CHAPTER ONE

GREECE POV.

For the first time in twenty five years, I feel dumb for not being able to speak as I run through the dark woods trying to get away from my pursuers.

Two hours ago, we were having a party at the pack house. Father had organized a party to celebrate the truce with the neighboring moon pack with our dark shadow pack. We have been in an endless war for years and finally we have agreed to become friends but the celebration was crashed by the notorious scarlet pack that housed the alpha king. I have never seen him but I have heard about him and his terrifying tales from far and wide. One time, I heard that he killed his Luna when he found her in bed with one of his pack betas and as if that’s not enough, I have heard the story of his constant massacre over the years.

I trip over a wood and I fall to the ground, my whole body shaking from fear and pain, adrenaline pulsing through my veins. I wish I am able to speak, to scream and tell them to go away but I am unable to. When I was seven years old, a wolf had attacked me and due to the shock, I haven’t been able to say a word since then even though I tried. Father had taken me to a lot of doctors, both humans and even pack healers but none of them have been able to do anything to help me recover.

I let out a light whimper as I feel blood trickling down my leg, this is when I hear some footsteps in front of me and I raise my head to meet their gazes. Four of them, looking so sinister and wicked. I immediately feel nauseous, maybe I will feel better if I throw up.

“She is the mute one?” One of them asks, amusement dancing in his eyes.

“I am sure our alpha will be happy if we take her with us”

“Please let me go” I sign to them but from the look on their faces, none of them seem to understand me. I mean, how will they understand me when only my parents know how to communicate with me?

“Your family is gone now, mute” he says, “and you can’t even run anymore, you hear that?”

“Let’s take her with us” another suggests but I will be damned if I let them take me to him. I have heard of the great Dominic Changretta Thorgha and I rather die than let myself be delivered into his hands.

Pulling my body up swiftly, I start to run again not minding the pain stabbing at my legs.

“Stupid bitch” one of them curses loudly and they immediately follow me but that doesn’t make me stop.

“You need to stay alive” I remember father signing to me before he pushed me out of the back door before the whole building went up in flames. At this point, I don’t even know if we have any survivors from the pack.

“I need to stay alive” I tell myself as I continue running until I trip again and my leg gets trapped in a quick marsh.

“Fuck”

This can’t be happening, how can I get caught like this?

“Seems like our little mute is tired of running” I hear one of their voices again as the four of them comes to stand at the edge of the marsh, “now there is nowhere to run to now”

“Bastards!” I sign.

“Did she just curse at us?” One of them intones, anger evident on his face.

Before the others can respond, he yanks me out of the marsh and backs me against a tree, his eyes traveling down my body. The sequined red dress I wore for the party has turned into a shadow of its former self. All ragged showing most part of my flesh. From the look on his face, I can swear I know what he is thinking.

“You are a pretty little thing” he mutters, his finger sliding across my bare shoulders, “I bet the alpha won’t have a problem even if I decide to have my way with you”

“Rodrigo?” I hear someone call out from behind.

“We did not get the orders to do that” he says, “ours is to deliver her to the others”

“And who will know even if we touch her?” The Rodrigo guy hisses, “she can’t even speak”

“I am sure you will still want to be alive by the morning to find your mate”

He groans before returning my attention to me.

“You will surely fall into my hands, one of these days”

Then everything happened so fast, his fists come down to the corner of my neck and everything goes pitch black.

With a light almost impossible groan, I pull open my eyes and for a moment I try to make sense of where I am. It is a dungeon but it looks different from the dungeon back at the pack house so where in the goddesses name am I?

I look around and bad enough, I am the only person in this ice cold dungeon that has only one window.

I try to stand up but the pain from my leg makes me wince in pain. Fuck, i should be healed by now. That’s one of our characteristics, wolves can heal faster than any other creature but why am I still not healing? The pain is so unbearable at the moment but I need to get to that window and see for myself. I need to see where I am so I can make plans to escape. I will be damned if I let Dominic even set his gaze on me.

With my last ounce of strength, I finally pull my body up and drag my feet across the ground until I get to the dungeon. Sunlight immediately greets me including some trees but that’s as far as I can see, nothing else.

I clench my jaw together, trying to hold in my pain. I don’t even know if my father and my mother are still or anyone from our pack or the neighboring pack are still alive or if they were also captured.

The door to the dungeon opens up and two men saunter in. Fear grips me, are they here to take advantage of me or what?

“Let's take her” one of them says and before I can say anything, the bigger one lifts me and throws me over his shoulders before making his way out.

****

The sunlight stabs at my eyes and I close them almost immediately. It feels like I haven’t seen the sun in a very long time.

After walking for a while, he pushes a door open and ventures in before letting go of me.

My eyes open wide the moment my eyes come in contact with where I am. It is only a room but right from the white and gray colors on the wall, the beautiful bed in the middle and the big mirror at the other side of the wall, everything screams luxury. My father was a rich man but not that rich, this room is bigger than my room back in the house alongside my parents.

The door opens again and three ladies walk in.

“The alpha will be here soon, make sure you make her look presentable to him”

Not waiting for their response, I watch as the two men leave while the ladies attention remains on me. I can see pity and fear in their eyes.

“She looks like she hasn’t eaten for days,” one of them says.

“What is your name?” Another asks me and I shake my head in tje negative. They probably do not understand sign language so there is no need for me to sign to them.

“Huh?”

“Can’t you speak?”

“I think she is still under trauma” the third lady says, “I hear the alpha ordered the attack himself.

Dominic ordered the attack himself? What the heck did we do to him for him to do that? Anger grips me, he is the cause of whatever has happened and I am going to spit on his face if I see him.

“Get her some food” the first lady says, “we will start getting her ready”

“Yes”

One of them walks out, leaving the three of us.

“Heat up the water” she says to the Second Lady, “she needs a good scrubbing”

In no time, I am in the bathtub while the two of them scrub my body like i haven’t had a bath in a long time. I love the way the water is soothing to my body but that doesn’t stop the ominous feeling lingering inside of me.  Why would Dominic order an attack on my pack? Why would he have me captured? We have never had reasons to fight against him, we always stayed away from him so why?

The door to the bathroom opens up, making me turn my head to see the other lady who had gone to bring food.

As soon as she sees me, her countenance changes.

“That took you so long”

“Apparently, she is mute” she tells the others and all eyes turn to me, surprise etched on their faces.

“She is the mute wolf from the dark shadow pack”

“Oh my” one of them says, “now i understand why she is here”

Do they know? They must know why I was captured.

“Tell me” I sign but a more confused look settles on their faces.

“What did she say?”

“We do not have time to talk to a mute” another chips in, “the alpha will be here soon, we should get her ready before then”

They talk with fear in their voices, now I can’t wait to see what the dreaded Dominic looks like.