Frozen

"Freeze!!" 

I could see Beta Eddy roll his brown eyes in astonishment. My guts must have intrigued him. The cold breathe from his mouth fell on my face, as it was winter and the weather was freezing.

He pulled off the face cap which covered my head, revealing my swollen face. Fear was plastered all over it and I watched him like a chimp monk caught in a horrible act. 

I quickly lifted my eyes to meet him, but had to put it down when I met the dark eyes that pierced my soul. He was staring deep into my helpless looking eyes. My heart beat had risen drastically and I wished for the ground to open and swallow me.

"You again?" he asked, confusion written over his face. 

He tilted my body to face him, with the cold pistol still laying against my skin.

"Please don't..." 

"Shiii!" he interrupted. 

He signaled I followed him, which I did. 

My body began to freeze as he led me through the lonely path of the ward. That would be the longest walk of fear of my life. I walked closely behind his footsteps as he instructed me to, and by the time we left the ward, his men had already surrounded me, and were ready to pound me.

I had expected him to end my life, but instead, he handed me to his men without uttering a word. 

They dragged me to their arena and began to strip me. One of them grabbed the shirt of the track suit while the other the trouser. And in a matter of seconds I was left with just my underwears on.

"Stop!" a masculine voice commanded when one of them wanted to take off my underwear.

It was their leader, the second in command of war in the cardias pack. His heavy legs walked towards me, chunking the dry leaves of oak under his shoes as he walked.

Suddenly, the steps came to a halt, with him staring deep into my eyes while leaving heavy cold breathes on my face.

"Please spare me sir...please!" I whimpered.

My plead must have infuriated him considering how quick he lifted me from the floor by grabbing my neck, and throwing me against the old wooden chairs packed at a corner in the arena.

I let out an outburst, accompanied by hot tears that escaped my eyes. Some parts of the chairs had been disassembled, with nails poking out from them. Some of them had pierced my skin, leaving me in a excruciating pains.

The Cardias pack had been nothing but cruel to me since I met them. It had been from one cruel treatment to another. Just when I thought I would have some peace as a palace maid, I decided to walk into trouble with my two legs.

I knew what I did was an unforgivable sin. So I wondered what would become of me after the punishment. If they would still allow me to live.

The big man began to walk close to me again. As he got closer, I squirmed in the position while pleading for mercy. A wave of pains running across my spine.

"Please spare me..."

"I don't want to hear your stupid voice anymore, bitch!" He thundered. The smirk in his face was cold. 

He pulled me up again, forcefully. I wailed, as the nails struggled to leave my skin after it had penerated. But the man paid no attention to me, neither did he show any form of concern.

He lifted me from the spot and after giving me a few punch, he flew me to wooden chairs again, allowing me to fall carelessly and helplessly.

I let out a loud agonizing wail for the last time. I had hoped that would be the last time I would wail that hard. Indeed, I wanted to live. I needed to, but there was no guarantee that they wouldn't end my life even after the torture. So I felt it was best he pulled the trigger earlier.

I lifted my face slowly, with the last strength I had in me. If I was going to die, I needed to summon some courage against my killer. So I gawked at him in disgust, muttering some curse words under my breathe. I managed to lift some of the chairs that had fallen on me off my body, and began to struggle my way out of the hole at the same time. One thing was certain, the two of us marveled at my sudden gain of strength and courage. 

When I pulled off the remaining nail that had found a resting place on my triceps, I began to walk to him in uttering rage. The feeling of hopelessness I felt for myself had turned to rage. And as I walked to my supposed killer, I made sure I looked him deep into his eyes. This made him loose balance. My courage had feared him, and before I could take any steps further, he pulled a pistol from his pocket and was about to pull the trigger. 

"Stop!!" A voice commanded.

It was a male baritone voice, and one I was familiar with. It was Ethan again, and from no where, he had appeared to save my life. Indeed I had become a scorned woman towards him, but what I must admit is that Ethan was a perfect blend of bitter sweet. I wouldn't deny the goodness that laid in those chambers of his heart. But after he watched them feed me those herbs, it made me hate him.

"Drop the gun!" His sounded again. His voice was cold and it was obvious he hadn't come for a bargain.

I watched the man's hands fall gradually with gravity, as he took the gun away from my face and shoved it back into his pocket. Then, he smirked at me for the last time and left, signaling his men to follow him.

The burning rage within me had quickly turned to shame and I wondered why, and in an attempt to cover up, I began to cover some sensitive parts of my body with my hands, trying to conceal what I felt was exposed in my head.

But this was a man that had seen my nakedness and even had a one night stand with him. I couldn't make sense of why I suddenly felt shame around him. But it was what it was. I was down cast, half naked and badly bruised in front of my once lover. 

"You are badly injured, Adira, come with me to the clinic." He said, finally, after gawking at me for some minutes. I couldn't make sense out of what those eyes, and when he spoke, it made my confusion worse. His eyes and voice were aloof but he magically appears to rescue me each time I was in trouble.

"I'm fine, I don't need the clinic." I snapped, while ignoring the hand he offered to assist me.

"Not today Adira, I know you're stubborn, but not today. Wear this and follow me to the clinic." He commanded, still maintaining a straight tone.

I stretched my hands towards him, collecting the jacket he was offering. He had pulled off his cold jacket for me to wear. This was something I found humane.

I was mad at Ethan, in fact I never wanted to have anything to do with him. But I wasn't going to allow myself freeze to the cold weather of winter. Escaping death that day, gave me a lime of confidence. I was determined to escape alive.

"Thank you." I muttered under my cold breath, while still avoiding his charming eyes. I wasn't going to allow myself be distracted again.

"Follow me to the clinic now." He commanded and spun to the direction of the clinic. 

"And I said I don't want to, why do you want to make a fuss about it huh?" I snapped again.

This has taken him aback as he stood for some seconds, trying to process what to do with me. Before him was a badly injured stubborn woman, whom he had a soft spot on.

He watched helplessly as drops of blood fell from my wounds, it wasn't severe but had the potential of making me anemic if not attended to.

"I won't allow you bleed to death under my watch, Adira." 

He advised. His voice had become softer, and encouraging. But I knew I would be a fool to fall into trouble again.

Kara would come for me again if I dared get closer to him.

"I wasn't planning on bleeding under you watch, Alpha, just let me be."

I was about turning to the direction of the slave house, when his masculine hands left a strong grip on me. 

" I can't watch you die..."

" Well, I hope I can watch you die a cold death!" 

I snapped again, pulling my hands away from him and made way to to the slave house. Cold had clogged my nose as I was about freezing to death. 

The whole walkway had been deserted, not even a shadow could be seen. As I walked down, I hoped within me not to walk into another danger. But it appeared I had a more serious thing to worry about. Blood had began to drop from my lower body, and when I placed my hands underneath my pants, it was soaked with blood.