Chapter 13

Sybil’s POV

‘Should I really do it? Go down to the dungeon?’ I thought as I wiped the glass. Many scenarios had spanned in the last thirty minutes.

For one u could put aside my hatred for him and draft a plan that would help us escape, I could also rush in there, before he speaks I tell him that we don’t know each other but we share the same interests, I could also ask him what happened? How did he end up in one of the most notorious alpha’s cells? Why did he leave us, his children?

That was how my thoughts spiraled, totally out of control. I went from planning my escape to ignoring him to asking him why his own children.

And even though I’m all grown up, as an adult I still wanted to understand the reason. I wanted closure.

After I finished cleaning the windows I met up with Aria later in the night. I had some other chores but I would just complete them in the morning. In the laundry room, Aria was folding clothes and arranging them in the wardrobe.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, not taking her eyes from the cloth she was pressing. I looked around the laundry room. The table and hangers. The clothes belonged to the soldiers and generals.

“Nothing,” I answered Aria, going around her to take the hangers. “I’m bored and tired of cleaning, besides you could use a little company, hmm? Then we can return to our room together.”

She rolled her eyes but her lips quirked up. I took the clothes after she pressed it and hung it on the hanger then straight to the wardrobe. They’ll be taken to their various rooms later in the day.

I let us fall into the rhythm of the work before I asked, “The prisoners, who serve them food?” I didn’t stop fixing the clothes on their hangers.

“I mean I rarely see them take food down there.” I paused and gasped, “Do they feed them or is it part of their punishment to die from starvation?”

I physically trembled thinking about that. Dying from starvation, slowly watching your life end in a peaceful agonizing pain.

“They barely eat,” she confirmed my fear, and stopped pressing the clothes. She set the iron in a standing position, dragging in a breath as if shuddering, “I suppose the alpha will not just allow them to starve and kill them. If he wanted to do it he would have done it when they were dragged in.”

“I believe they are fed, but not always and it will be fine by the guards.”

I thought as much. The one general built like a bulldozer was always poised by the door, and the switch to another bulky-looking werewolf was fast.

Security down there was top notch which meant I had to devise a brilliant plan to get in and plot with the man responsible for my life.

“You should not do anything that will take you down there, you might not make it alive.”

“Have you been there, to the dungeon?” I watched her as I waited for her reply. It seemed like she had experienced that dark place

“Not me, I haven’t been down there, but some other girl, our previous roommate,” she said, and the hair on my arms rose.

“She went down to the dungeon?” It was hard to hide the horror in my voice. “Why? What happened? Why did she go down there?”

“She was bought along with some slaves, and somehow she discovered that her friend was in the dungeon. She began visiting him to plot an escape. She was caught plotting her escape. They locked her up and made her watch as they killed her friend and then they released her.” Aria’s face contorted in grimace and pity. “After working tirelessly, she was killed as well. She looked like hell, Sybil.”

Even if I hated my father I didn’t want to watch him die. And the girl I felt bad for. An image of me in place of the girl, beaten and made to watch as my father died made me recoil from terror.

He couldn’t possibly do that, could he?

My wolf, Mira scoffed, ‘Yeah, like you don’t know the monster. Don’t let your little reaction to him tell you otherwise.’

Mira was right, just because my body reacted to his in that manner did not mean he was merciful.

Hell, he killed his general in the blink of an eye. The image made all my food rise to my throat. I was by the door when Aria called out.

“Where are you going?”

“To get something,” I squeezed an uneasy smile as I slipped out. My bucket of water was by the door. I picked up and just when I was about to leave an image caught my eye.

Outside by the balcony was a girl struggling against a soldier. He slammed her against the pillar and a cry escaped her.

I looked around to see that there was no one here and it was late at night.

“Keep quiet, you slut!” He struck her on the face and her head fell over, but she didn’t stop fighting him until he hit her again.

“Do you want me to throw your wolfless ass off this building?”

The bells in my head churned. How dare he? Because she was wolfless he dared to abuse her?

For a second it wasn’t the girl that appeared in my vision, it was my sister. I imagined her locked up and forced to take whatever they scoop for her. Abusing her and using her as they pleased.

How could they do that to their own kind?

“How dare you?” Immediately he turned and I flung the bucket of water on him, he gasped and turned but I used the empty bucket on his head just as fast as he swerved round to face.

He clutched his bleeding head with his hand and spun, upon seeing me he lurched forward at me, hands out for my throat.

I froze as I thought of all the ways I was going to die, and the bucket dropped from my hand. But just as he was about to grab me, he lost his footing and slid on the water on the ground, then he went over the balustrade.

Everything happened in the span of a minute, one he was reaching for me, claws out to gut my throat, then the next he slid and fell over the balustrade.

I placed my hand on the balcony and peeked down, heart slamming hard in my rib cage as I let out a prayer.

Please let him be alive, please let him be alive, please moon goddess, let him be alive.

When I looked down, the soldier was on the ground, head splashed against the stone. Eyes wide open, the last snarl on his face permanent as he stared ahead.

He’s…he’s dead.

No, please no.

The girl beside me was shivering, staring at the dead soldier. Her hand came up and wrapped her shoulder then she spun to me.

The fear of being raped was replaced with that of pure, visceral fear of death. Her eyes darted from me to the soldier.

“You-you, you killed h—“

“Shhh.” I grabbed her arm but she yanked it away, still shaking like a leaf.

“He’s..” she hiccuped, stepping back. “He’s dead.. and you, you killed him.”

Oh moon goddess help me.

“Don’t do this.” My own fear was growing rapidly. I've merely survived stabbing a general and now I've killed a soldier.

A soldier.

“You killed him!” She yelled, “You did, not me, you! You!”

She was yelling when the toll of a bell reached us. It continued ringing till the whole camp was up.

“Intruders! Intruders!” The bell rang as a soldier yelled.