"Alpha James, you will be executed for your treason against this pack!" Alpha King Matthias announced and what seemed like a dagger pierced through my heart.
"No!!" A scream escaped my mouth, tears streaming down my eyes. I rushed toward Matthias and crumbled to the ground beside him, my chest aching with anguish.
"Please spare my father," I begged. "He has been very loyal to you and has never betrayed you. Please, don't kill him. He's all I have."
Matthias chuckled. "Your father is a traitor to this pack and I will punish him according to the laws of this pack."
"Please–" I choked, grabbing his ankle in desperation. "You can't simply believe that my father tried to overthrow you. My father is a good man who has shown nothing but kindness to this pack."
"Nonsense!" His eyes glimmered with fury as I looked up at him and a tremble crashed through me.
Matthias and my father were childhood friends and my father had often shown me pictures of them together. I wondered why he didn't want to show my father mercy, why he would turn a deaf ear to my pleas.
But the truth was that Matthias had become cold the moment he was made the Alpha King of our pack. He revealed his true colors, unleashing his ruthless rules on everyone.
Many Alpha's tried to overthrow him but all of them were unsuccessful due to Matthias' strong soldiers. He executed all his traitors and hung their heads at the pack's border, a warning to those who dared to think of overthrowing him.
I knew my father wasn't a traitor. He dedicated his time as an Alpha to take care of children and those who couldn't shift properly.
As my gaze fell on him, his face drenched with blood and his body covered with bruises, I felt like my whole world was about to crumble.
"My father was falsely accused of treason." I cried, hoping my tears would melt Matthias' frozen heart. "Think of all the good things he has done for our pack."
With a cold laugh, Matthias kicked my hands away from his legs with such a brutality that sent me flying across the room. As I tried to get up, two of his guards grabbed me, holding me down tightly.
Matthias took a glance at me, a cold smile etched across his lips. Then he rose from his throne and walked toward my father.
"No! No! No!" I cried, struggling to break free from the strong hold of the guards. My father's eyes met mine and he smiled faintly.
His smile carried words that he was incapable of saying to me. Words like how he wanted me to be strong despite his fate, and how he wished my birthday would still be perfect without him.
"This is the fate of anyone who dares to commit treason against this pack." Alpha Matthias announced, pointing to my father and the dead bodies lying around him. Chills ran down my body, numbing my legs. "Watch and learn!!!"
"No! I am begging you. Please....please don't kill him." I lowered my head, tears running down my face and my hands shaking uncontrollably.
And then I heard the sharp snap of a bone and a loud thud on the ground. I slowly lifted my head to see my father's lifeless body on the ground with his eyes wide open.
"Dad!!!!" I screamed loud, tossing my hands and feet in the air but the guards subdued me. My legs were lifeless, my mind was numb and I was struggling to breathe.
Matthias stood confidently, his eyes surveying the environment. A menacing aura surrounded Matthias as he radiated his authority as the Alpha King. Everyone gathered quickly lowered their heads in a bow, eager to avoid the cold stare of his eyes.
The guards pushed my head down when I refused to bow to the man who killed my father. I felt like my body was being torn apart by the pain I was feeling.
"Is there anyone who would like to become the next Alpha King of this pack?" Matthias asked, his voice echoing like thunder. "Is there anyone who would like to overthrow me?" The silence was all he needed to hear.
"Good," he said, when no one even dared to raise their heads. "Anyone who dares to overthrow me will die by my hands. I will kill any traitor just like Alpha James!" He spat on my father's body before walking back to his throne.
The guards released me and I fell to the ground helplessly. Moving my sore limbs, I crawled to my father's lifeless body.
"No!! Wake up!" I cried, holding him up to my chest. "Dad, please wake up." My soul was cracked from the core as I held him.
"Get up b*tch!" A whip landed up on my back before I could even move. I screamed out in pain and crashed on the ground. "Why are you shedding tears? You're the daughter of a traitor!"
My vision turned blurry. Vaguely, I saw the distorted figure of Veronica, Alpha Matthias' youngest daughter towering above me.
