Episode 3

Nymeria

Immediately Alpha Zaran was out of the hall, Kael face turned dark.

I even barely made it two steps before Kael’s hand slammed onto my shoulder.

He turned me around so hard that my back crashed against the wall. The air rushed out of my lungs. His face was right all over mine, and his eyes were burning with pure hate.

“What the fu*k did you say to him?” he snarled at me. “What did you fu*king tell Alpha Zaran to make him want to drag your worthless ass back to his pack?”

I stared at him in shock as my heart was pounding so loud that I could barely think.

Alpha Zaran wanted me? He wanted to take me with him to his pack?

For a moment, part of me felt something close to hope, but the other part felt fear.

The rumours about him were dark. People said he was cruel and a murderer. At least here I knew how to stay alive or maybe barely.

When i didn’t answer, Kael lost his mind, and his fingers dug deeper into my shoulder, and he slammed me into the wall again.

“Answer me, you little b*tch!”

I swallowed hard as my throat felt tight. “I… I did not say anything to him.”

His eyes narrowed down my face. “Don’t you dare lie to me because he was all up in your business minutes ago."

“I.... swear,” I stammered. “I did... not tell him anything..”

Kael was staring at me for a second. Then he let go of my shoulder.

Before I could even move, his hand landed across my face. The slap sounded in the empty hallway.

My head snapped to the side, and my cheek was burning.

“You better be telling the truth,” he growled, leaning in close. “Because if this contract didn't go through and he walks away because of you… I will make the rest of your life is a living hell. You understand me?”

He spat right in my face. His warm spit slid down my cheek.

“Get out of my sight!”

I did not wait. I turned and ran. Tears was behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall yet.

My feet carried me straight to the maids’ restroom. I shoved the door open, stumbled to the sink, and twisted the tap. Cold water poured out. I cupped my hands and splashed it over my face again and again, washing away the spit and the heat from his slap.

I gripped the edges of the cracked basin and just stood there, breathing hard.

In, Out, In, Out. Trying to stop my body from shaking.

Then Sera’s voice sounded very loud.

“Nymeria! Nymeria!"

I jumped so hard that my whole body jerked. I turn around and dropped my head fast, staring at the floor.

Sera was in the doorway with her arms crossed, and face twisted with pure disgust.

“Don’t you dare think that Alpha Zaran wanting you is some kind of a good thing,” she snapped at me. “You are not special and you’re just going to end up like his dead mate..”

I kept my head down without saying anything.

Sera stepped closer and shoved my shoulder hard. “What the hell are you still standing here for? Get the fu*k out of my sight!”

I scrambled past her and ran straight down the narrow stairs and straight into my tiny room.

I shut the door fast behind me with a soft click. I dropped onto the flat, thin mattress and pulled my knees up to my chest, and arms were wrapped tight around them. My cheek was still burning, and my shoulder ached where Kael had grabbed me.

My mind kept replaying the meeting room. The way Alpha Zaran had looked at me. He seemed… interested, and I did not know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

Kael was cruel and evil, but he was not a murderer. Not yet, at least.

Going with Alpha Zaran… I had no idea what my chances of surviving there were.

I let out a long, shaky breath.

I was still thinking about it when my eyes started to close and the room was starting to fade, and I fell asleep.

......

Suddenly, I was standing in a dark hallway.

It felt like I was watching a scene from a movie.

My eyes moved around the hall and stopped at the two people were standing few feets away from me. It was a man and a woman. They were arguing about something and their mouths was moving fast..

But I could not hear a single word. It was like someone had put a silence spell over them so that i could not hear.

I did not know them, but whatever they were fighting about had them look terrified. I could see it in the way their bodies were shaking.

Then, a little girl ran into the hallway. She looked about five or six. She was holding a baby doll tight against her chest. She ran straight toward the man and woman.

Before I could move, a figure appeared right in front of me...

Tall. Dark. I couldn’t see the face clearly.

I lifted my hand slowly. “Can you… can you see me?”

The figure did not answer. It just raised something and drove it straight into my chest.

Immediately, pain exploded through me at once.

“Get out!” the figure screamed. “Get out!”

I woke up gasping as i stood up very quickly and sat on the mattress.

My chest was heaving, and sweat was pouring down my face.

My hand flew to the side of my chest.

When I pulled my hand away, my fingers were wet.

Blood.

I shoved the thin bedspread off me and scrambled fast to the cracked mirror on the wall. My hands were shaking as I yanked the sleeve of my white nightgown down over my shoulder.

There it was.

A fresh cut was right where the figure had stabbed me in the dream. Blood was still seeping out slowly.

My eyes went wide.

What the fu*k?