Enslaved by the Alpha

Chapter Three: Punishments

I sat in the grass beneath my favorite tree, the willow, and leaned on the bark watching the children play from a distance. The taste continued to stain my tongue despite that it bypassed my mouth, so I came out here to hunt.

I only managed to catch a small rabbit. How do the Alpha's expect me to eat if I cannot pass tree-line? No animals ever come this close to the pack house, it radiates the scent of a pack of wolves, scaring off all and every animal small enough for me. The rabbit made do though, the blood quickly overpowered the taste of him.

Tiny yells pulled me from my thoughts and I looked over, seeing the children getting chased by the puppies. They all seem so joyful and content, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous. Some look about six and some look about eleven, and moments ago a group of teens walked into the woods throwing me nasty looks. I know I don't belong so I can't be angry. I stick out like a sore thumb. This is their home, not mine.

"Don't go over there, Carson!"

At the sound of the woman's frantic voice, I looked to my side and spotted a blonde little boy in a yellow tank-top and blue jean shorts gunning for me. He was grinning wickedly, staring at my feet, and my line of sight followed his, revealing a bright blue ball mere inches from me.

Children are trusting-danger is foreign to them-and although I know I'd never harm this child or anyone else here, they don't. But they never question why I'm here because nobody dares question the Alpha.

I slowly grabbed the ball and held it out to the boy with cautious movement to show I'm no threat. His grin dropped as if he just realized there was someone sitting here and he took a step back. The woman was screaming behind him, neither of us listened.

He warily grabbed the ball from me and smiled toothily when nothing bad happened. I returned it with a nod and his face paled.

"Mommy!" He suddenly burst into tears, startling me by darting back to the screaming woman who appeared livid assuming I hurt him.

She began to stomp this direction, making it only halfway until a tall, masculine figure stepped in front of her. His bare, sculpted back faced me and an immediate frown overtook my lips. The power wafting from him told me it was the next in line Alpha.

"She didn't touch him," he defended, a deadly silence falling around them. The woman didn't dare argue. Instead, she bowed and walked back to her crying son, taking him inside with one last death glare directed toward me.

My heart stopped when the man turned my way, staring down at me with a blank face as he walked over. I grew lightheaded with the amount of endless possibilities of punishments he could do to me for scaring that little boy.

A breeze rolled by, messing up his already messy, yet wet, hair. His nude, sculpted chest glistened under the scorching sun and my eyes landed on a droplet of water that fell from his stubbled chin, mindlessly following it through every crease in his muscles down to the waistband of his black athletic shorts where it had disappeared into the fabric.

That's when I realized he took his final step and stopped in front of me, kneeling down and out of the sun, staring holes into my face with those distressing green eyes that I tried desperately to avoid.

"I watched you from a distance," he answered my unasked question. My hesitant gaze raised to his, never-ending tears of trauma uncontrollably filling my eyes.

I'm pathetic.

"Actually, I've been watching since I saw you go after that rabbit. I was curious, and slightly uncertain if you were rather aiming for one of the kids instead," he admitted with a smile, but there was something about it that felt much different than Zeek's. It felt as though he was trying to lighten the mood, not make it tense.

Silently, I analyzed his features. He's more and more like Alpha Zeek the longer I examine him. His complexion's a dark olive, his eyes are the same exact color green, his lips are the same pink, and his beard grows in the same place, except he has a five o'clock shadow.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his full, bushy brows knitting together and a frown replaced his smile. I eyed him skeptically, my heartbeat pounding into my chest so hard I felt it in my throat.

His eyes jumped down to my legs when I pulled them closer and he reached out to touch my bruised knee, but I jolted myself into the tree I forgot was behind me. He retracted his hand in a flash, more concern filling his features. "What happened to you? Why are you here? What you just did for that boy, that wasn't an evil act if I ever seen one."

I contemplated telling him. His aura drew me in, made me feel safe and welcomed. I'm not even sure why. Everything about him, aside from the little personality I've seen so far, instills fear in me. Just looking into his eyes makes me recall everything that vile Alpha put me through and I never want to relive it.

So why do I feel like I have a chance of trusting him? He's an Alpha, and every Alpha is to get s*x from me whether I comply or they take it. Why would he be any different? Could he be using a different strategy to get me to say yes? Does he actually have half a heart?

"Scarlett, is it?" He asked, startling me by not getting angry that I refused to answer his previous questions. "You scared the boy with the remains of blood on your mouth."

I looked down and licked my lips, the entire inside of my mouth, and my teeth, until the metallic taste was gone. Then I raised my head and hesitantly smiled toothily, my jaw shaking in fear. However, his smile returned. "You're clean."

