Anna

"Walk straight. Lift your head. Lift your chin. You belong to Lycan Xandros, you can't walk like a slave."

It was the third day and yet Anna had not seen the man she belonged to. It seemed to be like he had forgotten about her but yet Diane was doing everything to make her look and act like the former Luna, Athena.

With an heavy makeup that changed her from an omega to one high-class lady in the wolf world, she was now being trained on how to act like a queen.

Would she be the Luna? She didn't know. But what she did know was that she had to look exactly like Athena for Xandros's anger to be poured on her. How much would Diane have to do before she could be enough?

"Are you sleeping?" The hit of the fan snapped her back to reality and she immediately arched her back, standing straight.

The plate on her shoulders tumbled and then fell to the ground. Three consecutive hits on her back and her teeth clenched tightly to stop the hissing that would have escaped from her lips.

"This is the hundredth plate you are breaking in just two days!" Diane shot, anger evident on her face as she placed opened a new carton of ceramics plates.

"Can I...can I have a glass of water? I'm drained." Anna muttered and Diane glanced at the time. It was about 6pm.

She gently fixed the plates back into the carton an glanced at her, "Take a break. We'll continue tomorrow."

Picking her fan, she stretched her hand into her pocket and brought out a rubber of balm, stretching it towards Anna.

"It'll help with the whips mark." She said in a whisper and walked out of the place, leaving Anna right there.

Anna released an heavy breath as her hand wrapped tightly around the balm, she really needed it.

Few hours later into the dark, she stood straight in front of the mirror, staring at the red marks the fan whip had formed. She released a low sigh as she applied the balm on it, the injury stinging her so much that her eyes watered.

She had barely sat down on her seat again when the door suddenly opened and Diane walked in with three other ladies accompanying her.

"Lycan Xandros is coming back this night. You need to get ready." She said with urgency in her voice and Anna blinked.

She didn't think he was out of Khaos.

"Get up, Anna!" Diane snapped when she got lost in her thoughts for a moment and immediately she got to her feet as they led her into the bathroom.

***

Her legs hurt from standing too long and she was pretty sure everyone's legs did too. Ever since they heard that Xandros got into the city, they'd been on their toes, waiting for his arrival.

She and all other living souls in the house had been lined up straight at the door. Her knees buckled under her and she almost fell when Diane held her arm tight, pulling her up. The woman glared at her and she twitched her toes standing straight.

The loud roar of the car awakened those who had slept off while standing and everyone became alert even before the car's engine stopped.

His footsteps echoed through the silence like a ominous drumbeat, heavy and deliberate, as he moved with a slow, measured pace. With each step, the air seemed to vibrate with his presence, as if the darkness itself had taken on a life of its own.

Anna's palms became clammy, her eyes blinking thrice unnecessarily in just a second. She had seen him before. In Abaddon, where he had come to buy her right after killing someone.

They had gone to check later on, and they saw how mutilated the man's body was before he died. They hadn't heard him scream. Not once and even at that, only Xandros had been there with the man and only Xandros had hurt him that way.

The darkness appeared in front of them and Anna willed her legs to stay in the same position, not until he ordered her to turn. But she didn't look up at him. Her eyes focused on his shoes and then switched to the blood that dropped on the floor and then to his hands where his bloody gun was being held loosely.

He seemed to know that here, no one could dare to attack him.

"Welcome back." Diane's voice broke the silence and without a reply, his movement continued with a slow deliberate pace. She could feel his eyes on her skin as he suddenly stopped right in front of her.

The cold barrel of the gun slightly brushed past her chin and a shiver ran down her spine. He touched her chin again with the gun and she realized he was asking her to raise her head up.

Once she did, Anna couldn't help but notice how dark he looked at her. Filled with hatred. In all of her years of being an omega and an hated slave, no one had ever looked at her with so much anger and despise.

He walked away as deliberately as he had come, still without a word but the cold touch of his gun lingered on her chin and when she raised her hand to touch it, blood.

"Follow me." Diane said with a sharp voice and walked away immediately, towards the stairs. Anna followed as they went up, stairs after stairs, till they got to the third floor.

"He uses the elevator." Diane voiced out the answer to the question in Anna's mind but the girl wished she had not, because answering only means one thing, they were going to his room.

With a card Diane fished out of her pocket, the door to his place went open and Anna took a deep breath. His scent was all over the place. The smell of earth mixed with tobacco, musky, like a forest after rain.

"Leave us." He said with an husky, rugged voice that sounded like whiskey. A deep rumble resounded at the base.

Anna's eyes followed Diane as she moved out. Right now, Diane was the only thing she could see. And when Diane left, the door closing behind her. All lights did too and she realized how dark the place was.

She heard footsteps come down. He was walking down a staircase, judging from the way he moved.

"What's your name?" He asked.

She knew he could see her. Lycans were known for their sight and that gave them an edge over others. And then again, he was Xandros. He was the darkness.

"Athena." She muttered.

"Your real name." He counterattacked.

She gulped, "Anna."

"Anna."