< Trying To Escape
ས ཊཱི, 75%
When a werewolf gives birth to twins, it’s not seen as a blessing, but a curse. Only one can survive, the goddess demands balance within the werewolf world. One life for another. If the stronger twin does not consume the weaker one in the womb, then only one will take their first breath when they are born. Serafine Nightbourne should never have been the one to
survive.
I wasn’t meant to be the chosen one, that’s what my father tells me. He never lets me forget that I’m weak and have stolen my brother’s place. Today, I foolishly thought I could escape, I didn’t even get past the border before the guards grabbed
- me.
My body thrashes as I try to escape their grasp, but they don’t care. They drag me behind them, and I hold back the screams as the ground tears at my skin. It makes no sense, my father and pack hate me, so why not let me go? I’m a burden, a strain, and unwanted, so they shouldn’t care that I tried to run.
Still, I fight, I twist, and I claw at their hands but not one of them loosens their grip. Suddenly, I’m thrown forward, my body hitting the floor hard, my breath is ripped from my lungs by the force of it. I listen as their boots scrape across the floor as they walk away. Why did they have to drag me back? They treat me like I’m nothing more than rubbish they have to deal with.
The scent of blood clings to me, it’s sharp and metallic and I ignore the burning pain from where my skin has been scraped off. Lifting my head just enough to see around me, my body tenses when I notice the room. My father’s office, they brought me straight back to him instead of the cells. My eyes flicker across the towering bookshelves before going to the heavy oak desk. There he is, standing behind it, my father, looking at me with an expression that is full of hate. Forcing myself onto my hands and knees, my body screams in protest. Every muscle is aching from my last punishment, from me trying to run and escape. My eyes flicker down, and I see the fresh grazes across my skin where I was dragged. I don’t make a sound, I don’t groan or show that I’m in pain. The rules for me are simple, I shouldn’t make noise. None, even if I’m being punished. If I speak without being given permission, I get punished. Although, not speaking also isn’t guaranteed to keep me safe. A few times I haven’t spoken and he’s punished me.
Gideon Nightbourne, my father folds his arms as his gaze trails over me like I’m something disgusting and beneath him. People here don’t care that I’m the future alpha, the only child to him. No doubt because he would rather burn the pack down than let me take over.
He looks at me like I’m cursed. “Pathetic.” It might be one word, but it says a lot, and it drips with disappointment and malice. “You thought that you could run and escape?” He laughs, mocking.
Keeping my head down, I clench my jaw to ensure I don’t say a word. If I do, I’ll be punished, although, maybe I will be anyway?
There’s no rules to when he can punish me, sometimes it’s like he does it because he’s bored and wants to have full control
over someone.
“This is for existing,” he would shout as he beat me. “This one is for stealing your brother’s place.”
Yeah, sometimes even being silent, keeping my head down and behaving didn’t protect me. There’s no winning for me, and no escaping.
I hear his boots click against the stone as he walks toward me, his boots come into view as he stops. “Look at me,” he orders and I look up at him. His head shakes as he clicks his tongue. “You will leave tomorrow,” he says calmly. “You’re never going to return.”
My stomach drops, the words hit harder than I expect. I have dreaded this moment for years. I knew that my father was keeping me around until he could profit from me. I guess that day is today. I had hoped there would be warning, a few weeks‘ notice, not the day before. This was quick, which means whoever it is, I’m not going to like it.
“To whom?” I ask, and flinch, realizing that I spoke.
There’s a pause, and I get ready for the hit. “Xander Voss.”
Him not hitting me for speaking now makes sense, my breath catches in my throat. Xander Voss, a rogue alpha. He’s a man whispered about in secret that many fear, they call him a beast without mercy. His name alone is enough to send shivers through the strongest wolves, and now, I belong to him.
This isn’t about tying together two families, I assumed he would give me to another pack, to strengthen ties. I know that isn‘
t what this is.
“You’re selling me,” I whisper. It’s not a question, it’s a fact. My father gains nothing from giving me to Xander, so this is
Trying To Escape
Those words hit hard, how can he say that? That I was never his to keep? I’m still his daughter. I was the one chosen to live between me and my brother.
He says nothing else as he moves towards the door, dismissing the entire conversation the moment he steps outside. Staring at the ground, my pulse thunders in my ears. My body hurts, and my soul is broken because my fate is sealed. I thought living here was bad, but Xander? That’s a nightmare waiting to happen.
I tried to run, to save myself and get away, but I failed, and now, the guards will follow me everywhere to ensure I can’t
escape.
They will ensure I’m here tomorrow, so that I can be given to a man who is even more cruel than my own father, and for a change, I’m not sure if I will survive.
