chapter 3

Tiana ¶¶¶

My ears twitched, my nose wiggling at the stench of my surrounding which was very corrosive, stinks of dead meat. My eyes fluttered open, my ears flapping at the sounds of whimpers. The place was dark but I could see a little from the bonfire lit the place. I was in a cell, a small smelly cell. The cell made my inside turn, my throat closed up as I blinked. I tried to lift my hand but realised I had shackles on my wrist. I looked at my ankles, shackles attached to the wall by thick long chains. I moaned painfully, looking around the cell once more. There was nothing but a miserable looking bed with torn sheets and badly ripped out foam, I guess by bedbugs. My ankles and wrists were burning from the shackles; exquisitely.

'Where am I?' I thought, trying to stand up. Whoever threw me here did a good job throwing me on the ground instead of the stupid bed. I was comfortable... Note the sarcasm.

'She's finally awake,' a shrill voice spoke with distain. I turned my head to the owner of the voice; a pale looking tan skinned girl with dark brown eyes – if my eyesight serve me well – and thick curly afro like brown hair. Taking a proper look at her, I knew she was of black origin but tan in complexion. She looked at me with so much contempt but I wasn't worried about that. I turned away, shifting my gaze to the bars. 'I still wonder why they had to drop the filth here, you disgust me...'

I blocked her out, shutting out every sound as I closed my eyes. I thought back to my mother; her smile, her brilliant laughter, her beautiful eyes, her lovely face and her warm voice. Everything about her, no more would I see or feel it, no more would I be able to hear her again. The irony of the situation. It would be so good to kill them, If only I could kill them all. I made a promise to mother, a vow in the presence of the gods and I would attain to it. My eyes snapped open when someone's hand was reaching out to smack me on the face. My hands instinctively reached up and grabbed her hand, gathering my anger into it.

'Let go of my hand!' She shouted.

'You are not a werewolf,' I growled. 'My vow does not apply to you so you better be careful, I can kill you just by wringing your neck.' I pushed her away, making sure she fly back and hit her back against the bars. She hollered out in pain, her shout bound to attract the guards. I exhaled and shut my eyes, pushing my thoughts back to my mother and my people. They might have been very bad but they were still my people, still my family. I had three younger bothers from two women, all dead now.

'You, Savage cunt,' I opened my eyes. Two wolves were staring at me, one closer and filled with greater hate. 'So, you could hit your fellow cell mate just by waking up!' I kept quiet, looking at him plainly.

These beasts killed your people! Your mother! Kill them back!

Remember your promise tiana, remember... A voice whispered back, arguing with the earlier one.

'I'm talking to you!' He roared again.

Silence.

Not a word came out of my mouth.

My actions only seemed to have angered him more, he acted on that anger. Picking me up easily with one hand, he delivered a brutal punch to my left eye, enough to blind it permanently. I hissed in pain, swallowing my scream back in. My head throbbed, a loud ringing sound in my head. A small sob escaped my mouth, I wasn't going to hit him back. He threw me against the wall, my head bashing against it. I whimpered as I slid down to my butt, sobbing but never letting the tears fall.

'Bitch,' he spat.

'Jastun, Alpha Lucian warned everyone not to lay a hand on her, what have you done!' The other one shouted. I sank my teeth into my lip, drawing blood from it as I fought the tears back in.

'It's not like he'll know, he will never check on her,' the one that hit me said nonchalantly. I placed my hand on my eye, it was bleeding. My beautiful eyes, I could gorge his out but yet, I sniffed as I chanted the rules back in.

This is punishment for what my people did.

'We better get her to the pack doctor before it's too late,'

'And waste quality medicine on her,' he snorted. 'Just wash the eye, put a leaf on it for a while and give her painkillers. We are doing her a favor if she dies.'

Yeah, a great favour.

'If Alpha finds out, I'll deny you,' the other one said earnestly. He closed my eyes not making a move. He carried me up, roughly throwing me over his shoulder. 'You smell.' He spat. I didn't reply him. He sped out of the cell room, running somewhere I don't know. With my one good eye, I caught glimpse of what I needed to see.

The pack house was beautiful.

