Chapter 14: Chapter Fourteen

Hurrying back to the slave quarters and avoiding everyone was easier said than done.

Thankfully, she had been able to finish tidying up the guest cabin without any incident and successfully avoided the Alpha, his men, and any other person who might intrude on her personal thoughts and make her feel like shit.

Her whole world had been tilted off its axis by what she had witnessed earlier, her mind replaying the scene over and over again, as if it was a movie.

She had fumbled with the linens and made a mess of the bedrooms while her mind was jumbled up. But thankfully, she had rectified her mistake before she left, needing the sanctuary of the tiny room she had been given and wanting to stay as far away from everyone on the island as was humanly possible.

Not for the first time, she wondered if she should have told her mystery man what she had witnessed and if he would help her make her grand escape from the island.

But the voice had shut down that idea vehemently, and Saffron was inclined to agree, albeit reluctantly.

‘You have no idea who he is. He might be one with the enemy,’ the voice had cautioned, even though it didn’t want to believe that he was their enemy. ‘He might run to the Alpha and tell on you, thus earning you a death sentence, myself included.’

“Yourself included?” Saffron had spluttered, unable to comprehend the audacity of the voice. “Do I need to remind you that you are in fact not a living thing?”

When all she had gotten from the voice as a response was a scoff and an indignant shake of its head, Saffron had to admit that the voice had indeed raised strong points of argument.

Saffron didn’t want to think or believe that the guy whom she was looking forward to seeing every day on the island could be working with her enemy.

But, there was no other reason for him to be on the island, except for the fact that he lived there.

And since he wasn’t a part of the slaves, then he had to be a part of the Alpha’s dignified people. Which could only mean that he was either working for the Alpha or had a connection with him–all of which made her want to throw up the meager lunch she had been able to scarf down earlier before she had been pulled to work at the guest cabin by Lydia.

Now, all she wanted to do was hide and wait out for tomorrow when she would be able to escape the island.

But first, she had to get back to her room undetected, which meant taking a trip through the woods and hoping to all hell that she didn’t meet anyone or anything of consequence.

After all, the woods were abandoned for a reason.

Kiera had told her on her first night that the slaves kept out of the woods during the night because there were monsters that prowled through it.

And while Saffron wasn’t inclined to agree with the fable, because Kiera was likely to have made it up, Saffron knew that there was something menacing about it during nighttime.

Once, she could swear that she heard growls and howls coming through it when she had taken one of her nightly duties.

She debated right onto the last minute, as she stood at the edge of the woods, whether to go in or not.

“Hey, slave girl, where are you going?” a voice asked, breaking into her line of thought.

It was Jericho, a teenager who lived at the main cabin and a massive pain in the ass.

He fell into step beside her, as she made up her mind to go into the woods.

Whatever was waiting for her in there was better than staying out there and listening to a boy younger than her humiliate her in front of his friends.

She didn’t look up at him, neither did she slow her pace, as she head down the sloping part that led farther into the woods.

“Hey, slave girl, I’m talking to you,” his voice sounded sharp, as if he had a right to be annoyed that she was ignoring him. “Are you deaf as well as dumb?”

She stopped right in her tracks, something hard snapping inside of her.

It was like the pressure of looking behind her back every day, listening to taunts and being subjected to verbal abuse that she didn’t deserve combined with what she had seen earlier and the fear that she might be next on the Alpha’s kill list, finally caught up to her.

She turned around very slowly, as if she had all the time in the world, her eyes blazing with cold fury.

Jericho stood behind her, his chin held high, nose up in the air, as if he smelled something rancid.

One of his hands was resting in the pocket of his pants, as he affected an aristocratic pose, staring down at her, as if she was nothing more than shit stain on his expensive shoes.

His friends hung back, observing the scene with sick glee in their irises, waiting to see him put her in her place.

But Saffron had had enough of dealing with the entitled kids and was not going to take their harassment any longer.

Tonight, she was going to put them in their place, starting with the ring leader.

“No, I’m not deaf. I’m just choosing to ignore you,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest, to stare down at him, just like he was doing her. “Neither am I dumb. But it seems like you are, seeing as you haven’t taken the hint.”

“Did you just call me dumb, slave girl?” Jericho asked, his lips tilting up into a smile that could be mistaken for friendly, if not for the coldness in his eyes.

Saffron snorted and turned away, having enough of dealing with the asshole. But he grabbed her wrist, his fingers digging painfully into her flesh.

No, absolutely not.

The taunts, insults, and humiliations she could handle. But this arrogant guy thinking that he could touch her without her permission? No, that she couldn’t handle. Wouldn’t even.

Without a second thought, she pivoted on her heels and grabbed his wrist instead, twisting it so far that she knew it was on the edge of snapping.

She was dimly aware of the fact that his friends were beginning to converge towards them, but she took no notice of them, choosing to focus on the whimpering guy before her.

‘Pathetic,’ the voice scoffed. And for once, Saffron could agree with it.

“You will stay away from me,” she uttered menacingly, adding pressure to his wrist. “And call off your friends before I do some serious damage to your wrist.”

Jericho let out a whimper, as he waved at his friends to make them stop, scared that she was indeed going to snap his wrist.

He was a werewolf, but no matter how strong he was, he couldn’t shake off her hold on him. It was alarming to him, and if his wrist wasn’t in danger, he would have investigated what kind of human could out power a supernatural.

“Don’t ever think that you can touch me again without my permission,” she hissed, releasing him.

Without waiting for his response, she spun on her heel and traipsed back into the woods.

She knew that she had fucked up when she heard the angry growls of Jericho and his friends, but she was past caring.

Tomorrow, she would be gone.

There was no need to worry about what would happen to her if the Alpha found out that she had assaulted one of her superiors.

And that was if Jericho didn’t get to her first.