- ANIKA -
My eyes open. It immediately comes shut the moment light reflects directly inside. I raise my hand over my face to block out the rays, trying to sit up.
My body is sore. I look over my body. I'm covered in dust and dry mud. Last night wasn't a dream. I sure as hell hoped it was.
"Is she still sleeping? Does that rat think she eats for free?" My heart races at the disgust in the voice of someone familiar.
"I found her in coma, Luna Esther."
"Did I stutter? Wake the girl up." The door bursts open as those words echo through. I feel my stomach wrench in demise. I never got past the pack border last night. Even if I did. . . Whoever saw me brought me back. There was never a saviour. Just another pack warrior.
I lower my gaze, keeping my head bowed down. "Good morning, Luna." I murmur under my breath. My body quivers, not due to the throb I feel because of the pain I'm in but out of fear. There is no greater fear than being caught trying to leave the pack. I don't know what she will do to me and I am not ready to find out.
"Did you really think you could escape us?" Luna Esther's voice drags as condescending and unimpressed. Her voice is unnecessarily calm too. It terrifies me. She walks closer to me. I draw my head up slightly to behold her presence then face back down. Her hand secures her nose, blocking it, and her face looks like she's staring at rotten corpses. "I take you in, feed you, give you clothes to wear and this is how you show your appreciation?" Her tone is harsher now. "I guess the apple doesn't really fall far from the tree."
My throat dries. She's referring to my mother. All my life since I could think on my own, I've been tormented for being born by the one person I never got to witness. I was too young to remember what my mother was like, yet I suffer for being her offspring.
The door bursts open. My body becomes rigid at the scent that fills the air. It's the alpha, Canaan. "I should kill you with my bare hands, runt." He barks.
I flinch. Alpha Canaan goes to stand by his mother's side and even with that distance, his rage blooms through.
None of them have thrown hands at me and while it is nice not having myself beaten to a pulp, it is unnerving. They have never once not hit me. They make me grovel at every chance they get and remind me that they're doing me a favour. I live no better than a weed. Left to grow with little to no nutrients with barely any decent basic amenities yet being hated and chopped off every day. Despite it all with the expectation of continuing my work. As long as I breathe, there is always something to be done. You could call me a servant, only I don't get paid.
"Relax dear, the girl isn't worth our time." Luna Esther says to her son. With how calm her demeanour is, I'm guessing Alpha Canaan hasn't said a word about what happened between us in his bathroom. He hasn't said a lie either. He must be ashamed of even being with me in his room in the first place, I don't blame him, but I am stunned as to why I haven't been victimised yet.
"If we don't teach her manners, pack members will think it okay to be," Alpha Canaan runs his eyes up and down my body and sneers. "Disrespectful and disregard pack rules."
I swallow, staying quiet. Hearing them talk about what evil they want to do to me is not new, I could never complain either way.
"Oh, we will. The SilverCrest pack will be visiting soon and the last thing we want them to see is the brutality displayed towards pack members." Luna Esther words. Tears well up in my eyes, not daring to fall down my face. So they know they're unkind to me.
Alpha Canaan let's out a distressed sigh. "So we wait for their departure then deal with her. How long will that be?"
"A few days." Luna Esther responds. "Till then, she can be of much use putting everything in order." The change in her tone from sweet to crude makes me know that she must have stared my way. "Ensure to avoid harming her face in the meantime."
"Get out!" Alpha Canaan barks at me. I shriek, forcing my body down the concrete desk I was laid on. Even while unconscious, I was not seen fit to be put on a bed. My body is already used to sleeping on cold, hard floors but something softer this time would've been nice. It may have given my body some relief. "Guards, follow suit." Alpha Canaan adds.
The men in the room walk past me out the door. My form drags along sluggishly till I reach the door. The moment the door closes, I let out a sigh, taking a breath to relax.
"How much longer till she's gone? I cannot stand the miscreant." I hear Alpha Canaan's voice through the door. I should not eavesdrop. The niceness they showed me could be replaced with cruelty if I'm caught but I can't help but stay. They're talking about me.
What does he mean by gone? Where am I going?
My heart drops. Do they plan to kill me?
"Right after your sister's coming of age's birthday. It is customary to have all the alpha's children present. And as much as I hate it, she's his child too." Luna Esther responds. Audrey, my half sister, is my age. Miraculously, we were born on the same day even though we have different mothers. She's ten hours younger than me. "We need this alliance with the SilverCrest. It will benefit our pack tremendously."
It becomes quiet. I begin to wonder if they can smell me and that's why they stopped talking. I should go.
"I have the papers ready. Once a bond is formed for Audrey, Anika will be sent away. To wife a wolf outside the pack." Luna Esther's voice cuts through the silence.
My eyes widen. They sold me into marriage.
"That's just the story that will be told, right?" Canaan questions.
"Of course. Neighbouring packs would riot if they ever found out we sold the alpha's daughter into slavery. No matter the case of her birth."
I wrap my hands over my mouth to stop myself from gasping. My brain sends a warning message that I should leave and I follow that warning.
What they plan to do to me is even worse. They're selling me into slavery. No, they already have.