PIT TO CAGE

“Why on earth will I need a mate? And the moon goddess had to be so cruel to give me the daughter of a traitor,” Derek mused to himself.

Women were nothing but a tool for satisfaction and breeding, but he could have been given a more docile and simple female with a good family background, not a traitor’s daughter.

“No way in hell will I allow my offspring's character to be questionable because of their mother's tainted blood,” he thought out loud.

He thanked the goddess that nobody was in the room with him to hear his internal battle.

He knew she was still locked up in the dry well, but did not send anyone to get her out. 

“Perhaps she's dead. The wolf’s bane in the well is still very effective.” He muttered, panting around the room. 

On a second thought, he dismissed the idea. His wolf would have known if she were still alive.

Speaking of wolves, Atlas has been quiet ever since he rejected their mate publicly.

“Surely, you can't grow grumpy on me. She is of the traitor's blood.” he was hurt that his wolf even acknowledged her as his mate.

He assumed he was done with anything that had to do with having a mate. After all they only get one mate for a lifetime. It's only in extreme cases that someone gets to experience it twice.

He had it in mind to look for a simple and pretty lady who can at least reason properly and with half thinking faculty to be his breeder. He knew wishing for more would be difficult because the women around him seemed to have straws for the brain. They were into him because he was the supreme Alpha. 

Still silent…

“Well, you can't be resentful forev…”

There was a knock at his door, which made him pause mid-sentence.

“Who are you and what is it you want?” he grunted, irritated that they disturbed him during his self conflict moment.

Opening the door, the guard stood at the entrance not daring to go further, “Supreme Alpha, the slave…. What should we…?” the guard stuttered.

“Did you lose your sense of speech?” Derek had little patience for anyone who seemed to waste time on irrelevant things.

“Sorry, Supreme Alpha. Your mate… Sorry, the girl in the well, if we don't bring her out now, I'm afraid she will die,” the guard finally passed his message across with fear that Derek would insist he joined the slave in the well.

“Take her out, prepare a room for her, and dump her there. I'll meet with her later,” Derek answered and waved the guard off.

“Okay, Supreme Alpha” the guard bowed and exited the room.

Carly was startled by the noise and opened her eyes to see a ladder making its way down the well.

Her eyes were almost closed because of no sleep. Her lips were dried as the well. Not only that, but her fine skin covered in dirt.

“Alexis, I guess we're going to survive after all” Carly whispered to her wolf.

“Come up” Carly looked up to see who the voice belonged to. It was a guard.

Walking feebly and trying to be as fast as possible, Carly clutched the ladder like it was a lifeline and made her way up.

As she got out. All the guards placed a hand over their noses. She was stinking so badly. They gave her space, not even coming any inch closer.

So weak to speak or be angry. She only felt glad that she was out of the well. 

“Follow me,” the guard said to her, turned and strutted towards the main building, not caring if she was alright, or she was actually following him. He knew that she knew better if she dared try to escape again.

“Where are we going?” she asked in the lowest tone but was met with stony silence

The guard was walking briskly, and she found it challenging to follow his pace, as she was weak and without food for long.

Soon, they stopped in front of a room that looked more like a prison. The door was made with the strongest steel, with just a small opening at the end for passage of food and little items. It had three bolts and two locks.

“Well, I guess I'm still a prisoner,” Carly muttered under her breath.

The guard fished for the keys and opened the padlocks before inserting the keys for the locks and turning them open.

After what seemed like forever to Carly, with a loud creak, the door finally swung open.

“This will be your room,” the guard said, turning to her. “The wardrobe has some clothes and your food will be sent to you later. I think the Alpha is being too generous to a traitor,” he sneered at her.

She ignored him and stepped into the room to observe her new prison.

The room was plain, with just a bed and one small opening as an excuse for a window, lest she suffocate and die. The wardrobe was quite ancient, and she wondered who on earth had used this room before.

“Thank you.” She turned to look at the guard. Compared to others, he did not hit her at least. The ones that dragged her to the well earlier on were vicious and treated her with inhumane. Like she was some sort of a punch bag. 

As soon as the guard shut the door behind him, and she heard the bolts and locks being turned, she ran to the bed as quickly as her tired legs would carry her.

“A little comfort at last” She wept quietly until she was exhausted and slept off.

“What are we going to do?” Alpha Hulbert was pacing round his court. It never once occurred to him that keeping Carly alive would come back to bite him.

“I should have slayed her when I had the chance, damn the Supreme Alpha's orders!” he flung the set of glass cups on the table to the wall, still his anger was not abated.

“It's too late to do that now. She's within the confines of the Supreme Alpha,” Lord Ralph said to him. It was pretty obvious that he was agitated, too. He tried to sleep with the Supreme Alpha's mate and even if Derek despised her, he may still come for his head if news get out.

“She has to die. I can't have her running her mouth and putting me in trouble” the wheels were racing in Hulbert's head. He kept wondering about a possible and effortless way to deal with the matter silently, without arousing suspicion. 

He knew that if things were to go haywire, Derek would hang his head on a stake and his family would not be spared either.

While they were still debating on what to do, Zoya walked in.

“Hulbert you promised me that Derek was all mine. Now what is this twist about a mate?” She was fighting to keep her cool to avoid Hulbert turning on her.

“Fear not, Darling. My promise still stands. Let's just look at this like a little hiccup” Hulbert replied to her, putting on a mask of confidence.

“Little Hiccup indeed, don't tell me you're incompetent, and you made me follow your lead,” she jeered at him, dropping her cool.

His eyes suddenly changed to gray, and he rushed to her, pinning her neck to the wall with his claws visible. It was obvious to all that he was on the verge of losing control and his wolf wanted to shift.

“Don't. You. Ever. Question. My authority again, am I clear?” He warned. Zoya visibly gulped. She had seen him shred someone to pieces before and knew he could do the same to her because of the level of his anger at the moment.

“I'm sorry. And yes. Now, let me go!” even if she was afraid, she realized better than to cower under her brother's stare.

He released his grip on her neck and retracted his claws back in.

“Get out,” he ordered her.

Ralph watched the interactions between the siblings, wondering how on earth they could be so close in a minute and be at war the next minute.

“Not so quick, I need to take out that bitch myself, either by framing her or ending her. The choice is yours. Come up with a solution before we meet next time. This is no fucking hiccup, and you know it.” Zoya glared at her brother but, it seemed the message wasn't for his ears alone. 

“Fine, I'll see you next meeting. Now, get out!” Hulbert waved her off and swayed towards the table to refill his drink with the new set of glasses the servant had fetched.

She looked at the two lords and saw that prolonging their conversation was futile, then took her leave. 

“You too Ralph, you can take your leave” Hulbert turned to Ralph, silently ordering him to leave the room.

“But we are yet to come up with a plan,” Ralph commented, feeling insulted that he was being chased out.

“Next week, we'll meet again. I have someone to talk to first.” With that he left the room, not caring whether Ralph was still around or not.