The last couple of hours had been nothing but a huge nightmare for Willow. She wished that it was all a dream, but unfortunately, it was real life.
She was now a slave in the Shadowfang palace and it was said to be a fate worse than death.
Once the guards dragged her into the palace, she was handed over to two women whom she could instantly tell were slaves from the way they looked.
They were extremely thin, their cheeks hollow and their clothes looked like rags.
Willow did not need to check her reflection in the mirror to know that she looked just like them. She was a slave in her home all this time after all.
Thinking of her home brought back memories of her father and his sad death and she tried to hold in her sob as much as she could.
The slaves led Willow deep into the palace and she couldn't be bothered to even look around as the thoughts of her father were too heavy on her mind.
The slaves descended lower and lower into the palace till they reached what could be called the lowest level.
On each side of the corridors were different rooms and one of the slaves pointed at one of them.
"That's your room." She said in an extremely unemotional tone before she turned around and left with the other slave in tow.
The air was extremely dry and musty down there and Willow coughed loudly as she made her way towards her room.
She opened the door and was unsurprised to see that the room was old and bare. It didn't bother her one bit. She had slept in worse. She was glad she even had a bed this time.
The hours that followed were unforgivable as Willow was instantly put to work. She began by helping out the cooks in the kitchen.
She scrubbed the pots and pans, fetched water, tended to the fires, served food and when she was done, she was instantly taken to the stables.
She cleaned the entire stable with a handful of other slaves and groomed the horses.
By the time she was done, she was stinky and on the verge of collapse, but it turned out that her job for the day was not done.
She still had to sweep and scrub the palace floors. Her hands trembled violently and her stomach rumbled, but she kept scrubbing.
The wet floors were extremely slippery and because Willow was so exhausted, she was not careful enough that she ended up slipping, falling on the ground and spilling a bucket of water in the process.
She landed directly on her back with the water pouring over her, a pained groan escaping her lips.
"What the hell did you do, you dirty slave?!" Willow heard someone screech and her eyes instantly shot up. They landed on the owner of the voice and she instantly shot up to her feet.
Standing in front of Willow was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen in her entire life.
Her porcelain skin shone beneath the lights, and her bright pink lips were turned down in a scowl with her piercing green eyes narrowing straight at her.
The woman's fiery red hair cascaded down her shoulders, but that was not what caught Willow's attention.
The woman was dressed in full body armor with a black cloak over it and in her right hand was a terrifying sheathed sword which instantly made Willow take a step back.
"You ruined my boots, slave. Do you still have nothing to say for yourself, or will you speak after I cut you down?" The beautiful woman growled as her hand tightened on her sword.
Willow's entire body trembled and the pain from her fall travelled through her entire body, but at that moment, she had much bigger problems on her hand as the woman scowled at her like she could truly cut her down at any moment.
"I'm so sorry!" Willow exclaimed, her eyes landing on the woman's boots which were now soaked with water.
"I didn't mean to pour water all over your boots. It was an accident. I slipped an—"
The woman clicked her tongue, unsheathing her sword. "Excuses. I have had enough of your shenanigans."
Willow's soul nearly left her body as the woman placed her sword on her neck. It felt cold as ice and she could not stop the quiver which travelled all around her body.
"How about I end your pathetic life right here?" The woman's tone was sharp and terrifying and Willow's blood ran cold as her whimper escaped her lips.
"Please have mercy." Willow's voice came out choked as her vision turned blurry with tears.
A menacing laugh escaped the woman's lips and it echoed around the palace, bouncing off the walls.
"Kneel and grovel like the slave you are." The woman commanded, a chill smile spreading across her lips and Willow blinked, disbelief spreading across her face.
"W–what?"
"I said kneel!" The woman commanded, grabbing Willow by the hair and pushing her to the ground.
Tears trickled down Willow's cheeks as excruciating pain travelled through her scalp.
She had been through this before.
Isadora and Savannah liked to grab her by the hair and pull viciously like it was a hobby, but that didn't mean she was used to it. It still hurt like hell.
The woman forced Willow to look up at her, as she still tugged on her hair.
"I won't kill you because I don't want to get your dirty blood all over my sword and it will be a hassle to clean, but you'll pay for ruining my boots, you imbecile."
She let go of Willow's hair, raising her hand and Willow instantly knew what was coming next. She instantly shut her eyes, bracing herself for impact.
"That's enough, Carina." Willow heard a voice say behind her and the baritone sound instantly sent shivers up and down her spine.
Her eyes instantly fluttered open and she saw that the woman named Carina still had her hand raised, but she was looking behind her.
"Your Majesty!" Carina exclaimed, dropping her hand and Willow was surprised to see her cheeks flush red.
Willow let out a gasp as she realized what Carina just called the person behind her. Your Majesty.
The King was behind her! The Alpha King!
She instantly spun around, her eyes wide as saucers and when they landed on him, her wolf began to thrash violently inside her.
"Mate!" It called out.
At that moment, Willow's insides experienced a full melt down as intense shock travelled through her entire body.
She was in some deep shit.