I woke up with a terrifying headache, sweat dripping down my forehead as I felt the spell-laced chains clasp my wrists and ankles tighter and tighter each time I tried to struggle. I knew my aunt was evil, especially when it came to me, but I never knew she could go as far as selling me to the Ragmire wolves, the same wolves under suspicion for killing my parents conveniently when I was about to become regent.
"You could have tried a harder spell at least, witch!" I yelled.
An ominous but familiar laugh echoed through the room after the creaking sound of the door. In came the infamous missing Uncle Alex. He was the husband of my aunt Kira, whom she had claimed ran away with another woman, a wolf at that.
I knew there was always something odd about his disappearance. I will surely put a finger on it one day.
Pitiful, but I wouldn't want to stay with a woman like Kira either, even if it was by marriage. She possessed some evil that my mother must have dreaded leaving me for.
"I'm surprised you are still alive," I chuckled weakly, "I would have hoped you to have already been burnt at the stake by that merciless pack of wolves," I muttered sarcastically with a smirk, "Given her abominable hybrids yet?"
He clenched his jaw but managed a smirk filled with disdain, "No surprise that you are still sharp-tongued as ever, darling. Unfortunately, I am not here for that."
"What possible reason could you have for using fear and your obsessively infatuated wife to chain me down at the nook of the coven home?"
His ominous smile dropped, "Right outside there, you attacked your aunt and your future husband with only goodness knows what spell, and you are asking why you have been locked up here?" He scoffed, "I just want to know where you learnt that spell from because I am sure as hell no one knows what magic you had performed out there."
I frowned, " But that isn't possible. I had collapsed before anything, I don't even know how to perform proper spells, seeing as I obviously wasn't taught."
"You weren't taught because of how dangerous you already are, Ahvi. You are indestructible, too strong, a nuclear weapon with an irritatingly innocent face. You are a danger to yourself, your family, and everyone you come in contact with. But, luckily for you, my wife and I have found a proper enough solution to that," he grinned.
The room echoed with the sound of the door opening, revealing the same man I had seen earlier with my aunt, slight fright in his eyes as they widened at the sight of me.
"You and your wife can not just sell me off like this to one of the most dangerous packs out there! You two have no say over my life! What do you think my parents would think of this?" I cried out, struggling to release myself from the bondage I was in as I saw the potion-covered cloth they approached me with.
"Good thing they are dead then," he scoffed.
"Your very own in-laws," I shook my head in dismay, feeling my heart tighten and a lump form in my throat from held back years, "Mark my words, you will pay for this. I will be back, and in a way you would least expect but most dread."
I muttered the last words to him before I was coerced into the darkness of the familiar sedation potion.
…
Again, I was bound to a large couch at the corner of the strange-looking room, mouth tied and head spinning still from the effects of the potion.
Hot tears began to stream down my face as I struggled, and my cries for help, all the noise I was trying to make, were all muffled by the tight napkin against my mouth.
The noise didn't attract any help, but it sure did attract the person who put me in this state in the first place. The tall, olive-skinned man's skin shone in the bright lights of the nearly empty room.
He dragged the other sofa to be set right in front of mine ever so effortlessly, settling down on it with his eyes still on me, "How are you?"
I groaned deeply in response. Was he slow or stupid? How was I supposed to answer that when I could barely move a single muscle?
I used all my might to move in any way, groaning and screaming even through the restraints, only the ties keeping me from falling off the couch.
"I might just give you the privilege to speak before me if only you assure me you can cooperate. You have no way out of this Ahvi, I promise you. You are only going to make it worse for yourself by trying to be difficult," his voice was still, not as threatening as earlier.
Unfortunately, I had accepted defeat at that moment, realising I really had no way out of this. I had barely any real training or powers that I could use properly or without falling unconscious.
I was desperate, weak, vulnerable. I was never going to make it out of these walls without getting caught or killed, let alone fleeing from the cage he had built to hold me disguised as pack grounds.
