Chapter 1 Prologue

BEFORE YOU READ! It's a mature themed book so if you feel uncomfortable at any point in the book, please consider leaving peacefully! For character aesthetics and updates about the book, follow me on Ïñstå. My Id is authorsy56. Enjoy Reading! Author|~S.Y VIOLET When I was a little girl, my mother used to tell me stories about monsters. She used to say ‘ Sleep or a monster will come to take you. ’ I never slept after hearing that though. The mention of a monster coming to get me and the thought of being asleep when he might come, made me jump out of bed and be on my guard. ‘ Where do the monsters live? ’ I often asked her, the fear never leaving my heart. She said they live in only dark places so I avoided darkness. I always stayed in the light. ‘ Stay with me and no monster will harm you. ’ My brother had assured me and after the restlessness of many nights, I finally fell asleep beside my elder brother - Elias Bane. As time passed by, I understood that the monsters my mother mentioned, were not real. She told me about them to scare me into doing what she wanted me to do. The fear was almost gone. Almost. Deep down, I really yearned to see a monster. Call this a child’s fantasy or a fear, I really wanted to see monsters and I wanted to know what they were truly capable of so I could know if they were worth my fear or not. Were monsters really Ruthless and wickedly powerful or were they just like us but their strength and wickedness was exaggerated? I wanted to find out. I think some God was listening in to my secret conversation with myself and so… He sent monsters. They came into packs. They came with power. They came with madness swirling in their weird colored eyes. They came as animals, but they had the ability to disguise themselves as humans too. They had only one goal - RULE THE WORLD. And so, they did. After an endless war of five years, they ruled the world. The rule and order of humans was gone – destroyed. The world we once knew as a humane civilization was taken over by those monsters and turned into a world of terror. We named those monsters as werewolves. They shifted to wolves and back to humans, as they wished. An unmatched power and strength was gifted to the werewolves by some Goddess they called as Moon Goddess. Those who possess such unmatched power are likely to become barbarous when a hint of madness hits their minds. A kind which was animal and human at the same time was bound to be beastly. They were brutal. They were those monsters everyone feared. They were those monsters everyone talked about. Right after they took over the world, they decided they required their own pets so they started taking us humans as their slaves to do with us, whatever they pleased. At least, the few humans who survived the bloody war against the monsters – werewolves, were taken as slaves. I didn’t know what they planned to do to us in the beginning just like everyone else. I found out their intentions behind taking us as slaves when me and my brother were taken slaves after the murder of Mom and Dad. I was only thirteen and my brother was eighteen back then. They took us to one of their numerous packs where we found out that they will get us to do everything for them. We were the lowborn for them. They used to command us, humiliate us, torture us in all the worst ways they knew off. At first, I thought that they hated us humans for some reason, but with time, I concluded that it was their nature to be so cold - hearted, because they were monsters. During my time of captivity, I experienced all kind of torture on the hands of those monsters. I can say that they went easy on me, because I was too young and if I had died, their entertainment would have ended...But, my brother was not so lucky. When we were first brought there, we were given the right to choose our master and that master was supposed to be our everything. My brother and I chose a pair of mates, Lorraine and Noah, as our masters. They both made me understand the meaning of the word ‘Monster’ for real. They both used to tie me down as they sexually assaulted my brother, Elias in front of my eyes. Lorraine used to force my brother into pleasuring her while Noah did unspeakable things to him. Elias used to thrash, scream and cry a lot. He always begged them into letting him go for the sake of their own Moon Goddess but they never did. ‘ It hurts’. Elias repeated these two words like a broken radio all the time, but they didn't care. They never let him go until he was bleeding or until he passed out from all the traumatic things they did to him. When my turn used to come, they mostly made Elias watch as they beat the hell out of me. They always started by hitting my face again and again until my eyes were so swollen, I could hardly even open them. We knew they were going easy on me, because they feared I was too weak and I might die with the torture ending this entertainment opportunity for them. Elias was mostly the one screaming even when they were torturing me. I was too scared and hurt to even scream. I was just...lost in pain. I often wished for death secretly, but death refused to claim me or Elias. All of this left a permanent imprint on the body, soul and heart of me and my brother. I was weak. I broke down into pieces and became the puppet they wanted. I did as they said, talked when they wanted, stayed naked all the time like they commanded. I let them hit me, touch me, sexually assault me without even letting any sound come out of my mouth. Just like they desired. But Elias never broke down. Even if he had it worse, he kept himself together. He had the spirit of a warrior. He was a leader just like my General Father. And he did what was required of him. He formed a rebel group quietly. How could humans ever give up? If werewolves had unmatched power, humans had unmatched determination. It was the first time Noah decided to rape me in what weirdly seemed like the proper way if there was even a proper way, when I turned fifteen. He had tied me to a table as Lorraine watched me with her purplish eyes. I stared back at her, because she had