Chapter 14 Won't give you freedom
"With your behavior, I might decide to chain you on the bed instead of giving you freedom," he spoke confidently, his voice smooth like silk but with an icy edge that could slice through bone. His crimson eyes gleamed in the dim candlelight, and the sharp tips of his fangs glinted as he curled his lips into a mocking smirk.
"Try it once and see, you’ll regret why you brought me here," I hissed out, narrowing my very human eyes at him. My voice trembled with rage, but my hands, calloused and soft with warmth unlike his marble-like skin, clenched into fists at my sides.
"Whatever it is, but like it or not, you will be underneath me by the time I'm done."
At his exclamation, my insides water burned with extreme rage and hatred. The last thing i had ever imagined was to be fucked by a werewolf.
"There is a ceremony taking place tonight. I want you to prepare yourself, but as I mentioned before, you must always address me as sir, and you must respect those who are superior to you. Once you arrive at the party, you’re gonna meet them. And don't forget you only speak when spoken to," he explained while staring at me. His eyes flickered briefly with supernatural glints, too fast for the average human to catch, but I saw them. Lupine. Unnatural. Cold.
"What am I, a circus animal?" I shouted loudly, anger evidently showing in my eyes. “I’m not like you… beast, whatever it is. And I’m not going to attend it.”
“We’re thanking the gods for bringing me an old whore to be my mate,” he hissed out, the words laced with venom. Then he left, the cold gust trailing behind him like death’s whisper.
I didn’t understand what he meant by mate but tears streamed down my face at that. Human tears, warm, salty, real. Not like the werewolves who never cried, whose icy veins didn’t carry grief the way mine did.
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"No, my goodness!" As soon as I heard the door being opened again, I angrily shouted. Just like Jaden had told me, the makeup artist entered with a bag in her hands. Her scent was sterile, faintly perfumed, and vaguely metallic, nothing like the familiar scents of humans.
"Hello, Alpha Jaden has told me to help you dress up," she murmured as she closed the door behind her back. Her skin was pale like bone, her movements fast and eerily precise, her eyes lacking the softness that a human gaze held. Everything about her screamed werewolf, even the way she inhaled subtly, probably catching the trace of my blood with every breath.
"I'm different from all of you. Leave me alone!" I burst out at her, crossing my arms tightly against my chest. My heart pounded against my ribs, too loudly. Too vulnerably.
She grimaced at my response, and I inwardly felt hurt. Maybe I shouldn’t have yelled at her—she wasn’t the one who trapped me here. "Miss…"
"Tell that sick bastard to let me go. I'm not going to dress up," I stopped her short in mid-sentence.
"Miss Rhena, I understand that you're not in your best condition," she said, and though her voice was calm, her eyes gleamed faintly under the low light. "But I think it would be better if you did as the Alpha said… unless you want one of his goons to manhandle you." As soon as I heard her say that, a shiver ran down my spine.
Just the thought of those bastards touching me was enough to make me lose my appetite. Everything I did recall was the way one of them gripped my throat, their icy touch burning like frostbite. I was going to die.
"Okay," I told her, then walked over to her, making her look at me in surprise. She probably thought it would take more threats to coax me into listening.
"What do you want me to do?" I asked her in the tiniest, most naive voice I could muster. It wasn’t hard. I felt small, out of place. A lone human surrounded by predators.
"Just sit down and I will do the rest," she humbly informed me.
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After spending a good couple of minutes dressing up, finally here I was, walking with guards I didn’t know beside me. They were silent, swift, and deadly, like shadows given form. Slowly, I walked downstairs into the grand Hall where the party had been set up. It was organized all because of me.
The inside of the castle was mesmerizing like something out of a gothic fairytale. It was beautiful, yes, but it also whispered of danger. Everything was coated in opulence: black marble floors polished like glass, velvet curtains the color of dried blood, crystal chandeliers hanging like fangs ready to fall.
Throughout the walk, my eyes were wide as if I were trying to memorize every unique detail. Everything was different from the world I used to know. The city, with its noise and dirt, seemed like a distant memory now. The castle walls were a soft off-white, yet the way the light hit them made them seem pearlescent, ethereal.
On my right, there was a door that led to the dining room if werewolves even ate real food and on my left, a door whose purpose I didn't know. It might as well have led to a dungeon.
Being lost in my observation, I didn’t notice a few people had approached us until I heard a woman speaking.
“What’s wrong with her?” she whisper-yelled at her blonde-haired friend.
“Oh miss, close your mouth. A housefly might fall in your mouth,” the blonde-haired girl giggled.
“Huh!” I felt all the blood drain from my face. This was really embarrassing. The guards were laughing at me again, their eyes glowing faintly in amusement.
“She acts like she’s never seen something like this.”
“She’s the ugly surrogate,” the blonde replied back with a sneer.
“Alpha Jaden can’t love someone like her. Look, there he is.”
My ears instantly turned red when I heard that.
On turning, I felt my heart break into pieces. The harsh asshole had his hands laced around a lady. I didn’t know who the hell she was, but she was probably the one he actually loved. I shrugged my shoulders, pretending not to care.
“I really pity her. He surely chose a slut over his mate,” the ladies went on. But I didn’t care. I knew nothing about what they were talking about. The only thing I knew was that I was so ugly to have a boyfriend.
Silently, standing in my heavy dress, I watched the beautiful couple greet the elders and important people. The werewolves moved like dancers, too graceful to be natural. Their laughter didn’t warm the air, it chilled it.
Jaden was dressed up in a black tuxedo suit that hugged his tall, unnaturally perfect frame. The lady he was walking with wore a red silky dress that hugged her curves, a slit running high up her thigh. Her pale skin shimmered like moonlight. She was honestly different from me in every way.
I didn’t know who the hell did it, but he or she made sure I got a very big and heavy dress. I was honestly feeling out of place. Most of the ladies were dressed in smoking-hot dresses that showed off their werewolf perfection. I looked like I was attending a funeral in comparison.
Finally, after a pretty good time, I saw the couple make their way to me. I felt like turning on my heels and running away, but the gaze Jaden threw in my way made me freeze. His eyes were like two pools of blood, unblinking and merciless. Any mistake, and I knew it would lead to trouble.
Lastly, they made their way to me.
"Harriet, meet Rhena Martinez."
I felt blood furiously pump in my heart when I heard him shamelessly introduce me.
"Mhm," came the snotty reply of the bitch.
"Karen, this is Harriet one of the people you must respect," he said with a smirk on his face.
“So she’s the ugly human,” she spoke again, and the bitchness in her voice couldn’t be more obvious.
Right many of the people here called me ugly, along with the guards. But her calling me that made me lose my temper. I was done with being disrespected.
I was human. I had a heartbeat. I bled. I hurt. And I wasn’t going to let them crush me completely. Not tonight.