I lowered my head, mortified at the fact I just revealed my fangs so carelessly. Fangs on a vampire are like the private parts of a human, they're to remain hidden unless around someone you trust. The men loved showing them off in an attempt to impress, but it's rare for the women to put out so shamelessly. Our fangs come in different sizes. The bigger they are, the more attracted vampires are to you. My fangs have always been small, which is why I am only capable of catching little animals. I've always hated my fangs.

"You can't control what you are, Red," he frowned. The nickname made me whip my head up and he analyzed my face, finding my eyes. "They suit you. I think they're adorable, there's nothing to be ashamed of."

I pushed myself against the tree to put more distance between us to ease the unsettled feeling in my gut. Adorable? My fangs were called many things... Adorable was not one.

Alpha Zeek called them pathetic, Alpha James called them ugly, and Alpha Aston didn't have to say anything, he just ripped them out not knowing they'd grow back in. Fortunately, he hasn't tried again.

Breaking eye contact, I played with a strand of my hair and stared at my bruised knee.

"It's because I didn't belong," I mumbled, looking back up at his face when he didn't respond only to see complete bewilderment cross his features.

"Why would you ever think that?" He asked, his eyes roaming my face as if that would give him the answer.

"He sent me away because I stood out. I wasn't like any of the others. He used me as a gift for Alpha Zeek thinking he'd agree to an alliance," I explained, feeling a weight lift off my chest being able to speak truth on what happened to me that night.

"The night we stop aging, we're lined up in front of the King to have our fates decided. We either pass and get to stay in the castle or fail and get sent to one of the packs on his peace treaty list. By offering these packs a vampire every so often to do whatever the hell it is they do to them, there's no war. My King thought if he gave Alpha Zeek the right gift and earn his alliance, he wouldn't have to send so many of us away-that he could just use his alliance with Zeek to keep the other packs in line. His half-assed plan didn't go the way he wanted. I've been imprisoned here for a little over eighty f*****g years because of that selfish-" my voice cracked and I fell quiet, biting my lips and averting my gaze to the ground to push away more tears.

He remained silent, staring at me with sorrow that seemed so foreign coming from those eyes. "Can you wait just a few more weeks?"

I nodded, still unsure if I could trust him, and looked up through the strands of my hair, wrongly mesmerized by his attractiveness. "Yes."

"You know, I found something that I think would be great for you. I stepped on it when I was on my run and burned my paw, so I dug it out of the ground and took it because I thought it looked cool. I guess that was pretty stupid of me, wasn't it?" He smiled and the corners of my mouth pulled upward on their own, a tiny, involuntary smile planting itself on my lips which made his widen.

He reached in his pocket and pulled out a silver necklace. I gasped, reluctantly holding out my hand for him to drop it into my palm. The silver audibly sizzled through his skin just for those two seconds, but he didn't react.

I shifted my attention onto the necklace to examine it. The chain was looped in tiny cuffs all around, leading to the bottom where it held a pendent in the shape of bat wings. For the body of the bat, there was a crimson red ruby.

"Okay, now what's the real reason?" I asked with a little more courage in my tone, sliding it over my head then picking up the pendent to admire the beautiful jewel sitting in the center.

"What? Thinking it looks cool isn't enough?" He grinned, earning another small smile from me. "Alright, fine. I took it because I saw the ruby and thought back to when I first saw you. I thought it'd look good on you. It goes well with your eyes."

My smile fell instantly and I released the pendent, the cool silver hitting the skin just over my sternum. An unfamiliar sensation tickled my deep within my chest and a warmth sprouted from it, journeying through my body. My face burned as though someone lit a fire under my skin and my hand instinctively clawed at the area over my heart. My other hand clenched a fistful of the grass next to me.

I met his eyes, finding no trace of humor behind them, only seriousness, and it washed away the warmth, replacing it with a cold rush that I was all too familiar with. In the back of my mind, I heard my begs and cries being egged on by his taunting voice, sending a shiver down my spine.

"It also offers you a sense of security. I figured it'd ease your mind being around all these wolves knowing we don't like exposing ourselves to silver. The scent alone is enough to irritate our noses and give us headaches. Nobody should bother you," he informed.

Then why did you give it to me? Why would you give me something that'll help me repel you?

That tells me he'll come to retrieve it. Any day now, he'll become just like every other Alpha. That's just how it goes-how it'll always go.

"Thank you, Alpha," I lowered my head in submission.

"No, you don't acknowledge me in that way, ever. I'm not your Alpha, and never will be. I'm only an Alpha to the wolf community, your kind does not follow our rules like we do not follow yours. Just call me Draven."