ordered me to do so. As I gazed at her lifelessly, I had felt something deep stirring inside me - A monstrous urge to claw her pretty eyes out, to feed those eyes to her own kind and watch emotionlessly. ...But, I couldn't do any of that. I just stayed still, lost in my thoughts, waiting for everything to end so I could finally sleep and wish I never woke up again only to realise that I was not going to die so easily. I was less of a human than my brother or any human slave in that pack, because I gave up before anyone else did. Perhaps, the fact that I was the youngest there also played a part in my downfall as a human. But my brother somehow saved me. I saw them – humans. Lots and lots of them. Elias managed to convince all the humans in the pack house to rebel against the Monsters and everyone listened to him, making him the leader of the rebellion group. It was that day the metal leash around my neck was gone. I don't know who killed Noah and Lorraine or how they even did it, because I passed out in my brother's arms, the happiness of being free again too much for me to handle. I saw the light of the day that day after staying in the darkness for two long years. Two long, dark, never – ending years. After that, we ran away from everything and everyone. We were in search of a new home where we could be safe from the monsters hunting us down. It was hard. The werewolves could see us, smell us and hear us from miles away. Monsters were strong, smart, cruel. We were inexperienced, directionless, weak. We still managed to hide and grow ourselves so we could free every single slave and be the one’s to rule again though. Our rebellion group was called HUMANS among those monsters. They knew of our presence just like we were aware of our fate. But, were we really humans? After experiencing those unspeakable horrors, I never considered myself human. I was just a slave. Before this rebellion, I was a slave to Noah and Lorraine, but then, I became a slave to the nightmares haunting me every night. Years passed and I eventually touched a line where I was about to turn eighteen. When we ran away, we ended up starting the war with the werewolves once more unconsciously. They were hunting us down from that time to take us back to their packs and slave us like before or to kill us. As a result of everything, many mutilated bodies of our kind were found laying around. Many of us were caught and taken as slaves again, but a few of us managed to stay hidden and free. A human can just do so much against such powerful monsters though. They found all of us after almost three years. They ambushed our hideout in the higher mountains where we hid from them for a long time. “ Run, Violet. If they catch you, they will take you to the Silver Moon Pack. Choose the one nicknamed Wolf as your master then. He will keep you safe. ” My brother shouted at me as he prepared the guns, loading them with silver bullets. I don't know why my brother asked me to do this. All the werewolves were supposed to be the same, then why did he ask me to choose one of them as my master willingly? Why did he ask me to repeat history? And what did he mean when he said that Wolf will keep me safe? I never got the chance to ask all these questions from Elias, because dread washed over me that very moment when Elias rushed out of our small hut. The thought of getting caught and then forced into slavery shredded my soul, so I ran. I ran to save myself. I ran far away from my brother, Elias and my boyfriend of one year, Sylvan. I couldn’t be their weakness, that's also why I had to run. My legs carried me away from my family, but my fate led me back to the palms of the monsters. They surrounded me like predators they were. One of them lunged at me and the next moment, I was falling to the ground, my own blood smeared all over my body. ‘ Choose the one nicknamed Wolf as your master then. ’ The words echoed in my mind and I felt my broken body being dragged over the hard forest ground, getting scratched all over, before I finally lost my grip on my conscious mind.

Chapter 2 Chapter 01

VIOLET Everything hurts. So, it means I am still unfortunately alive. Pain is the indication of the unwanted life. Always. I force myself to blink my eyes open. The pain becomes intense. It’s like a chunk of flesh was ripped off my shoulder when that werewolf lunged at me and I was thrown on the hard ground, my head hitting the stones with full force. Brutal. It’s the usual brutal treatment werewolves are used to giving humans. It will be an absolute lie if I do say that I am used to pain now. Pain is the only thing you can never get used to. If affects you the same even after years. My nose flares when I pick up the heavy smell of blood, sweat and urine in the air. My eyes blink rapidly, trying to adjust in the little to no light in the dark dungeon. There is blood everywhere. And there are bodies piled upon bodies, beside me. Some alive. Most dead. And a few dying. The word personal space or respect to the dead is a joke here. Everyone is thrown over each other, their clothes gone just like their other belongings. Blood drips from everyone’s body just like mine. I, too can feel that the surface under me is awfully…fleshy. It’s not hard as a ground, like it’s supposed to be. I am cruelly and helplessly lying over another human body. This thought alone is enough to make me feel some energy in my body - just enough to help me get away from on top of the poor human crushed under me. “ Do - Don’t move. P - please… ” Hearing the plead of the one under me, I pause and go still. “ Are you hurt? ” Such an unnecessary question. I guess it’s just my human instinct to ask such questions. “ I - I think my bones are broken…It hurts more when you m - move. ” The young voice chokes in reply. I can feel some hot liquid getting poured over my arm and I can tell it’s her blood. I look to my right and catch the sight of a girl lying beside me. She is bleeding too. Now, I can say that her blood is smearing over me too. I stay unmoving - too afraid to move and ending up hurting the girl under me. My eyes stay fixed at the