1:Saved by the Enemy

LUNA

I was freezing as I lay on the ground, naked and alone in the woods of the Lycans. All that kept ringing in my head were my father's cold words, his words were even colder than ice. 

" Get out from my sight! I never want to see you again you half-Lycan!" He had barked at me last night. 

I never meant to get caught, I had hidden my wolf side from the world just as my father ordered but no matter how much I hid it, he still hated me. However, I never thought my father could hate me enough to have me beaten almost to death and thrown into the territory of the wolves when all my life I had lived as a Siege - just like him.

As I lay on the cold, moist ground I could feel my heartbeat slowing down and I knew that my end was near. I couldn't heal as fast as a pure-blooded wolf so a wound or beating as brutal as the one father gave me was enough to kill me. I took one last breath of the air and that was the last thing I remember.

*******

I woke up to the fresh smell of bread and the first thing I felt was warmth. I wondered if I was as in my Chambers back in Sigard. If that is true then did I imagine the events of yesterday? 

No, there was no way I imagined that, it was too real, but this really felt like my bed, I curled underneath my sheets to get more warmth and then I rolled over to the other side of the bed but I ended up falling to the floor!

" Oh wow, she's awake" I heard someone say, and I opened my eyes and saw someone putting on very strange footwear. I looked up and found a brown-haired girl with blue eyes smiling down at me, she looked like she was around my age so I didn't feel threatened by her.

" Who are you?" I asked and she giggled.

" I should be asking you that, you're the one who slept in my bed all day. So who are you?" She asked as she crouched and handed me a cup but I didn't touch it.

" Leave her alone Freya, she's tired and probably not able to speak English," I heard a male voice say and I quickly hid under the tiny bed. 

Where exactly am I? Why is everything here so different from what I'm used to in Sigard? Why are the floors so smooth and well clean!! Do they not have sand? And most importantly why is a man entering a girl's Chambers so freely?

" What do you mean by that? She speaks fine! Isn't that right redhead girl?" She called but I said nothing. 

" Aww, she's frightened by you, look what you caused." She whined when she saw me under the bed.

" It's okay, we don't bite. I'm Freya and this is my brother Alan," she said and the young boy bent down and beamed me a smile as he said, " hi!" 

I slowly creeped out from under the bed and stared at them, they didn't seem horrified by my face like my sisters used to be. Did father's beating make me less ugly?

" So what's your name?" The boy said as he shifted the cup closer to me, I instantly smelled the content of the cup, it was something I'd never perceived before - probably poisonous. 

" Hey, is that what we get for saving you?" The boy said with a frown.

" You saved me?" 

" Yeah, you were in the woods and -"

"- You saw my nakedness?!" I found myself lamenting and he strangely stared at me.

" No, you were covered when we found you in the woods. Maybe someone covered you before we got there." The girl said and I sighed.

" Perhaps," I said and they looked at each other.

" So...what's your name?" The boy asked again and I thought of a fake name to tell them. 

" I'm Emerald," I said since my oldest sister's name was the first thing to pop in my head.

" Wow, suits you. You're really pretty," she said and tapped the cup with the brown liquid inside. Did she just say I was pretty? She must not have good eyes, pity. If she did, she would be running away from me right now.

" Don't you want to have some tea?" She said as she pointed at the liquid in the cup but I shook my head in response.

" Well, more for me. I'll just -" 

"- Alan! That's not yours, you're so selfish sometimes." The girl scolded her brother and the boy smiled mischievously and continued drinking the liquid. 

I expected him to die but he seemed absolutely fine. I suppose I must've been mistaken about these people. Who are they anyway?

" Who are you? I mean, where is this place?" I asked and they looked at each other, something about the way they did things at the same time got to me.

" Are you doubles?" I asked and they stared at me with their blue eyes before they laughed out loud. 

" Doubles? No, we're twins! I'm older though," the girl said and I smiled awkwardly. I was never a funny person, why did they laugh like that. 

Everything about them was so different, even their clothes were something else. 

" This is Lygard by the way -" Alan was saying.

"- Lygard?!" I interrupted, panicking because I was truly in the camp of the enemy.

" I was never supposed to be here - wait, is this really the wolf territory?" I asked and they nodded in unison. I looked at them and they looked at me, we stared at each other for a while before I gave in.

" Please don't kill me! I'll do whatever you want." I said with my face to the ground in apology.

When they didn't say anything, I looked up and found them holding back laughter. 

" Hmm-hmm," Alan cleared his throat and bit his lip to stop himself from laughing.

