LUCIAN
“Damn it!” I kicked the pillar of the mansion and walked straight to the dark garden furiously.
That handkerchief.
There’s no way I can forget it especially the lilac lotus and the initials embroidered on it.
I was just ten years old back when my entire family was killed by Frederick Lanford, the bastard alpha who died in my hands. I wanted to torture him so badly when I finally laid my hands on him, but I was too overwhelmed by my anger and it got the best of me. After all I had been waiting for long years to avenge my family and my father’s people, so when I got the chance, I was too eager to kill him.
But the night when Frederick and his men attacked us, I was locked up next to the room where my family was brutally killed. I didn’t witness it with my own two eyes but I could clearly hear my mother and sisters’ cries. My father could do nothing because none of them could shift.
Frederick planned it carefully. Earlier that night we had a celebration in the pack’s base and Frederick’s men put a drug in our people’s drinks that would take werewolves’ ability to shift into their wolf forms for several hours.
I would have received the same fate my family had if only someone didn’t unlock the room where I was locked up. When I went out, I didn’t see who it was, but I saw a handkerchief on the floor near the door and I was sure it wasn’t there when I was dragged inside. It had an embroidered lotus on it and two initials, E and L.
Now that I thought about it, there is only one girl in Frederick’s family. He had three sons but only one daughter. That night when her executed his plan, his family stayed in our mansion for the night because we had a celebration and he is a close friend of my father.
The handkerchief obviously belongs to a female, but I doubt if a maid or someone in Frederick’s people would dare give me a chance to escape.
So it must be that girl.
“How foolish,” I muttered under my breath and I’m not sure who I was calling foolish, her for saving the person who would enslave her in the future, or myself for failing to recognize the person who was the reason I survived that tragedy.
When I went out of the room that night, I didn’t go to the room where my family was and instead went out of the mansion thinking that I’d find some of our people who could help us, only to find out that most of them were confined and some were already dead.
Leonard, my father’s loyal beta found me, and together with some of our people, we managed to escape the base and run further north where we lived the next years hiding and moving from one district to another in fear that Frederick would find us.
It wasn’t easy living a life like criminals. So I vowed to avenge my family and my pack’s people someday. To kill the bastard traitor with my own hands and do the same thing that he did to my family.
My grudge runs deep into my soul that I want everyone under Frederick’s rule to suffer, especially his family members.
But the moment I saw that handkerchief, I don’t think I can still proceed with my original plan. I don’t care if my people would torture Frederick’s sons to death, or chop their bodies and feed them to wild dogs, but I can’t inflict the same pain on his daughter.
She won’t be spared by my wrath but I will give her a little mercy for what she had done in the past.
“Done with the wolfless girl? If she’s still breathing, you can send her to me so I can torture her,” Silas said when I came across him while heading back to my room.
He’s one of my trusted subordinates who’s around my age. His mother and sister were raped and killed by Frederick’s men back then, that’s why like me, his anger ran deep.
“No, I want her to be my slave. Death is too easy for our enemy’s only daughter. I will punish her myself,” I said and walked past Silas.
When I got back to my room, I found the girl hugging her knees in the corner, her eyes and nose had turned red because of too much crying.
She flinched the moment she saw me enter the room. My jaw clenched at the raw fear I saw in her hazel eyes.
Yes, that’s right. You should fear me, poor angel.
I walked toward her and I got more annoyed with how she tried to move away even when she got the wall on her back.
“From now on you are my slave. You will do everything I say and you shall stay with me at all times so you can attend to my needs. Do you understand?”
Her eyes widened at the word ‘slave’ and dread is written all over her pale face.
“Answer me, wolfless girl. Do you understand?” I looked at her darkly, my tone was marked with impatience.
“Y-yes…” she replied nervously.
“Master Lucian. That is how I want you to address me. I am your owner now and you are living under my mercy. If you want to continue breathing with your limbs intact, you better not make any mistakes. I won’t tolerate negligence.”
“Yes, M-Master Lucian…” She bowed her head, tears falling down her clothes.
“Stop the bullshit drama. Having someone crying in my room endlessly is not something I would appreciate.”
She immediately wiped the tears off her cheeks and forced herself not to cry more like a scared kitten.
“Now stand up and serve me as your master. I want to take a bath.”
She looked at him with a bewildered expression as if she didn’t understand what I meant by that and she wants further explanation.
“Don’t you know what to do? Prepare my bath!”