young face beside me. She is blinking lazily. Her eyes seem hazy like she is not even here or not even conscious. I know the look. My eyes trail down her naked body, stopping at the sight of gashes under her left breast. Three claw marks they are. Horrendous and deep. She is dying. “ Yo - You can move now. ” The voice sounds from under me and I don’t waste a moment in just getting away from her. In the pile of bodies, I hardly manage to find a corner to myself. A corner where there is no body or blood reaching out to me. I don’t know why, but my eyes try to see the same girl again - The girl who was dying on my right side. I could tell she was only fifteen something. Too young to live such horrors and too young to die such a twisted death. She must be in pain. She must be in a lot of pain - I can only think about it and relish in the feel of my own pain which is not letting me sit straight against the wall behind me. Closing my eyes, I gulp and clench my hands together. Why did Elias ask me to choose a monster named wolf as my master instead of asking me to find a way to run away like he always taught me before? Who was this monster nicknamed Wolf anyway? I am dying to know, but more than all of this, I am turning cold with worry. What happened to Elias and Sylvan? Are they alright? All these questions are distracting me from the pain momentarily. All of a sudden, I hear metal scrapping against ground and a shiver runs down my spine. My eyes shoot open, going straight to my left where I caught glimpse of a door earlier. They are here. That’s my first thought. And then, I see three figures. They are so human yet there is something about them that is so different, it’s so visible. Perhaps, it’s all about the upward curves of their lips. No human can smirk after seeing such a sight before them. Only monsters are capable of such a terrible thing. Lights are turned on in the dungeon, but I don’t dare look at anything or anyone around me. I just keep my eyes fixed at the three tall men in the bloody dungeon. The one in the centre of the other two has chocolate coloured eyes, filled with menace that I can sense from so far away. His hair are the same colour as his eyes. His nose is a little crooked and his skin is pure white - no redness or even a hint of tan visible anywhere. The one on the right side has jet black hair and deep black eyes. He is looking at everyone in the room with no expressions on his face. He looks unbothered by all of this. His features match the one in centre, almost making me think that they are related in some way. The last one - the one on the left side has grey eyes and black hair. He has a smirk on his lips just like the chocolate eyed one. He looks fairly amused. As I am done observing all three of them and my eyes land on the chocolate eyed werewolf, I find him staring right at me. There is no smile or smirk on his lips now - something grim is swirling behind his eyes and his stare makes my blood heat up under my skin. Fear, I realise. It’s fear. “ Everyone alive…walk out of the dungeon and make a row outside. We are going to dispose off the rest. ” The black eyed man tells all of us. I take my eyes off the man in the centre and get up from the floor like a robot. In order to survive, I have to do everything they ask of me. That’s the only way I know. Fighting back is not an option. I walk towards the door, keeping my head down and avoiding looking at all three of them. Before I get to the door, the man in the centre grabs my arm and makes me stop. A wave of fear passes through my body, my blood turning cold instead of hot this time. “ I like this one… ” He tells the other two like he is choosing an object. His hand leaves my wrist and reaches out to my shoulder which is missing some flesh. When he places his hand on my shoulder, I shudder with pain, but don’t let any sounds of pain leave my mouth. I am not doing this deliberately…This is just something I am conditioned to do. His hand travels lower, a thoughtful hum escaping his lips. Down from my shoulder, he reaches out to my left breast. I stand still. Bile rising in my throat due to disgust. “ When you are given the right to choose…say the name Kane. ” He smirks and takes his hand off my body. I nod my head in a trance and make my way past him. I can’t do that. I couldn’t tell him or he was going to kill me. Werewolves don’t like to be defied as I have already known. A group of werewolves is waiting for us outside the dungeon. They make us all line up before they lead us to the main hall of the pack house. Those who know how to survive are silent as dead and those who don’t know how to survive…are already lying dead in that room. When we are out of the dungeon corridor, I hear the screams of the people in the dungeon getting burned alive along with the dead. I don’t flinch even if my heart has dropped to the floor. When we are in the Main Hall at last, they make us line up horizontally before they tell us the names of all the members of the pack. Mostly, nicknames instead of their real names or ranks. Two names catch my attention. Kane and Wolf. When they ask us to choose names blindly, I wait for my turn. My heart drums in my ears. Secretly, I hope that Kane is not here. I lick my dried up lips and look up when the man standing on my right is taken away after he chooses a master. It’s a game for all these werewolves, I conclude for the nth time. They feel so amused and excited when they drag away someone from here. They know what awaits us and yet no one here feels pity for us. “ Choose one, human. ” The terribly familiar voice of Kane commands me. I look to my right, where he is standing, his arms folded over his chest and his chocolate brown eyes boring into mine. I only did one mistake here. I looked at him and I am now trembling in fear. If that Wolf - whoever he is - gives me to this Kane after the defiance I am about to commit, this man is going to shred me to pieces. I can understand this much. I gulp and a whisper escapes my lips. “ Wolf. ” Well. Now, I guess I will know if what my brother said about ‘ wolf keeping me safe’ was true or not.