I mellowed, lowering my eyes and quitting moving around in pretence. He gave me a pitiful glance, releasing a deep sigh before approaching me to untie the bondage against my lips.
"I have quit the short temper, be very careful with what you say, girl. I took that off so you can breathe better. I need you alive as it may seem."
"Why are you doing this to me? Did they pay you to get rid of me? Why not just kill me and give them some kind of excuse instead of keeping me here?" I cried.
"You are to be betrothed to me, Ahvi. You haven't been sold."
"I don't even know you! You don't even know me! If you wanted to marry me, why not approach me normally?" I yelled.
"Do not raise your voice here before I tie your lips shut again," he scorned, "Whenever I deem it fit to tell you anything, I might just. If I don't, I simply won't."
"You can't keep me tied up here forever, I might just cramp to death instead," I pitched, "I am pretty much powerless against you, why are you tying me up here as if I can even defend myself?"
He remained silent, his jaw clenched in fury. He turned, lifting his shirt to reveal the large lightning-shaped scar, freshly dressed, one across his chest, too.
"I couldn't have done that. I swear I know no spells whatsoever that would be able to do that to a wolf of your stature or even anyone," I professed.
"I have not gotten urgent care for a wound like this one in years. It has only gotten to this stage of healing because I am what I am; this could have easily been fatal," he scorned. He jerked my face a bit too hard by my chin, pinching my face in his massive hand.
"That hurts!" I yelled.
"You are a danger, and you don't even know it. To yourself, your family, and even to strong enough individuals like me. I might be able to untie you because you really are seemingly powerless, seeing as you needed three days to recover from that one burst of energy. But oh, I promise, the slightest stupid move and trust I won't hesitate to execute your darkest nightmare."
I nodded briskly, "Please just let my face go first at least before my jaw dislocates, please!"
He pushed my head aside, using one hand to release me from the bondage. I released a heavy sigh, rubbing my dark red and bruised joints, "In will come Olandria, the toughest woman in this pack and my Beta's spouse. She wouldn't hesitate. So I suggest you stay on your best behaviour."
After he left me in utter awe, a woman entered, and on a single glance, I could tell she was a witch, one of us, especially. What were the odds?
Her eyes lit up as she raised her head to me, gorgeous, bright eyes feeding off of my soul before she fell to her knees, shedding a fountain of tears, "My princess," she muttered before bowing before me.
"I'm sorry, do you know me?" I frowned. "I thought you were only meant to make sure I didn't leave here. Why are you bowing?"
"Ahvi, the powerful daughter of Zhir and Gina. The next biggest regent of the Lafrah coven, the tribulations you are to face my dear, are far more than this. I hope you've been trained accordingly."
"My coven has been stolen from beneath my feet. I have been trapped in one of the most dangerous terrains in the entire continent, and you are telling me it somehow gets worse?" I scoffed, "That's not very encouraging. Besides, I am far from properly trained; that is why I can't even get out of the most basic restraints."
"Do not feel defeated, my regent, for I have been trained for decades for this exact purpose. You have me by your side, it is written, my regent," she assured me so sweetly.
"So what are you waiting for? Let me out of this, and give me a way out of this place. I would figure out whatever you just said to me later," I was adamant but drew back, "But wait, won't you be burned at the stake for betrayal of the Alpha?"
She chuckled, "Do you trust me, Your highness?"
Something in me told me she was to be trusted, something about her gentle but dangerous lilac eyes told me she was a seer. I have been taught from birth never to trust seers, but she definitely knew a lot more than I do to mention my parents' names right before me.
They weren't exactly the least popular, the greatest regents in the history of any coven ever, the creators of the everly used immortality spell, it was not a pair of names that any witch won't have automatically attached to their brains.
What would my mother do in this situation? Why was all this happening to me?
From a distance, as I stayed contemplating my next response, my heart dropped as I heard a swarm of footsteps heading right to the door.
"Your highness, if you don't make a decision now, we both might actually get burnt at the stake."