Taken Luna
The bed was strangely uncomfortable, it felt hard and cold. I moved to pull up the sheets and burrow closer to my mate but I had a hard time moving.
I groaned and struggled some more. An annoying sound was vibrating in my ear. I bet Damien fell asleep on top of me and was breathing deeply in my ear.
But I felt no suffocating pressure on my body and I didn't even feel like I was laying down. Gladys was eerily quiet and my head was killing me.
My eye lids felt like they were weighed down with lead, I had so much trouble opening them to see my surroundings.
I wasn't in a bed room at all!
I was chained up against a brick wall of a cell. My arms stretched up and horizontally attached to it with chains. My shoulders ached from being strained so long. The floor was hard against my legs and I scrambled against it, tearing the skin on my shins in the process.
My mouth dropped open and panic set in, the memories rushing back to my mind to haunt me. I inhaled to scream but a deep chuckle made the sound end in my throat.
"Finally, you are awake"
I knew the voice, it terrorized my dreams and reality for most of my life. It was the same voice that cackled when I cried for mercy from his painful hand. It was the same voice that continued to taunt me to this day.
Alpha Sadem.
My abuser.
My Father.
My eyes took a while to focus on the room, it appeared to be like the cell I had in Midnight Shadow just bigger and more chains. The brick floor and walls scraped up my thighs and it hurt to sit. I tried to roll my shoulders but the chains proved to hold strong, I whined out loud.
"What's the matter, pup?" My father sneered through his teeth, his dark eyes too much like mine to be comfortable. They shone with a lust for blood and his hands seemed to itch at the thought of beating me.
I began to shake at the sound of his condescending voice in my ears, I hated it so much.
My head felt light when I thought of all those terrible days I had spent being whipped, slapped, beaten then pumped full of Lycanthrope to awaken my wolf and reconstruct my body while deconstructing it. Every memory made me want to vomit.
"Bring in Cross" My father ordered out loud. He could have mind-linked but I had a strange feeling that he spoke aloud to instill fear in me. It begged the question who Cross was and what he was doing here.
I was thirsty, tired and scared. I just wanted my mate to come and comfort me, Damien would know what to do. I began to search for Gladys, she was the closest thing I had to a friend right now. My head felt foggy and muddled.
Gladys!
Gladys, where are you?
My wolf was looking about as dull as I felt. Her fur seemed to not shine with its silver shimmer and her eyes not full of energy, but she answered my plea.
What is going on? I asked, scared out of my mind to be in the same room as my father right now.
I-I don't know yet. My nose feels broken.... Gladys whimpered back to me.
"Where is that man? I want Cross right now!" My father barked out another order, he did not like to wait, he never did.
"Hold your horses, I'm right here." Then another man came up to the bars of the cell.
He made a point not to put his hands on it, so I assumed it was made with some kind of silver.
Silver burns a wolf's skin like fire, some packs even brand with it instead of hot coals.
Sometimes the sting is so effective it hurts for days before you can cure it with some type of ointment.
"She's awake...Thank the Goddess herself, he would have out heads if she was still sleeping another day!" The man exclaimed. Wait, I was out for days? That man drugged me and I was out for days? Long enough for some one to be upset about it?
Why was this all happening?!
We know that man, Gladys observed.
We do? From where?
I don't know, but I know his voice. I picture him in a suit.... Gladys contemplated, head cocked, tail twitching.
Cross...I sniffed the air, was he an Alpha? He exuded the power and authority that most Alphas did...
I know who it is! Gladys exclaimed, making me jump, He was one of the Alphas at the Banquet! He had a very beautiful mate, and he stepped into Damien's fight.
Cross, Cross, Alpha Cross..... I remember now! He talked to us and we refused to speak back! He seemed so kind....why is he with Father? I speculated. The Alpha was tall and almost too muscular for his own body. Everything about him seemed to be blown up in proportion to his face.
But I knew him, he and Damien talked and he made jokes, why was he helping to capture me?