Chapter 3 Chapter 02

VIOLET They all have enhanced hearing, so I don’t have to worry about them hearing my whisper or not. They all definitely heard me, but no one made a move to bring me out of here. They all seem surprised for some reason as I look at each one of them. Then, my eyes land on Kane who is giving me a murderous look. ‘ All humans know better than to choose him as their master. ’ I hear a weak whisper from somewhere around me. I know it’s a human girl, but I don’t know what she means by it. ‘ She must not know. ’ Another male murmur hits my ears and a shiver runs down my spine. What are they all talking about? “ You don’t talk unless you are spoken to. ” The werewolf with black eyes from earlier, hisses at the humans talking and the halls goes silent once more. I lift my head and look at Kane who is now walking towards me. My instincts tell me to step back, or to run away, but where am I even supposed to go from here? He stops in front of me. Fear engulfs my figure right away and my eyes move down to the neatly polished white tiled floor. “ Choose a master. ” He demands, repeating the same question from earlier. I am sure he heard me, but I have a hunch that he won’t let me go so easily. He is going to treat me as a human now. “ Choose a master. ” He repeats what he said. His tone is scary - grim this time. I jump in my spot. Sweat coats my body, washing off the blood which had dried up on me. My lips quiver, my throat going dry as sand. I lift my gaze to Kane’s momentarily and then let my eyes fall to the floor. I can tell everyone is watching me while they hold their breaths back. Humans must be cursing at me in their minds for being so clueless as to stand up against a werewolf who can snap my neck in a mere moment without remorse or even a second thought. I open my mouth, wanting to just say his name and save myself from the torture he is going to inflict on me if I dare say someone else’s name in front of him…but, my brother’s voice echoes in my head, compelling me to choose Wolf at the expense of my life. “ W - wolf… ” I choke on my breath and in the next moment, I feel a strong hand reaching out to my neck. My supply of air cuts off when the hand wraps around my neck and a great pressure follows the touch. My eyes bulge out, but my own hands never reach out to Kane’s hand to get him off myself. I never fight back. I never did before and maybe, I am never going to find the courage to do it in the future either. I simply gasp for air, lift my gaze to his and wait for this pain to go away. “ Kane. You know the rules. Leave her. She chose her master and you have no right over her unless Wolf allows it. ” The man with the black eyes intervenes in a serious tone and Kane leaves my neck right away. I fall down to my knees, my hands clawing at my neck as I feel like I won’t be able to regain my breath anytime soon. Tears prick my eyes as my lungs burn and every wound in my body starts to hurt all over again. I lift my head only when I feel like Kane has walked away from me. I am proved right when I watch him standing by my far right where he stood before. Beside him, stands the black haired werewolf who stopped him from killing me. He talked about rules and it sounded hilarious to everyone, I bet. “ Hmmm…So you are choosing wolf? ” The black eyed man rakes his hand through his hair, ruffling it slightly. I set my lips in a thin line, my heart drumming in my ears as I regain my breathing eventually. “ Do you know who he is? ” He adds, resting his back against the wall and folding his arms over his chest. Slowly, I look at Kane and then at the grey eyed man who is coming through the door to stand beside him. These three seem to be in power around here as no one ever interrupts them or tries to even look at them. Suddenly, I see Kane’s eyes changing colour. From chocolate brown to white glowing, his eyes really do change and it scares me. I didn’t know werewolves could do something like that. What is he even doing? I keep my gaze fixed at him until his eyes go back to his chocolate brown colour and he rests his back against the wall just like the black eyed man. “ He is coming. ” Kane declares, sulking like a child. My body starts shaking when I take notice of how serious everyone looks all of a sudden. Even Kane and the grey eyed man who were always smirking before don’t dare let their lips quirk up. Who is coming? I don’t need to ask. I know they are talking about my new master. Surely, my brother didn’t make a mistake. Wolf can’t be someone so terrible, that they all are oddly scared of him. Humans and Werewolves alike. The silence of the great hall breaks when someone steps down from the stairs and everyone’s eyes move to see who is now in front of me. I don’t move and stay on my four for a moment. I am too scared to look at my new master. My gut feeling tells me that there is something wrong and the suffocating atmosphere only proves me right. “ Why did you call on me? ” The gruff voice falls in my ears and now, I can tell why everyone was so stiff. The voice sounds so powerful and aggressive, it’s hard to not shiver by just listening to it. In a slow motion, I raise my head in his direction. My mouth goes dry when I look at the man stepping down from the last stair. He stands tall in front of everyone. My eyes trail up from his legs which are cladded in a black jeans. His waist is slim and his body has the perfect desired proportion with possible six pack abs hidden behind the silk navy blue button up shirt he is currently wearing. My eyes travel higher to his face. His complexion is pale, like he was never exposed to sunlight before. His lips are a rosy colour, shaped as a heart and pressed tightly together. His nose is high bridged and when he tilts his head to the side, I see the mole he has just beneath his nose. My eyes move to his eyes. Golden specks shine around the black dot in the middle and then darkness curls around those golden specks like the colour black and golden has fused together. His eyes are pure golden in colour - not amber or honey - pure golden. I have never seen such eyes before. I didn’t even know it was possible. Perhaps, it’s because he is a werewolf that he has such unique eyes. Complimenting his whole look, he has natural chestnut hair. Another unique trait about this man. “ I think you are losing your fame, Wolf. ” I hear the grey eyed man saying to