I nodded with a frown, becoming severely lost and frustrated at his odd behavior. That's the one thing he's done differently than all the others, and that's requesting I use his real name. Not one of the previous Alpha's allowed me to, otherwise I was punished. Nor have they given me gifts. Why is he different? What's he trying to gain?

"What's going on here?" Alpha Aston's voice caused my eyes to widen in fear. I watched Draven's stressed expression morph into irritation and he turned to his approaching father with an icy stare.

"Just getting the truth from Scarlett," he answered, clenching his jaw and rising to get in his father's face. "You just got done trying to tell me she's useful and had the nerve to imply she's satisfied here and that no harm will come to her, but I'm calling bullshit. Staying in one place surrounded by your lifelong enemy and having to constantly look over your shoulder is not contentment, it's torment."

Alpha Aston looked taken aback, averting his line of sight down to me, completely ignoring his son. "Scarlett, I missed something earlier that I need to see you back in my office for immediately."

I bit my lip with a harsh swallow, moving to my feet and only taking a singular step before Draven suddenly stepped in to shield me.

"For what?" He snarled, making his father growl threateningly and fear zapped through my veins like slush. Their combined power is suffocating.

"Yes, Alpha Aston. I will be waiting," I intervened for the first time, bowing my head when both men darted their gazes to me with opposite emotions displayed across their expressions.

Draven looked averse and his father appeared satisfied. I felt shame for doing what he just told me I didn't have to. However, I knew if I didn't, his father would do unspeakable things that I'd have to live with for eternity.

He just doesn't understand it's not that easy.

Unable to stand the look I was receiving, I used my vampire speed and ran to his office, taking a seat on the chair across from his desk I was in only hours before. My eyes were quick to land on a familiar black jar lidded with deer skin and my discomfort spiked, remembering that it's been a week since my last drain.

Every week the Alpha milks my fangs, so if, by small chance, I decided to attack someone, I wouldn't be able to kill them as I normally would with my toxin. Vampires suck the blood out of their prey, our fangs carry a toxin that makes it so our victims don't fight back. Without it, it's nearly impossible to get a proper kill, making said vampire weak and only strong enough to hardly get by. Our toxin naturally restores in two weeks. Alpha Aston doesn't like to risk waiting too long.

"Go on," the Alpha's voice broke me from my thoughts upon entering the room and I shakily reached for the jar, piercing my fangs into the skin of the deer. My venom began filling the glass, steam fogging half the jar due to the heat of the liquid.

As it drained, I felt myself growing weaker, more exhausted, and when I felt completely emptied, my hands weakly put the jar back on the desk. My body slumped back in the chair, a whimper of pain leaving my lips.

Typically, when we use our toxin we intake blood to make up for the loss. When we don't, it drains our energy to the point we sleep for days, if not weeks, to help restore it. It's a vampire's hibernation.

"What is this?" He questioned, suddenly pulling me to my feet and glaring down at the necklace resting on my chest. "Get rid of it! How dare you use silver against me? Remove it at once!"

"Draven gave it to me!" I rushed out, my words laced in fear, and I stared up at him pleadingly. He fell silent, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Did he now? Then I suppose I can't take it without raising suspicion..." he trailed off, raising his hand to cup my cheek. "So, you need to be punished for accepting it."

I opened my mouth to retaliate and quickly decided to seal my lips, knowing it'd be far worse if I didn't.

"But after," he added.

"After what?" I asked with hesitancy.

He replied by pressing his lips against mine. I stilled, gradually allowing myself to succumb to his kiss. Once I closed my eyes, an unexpected tearing pain formed in my lower abdomen, fading into an extreme burning sensation. My eyelids flung open and I ripped away from him, looking down only to see half of his forearm embedded in my insides.

I choked in horror, though I was mainly taken by surprise. The pain from his shifted hand rummaging my organs was indescribable torture.

He shoved his arm further, clearly searching for something. I wanted to scream and couldn't, squeezing his arm trying to push him away. The deeper he dug, the fainter I felt. My body quivered in anguish. Blood shot up my throat and I gurgled, a river of tears pouring down my face. He stared mercilessly into my eyes.

His canines extended and he leaned in, brushing his lips over mine without regard for the blood spewing down my chin. In fact, he began grinning. I never saw Alpha Zeek more in him than I do right now.

His claws tore into a piece of me and I choked, wishing for an end. My eyes clenched shut and he ripped his hand out, shoving me back down onto the chair as an excruciating pain surged through me.

My injuries healed in seconds and I swallowed the remaining blood in my mouth, looking up at him through my sobs, gasping and trembling.

In his hands, I saw a red, bloody chunk and assumed he ripped out a kidney or something. Then I got a clearer look and realized it had four of the tiniest protruding limbs.

It's a fetus - my fetus.