Bound By Gratitude, Shackled By Lies.

CHAPTER ONE.

PROLOGUE.

Ten Years before.

MAZIKEEN.

The smell of blood and sweat hung heavily in the air,and I wanted to die.

This thought was ironic because I loved life,or at least I used to until that day;I watched everything fall apart.

It felt like I was bleeding from everywhere,every single part of me ached more than I could have ever imagined and I wanted it to stop.

Death;that was the only thing that could make it all go away,I wanted that eerie peace I'd always heard about to wash over me and take the pain away…but whenever I reached for that dark void,a sharp whip on my back would snap me back to that dank,dimly lit room.

I'd cried and begged so much,my voice had gone coarse.

I swayed as another bolt of pain shot through me at the crack of the whip.

The men erupted in echoes of laughter when I moaned in pain.

“I think we've had enough fun….” One of them said but he was quickly interrupted by another.

“Enough fun? C'mon Alaric….we haven't even started.”

There was another round of laughter and I tried to open my eyes all the way but the lids wouldn't move past the swelling around them.

The musky scent of the damp cellar walls made me want to throw up,but when I gagged, nothing came out.

“We should untie her and take turns….” The second voice suggested,excitedly.

“Perhaps that'd take her out completely,” another said and although I couldn't fully process what they meant at that point,my mind wept.

One of them roughly fondled my chest and the silver chains on my chained up wrists— sizzled deeper into my already burnt flesh as I tried to pull back.

How could everything have gone so wrong so quickly?

One moment I was at an early dinner with my mother while father was at a meeting with some of the pack's council.And the next,we were being attacked by a random pack,an attack the news would probably tag “A brutal crime.”

Magnus Nightingale was a peaceful man,father and alpha. He hardly had issues with any of the supernaturals or the humans.

To the latter,he was just Dr. Nightingale. A successful pediatrician.

But to me and mom,he was everything. So watching him die trying to protect us, broke something in my thirteen year old heart forever.

It was so bad,I barely fought when I was dragged away from their dead bodies.

“Get rid of her!” A tall,angry looking man had ordered as soon as he laid his beady eyes on me.

And again I was taken away by the same group torturing me right then like I'd committed the most heinous of crimes.

I collapsed into the arms of one of the men standing in front of me as soon as the chains were cut from my arms,but he aggressively shoved me off, cackling maniacally as he leaned down and slapped me across the face so hard,a fresh surge of blood flooded my mouth.

I pressed the side of my face to the cold,wet floor…. hoping it'd all end soon.

But then they all began to move at once, pushing my legs open as one pinned my arms down.

I thought the last part was unnecessary,I couldn't even fight if I wanted to.

My werewolf abilities had barely surfaced and any little strength I had,had been sucked out by the silver.

I closed my eyes and again prayed for the grim reaper as what was left of my shirt was ripped off.

“Pretty….” The man hovering above me sneered, fondling my exposed chest as he forced my legs further apart and settled between them.

“That's enough!”

The sharp male voice did nothing to soothe my pains,but it did get the man off me.

And I lay there, sucking in air that I didn't want as a tall shadow fell over me.

“Barbaric fools….” He muttered and I thought his voice was quite nice, smooth…soothing.

My eyes fluttered and my consciousness dimmed,but not enough to drown out the horrified screams echoing off the walls.

“I'm sorry, darling.” He squatted down beside me and threw a jacket or a shirt over me.

I felt his fingers rest on the pulse on my neck but I couldn't speak, couldn't tell him that I was still alive; barely,but still.

“What a strong little thing you are,” I heard him mutter to himself just before I felt myself being lifted,and all of a sudden…the darkness wasn't so far away anymore and I welcomed it with a sigh.

I woke up with a bitter taste in my mouth and a heart so heavy,tears welled up in my eyes even before I figured out why.

“You survived….”

My eyes moved to the man standing at the foot of my bed,his arms folded over his chest as he studied me closely.

He didn't look like he was a lot older,but there was a certain aura about him that made him seem like he was much more grown than he appeared.

“Can you talk?” He asked and when I opened my mouth to respond, he beat me to it.

“You probably can't speak yet,you took quite a beating.”

I slowly pushed myself up,never breaking eye contact.

“Wh…who're you?” I asked,my words coming out as a croak.

The corner of his lips tipped up in a sympathetic smirk as he moved around the bed until he was at my side.

“My name's Graylin,but you may call me Gray.”

I nodded once.

“What's your name?”

“Mazikeen...but you may call me…Maze.” I answered,and he chuckled.

“That’s a really pretty name.”

I stared into the deep blue of his eyes and felt my chest swell with a mix of emotions when he reached out and wiped the tear streaks on my cheeks.“You saved me,” I whispered. “Thank you.”

He waved my words aside with a smile.

“You've been out for days,” he murmured and I swallowed hard.

“They killed my parents….attacked my pa…family.” I averted my gaze.

“It's okay,love…” he murmured, caressing my hair. “I'm one of your kind… I happened to hear the noise while on a run.”

“I…it hurts.” I heard my voice break but I didn't care. I wanted this man,with his soft voice and gaze to make it all go away and when his expression turned sympathetic,the dam broke again.

“It will stop….I promise.”

One could say he did fulfil his promise, because the last thing I remembered was him

whispering softly to me as he cradled the sides of my head.

I fell asleep and when I woke up again,I felt better... different.