Mate

~ Emilia ~

I crouched to my knees before sitting on the floor. The floor was unusually cold, and I stared down at it to discover it was mud. 

 I looked around the small room and found a small mirror hung on the wooden wall. I forced myself to sit up and stare at myself in the mirror; all I could see was my tear-streaked face and my scattered black hair. 

I slumped back to the floor, forcefully sitting on the mud.

I was dragged in here by the guard that had taken me from my home earlier. 

The airy stench of rotten wood filled the air. I stared at the animal-skin hides that hung on the wooden wall. It looked weary like it had been there for years. 

And somehow I felt at peace here more than at home since I have been cast out by the people I love, and I believed they would feel the same way some day.

I wondered what the wolves would be needing a human for. Except to work for them. They saw us less regardless of our status. My father was among the top-class richest men in Lycaonia, and he dreaded the werewolves like death.

The humans stayed away from them, never getting involved with whatever they did except for intertrading.

But Ava wouldn’t want to know; she caused trouble as long as I was going to get involved.

I rose to fame two years ago. When Ava had stolen a storybook while at college. It happened that the book belonged to the werewolves. The owner reported to her father, who ordered Ava should be beaten up. I had taken those strokes for her after her mom persuaded Father to force me to do it.

The wooden door suddenly crept open, and a guard walked in.

“Come with me, human." He said and came to where I sat and freed the shackles from my mouth before pulling the gag out.

As we stepped out of the room, my feet followed him, while my eyes took in the surroundings.

We followed a long dark hallway that smelled of old stone and damp. The air around felt like it was coming after a heavy thunderstorm.

We arrived at the end of the hallway and moved through a labyrinth of stone corridors. I made sure to keep track of the turns we took in order to map out an escape route.

We passed a group of men that stood at the end of the corridor, and their gaze rested on me like they had seen a strange being, piercing my skin. They flared their nostrils like they were catching my scent. My gaze left them and rested on the wall.

I strained my eyes in the dark hallway to read the carvings on the wall but couldn’t make any meaning out of it.

We walked for a few more minutes and finally arrived at an open space.

I stumbled over the guard that I followed; that was when I realized he had stopped moving.

He stood for a second and then gripped my elbow tightly. 

He guided me along a high, narrow bridge that looked like a valley.

‘Humans never knew this place existed.’ I screamed in my head.

My mind raced back home, and I wondered what my father thought while deciding to give me off to the wolves. 

My life has always been a mess. I was despised right from birth. Never have I ever seen my mother. My father said she was killed by the wolves while I was still some months old, and since then I have always dreaded the werewolves and avoided them till Ava got us into this mess.

At the end of the bridge, we walked through a staircase. While we descended, I heard faint voices from a distance. 

The sound grew louder as we stepped closer till we stepped out into a massive amphitheater. A circle of white stones that looked ancient sat at the center of a vast land. It was filled with people; some were seated, some stood, while others walked past us.

At the end of the circle, five men stood by a massive bonfire. The flames glowed in the dark, revealing the faces of the men. They looked old and weary, and I wondered what they were doing in a fire.

The guards pushed me towards the center of the white stone circle. I buckled on my knees, my body hitting the cold floor.

The crowd gasped, and I heard someone whisper.

“Human." 

I raised my head to see Alpha Adrain walking towards me. My stomach churned as he moved closer, and my heart hammered within my chest.

Alpha Adrain was said to be a beast among wolves, a legend spoken in hushed whispers, who killed without mercy. But his comforting gaze at our home earlier made me rethink. He doesn’t look like the beast he was referred to. 

I looked at the burning flames and the thought of him getting me roasted in it, made me want to scream.

He stood before me, his deep blue eyes resting on me. He crouched till he was at my level and then leaned forward, his minty breath fanning my tensed face. He sniffed my face, inhaling my scent. His eyes returned to mine, and our eyes locked.

I stared deep into his eyes, and a bolt of white lightning struck me from within. My chest felt radiated, and a blinding explosion of heat engulfed me.

I was drenched in sweat, and my body shook. Something doesn't feel right, but I couldn’t place my hands on what it was.

He backed away and signaled me to stand too.

I made myself stand but staggered backwards, falling to the floor again. 

He stretched his hands and pulled me up. As our hands locked, I felt something snapping within me. My heart raced with speed, and my vision began to blur.

“Mate!" I heard his voice as he lounged forward, his hands reaching to catch my unsteady body before everything went dark.