The door of the cell opened and Cross stepped inside, "Do you remember me?" normally I wouldn't find him that intimidating, but now I began to panic. He was easing closer and closer and my heart was beating faster and faster.
I tried to move closer to the wall, I wished that I could be absorbed by the brick. My body, though was just as solid as it and I couldn't move from my chains.
"It seems that you do" He grinned devilishly "She is very beautiful, it was a good idea, Sadem." Cross said over his shoulder once he crouched in front of me.
"She was easy to find. Her mate doesn't even seem to keep tabs on her. He lets her wonder" My father responded nonchalantly, but I knew he was bursting with pride for contributing.
Cross chortled like Damien was a joke, "Too bad the mark hasn't gone away yet. Alpha will want her now." Cross raised his hand to move my head to see my beautiful mark. I flinched away.
"Has he been notified?" my father came closer and I internally screamed. Gladys rolled over in submission, she did not want to be hurt today. Neither did I.
"Yah, he's just taking his time"
"That man surprises me sometimes"
Who was this mysterious Alpha? What did he want? Was I on his territory?
"Move, Cross, let me talk with my shameful child" Alpha Sadem shooed Cross away. He moved over and my father took his place.
He grabbed my face roughly and had me looking into his eyes that matched mine.
I bit my tongue as he squished my cheeks angrily, "We have unfinished business, you and I.
You know this, Jillian" I was on the verge of tears.
Then a sharp jerk of my head, I connected with the brick behind me.
"Ow!" I yelped, wanting to rip my hands from the chains and rub my head.
A slow ache started creeping over the back of my scull.
Soon it would consume my eyes and move down my neck.
Gladys jumped and fell on her back, exposing her stomach in submission, but I refused to show any emotion.
"You will listen to me!" Father urged, his expression furious. Then he slapped me across the face, counteracting the pain I felt from my head. I gnashed my teeth to keep from screaming, tears burned my eyes, but I refused to cry. If I cried they would hit me more.
The minutes moved like hours, inching by little by little.
As slowly and as painstakingly possible.
My head felt like I had been hit by two cement mixers and all I wanted was for Damien to massage my scalp and kiss my forehead gently before urging me to rest in a comfortable spot.
My shoulders used to ache, but now they screamed to the heavens for mercy on the joints.
The strain placed on them too much to bear.
The two Alphas went behind the bars of my cage and watched me suffer. My thirst was unforgettable, my hunger driving me insane. My neck began to burn like fire on my mark, it didn't help with my headache.
Then there was a noise, Gladys perked up.
Footsteps, like boots hit the ground with loud thuds and clacks. A stench filled my nose like when pre-pubescent boys bathe themselves in AXE.
"She's awoken I see" The voice crooned, not harsh like Damien's or unnerving like Cross, and not nearly as terrifying as my fathers, but scratchy and creepy like a witch.
"Yes, she has. Sadly her mark is still visible" Cross put his arms behind his back when a long lanky shadow moved across the wall in the orange light.
"Yummy, she's a bit stubborn isn't she? Or is that her wolf?" The male chuckled. Gladys cringed at the way he mentioned her. "She must have her father's genes" he added, making my father growl in disagreement, "I do not want to be associated with the weakling" he huffed, showing me his teeth.
"Don't speak that way to my Luna!" the man snapped angrily. Wait what?
Oh, no..... Gladys pulled her tail over her eyes.
I had heard stories of females being taken and mated off the men that the moon had not assigned to them.
But those were stories, stories that my sister would tell me so I could hope for a mate to come and save me.
She always insisted that my mate would keep me safe no matter what, even when my father posed a threat.
She told me that to make me happy, but right now?
It was the last happy thought on my mind.
The male stepped into the light, "Do you remember me, darling?" he pulled out keys and opened the cell door with gloves on, "Right, your mate whisked you away before we could make a proper acquaintance" he closed the door behind him and discarded the gloves into his pockets, "I mean your old mate"
No, I'm pretty sure he's still our mate, Gladys looked away boredly. The man brushed his leg against my chained hands, I flinched away. "Oh, don't be shy, beautiful" His voice made me want to gag, the way he slowly pronounced words he wanted to emphasize made me sick.