the golden eyed man in front of me. My breath hitches in my throat as I shake my head, breaking out of the awe-struck state. When I do break out of my trance, I notice the blood splatters on Wolf’s pale face and then the same blood on his navy blue shirt. Bile rises in my throat when I realise that he has human blood splashed all over him. Of course, it is human blood - it can’t be anything else. “ Slaves shouldn’t look their Master in the eye. ” Kane hisses from my right, pointing out what I had been doing for a while now. I am looking Wolf right in the eye and unfortunately, he is looking right at me like I am the only one in the room. There is something so mischievous and dark about Wolf that I can feel goosebumps rising all over my body. He doesn’t seem like the normal werewolf - the brutal type. He seems like one of those higher monsters everyone talked about. The monsters who lead the brutal acts - the evil one’s, the mad one’s and the most cruel one’s. “ For the first time since forever, a human finally chose you as her master. I think humans have stopped telling tales about you. They don’t warn each other anymore. ” The grey eyed man continues talking to Wolf. Each word that the grey eyed man says, brings me some more anxiety. What did I do? Did I even choose the right one? The one that my brother asked me to choose? I can't help, but ask myself all these questions right now. My heart drowns to the pit of my stomach. My eyes fall down to the floor, not finding anything interesting anymore. I have done a mistake. Perhaps, he is not the 'Wolf' my brother asked me to choose. The thought alone is enough to make me recall everything that Noah and Lorraine had done to me, to my poor brother Elias. “ Look at me, human. ” The gruff voice commands and instinctively, I look up at him. He is still standing on the same spot, high and mighty like a deadly King of a Kingdom and I am sitting on my knees - naked, hurt and exposed like a poor slave. We both fit so well in the master slave roles. Maybe, I will never get out of it again. Maybe, torture and pain is always supposed to be my fate. Our eyes meet and a strange spark runs through my body. It feels like I was hit by electric current. Confusion takes over my senses and when I see Wolf’s eyes changing colour and becoming complete black for a second, I feel my blood turning cold in my veins. “ Clean her up and send her to my room, Cassius. ” He addresses the grey eyed man, his eyes still dark as night. Wolf turns around abruptly on his heels and climbs the stairs, leaving me behind. “ No one ever chooses him for a reason, you stupid girl. ” A human girl mutters from somewhere beside me. I can’t tell who it is and I can’t understand what she is talking about. I get up from the floor, balancing myself on my weak legs when Cassius - apparently the grey eyed man - walks forward and stops right in front of me. He hooks a finger under my chin, raising my head and making me look at him. He doesn’t fit in the picture of the brutal werewolf type - his touch is too gentle for that. “ Don’t worry. You will know the reason soon. ” He breathes hoarsely and all my misunderstandings about him clear up. He is just like the others even if his touch is too gentle. They are all monsters - wolves pretending to be humans.

Chapter 4 Chapter 03

VIOLET Cassius takes a step back from me and a werewolf comes to my side. Grabbing my arm, he begins dragging me away from the main hall. Instinctively, I look back at Cassius who is staring at me. As I look at him, I notice Kane and the black eyed man coming to stand beside Cassius. All three gaze at me as their eyes flash different colours for a second. For a moment, I think that I am seeing things. Possible because I hit my head too hard. But, then I end up rejecting my own idea of hallucinating such things. Their eyes did change colours like Kane’s and Wolf’s did. Strange. I never noticed such things before. Turning my head back, I let the werewolf man lead me down the hallways to God knows where. Terror gnaws at my guts. What’s going to happen now? That’s the main question and what happened to Elias and Sylvan? That’s another question for me. There is no way I will ever find out about what happened to Elias and Sylvan unless they come for me or unless I get out of here somehow. Lost in thoughts, I don’t notice when we reach a door and the werewolf man jerks my arm, pushing me forward. My forehead and nose hits the closed wooden door in front of me and I end up gritting my teeth to bear the pain which sears through my nose and head. All of a sudden, the door opens before I get the chance to step back and stop supporting my head against the door. As a result of this, I find myself falling face first on the tiled floor. This time, a hiss leaves my lips when my forehead once more collides with a hard surface, knocking the breath out of me in an instant. My head starts spinning. “ Get up. ” A woman sneers, jabbing at my right shoulder with her boots. I bite my lower lip to endure the pain and place my palms on the floor to push myself up, but everything starts spinning worse than before. It hits me that I am just a weak human who can’t heal like these monsters, who didn’t eat or drink anything for a while now and who is injured so bad that blood is dripping down from almost all parts of her own body. When the reality of life dawns upon me like a ghost whispering in my ear, I feel all energy leaving my body. Something whispers in me, a new - strange voice that asks me to simply stay down and don’t do anything. The voice sounds like a part of me, but it’s so different from my own voice. I am compelled to listen to it until I can’t get up no matter how hard I try and until I slip out of consciousness. ****** I gasp for air, feeling like my lungs are filling up with some warm liquid. It tastes metallic, like the blood I tasted in my own mouth every time I was beaten. When I fail to breath, fill up my lungs with oxygen, panic builds up. My eyes shoot open, but I can’t see anything. I thrash my arms around, feeling light - warm water all around me I try to push myself up, but something or someone is holding me down. The hold over my head is so strong that my teeth rattle with the force I use to break free of the hands holding me down. Just as my lungs start giving up on me, the hand releases me and allows me to resurface from the water. Sitting