Small Spaces

My heart shattered, hearing the response of Leon was enough. It was enough for me to stop hoping. But of course, I was going to continue being stupid. I could not help myself. 

It was just how my heart and mind were programmed: to continue giving someone chance after chance, even if it had been made clear that they did not deserve it. I just wished that I could turn that part of me off, but sadly, I could not. 

At this moment, I realized that the brother who once loved and protected me was gone. The Leon that I knew before Sage had come into our lives would have never said these awful things to me. Maybe if you knew how he used to love me, maybe you’d understand. 

I decided that I should just walk away, and I did. I headed to one of the many guest rooms. And of course, I slept hungry. Maybe it was because of that, because it was one of the worst sleeps of my life. Which was weird considering that I had been sleeping on dirty towels on the floor for years now. 

So why did I not sleep well when I had just slept on a Queen-sized bed? But again, years behind bars had destroyed my ability to rest properly. I have not rested well in a very long time. 

When morning came, I jolted awake, my heart racing in my chest. I thought that I had overslept and that I was still back at the prison. If I were, then that would have meant that I had missed morning rounds. And this used to be me waking up at the crack of dawn to scrub toilets and clean floors. 

I ran my hand through my hair, grateful that I was not still in that evil place. I was back home, even though this place did not feel like that anymore. 

I headed out of the room soon, making my way down the stairs. I was obviously up before Leon and Sage; there was no sign of them. I really needed some food; I knew at this point that my stomach was eating itself up. 

I walked into the kitchen, hoping to be able to make myself something. And I was met by the staff. They all stared at me with disgust. Every one of them except the lady from last night, who had wanted to help me when I had been bleeding. But I did not blame them; I was nothing but a traitor in their eyes. 

If only I could tell the truth and release myself from all of this. 

“You need food, yes?” One of them walked towards me and shoved a plate of leftovers at me. “That’s all that's left. Take it or leave it.” 

I caught the plate, mumbling a few words of gratitude. It was better than nothing. It was already much better than what I used to eat back in prison. But I had a plan, though. I had made up my mind about something that I was going to do. 

Once the Alpha King leaves, I was going to ask them to let me leave the pack for good. It would be better to start over somewhere else than to keep suffering here for something that I did not even do. 

I made my way out of the kitchen and headed to the dining hall to eat. I could remember the words of Leon from last night about a healer; they echoed in my head. But there was no sign of anyone. I did not mind, though, because I was used to injuries like that. I knew that I was going to heal even if that was going to take a few days or weeks. 

Now sitting in a chair and eating alone in the dining hall, I heard the sound of the opening of the front door. I did not bother to look to see who it was because it was none of my business. But when I smelled the cologne of the person, that was when I looked up. 

“Now, what do you want?” I groaned, dropping my fork carefully on the plate. 

Rafael ignored the question and asked, “Is that all you’re eating?” He eyed my food. “You really learned a lot in prison, didn’t you?” He scoffed faintly. “Eating leftovers to make yourself look like a victim…to make yourself look pitiful?”

“If you really want to atone, you should apologize to the families of the victims instead of putting on this stupid act,” He added. 

I lowered my eyes, picking up my plate so I could try to leave. I did not want to deal with this. Not when my life was already crappy enough. I did not deserve any of this. But when I tried to stand, the guy grabbed my arm, making sure that I sat back down. “Goddess, please help me,” I muttered under my breath as I tried to continue to control my emotions. 

“My one-day deadline is almost over, Cassie. If you still refuse to apologize this time, I won’t let you off.” 

“You did not let me off three years ago either,” I could not help but shoot back the response before I could even register that I had. I locked eyes with him and stared daggers at him. “If you had not given false testimony, I never would have been sent to prison.” I was so tired ot the man. Could he just not leave me the hell alone? 

It was not even me who had accidentally released sensitive information about battle plans, causing the pack to lose a major fight. It had been Sage! She should have been imprisoned, not me!

Rafael went quiet for a few seconds before his expression hardened again. “Because you were a traitor. I could not let you escape your punishment. Are you even hearing yourself?”

I let out a cold laugh. Man, I was just so tired of all of this. I had no interest in arguing or proving myself anymore. And besides, what would be the point when I could not tell him the actual truth? 

“You think this is funny?” He scoffed rudely. “You caused so many families to lose their loved ones, and you’re f*cking laughing, Cassie?” His voice went up a bit, causing my heart to skip a beat. “You know what…? He stood up. “Stand up. I am going to show you what’s really funny.” 

“What…?” I asked tentatively, fear now seeping through. 

Without warning, he aggressively grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet, and he started pushing me for me to walk. I begged him to stop and told him over and over that he was hurting me, but he did not care. He continued this until he took me to the cellar and made sure to get me inside before slamming the door shut. 

“When you’re ready to apologize,” He said from outside, “contact me.” Then I heard his footsteps recede. 

“Sh*t, no,” I said as I started to pound on the door weakly. “No, Rafael, please. I’m sorry!” In prison, I developed severe claustrophobia, so this was hell for me. My voice could not even escape the airtight room. 

And without my wolf, I could not even mind link anyone. I was surely going to die in here. My heart was racing in my chest, and my breathing was hard and far from normal. I soon slid to the floor, feeling like I was being choked…like the air from my lungs was being sucked out. 

My consciousness started to slowly fade, the corners of my vision getting black. I could not believe that I had survived years of that awful prison just to die in a cellar. I blinked once more, and my body started to go limp. 

But just before I slipped into oblivion, the cellar door suddenly swung open. “Wake up,” A man’s voice said urgently. 

In my daze, I heard a wolf howling inside my mind, “Mate! My mate!”