He took me out to a pond somewhere, threw me on the floor as he cursed under his breath. He knelt down in front of me and touched my hand which was on my eye. 'Let go of your eye,' he growled. I didn't let go. He forcefully pulled it away and rolled his eyes at the damage. 'Jastun just want to get me killed, acting foolishly all the time...' He grumbled. He grabbed the scruff of my neck, holding it in place. He dipped his hand into the water which rippled at impact and cupped out as much water as his large hand could carry. He washed my bleeding eyes, ignoring my hiss and whimpers. When he was done washing it, he ran off.

My eyes ached badly, the pain was like I had a needle stuck in my eye. The pain was transferring to the other eye. By the time this all ends, I'll be blind, deaf and probably dumb.

My mind wandered to Lucian, the awfully charming wolf. I loathed him, for ending my mother's life. I know he suffered but my mother had nothing to do with the killing, neither did I. I was still wondering what that scent was, the one that pulled me out. What about that howl? I can swear that howl was meant for me but why?

But why did I perceive that scent?

How did I perceive it?

What or who does it belong to?

Who howled?

Why was I drawn to that howl?

My fingers tingled, a sudden cold washing over me when I remembered how Alpha Lucian asked touched me; how it felt when his hand made skin contact with the skin of my neck. I hugged myself as I thought about his voice, his cold and yet pleasant baritone. It sure had authority and dominant in it; a very intimidating cold voice but somehow, I wasn't intimidated by his voice. If there was anything his voice did to me, it was to make my stomach churn with a weird feeling I was yet to fathom. Remembering his eyes, those bold eyes that hates me with passion, something hit me in the chest.

Wait! When did I start thinking about this? Lucian is nothing but an enemy to you, a murderer. He killed mother and had her body dismantled.

I hate him so much.

The wolf returned and forced a wet chewed up leaf on my eye, I flinched but didn't scream. 'What kind of a girl are you? You don't even scream or beg,' he said with annoyance, tying the leaf in place with a piece of cloth. 'Did you really save Riley and her children?' I didn't reply. He smacked my head, the smack like a plank to the head. I didn't flinch, didn't cry; I stared. He groaned and stood up. 'Keep that leaf on your eye for the next twelve hours, then throw it away. I'll take you back to your cell.'

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I sat at the top of a tree, watching the village children play. I was leaning on the tree, smiling at the innocent children. They didn't know anything, they were forced to grow up the way they did. If mother didn't stop me from being a cannibal, I wouldn't have been different. I had never taken any meat in my life, except fishes that is. I only ate fishes, fruits and vegetables, nothing more. I averted my eyes to the sky and looked at the clouds, the beautiful shapes it formed.

The clouds slowly turned black, thunder rumbling in it. I looked down at the children as they ran away, running for shelter. The rain suddenly poured down on me, making me jerk up. 'Wake up you bitch!' I opened my eyes flustered and confuse. I blinked at the tall woman shouting about this and that. A smaller woman was behind her, leaning on the bar door, observing me; observing my wounds.

'Who punched your eye?' She finally asked.

'Is that what you are bothered about?!' The tall woman shouted again.

'Yes, that is why I am bothered. Alpha Lucian the gave a strict order that no one should touch her. Who punched you!'

'Doesn't she speak?' Another woman asked.

'No, she doesn't.' The guy that punched me said, looking at me warningly.

'Well, it doesn't matter. If he finds out, she tried to commit suicide by stabbing her eyes.' The tall woman said.

'This isn't where the alpha ordered that she be kept, he said to put her in the lower slave house, not the lowest slave cell!' I think I like this lady.

'She belongs here,' the tall woman again. The small one defending me folded her arms under my breasts.

'One mind link, that is all it takes to get his ass down here. Are you going to challenge my authority lucy?' Oh, the tall woman is lucy. lucy bowed her head in respect, they all did. 'Get her cleaned, changed into a better uniform and sent to the lowest slave house. Place her with Carina and Giselle and goddess so help me that if you disobey, I'll have you destroyed.' She threatened.

'Yes, Becca.'

'Jastun, carry her,' lucy grumbled. I kept quiet as I was packaged like a can of sardine out of the cell. Two maids bathe and put me in new clothes; a dress they called plain yellow and red maxi dress and flats. They were quite annoyed when I refused to let my hair fall for a little wash. I was taken to a house, poor but better than the cell. There were three beds in my room; one bolted to the wall above the opposite bed's wall, poorly made sheets but better than the cell. My bedsheet was black, insult to me. I threw myself on the bed and slept off, ignoring the pain in my eyes and drowning my thoughts in Lucian.

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