up, I pant for air and cough at the same time. Tears leak out of my eyes as I place both my hands on my burning throat. My eyes move around, trying to find the person who was keeping me down in the water. My eyes take in the huge bathtub I am currently sitting in and then land on the woman who is standing beside me. I stop breathing when I look at her. My whole body goes still and everything disappears for a moment. The familiar pair of velvety - purplish eyes staring down at me, send shivers down my spine. My lips start quivering as she tilts her head, observing me in the same way I am accustomed to. My lips try to form her name. One of the two names which haunted me for more than five years. “ Lo - Lorr…” I choke on my breath, tears still streaming down my face. She is back. I cry out internally. She is back for me again and she will hurt me so bad, I won’t be able to recover this time. “ Get her out already, Lilith. ” Another female appears in the huge white and Golden bathroom. The blonde woman addressed her as Lilith, I notice. Closing my mouth, I set my trembling lips in a thin line. As I look closely, I realise only the eyes match and she is not the person I thought her to be. Lorraine was dead, Elias said so. “ It was hard waking her up. ” Lilith shrugs her shoulders and turns to glare at me. “ Get out, Human. Don’t waste our time. ” She scoffs at me, her bored eyes not matching her words at all. Following her command, I get up and make my way out of the bathtub. My eyes trail down my body which is in a better condition than before. Some of my wounds are still bleeding, but at least I don’t have anyone else’s blood or urine or sweat smeared all over me. The blonde woman with electric blue eyes grabs my wrist and pulls me behind her. Her hold on my wrist is hard, intended to crush my bones if possible. But, she doesn’t have the right to hurt me deliberately, not before Wolf allows her or anyone to hurt me. This thought brings me back to the same question. Why did Elias ask me to choose him and what did he mean when he said that Wolf will keep me safe? In all honesty, Wolf seemed worse than the usual monstrous werewolves. Dripping with water, I let the blonde woman drag me through the corridor with rooms on all sides. There are werewolves passing us leisurely, staring at my naked body and giving me those disgusted looks, they are used to giving humans. A male scream pierces through the corridor and my feet pause on their way. The voice was so horrendous like the one screaming was in great pain. Without giving me the time to recover from the shock, the blonde woman uses her force and pulls me towards her. I yelp, beginning to walk behind her once more. If I want to survive, I have to ignore like I used to do before. I have to ignore all noises, all actions and everything happening around me. We continue walking down the corridor and enter the main hall where I see a werewolf dragging a male human body away. My mind goes numb as I avert my eyes from the scene. I can’t watch it, can’t bear it. The blonde woman hauls me up the stairs and we turn to the right. This side of the huge pack-house is darker and more eerie than all other parts. There are huge vintage paintings hanged on both sides of the wall at intervals. The paintings don’t have any colour other than white and black, I take notice of this as I pass the corridor. Suddenly, she stops and I stop behind her. She leaves my wrist and raises her hand to knock on the Golden door in front of us. My heart begins drumming in my ears. Sweat coats my palms and the water on my body has started to dry up, but my hair are still dripping with water and my shoulder is still bleeding unlike my head. The werewolf woman waits for a moment after knocking on the door before she turns the doorknob and opens the door. I stand there, dumbfounded. I don’t know what I am supposed to do. I have been to a pack-house before and I know all the rules, but this is so different because this pack-house is huge and Wolf seems like one of the high ranking werewolves. I am judging this from the way two woman have bathed me to send me here and the way everyone acted around Wolf was also strange. I don’t remember anything like this happening when I was Noah and Lorraine’s slave. “ Go in. ” The woman hisses at me and I jump in my spot. I need to recall the way I acted in the captivity and I really need to stop zoning out if I want to survive. Gulping my saliva and tasing blood in my mouth once more, I make my way inside the lavish room. My naked body is trembling with fear of what’s coming my way if Wolf doesn’t turns out to be someone my brother painted him to be. Just as I am inside the room, the blonde woman closes the door behind me. I turn around on my heels, my wide eyes staring at the closed door. The coldness of the room hits me at once and the odd electricity claws down my spine like some sort of pleasurable sparks. I turn back and my eyes instantly catch sight of the man standing beside the huge king size bed. He is not looking at me, but seeing him standing there makes my heart jump in my throat. My eyes trail down his body. He is shirtless, his expected six pack abs peeking back at me. I can’t help, but notice the deep injury on the left side of his waist. Blood is pouring from the wound and he is observing it silently. It’s almost like a chunk of flesh is missing from his side and it doesn’t affects at him at all. Was it his own blood that was on his face and clothes earlier then? I gulp and clench my hands into fists. I should trust my brother’s words like always and I should talk to him. My eyes awkwardly move around the room. The decor is all Golden and white and there is nothing in the room except for a bed, a sofa set and a painting hanging on the back of the bed. From the looks of it, it seems like no one lives in the room. My eyes land on the Golden eyed man before me and this time, I am completely startled because unlike before, he is standing closer now and he is looking right at me. I didn’t notice him moving. In absolute silence, his eyes move down my body. I feel too aware of my own nakedness in this moment. A frown comes up to rest on his forehead, but he still looks harmless like a human and not a werewolf. This gives me the courage to open my mouth at last. “ My brother - My brother asked me to choose you. ”

Chapter 5 Chapter 04

