Chapter 3: Captive

[Fifteen Years Later]

[Astasia’s POV]

“TIME TO WAKE UP!”

My eyes fly open allowing blinding light to attack and make my vision fuzzy, and the decrepit roof above me to blur.

Hissing in pain, I reach up and swipe at them, trying to clear my vision, and as I do I realize that I have been crying.

“Dammit,” I growl, wiping at the tears as I slowly rise from the pile of hay I’m lying in, and look around at the others who surround me. They’re still asleep, their stick thin bodies curled in an attempt to stay warm, and I wonder if any of them might be dead.

It wasn’t uncommon, not in this place, not when it could lose money for the keepers.

“GET UP MAGGOTS!” One of the bastards in question calls, his voice echoing around us. “TODAY IS MARKET DAY!”

Cringing, I fix my gaze on the bastard talking while he moves forward and starts to kick the women and men who aren’t moving quick enough for him.

You’re going to reduce their value. I think, feeling absolute disgust over what I’m seeing, but knowing that I wasn’t capable of doing anything to stop it. No one here was. All any of us could do is watch and wait until the day came when we turned twenty-one and would leave this old jail on this abandoned island that could only be reached by ship and be sold to the highest bidder. There were no other options since none of us were able to fight and if we attempted to try to escape we would ultimately end up drowning, well, that was if the sea dragons didn’t get us first.

When you were brought to Red Rock Island, you were branded with a seal that locks away your abilities and your wolf. It was a precaution set in place to stop any and all rebellion, and it took me a while to accept that despite having an alpha bloodline, I was weaker than an omega and nothing more than human.

“What are you glaring at?”

“Me?” I ask, realizing that I was staring too hard without realizing it. “Nothing.”

As far as I was concerned these keeper bastards were nothing. They were disgusting pieces of shit who all deserved to pay for their involvement in this fucked up slave ring.

“Are you looking down on me?” The man demands, reaching down and grabbing the collar of my ripped and soiled shirt. “Well, bitch?”

As he speaks, his hand shoots out, connecting with my cheek, and when my head snaps to the side and pain rips through me, I let a slow smile spread across my lips.

“That’s minus a silver,” I chuckle and slowly turn my gaze back to the bastard trying to make me be obedient. “Go on, hit me again. If you do another silver will be removed.”

For a moment, the man just stares, his gaze promising murder, but since he knows damn well that he can’t hurt me, he doesn’t move.

“You’re cocky for a bitch who is about to be sold to breed.” He says slowly, releasing me so that I collapse against my makeshift bed.

“If I’m bought,” I point out and at my words, the man’s lips grow into a broad smile. “You’ll sell he assures me. And you’ll sell to a VIP guest.”

“What?” I gasp, wondering if the man had lost his mind. “Have you looked at me?”

Sure, every man and woman here looked awful. We weren’t able to shower properly, we barely got to eat aside from the scraps that the keepers allowed us, and abuse was a norm here, especially when you were defiant.

Always listen.

Always obey.

Remember you are nothing more than maggots.

That was the motto of this place, and what was pounded into us from the day we were brought here, but unlike those who allowed themselves to fall prey to these false pretenses, I still held on to my fighting spirit.

How could I not?

When I got off this damned island and managed to remove the seal on my neck, I would make the person who had me brought here pay.

Revenge.

That was the main thing that kept me going from the day I arrived on this island at the age of six, and now, the year that I finally turned twenty-one, and could finally go back to the mainland.

“This guest personally requested you.” The keeper in front of me says now. “That doesn’t happen often.”

It doesn’t, and because it was happening to me, I could feel my adrenaline and fight or flight instincts kicking in. However, I can’t let them get in the way of my getting to the main land. I waited too damn long. Even if I feared what was waiting for me and I had my suspicions, I still had to go and move forward with my plan.

“Guess I’m just lucky.” I say now. “But what will this guest think of this?” As I speak, I point to the bruise that is beginning to form on my cheek. “Think he will be angry that you damaged his prize?”

“A bruise or two is nothing.” The man shrugs and then turns. “GET YOUR ASSES UP YOUR FILTHY MAGGOTS!” He roars, continuing along his way. “THE SHIP LEAVES IN AN HOUR!”

As promised, an hour later, I sit with ten other prospects for sell trying not to get sick by the swaying of the ship we are on.

Outside, I hear rumbles of thunder and the sound of hail pelting the upper deck.

Of course, it would storm on the day I was finally able to escape that damned island and get to the mainland, but would this tiny ship make it without sinking?

Don’t be so negative, Astasia, but it was hard not to be negative given the trajectory of my life lately. However, I couldn’t die, not yet.

Mother and father. I think silently, their smiling faces coming to me as I close my eyes. I’ll make sure to make those who destroyed everything pay.

Make them pay. That was the single chant that I religiously repeated to myself.

Sighing, I open my eyes once more and attempt to get comfortable, even though that was practically impossible given the cuffs that dig painfully into my wrists and ankles. After a few minutes of squirming, I give up and just tilt my head back and as I do, droplets of water attack my eyes.

“Fuck,” I growl as they start to sting from the salt. “That smar…”

I don’t get to finish my words as the ship heaves to one side and then the other, sending not only me, but my companions crashing from side to side as the relentless storm attempts to take down our ship.