The second time

Chapter 2 

Vivian's POV 

"This is exactly where you deserve to be, you scum!"a warrior growled in my ear before shoving me into my cell.

I was taken to 'the hole'

It was an isolated underground cell where only the most vile and irredeemable monsters were tossed to rot. The only source of light was a bare bulb that was always dim making shadows appear in the corners where they were none.

I had not broken down when Draven gave me the life sentence after declaring me guilty. 

What really shattered me was the fact that I would be taken here. 

The humiliation aside, there was a reason why this place was reserved for the worst criminals. People who had done such evil that even death were like mercy. 

Once you got in there was no going out. 

I looked around with the minimum brightness I got from the artificial light above my head. 

The walls around me were all I was going to see for the rest of my life. 

No one was allowed to ever speak a word to me, and I was not allowed to talk to anyone else either. 

I would never see the moon again, run free through the woods, the breeze ruffling through my fur in my wolf form. 

For a pack wolf this was the worst kind of punishment.

I begged for any other punishment-even death.

"Why? so you can be reborn again?" Vlad, the man I called my father my entire life, asked mockingly as he cocked his eyebrow, many people laughed. 

That was when I understood. 

I had never been a part of this pack.

Not once. 

In my previous life Vlad and Draven were too caught up in the war to have paid much attention to Sarafine. 

But as soon as the tables turned in their favor, they had a chance to catch their breath and really show their favoritism towards her.

I saw it all, but I was understanding. 

Father was just trying to reconnect with a daughter that he had lost more than 20 years with, and Draven said he was just trying to make her feel at home.

I should have seen it then. 

Maybe I did but I refused to at the same time.

I curled up my feet to my chest, swaying from side to side, tears bubbling and rolling down my cheeks like salty waterfalls. 

The tears continuously came running down until I was all but bathed in them, then I heard a horse scratch coming from the door, particularly an open slot at the bottom that could be closed as well. 

A tray of food slid in.

Well I'm being really generous if I call it food. 

There was a bread as hard as concrete and next to it in murky yellowish green fluid in a bowl. 

"Why?" I cried out to know when in particular, "what did I do to deserve this? Why must I suffer this way?"

After I was done with my complaints I used my remaining straight to bite into the bread, swallowing without tasting and hurdling through the staleness just to satisfy the base cravings of my stomach.

 This was how I continued my days, not like I could even tell what time it was. 

Sometimes it felt like I had been there for decades and other times it felt like it had only been a couple of days. 

They really say no good deed goes unpunished.

That was the perfect description of my life. 

Or should I say my second one.

I had returned from the claws of death, I had heart my life several times going to the heart of the battlefield to strategize, leading missions that others feared because of the risk. 

And yet all it took was one simple accusation from that woman, all she had to do was point her delicate finger at me to flick a switch in their brains and turn me into the enemy. 

My health gradually declined everyday, no surprise there. 

I was beginning to hear voices. 

Also no surprise. 

But one day I actually had some visits, breaking pack law and speaking to me.

"Vivian."

At first I assumed it was just my imagination again fooling me, I planned to ignore it but it kept calling over and over again and then another voice mixed with it. 

"What?!" I hissed towards the direction of the voice.

There was silence only for a brief moment and then he spoke. 

"Sarafine, I told you this was a bad idea, let's just go." 

"No, we have to do this... I haven't been able to sleep for several nights now, so I'll be waiting at the entrance. Just say what you need to say."

Through my steel door I heard their lips and tangling in a hot wet kiss that made my skin crawl and my heart split at the same time.

Then I heard shuffling footsteps and Draven sucked in a deep breath. 

"Vivian how have you been?"

His question filled me with a rage I didn't even know that my body could contain, boiling from the inside and fuming. 

I didn't respond. 

He didn't deserve it. 

He continued to speak anyway.

"Vivian, I know you're listening right now... So let me just tell you the truth, you're going to die soon. I thought about it and I don't want you to suffer here for long. I've heard that the servants poison your food every day gradually so it won't look too obvious when you pass away." 

Almost if the poison was triggered by his words I felt my trust beginning to bird each breath felt like the way claws going down the right throat. 

"I'm sorry it's hard to be this way Vivian, honestly I did love you at some points but what I feel for Sarafine is so much deeper. I could have exiled you. But I can't bear the thought of another man touching you, having you for himself." 

I fell from my sitting position, slamming to the ground with an impact that shifted my arm. He continued to speak, his voice blurring in my ears and fresh tears coming as the world around me began to slowly be swallowed by darkness. 

This was it.

At least in my last life I had died with dignity.

I closed my eyes, and as shameless as it was I asked the moon goddess for just one more chance.

Another life. 

Not one for Vlad. 

Not for Draven. 

But for me.

I just needed one more chance.