Chapter 007

*FREYA*

I jolt awake, my breath hitching into my throat.

My heart pounding so hard like I just run a marathon.

A sharp sting radiates from my neck and I wince, jerking upright as memories flash in my head.

The guard torn to half. The dark veins crawling over that man's face and his arms.

I shiver, my eyes darting around the room and I am embraced with eerie silence.

The spot where the guard's body was is now clean.

No, that's impossible.

I throw my legs down from the mattress, my weak body protesting and move closer.

Nothing is there.

Not even the faintest stench of rotting flesh.

Can it be possible that it was just a nightmare ?

I reach for my neck, the very place I had felt the sting and I can feel a mark, confirming my suspicion.

My fingers trace it and it isn't a bite mark, instead, it's something more like a... tattoo.

Oh, heavens. Have I been initiated into a cult?

The memory of his dark gaze returns to my mind. His razor sharp fangs and the way his tongue had dragged over them. The hot searing pain I felt when they sank into my neck.

I collapse to the floor, hot tears steaming down my face.

More than anything , I want to return to Ashvale.

I will accept whatever punishment Silas gives as long as I don't have to spend another second here. Where their eyes burn in different shades and they transform into scary bloodsucking wolves.

Ignoring the woman's warning, I drag myself towards the window and look down.

Thick brushes surround me.

The woman isn't lying.

I'm trapped.

The door flies open and I spin around.

Alera is standing there, her chest heaving.

Her eyes takes me in and then widen.

“Are you planning to escape?” she blurts out.

She slips in quickly, shutting the door behind her.

“Are you going to tell on me”

She freezes, taken aback that I had actually spoken.

A soft smile spreads across her face.

“No. You clearly miss your parents, of course I understand —”

“I don't have one,” I mutter, lowering my gaze. “I grew up in a tavern.”

I expects to see judgement in her eyes but nothing, they only hold sympathy for me.

“Tough luck, I guess,” she chuckles bitterly. “I was born an omega, the lowest of all ranks. My parents died as slaves.”

She blinks back the tears in her eyes and I swallow a lump down my throat.

“Is that why they bully you, even when you are all omegas?”

She shakes her head. “No.They warm the Alpha's bed.”

The pit in my stomach tightens.

Her nose twitches.

“Is it just me… or does your scent smell stronger today?”

She leans closer, confused.

“It hit me the moment I opened the door. I didn’t mention it earlier—it felt rude—

but now it’s even stronger.”

I blink at her, heat rising to my cheeks.

“Is it because I haven’t taken a bath since I got here?”

Before she can respond, I lift my collar and take a quick sniff and instantly regret every life choice that led me to this moment.

“No,” she whispers, her brows pulled up. “It's not that. You smell like—”

She freezes as she takes another whiff. “—the Alpha!”

Her eyes almost pop from their sockets.

“No, no. That's impossible. The Alpha wouldn't mark you unless you're his...mate.”

Her gaze lingers on me and I shuffle on my feet.

“Is–is that a bad thing?”

My voice trembles with dread as I ask.

“Yes. You are human,” She stresses before pacing in front of me.

“If the other females find out, not only will they harm you but I will be their target too.”

At this point, she is rambling but I'm not paying attention.

My mind drifts to when i first met him —the Alpha– in the forest , where he called me mate but he didn't seem too pleased about it.

“Did he mark you?” she asks and my brows furrow.

“Like bite you?” she clears.

My fingers instinctively brush my neck and her eyes widen.

She stumbles back, her hand pressing over her lips.

“A human mate? That's unheard of.”

Alera’s voice is barely above a whisper, like it's something outrageous that even the walls shouldn’t hear it.

My throat tightens. I take a shaky step toward her and reach for her hand.

“Please,” I breathe. “Help me escape. I don’t want to stay here.”

“It's not easy,” she whispers. “He already marked you. You can't run from him.”

I shake my head, fear clawing at my chest.

“I—I can still try. Something can be done, right?” My breath trembles. “The mark can heal. It has to. Just… help me.”

Alera pulls her hand out of mine—not harshly.

Her expression softens in a way that makes everything feel even worse.