" You're not from around here, are you? How about you go have a bath, Freya will give you some very nice clothes to wear and then we'll show you around," 

" I said I was sorry," I whispered and the girl's half-smile turned into a worried expression.

" Emerald, no one is going to hurt you. You're fine! Lygardians aren't mean to other wolves." Freya said that was when I realized why they saved me. 

They thought I was a pure-blooded wolf, if they knew that I was part Sigardian they would kill me for sure. The blue innocent eyes would turn murderous in an instant and they would end me! But I had nowhere else to go, I would have to keep up the ruse but this time, I won't be hiding my wolf side but the Siege in me. 

After telling the twins a few more lies, like the fact that I'm from Renville a distant werewolf ally to the Lycans, Freya took me to their bath chamber and told me to bathe myself, that was strange, in Sigard the maids bathed me. But I think I enjoyed being able to bathe myself, it felt like I was free to do whatever I wanted.

The bath bowl had a... tap - I believe that was what Freya called it, the tap brought out warm or cold water! That was more than incredible to me. It also had a small rain machine that was high above my head, I enjoyed using that more than the tap.

I might've had a little too much fun in the bathroom, especially since the bathing bar smelled like roses - just how Emerald smelled. I felt a little sad when I recalled how she had tried to stop my father from sending me away and beating me up, my poor oldest sister was the only one who loved me. The rest were just as vile and wicked as father.

When I got out of the bath chamber, Freya was sitting on a chair with some clothes in her hands.

" Do you perhaps have a dress?" I asked and she scoffed.

" Of course not, what's a Lygardian doing with a dress? I don't know how you guys do it in Renville but we don't do skirts or dresses here. That could ruin you when Alpha Remorah surprises you with impromptu practice." She said and I took a while to understand her every word. 

" Alpha Remorah?" I asked and her face became weary.

" Yeah, trust me he's the worst. You don't want to meet him or his son, Dracah." 

" Okay, I will just wear the warrior clothes. Alright, thank you." I said as I took the clothes from her and she stared at me. 

" Emerald," 

" Hmm?" 

" Do you even know what those are called?" She asked as she pointed to the warrior clothes she left on the bed for me.

" Warrior clothes," I answered and she sighed, " those are trousers Emerald, it seems Renville is even more ancient than I thought, I would have to educate you on a lot of things. I bet you've not been used to technology too, that's so sad." She said and I quietly put on the very small top she gave to me and then the trouwers.

" The trouwers seem a little too tight," I said and she turned around and gasped. 

" You're so cute! She says it's trouwers. Aww, it's not trouwers it's trousers!" She said and I nodded and smiled faintly at her.

" I should do a little something to your hair too, just take this -" she was saying as she handed me something round and blue. 

When she finished dressing my hair, she said, " Well take a look, what do you think?" 

" I don't think anything about me is pretty, I mean... I wouldn't know, I can't see myself." 

" Don't be silly! Turn this over and see for your -" 

I shrieked when she turned over the blue round thing in my hands and I saw that it was a reflection glass! I only saw my red hair and that was all I needed to know that I shouldn't look at it. 

" What's wrong?" Alan said as he rushed into our room and I jolted, I still wasn't used to a man entering a woman's room, that was forbidden in Sigard!

" It's just a mirror Emerald, if you look at it you'll see just how beautiful you are, I promise." She said as she picked up the mirror from the bed where I had thrown it. There was something about the way she assured me that made me think that maybe it wasn't a bad idea to look in the mirror. 

I never looked at myself through mirrors or even my reflection in the water because Jacqueline and Antoinette always told me I was ugly. The first time I met them after being brought back from the Clansa home, they screamed and ran away from me. Only Emerald and Kitana seemed unbothered by my looks, they never called me a monster like Jacqueline and Antoinette. 

Freya held up the mirror to me but I shut my eyes.

" It's true Emerald, you're very beautiful. Just take a look," Alan said and I took in a deep breath but when I opened my eyes, I was surprised at the face I saw in the mirror. 

Now in all my days in Sigard, Emerald was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen but the face I saw in the mirror seemed to be even more beautiful. 

" Who is she?" I asked no one in particular and the twins laughed.

" SHE IS Emerald, a beautiful redhead with the most beautiful green eyes to match!" Freya said and I smiled, the girl in the mirror smiled too. My smile faded soon after.

" No, I'm not Emerald, I'm Luna." I wanted to say to them but that would only get me in more trouble. I must never be caught, no matter what.