VIOLET “ My brother - My brother asked me to choose you. ” No response. Just the blank - predatory stare which penetrates my body and I feel needles pricking my skin as a result of this. I swallow the lump forming in my throat, but another one just appears back in its place. “ His name is Elias Bane. He said I should choose the one named Wolf in the Silver Moon Pack. Is this - is this…Silver Moon Pack? ” I ask him, hoping to stir his silence. Still no response. …But I do sense the Golden colour of his eyes almost fading to some other colour - like black or maybe, alluring darkness…That’s more like it. The longer he looks at me in silence, the more I feel like I am getting tortured. I want answers - At this point, I think I will do absolutely every possible and impossible thing to get those answers. Unable to look in his eyes anymore, I let my eyes wander down to his side. This time, I catch sight of some engraving on his chest. My eyes go still on the left side of his chest. Is this possible that I missed it earlier? I definitely did, because a tattoo can’t just pop out of nowhere. I gulp and move my eyes down to his wound. The blood has stopped pouring out of the gash on its own just as his wound has started to heal. I am not surprised, because at least I know that werewolves have healing abilities unlike humans. He takes a step forward, coming to stop beside the foot of the bed. My eyes jump to his eyes that are not Golden anymore. This time, I don’t think I am mistaken. His eyes changed colour, turned fully black without a hint of any other colour in them. I set my lips in a thin line to stop them from quivering. I can’t even imagine what he’ll do to me if I am mistaken about the whole thing, but…That’s the point. If he was not who or what Elias said, he wouldn’t stand there, listening to me or he wouldn’t leave me unhurt for this long. Still, I can’t feel at ease so soon. He is one of the monsters after all - some sort of leader on top of everything. Things go back to the futile silence and staring. I inhale deeply, wrapping my arms around my hurting body. He notices my gestures, but doesn’t say anything nor does his eyes go back to the Golden colour. It seems like he is standing right in front of me, but his mind is somewhere far away, like he is talking to someone or seeing something that is not here. Is this even possible? I can’t say for sure. From what I can tell, everything is possible when it comes to these monsters. I wish I had the power to not stand here, the power to kill him and kill every single monster in this pack-house and in this world. I hate them all down to my core, but my hate will remain hidden deep inside me unless I ever find the courage to fight back like my brother Elias. Courage. That’s all I need. And it’s impossible until I let go of fear. Lifting my chin, I heave a heavy breath. “ Why won’t you answer me? ” I question with exasperation. He snaps out of the trance, his Golden orbs appearing through the haziness of the darkness which clouded his eyes. He pays me his full attention and the dangerous vibe that I get from him, sends shivers down my spine. Some strange emotion passes through his eyes and I feel like his eyes just faintly smiled at my fake display of courage to demand answers from him. Yes, I am sure that’s what I saw, but I don’t know how I am actually sure about it. It’s like I felt it deep within me when something stirred inside. He knows I am shit scared of him, but I am simply pretending to be fearless in front of him. His eyes say to me that this fake courage won’t take me anywhere. He knows this and I know too. “ It is a good start. ” He hums. I get surprised when I actually hear his voice again. It sounds different from earlier. Less aggressive and more plain like he can’t even bother intimidating me at this point. “ But what will you do if this is not the Silver Moon Pack? ” He adds and rolls his shoulders. I hate him. “ I - I will…” I stutter on my words, fear seeping back through the cracks of my fearless facade. He has won. With just a simple question, he has won and he has made me realise my mistake. I shouldn’t have asked him anything. I should have waited and observed him first. I should have gone with my first thought that he might not be the person my brother asked me to choose and until I was sure that he was the person after all, I shouldn’t have opened my damn mouth to utter any word to him. Now, if he is not the person my brother said will protect me, he is going to become the monster who will torture me for more information. And for the fact, I don’t know a bloody thing about the Wolf who is betraying these monsters and who is aiming to protect someone like me. I am shaking so bad I hope he doesn’t notice. I don’t want him to know the true extent of my fear. Suddenly, a knock sounds on the door behind me and I jump in my spot for the third time today. My eyes are instinctively drawn to his Golden globes. He is still eyeing me, waiting for an answer which might fuel his amusement. A moment of silence passes between us when the door finally opens behind me. “ Lilith. I said clean her up. That included getting rid of all the blood on her. ” He says to someone behind me, but his eyes are not leaving mine. I feel the unfamiliar electric sparks engulfing my body once more when I look too deep in his eyes. The feeling makes me uncomfortable and soothes me at the same time. Uncomfortable because I don’t know what it is and soothing because it hurts less when I feel it. Slowly, he takes his eyes off me and directs his warning gaze at Lilith behind me. His aura changes, turns to suffocating when his eyes loose all shine and life in them, looking at the other person in the room. It’s strange how I can tell everything about him so easily. Before I realise, I feel a hand sliding up my left arm, reaching for my bicep. When the person gets a good grip of my bicep, she turns me around and I come face to face with the woman with velvety purple eyes. She scares me more than usual, because she reminds me of the devil of my personal hell. My body starts shaking even more when she turns around and begins pulling me out of the room. I glance at Wolf from over my shoulder. My eyes convey the plea to him. ‘ If you are going to save me, do it now. ’ …But, he makes no such move as to save me. And so, I turn back to look at Karina’s black haired head in complete silence.

