AWAKEN

"Penelope..."

The sweet, familiar voice echoed with the breeze from the beautiful field I found myself on. The vibrant green grass swayed with the gentle wind, and the air was filled with the scent of wildflowers.

Unlike the hellish cell where I'd been imprisoned, this was heaven – the freedom I craved. I was in no pain, and there were no bruises on my body.

The realization that the suffering was all over made a certain happiness bloom inside me, and I twirled with my hands spread apart, enjoying the peaceful feeling I'd always yearned for.

"Penelope..."

My celebration was cut short when the voice called my name for the second time, louder this time, and I turned in the direction where it came from.

I turned to see a beautiful lady standing a bit far away from me, her long, flowing red hair shimmering under the warm sunlight. I couldn't make out her facial features, but her lovely long, yellow gown with flowery designs that swerved with the breeze wasn't something I could miss.

She held out her hand, urging me to come to her. Before I could resist or think logically about why I should trust her and hold her hand she offered, my feet already began moving toward her.

Many questions ran through my head as I walked through the grasses to where she stood, yet, I couldn't stop. I just kept walking to her like I'd been put under a spell.

I took my fifteenth step when the cloud suddenly turned black, and even if I couldn't see the lovely lady's face, I could sense the change in her demeanor when she noticed the dark clouds. She ushered me to move quickly.

I obeyed and took two more quicker steps when I suddenly felt an aura from behind me that made me stop immediately.

I turned to two golden eyes staring at me with so much intensity that it was difficult to breathe. I didn't know how it was possible but I felt his emotions, and he was angry. So furious, that I felt my body vibrate slightly.

The strong emotions he had blinded me from admiring his beautiful facial features. I was about to question who he was when a whirlwind picked me up from the field, except that it wasn't made of air but cold water.

During the duration where I was pushed to the highest peak, I was drowning until I finally opened my eyes to my harsh reality.

I sat up from where I was laid, coughing out the water that choked me, and I shivered from the coldness of the water that was poured on me, drenching my dirty clothes.

I was no longer in chains and the coldness of the hard, dirty floor that pressed against my buttocks was a better treatment compared to hanging in a crucifying position.

Damian stood in front of me with a sadistic smile playing on his lips. He held an empty bucket with one of his hand while he tapped rhythmically on it with his other hand that already had his claws out. "Welcome back, my dear," he sneered.

"Phew..." He exhaled mockingly, "For a second I thought I lost you there."

My pale cheeks flushed red from the cold I felt, and I stared at him through the strands of my wet hair that slept on my face, watching him drop the bucket he held before walking to where I trembled on the floor.

Bending to my level while resting all his weight on the tip of his forefeet, I flinched in fear as he brought his hand to my face.

"I. Can't. Lose. You... Not like this, my dear," his warm knuckles brushed my cheeks, "You'll be executed in front of the whole pack after you finally beg for your death. Think of this as one of the exclusive benefits you get since you were once my Luna," he patted on my hair with a charming smile before walking away from me.

I watched him walk to the two guards that stood by the cell's door and stop when he got to where they stood.

Turning to the guard by his left, "Leave her unchained," he said as he took a quick look at me from his shoulders while the guard bowed at the command. "And treat your Luna fairly, will you? Get her some water."

"Yes, Alpha." The guard remained bowing until he heard Damian's next command.

"Now!"

He hurried out of the room and some minutes later, he came back with a cup of water and dropped it beside me.

Damian walked out of the room with the guards behind him. The lock clicked before I finally reached for the water in the cup they placed beside me and gulped it like my life depended on it which it did.

Gulping to the very last drop of the water in the cup, I placed the empty cup on the cold floor before leaning into the pole behind me to steady myself. The water had done little to revive me but it was enough to keep me conscious.

I took a deep breath, shivering in my cold clothes. The lingering smell of the wolfsbane was still in the cell but it was beginning to fade, allowing me a brief respite. With all that happened within 72 hours, this was good enough for me.

Three days ago, I tried to escape after finding out my first love and husband, Alpha Damian Cedar was a monster... The wolf in a sheep's clothes from my bedtime stories that my nanny warned me about. I'd been so blinded by his handsome sheep's clothing to see his actual form.

He never appeared as one to me since I fell in love with him on his first visit with his late father, Leonardo Cedar, to my father's pack, the Dark Moon pack when I was fourteen. That day had been magical to me but also tragic when I heard they were both murdered on their way back from our pack.

Damian was just eighteen then, and I had mourned his death with a broken heart for more than a month, only for him to return four years later with the largest troop we've ever gone to war with, seeking for revenge for his father's death, a murder we weren't part of.

Because of the sudden war cry, my father had settled for peace with my hand in marriage with my first love. Thinking back, I know I shouldn't have felt the happiness I did then when I was told I would be given to the man that threatened our pack, but that day turned out to be the happiest day of my life.

Even with all the treatments I received from Damian, and his family members, knowing I was Damian's Luna felt like the treatments were worth it then.

My love for him even increased when he consoled me throughout my mourning days after I found out that my father, brother, and sister had been murdered by Rogues that invaded our pack a year later.

Since I was the only surviving child and a Luna to another Alpha, all my claims to my Father's pack was transferred to Damian as demanded by the law, and back then I felt so special to have extended his pack.

How foolish I was.

My whole world crumbled two weeks ago when I accidentally eavesdropped on his conversation with his mum while they were plotting my death.

Every bad thing that had ever happened to me were all Damian's works. He killed every member of my family, keeping me alive so he could take our pack legally. Even my three years marriage to him was planned by him.

I'd been caught eavesdropping on them and Damian had me locked up in a dungeon on claims that I attempted treason.

Three days ago, I tried to escape with the help of a trusted guard but that didn't turn out well.