"Dad, what should we do with her?" She asked her father, glaring at me with disgust as I cried.
"Take her to the slave quarters in the palace." Alpha Matthias ordered. "As punishment for her father's crimes, she will become a slave for this pack." His words sent cold chills down my spine.
"I'll make your life miserable," Veronica added and my knees weakened. "Welcome to hell."
******************
"Stand up, you lazy slave!" A cup of water was dumped on me and I jolted up from the cold floor. Veronica was staring down at me, her face scrunched up with disdain.
Veronica was a cruel girl with black hair and green eyes filled with hatred and anger. She was a few months older than me yet she was so immature. A scar rested on the side of her eyes, and I wondered if she was cruel to me because she was jealous of my looks.
"Why are you sleeping?" She asked as I struggled to stand up with the chains wrapped around my ankles. "Do you think you're still at your father's house?"
At the mention of my father, I was once again reminded of the way Alpha Matthias killed him and the hell I now lived in.
"I fell asleep by mistake," I replied, hoping she couldn't detect my hatred for her through my voice.
She chuckled. "There's no time for you to mourn that useless father of yours." She said and I felt a sharp tear in my heart. "You were brought here for one purpose and that's to serve the royal family. If you try to misbehave, I'll make sure you regret the day you were born."
I felt compelled to slap her for talking about my father with such disrespect. I wanted to make her feel the pain I was feeling. But I couldn't do anything.
I couldn't because I was weak from all the hardship I had endured. I couldn't because I knew it would only make things worse. She was the daughter of the Alpha King and I was nobody but a traitor's daughter.
"My father did not betray this pack." I answered, my voice laced with anger. I was glaring at her, and I hoped she could see my desire for revenge through my eyes.
"What did you say?" She asked, taking a step closer to me. "How dare you talk back at me?"
Before I could utter a word of explanation, the first lash of the whip she was holding landed on my back. I screamed out and crumbled to the ground in pain.
"Get up!" She yelled, yanking me up from the ground. "I'll make sure you never forget today and you'll forever remember your place as a slave in this pack."
The pain of the whip shot through me as she struck me again. "Please," I begged her, shielding my face from the brutal strokes of the whip.
She continued to whip me till I almost passed out. My eyes were blurry and my clothes were stained with blood from the injuries all over my body.
"Ezrine," I whispered, calling out to my wolf. "Please give me the strength to endure this." But I couldn't feel her energy in me. She had suddenly gone mute since the death of my father and due to starvation, she was drifting farther away from me. Fear, real fear gripped me as I thought about the possibility of not being able to shift again.
"Now, will you try to disrespect me again?" Veronica asked, smiling with satisfaction at the marks on my body.
"N–No.." I stammered, unable to force words out of my mouth freely.
"Of course, you wouldn't be stupid enough to try that again." She said and kicked my legs. "If you do, I'll kill you and make sure you join your wretched father. Now get up and join other slaves at the kitchen!"
My legs wobbled and my skin felt like it was burning as I struggled to stand up. The room around me was spinning and it didn't help that I was also starving. The last thing I ate was cold bread and since I was brought to the palace, I was denied food and water.
"Get out." Veronica barked as I shuffled my feet to leave. I bowed slightly before making my way past her to the door. I caught a grin of her face but before I could process what it meant, I tripped over her leg and collapsed to the ground. "Lazy girl! Run to the kitchen now or I'll whip you again." She yelled, then exploded with laughter.
I tried to stand up but my legs shook beneath me. I knew if I didn't get up quickly, she would kick or whip me again. With the little energy left in me, I rose from the ground and walked away without glancing back at her.
My heart was heavy and my mind was clouded with revenge as I made my way to the kitchen. I wanted to make Veronica feel my pain, I desired to punish her for treating me this way.
I fought back the tears that lingered in my eyes, my lips quivering with anger. "Dad, I promise to make all of them pay for this. I promise to take revenge on the royals for you." I swore to myself as I staggered to the kitchen.