“It won’t,” she says gently.

“It’s permanent.”

The door is suddenly thrown open and we both flinch.

That woman from the day before.

Mistress Lyra.

Her eyes dart between us suspiciously before they settle on me.

“What happened to the guard?” she asks, her expression hard.

My mouth suddenly feels dry.

“I-I don't know.” My voice comes out as a murmur.

“Did you kill him?” she questions casually, her gaze scanning the room.

I flare up. “No!”

She hums , stepping closer. “No one will believe you anyway. Both you and the omega will be punished.”

My eyes widen and Alera falls to her knees.

“Mistress Lyra, I know nothing about it. I swear by the moon goddess.”

“So you didn't help the girl by poisoning him, the same way you wanted to help her escape now?”

I blink. “She didn't! And she wasn't planning to help me—”

She cuts me off. “I wasn't talking to you, low blood.”

Anger bubbles in my throat and I lunge for her.

In a flash, she moves and my fingers slice through the thin air.

I stumble back , catching myself right on time.

“Pathetic,” the woman sneers behind me.

In place of anger, all I feel is sorrow.

Tears burn my vision and I clench my fists.

I truly am pathetic.

“Why– why are you doing this?” I mutter miserably, a bitter lump in my throat.

“You are his mate, aren't you?”

I look up and my gaze locks with hers.

They no longer hold the hard expression.

“I don't know.”

“The mark on your neck and your scent is enough proof. Come with me if you want to protect your friend.”

My gaze returns to Alera.

She is trembling on her knees.

My chest constricts.

She's the only one who has been nice to me.

Now, she's about to be punished because of me.

“I-I'll come with you,” I let out finally. “But leave Alera out of it.”

Her lips curl in satisfaction.

“Wise choice.”

I feel Alera's gaze burning the side of my head but I don't turn, even when the woman leads me away.

***

I already freshened up, clad in a new dress, my feet no longer bare and standing beside mistress Lyra in front of a huge door.

My heart is too heavy to take a moment to admire the dress.

“Remember,” she warns. “When he asks, you are here to clean.”

I nod, dread pooling in my stomach.

“Here you go.”

She push the cleaning supplies into my hands.

“Goodluck,” she says before disappearing down the hallway.

I inhale sharply as I knock on the door.

Nothing. No response.

I push the door open, ignoring the dread twisting in my guts and freeze.

The Alpha is sitting on a couch, his rippled torso on full display and a girl is working between his long legs.

But the Alpha doesn't look like someone who is being pleasured, he stares at me blankly almost as if he's...bored.

He looks different from last night.

There are no dark veins and his eyes are now violet.

“What do you want?”

His gruff voice drags me from my thoughts and I almost jump in fright.

The girl raises her head and I recognize her as one of the omegas.

Recognition flashes in her eyes too and she glares at me.

“I-I came to clean,” I answer in a shaky whisper.

“Then clean.”

I blink. Like this.

He doesn't pay me any mind as he pushes the girl's head back to his erection.

Something strange twist in my chest at the sight and I force the feeling down.

What the hell is that?

I move slowly towards the bed and start working, smoothing the rough edges.

Mistress Lyra never told me what to do.

She only said to clean.

If that’s all she wants, then why threaten me and Alera for something so simple?

I exhale shakily.

This place is suffocating.

Even the air feels too thick, too heavy with things I don’t understand.

I tune the girl's moans out as I work but still… I can feel it — someone's eyes crawling down my spine, hot and unrelenting.

Suddenly, a deep, savage growl rips through the air and I stumble back.

The Alpha is standing now, fury pouring off him in waves and the girl blinks at him, confused.

“Get out!” he snarls.

My breath catches.I hastily pick up the supplies and rush towards the door but before I can move any further, his voice stops me.

“Not you.”

I freeze.

Very slowly, I turn.

He isn’t looking at me.

His glare is fixed on the girl still on her knees.

“You,” he spits.

Her face drains of color.

I stand rooted to the spot, heart hammering, as the girl stumbles to her feet and scurries past me.

The door slams behind her, leaving me alone in the room.

With him.

His dark eyes trail down my body.

“Lie on the bed.”