บุปผาเคียงบัลลังก์รบ

Alpha’s Rejected Slave

                            Chapter One

                             (Captured)

                            Sheila’s POV

  “Master wants her alive!” 

  The guard screeched warningly to the other guards who were struggling to keep me in place as my hands fought their rough grasps to escape, with an arm wrapped around my neck. It felt like my breath was trapped as my eyes rolled back into my head and a tear slid down my cheek rolling onto my white dress.

   My brains racking and ruminating on what crime I’ve been committed to deserve this treatment on the brutal way I was snatched on my way to get herbs from the forest and these mean looking men huge, aggressive and rude, pursued and caught me in the middle of the little lake at the outskirts of Mountain Dew Pack.

         “Nooooo…” A faint scream managed to tear out of my throat as a large sac was placed over my head blinding my vision.

       Next thing, air was knocked out of my lungs and my body turned into jelly.

    Weak, defeated and vulnerable.

****

 Moments later my eyes were open to see myself locked up in a room where creaks of sunlight permeated the dark dungeon followed by my nostrils scrunched by the stench of filth and decay. Fear tore my heart as human bones, skulls and filths of human discharge filled the air.

 Bile rose in my throat, with the pungent smell to lay off everything in my stomach. I held on gritting my teeth to the other for fear of littering the place.

  How long was I going to stay locked up?

  The men who abducted me wore masks, every one of them with black apparels with seven white stars and a wolf head inscribed on their chest zone like that of the guards of White Peak Mountain Pack. 

 No, that can’t be true. My mind was playing tricks on me. He can't possibly plan this.. Could he?

     Not possible. He wouldn’t care if I lived or died all these years and the Alpha of such a pack would have no time for a maid like me. It was a no-brainer.

 “Wh-at do.. they want from me?” my voice came out croaky and dry. My throat felt like It swallowed thorns.

   A plate of white pottage was on the floor with a jug of water. It was better to die with a stomach full than empty so I thought. The water was colder than usual and it was of immense help to numb the pain on my foot and wet my dry, brittle hair. My eyes fell on the angry, dark wound on my foot. I could remember hitting a sharp rock when I tried running away from the abductors and it hurt badly.

     “Ouch…”

   Pain shot through my bloodstream. 

            It hurts. 

       To move hurts a lot. 

Tears began to well up in my tear ducts. What have I done to deserve this? I’ve never stolen a thread from anyone or gotten into trouble. 

     Who must have placed a bounty on my head?  

 

  My memories foggy on who and what I must have done to get caught and sent to this terrible place. The crazy place was slowly seeping into my mind’s eye. Despair was creeping in, breaking my strong will and making me its prisoner.

  My eyes felt so dry to cry. I've exhausted the little strength in me to cry. The fear of the unknown was killing. I was my only family. No one would bat an eyelid of my demise. I shut my eyes for a few minutes, my thoughts running to and FRO- on the peaceful life I have grown accustomed to.

   The pandemonium that fanned my childhood was a monster hanging around my shoulder, clinging to me as a second skin. 

 A childhood I desperately wished I never was a part of and a history that was dead, buried and forgotten long ago.

  My eyes met a scar on my lap and with haste. My dress was flung on it shielding my weakness from the eyes of others, no one but me had to see this and so many of this. 

  It was my responsibility to hide from the face of the earth and disappear. I tried so hard from town to town and I grew irrelevant and almost non-existent like I should. 

 Even at Mountain Dew I spoke to no stranger, ate my meals in silence. The colds whipped me at night without warmth, the sun had its anger on my little dwelling. When I was sick, I had to take care of myself without assistance. No one to cook me a healing broth or to pat my fever.

 It was my curse. Fated to be rejected by everyone, hated and be at the mercy of others. Wherever I go people die, good or bad. Alone was my fate and in my heart I was hopeful this could put an end to my suffering.      

     “Is there anyone here? Please help me. I hate this place. I hate the dark!” 

 Being in the dark was my greatest weakness and it terrified me greatly. 

Locked up in a dark room made my heart wanting to jump out of my heart, my skin began to crawl with dread. I was claustrophobic and being here was killing. Being locked up brought back so many harsh memories and memories of him…

   My eyes felt too heavy to stay open, my toes twitched welcoming the numbness that spread through my entire body as I fell into nothingness.  

   “Ahhh….” 

A tight scream tore from my throat. My eyes shot open with the speed of lightning. “When did I fall asleep?” the question directed to myself. 

  My hair and clothing were drenched in ice cold water. The light of the cell was eye blinding with blazing torches and I realised the guards who abducted me weren't the ones in my cell. This set of men wore different clothing and without masks with brown, black and dirty blonde hair.

  Bile rose in my throat.

           Was my execution decided already?

  I struggled to my feet for fear of what they might do to me. I won’t let them kill or hurt me further without a fight but something was amiss, the men looked like they were waiting on orders to carry out their next line of action.

  That brought me to the question. On whose orders was I locked in here? Who had the power to punish me? My life has been shielded so whoever had me here was clearly mistaken or just loved to hurt women.

  “Who ordered you to do this? Answer me!” I yelled with the last strength left within me.

  A strong hand twirled around my wind pipe knocking air out of my lungs, hitting my waist on the hard floor as I struggled to breath, hot blood pounding in my brain. Metallic taste hit my tongue- Blood.

“You don’t get to speak until you're being asked!” The hand that knocked me out, screeched into my face. His dirty breath fanning my face, and blocking my nostrils. He screamed of moral decay. Like the rest of his members, no soul, kindness or any good.

   I pushed his hands off my throat and quickly wrapped my arms around my neck area, massaging the areas his hands left Imprint. If demanding closure on who their Alpha was who ordered my kidnap could get them this riled up, then speaking further will get me killed without me finding out who it was.

   “Calm down, Alpha said no one should hurt her.”

  One of the guards chided the beast who hit me earlier and he nodded leaving the room followed by the other as the dungeon door was locked.

A lone tear ran down my right cheek. I was going to get killed. The mean looking men will make sure I don’t see the sun.

My thoughts consumed me.

    “No, I won't watch them kill me without a fight.” I wiped the tears forming in my lids and limped from the floor.

 My eyes caught a rope which I quickly picked and saw the hole from the far end where the sun came through. That could be my escape.

 But how do I get past the guards? There will be guards outside. Good thing the torches were burning furiously my eyes ran the entire walls and slowly my plan to escape could work. Happy at the idea I began to scale the wall hoping it would lead me to something but everything was turning futile as my strength began to fail, my legs growing wobbly and it began to register…

   There was no escaping this place.

Then a familiar cedarwood scent hit my nostrils. It smelled familiar…

            Too familiar.

          “Long time no see lover!”

               I paled in shock.