ANNORA
“Ouch!” I hit the ground with a thud after the nasty guard threw me to the ground like I was a piece of rag. He smelled like rotten onions.
I didn’t know what to do with the ache in my chest— the truth was that everyone I knew was dead, and my pack was destroyed. I’ve had tough pills to swallow, like the fact that my father might not have cared about me, but none were as tough as the heavy truth that had been dumped into my arms.
There was a sinking feeling in my stomach that ate me up, it sucked all forms of life out of me, and my eyes felt dry. My throat mirrored a desert.
Was this really it? Was this…how it ended for us? My mother…and sister, they are just gone? The disbelief hurt more than anything I’d ever known. Rage and tears didn’t work well together. As I cried, I hated myself a bit more. If I hadn’t been so weak, this would have turned out differently.
The floor was cold and arid, cracked just like my heart and pride. The temperature made my bones ache. Sitting was just as tortuous as standing. Worst of all, my stomach decided to indulge in an orchestra— growling with the need to taste something that wasn't my tears.
Angrily, I pulled myself up. “Get me out of here! You can’t have me locked up forever!” I grabbed the bars and started to yank them.
The cold, unyielding iron caused my palms to blister. “Someone!! Get me out of here, please!”
I didn’t care that another guard would barge in with a whip. The Alpha liked to carry out those despicable deeds by himself. Or better still, the guard should beat me to my death. It bettered breathing in this traitorous air.
“Someone! You swine! Bottom feeders!!” I cried. My throat fucking hurt. “Get me out of—”
“You might want to keep it down,” a voice responded from behind the door, and I froze.
I may not know that voice, but I…recognized it. Within seconds, the figure appeared from the shadows, announcing its presence in the most subtle yet impactful way ever.
A wild amount of fresh breeze seemed to have ridden on his shoulders, spreading themselves around the dungeon in no time. I drew in a much-needed inhalation and ambled closer towards the bar.
My mate.
Was this what having a mate felt like? Like hot and cold at the same time. It was a livening feeling that I couldn’t express with words. Even my heart couldn’t handle it as it slammed hard against my ribcage fiercely and repeatedly.
“The others are asleep,” he added. By the others, he meant the other slaves. Why would he even care about that?
I furrowed my brows. Heat built up inside me, which only heightened as he swayed closer.
He looked athletic, maybe not as much as their Alpha but he was a considerably hefty man. And he looked too handsome to be true.
I gawked.
He had short hair, with an undercut and beautiful brown eyes that reflected everything. His height? Well, my head stayed high to capture the view of him. He wore a brown shirt that was rolled up to his forearms, with a few buttons undone that revealed a fairly hairy but toned chest.
The Alpha’s brother was my mate. How? My brain seemed to be wiped clean in the instant his eyes glued to mine.
And this momentary feeling in my stomach— this was the buttercup people talked about. I wish I had a drink of water to drown out their needless flutters.
“Hey there,” he said. He wasn’t smiling but his eyes glistened with what? Awe?
I mean, I got why. Not everyone found their destined mates to be slaves. Neither did I want to stand there and have him say ‘Hey there’ to me from the outside of prison.
Backing away from the bar, I threw myself to the floor and sat, completely ignoring his entire existence, irrespective of whatever feelings his presence stirred.
“You yelled so much that you have suddenly become mute? That’s fair.”
He smiled, and my heart took a blow. Oh shit. He had amazing dentition. He had my purest smile on a living man in so long. But I choked on it, unwilling to say a thing.
“Good thing I excelled in sign language,” He added and awed me a bit more by sitting on the cold, hard floor next to me, just restricted by the iron bars. “And it’s no lucky guess you’re good at it too. It’s compulsory for…people like you, Royalty.”
People like me? He was the brother to an Alpha? And he wasn’t wrong. Sign language was mandatory for all of royalty— especially those looking forward to a life outside a dungeon.
“I have nothing to say to you.”
“That’s okay. You don’t have to say anything. Just look at me.”
Unwilling, against my very own ego, I locked eyes with him. This nameless mate of mine brought up his hands and signaled to me, “What is your name?”
I read the signs in his voice. He signed beautifully. Yet, I didn’t respond. He tried again. “How can I persuade you to talk to me?”
“By getting the hell away from me!” I signed back. I would find this more beautiful if my entire life weren’t just upheaved by his brother.
He paused, obviously not taking no for an answer. He continued signing. “Are you hungry?”
“No!” I lied. Even my fingers creased, almost refusing the lie.
“If you tell me you are, I promise I’ll get you whatever you want to eat.”
Of course, he was as sadistic as his brother. I planned to starve to death, in case no one had noticed. “Go fuck yourself!” I signed back.
“So you’re not hungry?” He asked verbally this time, and before I could respond, my stomach released the most thunderous growl.
If hunger didn't kill me, shame will. “I'm not!” I defended. “I am really not, so just get out of here!”
“Of course.” Then he turned around and left. My heart sank a little. What did I expect?
I was about to crash into my ass again when the door creaked open, and it was him, alongside two maids, both bearing trays.
I didn’t even know his name. He fished for keys in his pocket and opened me up, the maids entered and placed tje trays on the floor, alongside two heavy blankets.
My mouth hung open. “What? So, I am a VIP prisoner? You want to feed me first before you and your vicious men take their turns on me?! Is that it?”
“You may leave,” He ordered the maids, and they hurried away immediately.
He stepped into the dungeon and crouched beside the food, lifting their lids. There was a lot! Steak, potatoes, baked beans, bread! I started to salivate, struggling to hold back.
Without looking up at me, he started to serve the meal—not for one person but for two people.
He was going to sit in here and eat. WHAT!? He looked up at me, catching the awe. Then he smiled and brought the spoon to his mouth. “In case you were wondering if it was poisoned, it isn’t. If it is, then you have a partner to die with.”
My…poor heart. It was all too much. The food, his scent, the indescribable confusion I’d been thrown into. What was…this?
He pushed the meal closer to me. Then his warm hands found mine, and he put a fork in my grip. “Eat, Annora.”
He knew…my name.
He already knew. My eyes started to water before I could say anything, and I lowered my head and started to eat like I’d never tasted spice in my entire life.
I didn’t want this person to see me cry about their kindness—not after they had just ruined my entire life. He ate silently beside me. I stole glances at him,and all I could see were reasons why he shouldn’t be here.
Why didn't he fit into this horrendous setting, so I broke the stinging silence by asking. “Wouldn’t you get in trouble with the Alpha for being here?”
Rather than a response, i got more meat shoved into my plate.
“That’s not for you to worry about. You are the one in trouble.”
That was all it took for the moment to fade into nothing, puffing into glittering dust right before my open eyes. He was right.
I was the one in trouble here. I was the victim. It was I whose entire family and pack had been massacred! The disgust bit hard into me that I tasted it in the food. My appetite became unattainable.
I needed to get out of here. I needed to get back home, see the condition of my people. Adrenaline pumped wild in my veins.
I looked down at the dishes set before me and the shiny little knife sitting next to the china ware. How much time would a stab get me? He said the others were asleep, that could include the guards too.
Or not. Only one reckless way to find out. I turned to him, hoping to distract him while I reached for the knife. “Why are you helping me?”
He looked at me like I asked a nonsensical question. “I’m the balance,” he responded. “I’m Alpha Aegon’s good.”
The knife sturdy in my grip, I sat upright. “I’m so sorry."
“What for?”
Swiftly, I lifted myself off the floor and sank the blade in his shoulder, deep and rough as I could.