ELISA “P-prepare your bath?” His brows knitted, looking at me as if I were a pest crawling under his skin. “Are you deaf? I just said it didn’t I? Now unless you’d rather stay in the slaves’ quarter and get tortured, you better stand up and do the task I gave you. I don’t want to repeat myself.” Baffled and extremely nervous, I stood up and almost lost my balance due to my wobbly knees. I looked around the big room to see which door was heading to the bathroom. “On your left. Quick,” he instructed when he noticed my confusion. Sensing the impatience in his tone and his expression, I scurried away from him to go to the bathroom. My knees still hurt after Lucian’s subordinate who brought me to his room shoved me down the floor like a guinea pig. It was only last night when they attacked the pack’s base and killed many of my father’s people. I was confined with the other women in our pack and they left us starving for a whole day. When the night came, one of Lucian’s men dragged m
When he was finally done tying the robe and saw him step out of the bathroom, I sighed in relief.However, the relief I felt was only temporary.“What are you still doing there in the bathroom? Come over here and assist me!”Assist him on what?I stepped out of the bathroom nervously and stumbled on my feet but thankfully I was able to regain my balance and stopped my face from kissing the floor.I didn’t see him anywhere near the bed and found the walk-in closet’s door open so I went inside, my heart pounding hard.“Help me get dressed,” he ordered and I swallowed hard again. Seems like the lump in my throat won’t just leave me alone.I want to ask why there is a need for him to seek assistance when he can perfectly do it himself. I’d just annoy him if I make a small mistake. However, I kept the words to myself.Lucian seems to be a twisted person. He does everything with disdain and looks at everything around him as if the world always falls short of his expectations. He is a hard m
LUCIAN“Where are the bastards?” I asked Silas when I went downstairs. Even without mentioning the names, Silas immediately knew who I was talking about. It was Frederick’s three sons.“I got them transferred to the second cell, Alpha. Luke and Markus are taking good care of them.”I went straight to the base’s dungeon. All of the cells were filled with Frederick’s people, the men who enslaved his father’s people like rats. Some females, like the maids, are not imprisoned and stayed as servants.With my anger, I could just burn everyone who was under Benedict’s rule. But I tried to be reasonable as much as I could because after all, there are innocent people who were not connected to Frederick’s schemes.I also acknowledged that Elisa is just a victim of this, but every time I look at her, I remember my family who died at the hands of her father and I can’t help my anger. At least I showed her some mercy for the foolish move she had done for me in the past.Stepping inside the cell whe
ELISAI woke up with a warm blanket wrapped around my body. I was still on the floor where I sat last night but I didn’t remember getting a blanket. I was afraid Lucian would get angry if I touched his things.I blinked twice before my eyes flew to the bed. The sheets were unkempt but I didn’t see him. I scanned the whole room and still, I found no traces of Lucian. Maybe he’s in the bathroom? Or in the closet?A sigh escaped my lips as I stayed in my position, scared of doing a little mistake. My life wasn’t good when Dad was still leading the pack, but I didn’t think it could get any worse. I was used to being mistreated but being a slave was a whole different thing.Things couldn’t be undone, though. All I can do is to keep surviving, at least for my young nephew.Thinking about Rafi… Lucian mustn’t have tortured him, right? He is just a kid. Even if he’s the son of my brother, Jonas, I don’t think he and his people will kill an innocent child.Fear rose in my chest despite the tho
“If you move that slow, you won’t be finished by lunch,” one of the kitchen maids suddenly said. She looks as young as I am. “If you don’t want to be punished by Mathilda, you better work fast.”“Are you concerned about that slave, Lea? Don’t talk to her and let her be punished. It has nothing to do with us,” said another maid who was more hostile towards me.The others didn’t bother going near me and just keep on throwing glares as if I were a sore thumb.I didn’t have breakfast and my body felt tired and weak. I was also trying to be careful with the plates but with the great number of dishes I need to clean, I doubt if I could finish it before the two hours end.The sound of shattering the plate echoed in the kitchen when a plate slipped from my hand.My eyes widened at the sight of the broken plate.“Uh-oh. Seems like someone will receive a beating today,” the maid named Philippa said in a mocking tone. Among the kitchen maids, she seemed to be the most hostile one towards me.My
“Of course, you can have anyone you want, Alpha,” said Luke in a polite tone. I noticed his people are very respectful to him so I wonder how Lucian managed to keep his men all these years even when they were living in the shadows as a secret pack. Maybe he is a good leader just like his father, Alpha Benedict, was. “I trust you won’t fail our people and give the best punishment to our enemy’s dearest daughter. I’ll excuse myself then,” Luke bowed his head before leaving. “You can leave now, Mathilda.” Lucian’s steps were silent but with his voice getting louder, I could sense him nearing. He stopped a foot in front of me and even though my eyes were on the floor, I felt his stare. Mathilda left right away and now we are alone in the hallway. “Follow me to my room.” My heart shuddered at the thought of us alone in his room again. It felt like I was a kitten entering the lion’s den. His mere presence posed danger and I don’t think I’d ever feel safe around a man like him. When w
I picked up the small bottle and brought it to my pocket. I finished my meal fast and went to the servant’s bathroom. Then I looked into the bottle to see what it was. No label was written outside so I had to take off its lid. The sticky liquid inside was familiar. As I smelled it, I realized it was a medicinal ointment for wounds. Did Lea just give me medicine for the cuts on my arms? A small smile formed on my lips. Lea acts cold and aloof but in truth, she’s a kind person. Even when everyone sees me in a different light because I am my father’s daughter, she didn’t mistreat me. She keeps on helping me. After my work in the kitchen, I thought Mathilda would make me work in the garden again. But to my horror, she told me to bring snacks to the Alpha in his study. I felt the urge to tell her to ask someone else to do it but I might receive another session of beating if I do that. So I had no choice but to obey. “Why are you still not moving?” Mathilda glared at me when I stayed in
“If there is nothing else, I shall leave,” I said softly after a long minute of standing by Lucian’s side. It seemed like he doesn’t need my service anymore. “Did I tell you to?” From the papers he was busy with, his eyes flicked up to mine, sending a burning sensation in my stomach. I had a decent lunch but why do I feel so weak when he’s looking at me this dark? “I just assume that you want me to…” I swallowed the bile in my throat. “I thought I need to work alongside the maids during the day.” I just felt like it would be better for me to work under Mathilda even when I get punished for my clumsiness, than be at Lucian’s side. His presence suffocates me, it’s like I can never be safe around him. I don’t know why I feel that way. Maybe because the first time we met he promised me unfathomable wrath. I am someone at his disposal, the reason why every second around him is like lying in a bed with an axe hanging on my neck threatening to end my life at any moment. “Yes, that is righ