"Sadem, you tought her well, she submits unto an Alpha" The man observed when he sat cross-legged in front of me and had I refused to look him in the eye, to spite him I stared at him openly.
One of his clammy hands ran down the side of my face and to my mark. I had to resist the urge to shake him off, but I stayed unaffected. He tired to touch my mark and make the burning stop, but I just felt gross.
"I'm Alpha Easton, sweetie-pie" He grinned at my legs, exposed by my sleep shorts, "I hope you haven't forgotten" He walked his pointer finger and middle finger up my leg to my thigh then back again. I retracted my leg.
Alpha Easton....
The man at the banquet who kissed your hand and made Damien get all defensive. If Damien hadn't fought my father, he would have hurt Easton for messing around with another man's mate. He creeped me out then too.
The Alpha had a long face, greasy looking blonde hair and weird spindly fingers.
What did he want from me? I was, by all uses of the word, useless. I was worthless to my family so much so that my father was willing to sell me to some random Alpha that had scared me to no end when I first met him.
"You might be wondering why you are here, Jillian" the Alpha stood slowly, "you see the Crescent Moon Pack is one of my greatest enemies."
I pressed myself closer to the wall as if it was a source of defense in my extremely defenseless state. "That Gamma killed my Alpha, I'm just seeking revenge" Easton bent down and caressed my cheek again with his slimy hands.
"All the Alphas of that pack have taken something dear from me.
Alpha Cole Kinglsey took my love as his mate.
Then Alpha Damien Kinglsey couldn't keep his third in command under control, so my Alpha died" Easton kicked the dirty floor with his boot and snarled, "I have no mate, with is why I need you, Jillian.
You would be a perfect insensitive to use against that pup. He would never think of hurting you."
No, we are loyal to our pack, our Alpha and our mate, Gladys growled at the man, hating how he thought we would just agree to his statement.
"Control your wolf, she's very loud" Easton reprimanded.
What? He could hear her? Gladys was in my head and my head only. The only way that he would be able to hear her was if he marked me.....
My eyes widened and I fought against the chains, wanting to get up and run far, far away from these men and this terrible place.
"Get the female some water, she looks frightened" Easton sent Cross away to fetch a glass of water.
No. No,no no. No! We need to get back! We need our mate to take this man down, we can't have this!! Mate!! Mate! Please hear me! I need you, we need you!! Gladys screamed and writhed in my head, calling for her mate. Yearning for his comfort and company.
Easton snickered, "Don't even try to mind-link, he won't hear you"
Damien! Da- I felt a slamming sensation rack through my brain and wrench through my spine, I called out. The pain was agonizing.
"What did I tell you?"
Cross came back with the water and handed it to Easton through the bars.
"Ah, thank you" Easton took the glass and began to walk toward me.
It could be poison, I noted to myself.
"Drink up" the glass was brought to my lips and I couldn't refuse him, he could hurt me. He tipped the glass so some water fell into my mouth. The grin on his face was extremely disconcerting.
Once I had a good amount he stopped tipping the glass.
I didn't swallow.
"Now say that you will be my mate, and the Luna of this pack. A 'Yes, Alpha' will suffice"
What was he thinking? Does he not know that I have sworn my loyalty to the Crescent Moon Pack?
Gladys growled deeply. Her paws were dug into the earth and her ears flat on her head. Her tail bristled as well as the scruff of her neck.
I spat all my water on his face. It was quite satisfying, to see him jump with shock. He didn't deserve my respect, he hadn't earned it yet. With my thirst now quenched I snarled, "I only call one man Alpha"
Easton barked when I spat on him, furiously he wiped the water and wet hair from his eyes, "Who is that? Your father?"
You wish.
"My mate"