helping me,” Harry said quickly, hoping he sounded sincere.

Something flashed in Ron’s eyes for a split second – worry? Annoyance? But whatever it was, he managed to conceal it quickly. “Of course! Just make sure not to lose your way or anything. See you around, Harry!” Without waiting for a response, he started walking backwards away from Harry towards the house.

Harry watched him go until he disappeared through the door. With an annoyed huff, he turned to head back into the car. Before he got far, however, he stopped short and looked around.

There was something else there. Something hidden among the bushes to his left, something he could almost feel staring at him from its hiding place. Slowly, he began to turn his head left and right. Nothing moved. A chill ran down his spine, and he shivered involuntarily.

For the second time since arriving, Harry found himself running back up the highway to where the car was parked and practically jumping inside.

“Did someone follow you? Are you alright?” Dean and Cas turned around quickly, looking worried.