RIVER

The growl is so loud that even the trees around shake at the sound.

My eyes are hazy from tears but I catch the sight of a great dark figure running towards us.

"Is that..." 

"It's Alpha Liam! Fuck!"

"What do we do now? He sounds angry."

"I don't think he'd do anything drastic. Just a firm warning. After all, she's still a whore and it's not like we touched her."

I wipe my eyes and sit up. My clothes are a mess and a few bruises mark my skin. I feel so horribly ashamed. The words float in my head, taunting.

Sex slave.

I want to strip off my very own skin; hating the residual feeling of their coarse hands.

The great figure is getting closer. It's a ten foot tall wolf with ink black fur and green eyes. It's growling madly and drooling all over the place.

The warriors all bow once he nears. The first one to talk is the rough voiced man.

"Alpha Liam, we apologize. We kn-"

Slash! Squelch!

The man doesn't get a chance to speak. Liam crushes him with his grand paw immediately he opens his mouth. I lie there in utter confusion.

He was defending me?

The other four warriors are in a frozen state of horror; they watch as the beast howls at the sky, jaws tainted with their friend's blood.

"A-alpha Liam?" 

Another slash, another crushed neck. Liam was not showing his packmates any mercy. The remaining three are crying, pleading for their lives.

The wolf's serpentine green eyes meet mine. We stay like this for a moment; until he notices my ruffled look.

Then he goes mad again.

Several other wolves and warriors from the pack are coming from behind him. He roars at them all and they instantly get back.

"Liam! Calm down. Fucking hell!" Beta Mike calls from afar. Liam only turns and growls menacingly at him.

In the next second, the wolf turns and faces me. My heart drops as it approaches and opens its bloody jaws.

"Argh!" Liam's wolf carries me up into its mouth and I panic for a hot second. 

But the wolf does not crush my head or pull out my spine. It takes off, running into the woods- heading for the lake.

It runs for a while and all I can do is stifle the sudden tears spring to the surface.

Was this my life now?

Condemned to have the title of a slave slapped onto my forehead? A baby making machine...

The trees pass by and the night's cool wind whips my dark hair left and right. Liam's wolf finally arrives at the river. Gently, it sets me down on the wet shore. There's no madness in its eyes now; only a certain tenderness that human Liam never shows.

Those green eyes look at me with longing. I shakily raise a hand and pat its wet snout. My palm is instantly covered in blood.

"T-thank you..." I say.

Before my eyes, the wolf starts to morph; bones cracking, fur merging- until the naked form of human Liam appears.

His face is cold unlike his wolf.

"Who said you could just move around the perimeters like that?" 

I look at him, speechless. "I-I wanted a...a bath."

Liam scoffs then and walks towards me, green eyes glinting with malice. I back away from him, truly afraid.

His face, chest and arms are thoroughly coated in blood.

"A bath? Don't be stupid. Even if you wanted to swim, the other river is much safer."

His voice drops as he grabs my arm and pulls me to him.

"You made me lose control, girl. You absolute fool...now the pack members will have questions. Why do I give two fucks about a slave like yourself?"

My breath hitches; Liam draws me closer and I keep my face away from his.

"Why are you rogues always fucking causing trouble?!"

He sniffs my skin then, causing me to retreat in fear. "P-please don't." 

The image of those men touching and trying to have me is still too fresh. I don't know when it happens, but I start crying.

"I-I'm sorry. I should have gone to the other river. But c-can you blame me? I'm not welcomed here! Everyone looks at me like a slave...like an object! I might not have a pack but does that make me so...worthless. So useless."

I collapse to the ground in tears. Flashes of my parents mauled bodies and their packmates' cruel gazes taunt me.

I was forced to go rogue...

I sob into the ground, hating everything and everyone. My skin feels like slippery, old soap; I want to wash myself away.

Liam's bare feet come into my field of vision. 

"You reek of those wolves. Get up."

I rise and my eyes meet his. They're blank and emotionless. 

Of course he didn't care about my sob story. He reaches out to me, gently rubbing at the exposed bruises through the torn cloth.

I almost forget that he's naked now and touching me.

"Should I kill the remaining three?" He asks in a low, detached voice. His eyes are fixed on the bruise. It's dark but wolves can see clearly even at night.

"I-I..."

I want them dead...

"No. Let them be." 

My mate raises his eyes to meet mine and I see a hint of disgust rise in them. "Trying to act all noble? Doesn't change who you are. Come."

His words sting but I ignore them, swallow the bitter pill. He was my captor and I was his slave.

Liam pulls me towards him and rips my garment open. He pulls the fabric from my body, exposing me to the harsh breeze.

He sucks in a breath seeing me. His eyes linger on the bruises.

"Act as noble as you want but I'll kill them all." 

I cover my chest with my arms but Liam pulls them apart.

"We'll wash that scent off you now, girl. Then you will show my lips everywhere they touched you..."