Chapter 6 Chapter 05

VIOLET I have never felt so confused in my whole life. Am I supposed to wait for what’s coming or should I try to run like I was trained to do? I can’t decide, but I admit there is something urging me to stay back, give it some time and trust that I chose the right one. Lilith takes me down the same way and back to the same bathroom which seems to be allotted to humans in a way. I remember how werewolves used to keep all the human slaves in the same room after they were done torturing us. It was a way to keep humans out of their business and it always protected their strengths and weaknesses from us. When we reach the bathroom, she sits me down at the edge of a rusty bathtub and goes out of there. My hate for the monsters increases some more as I stare at the dirty tiled floor of the bathroom, waiting for Lilith to come back. The filth and the nauseating smell of the uncleaned bathroom makes bile rise in my mouth. Lilith comes back after five whole minutes like she was personally torturing me by leaving me here. She sets down a first aid box beside my left thigh and catches my arm in a strong grip. Her fingers and nails dig in my flesh, but the pain never shows on my face. With the same harsh movements, she begins dabbing at the wound on my shoulder. The more she puts pressure, the more I start feeling lightheaded and extremely nauseous. A hiss leaves my lips just as I double over to throw up on the floor, but I only end up gagging on my empty stomach. Lilith takes a step back from me instinctively as her hold on my arm loosens a bit. “ Dirty humans. ” She hisses through her teeth, pulling a disgusted face at me. My eyes move toward her closed right fist which is clutching onto a ball of cotton stained in my blood and I notice how hard she is trying not to just raise her fist and knock me out clean. I wipe the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand and sit up straight. Keeping my head down, I sneak a glance at her and the instant anger flares inside me. It’s like I am burning from inside out, waiting to burst and end all of them along with myself perhaps. My eyes go down to the floor and she continues cleaning my wound violently. My teeth start hurting with the force I use to grit them in order to refrain any sounds from leaving my mouth. It seems like the harder I try to endure the pain, the more Lilith tries to hurt me. Typical of these monsters who only how to hurt others. I bet they know nothing other than inflicting pain and causing destruction. When she dabs a little harder than before, black dots appear in my sight. I shake my head, trying to break free of the drowsiness weighing heavy over my senses, but it doesn’t help my condition. I shake my head once more, but the unbearable pain makes me loose grip over my consciousness for the second time today. I find myself falling forward and feel Lilith stepping aside to let my body hit the ground before everything blacks out. ***** It feels like I dreaming. I see Izel, Mario and Samantha. And Mom and Dad. It’s like they are standing on all sides of me, looking down at my body. Funny how I can only ever see the dead, before the monsters finally make their grand entry in my dreams. Lorraine. Noah. The moment they come, everyone leaves and I am left there, bound, helpless, staring blankly at the pitch black darkness, wanting everything to end in a way everyone feels the affect of my anger and hate. Lorraine smiles at me. Her smile is so charming yet feral. I stare at her, unmoving, vengeful and completely silent as always. “ Violet. What are we doing today? Suggest something. ” Noah steps forth, blocking my sight of the ever pleasant Lorraine. My eyes trail off to him. His face is so soft, so human yet his heart is so monstrous and unyielding. He is tricking me into suggesting a way, knowing I will always choose death and they will only laugh it off. Cruel and Grotesque. He leans in toward me, a normal smile plastered on his lips and just as his hands touch me, I gasp for air, leaving the dream behind and coming back to my senses. My first instinct is to push myself up from the lying position and the second is looking around myself. I am in what seems like a room with a familiar metal door. A dungeon. There are a lot of humans around me, but they are too disoriented and hurt to pay me attention. I think Lilith dumped me here. My eyes catch sight of my shoulder, inspecting the injury which is bandaged completely. I touch my head and find a bandage there as well. Blood has stopped flowing. I still feel nauseous and lightheaded, but at the very least I won’t die from loss of blood now. “ Why did you do it? ” I hear a girlish voice hissing at me. Surprised, I look to my right where I see a familiar face. It’s not hard for me to recall that she is the same girl who was under me when I first woke up in a similar dungeon to this one. My eyebrows bump together in a frown as I try to make sense of what she is asking off me. “ Wh - ” I try to ask what she is talking about, but my dry throat doesn’t allow me to finish what I want to say to her. A look of understanding crosses her face and her eyes roam down my body in a knowing way. “ They won’t give us water so soon. ” She whispers in a horrified voice, her wide eyes lifting to mine. And for a mere second, I can see myself in her eyes. The girl is near 15 or 16 years of age, definitely younger than me and she knows so much about these monsters. It’s clear this is not her first time here. I gulp the lump in my throat, the hard feeling making me want to choke on my breath and die. “ If it was not enough that we were caught, you recklessly chose him. ” She shakes her head like she is talking to a child. I narrow my eyes, taking in the girl before me. She has ash black hair, her eyes a blue colour. Her cheeks are hollow and her nose is broken and her lips are bleeding. I trail my eyes down her body. She is naked and her bones are sticking out in all places. There are bruises everywhere on her body, but I don’t see any bleeding wounds except for the wound on her forehead, over which blood has already dried off. She is physically weak, I can see and being physically weak is a death sentence here. “ What - what do you mean by choosing him? ” I manage to force words out of my dried up mouth. I need to know what they all are taking about here. “ You chose Wolf. No one in their right mindset ever does that. ” She scoots closer to me like she doesn’t want anyone to hear her. Probably she doesn’t that those monsters have enhanced hearing and even if she whispers in my ear, they will still be able to hear her talk, hear her breath and hear her choke on her own blood when they kill her. I shake my hurting head and my frown deepens. What is she talking about? “ Wh - Why? ” I breath and scoot closer to her, committing the same stupid act as hers. “ You don’t know? ” Her innocent eyes widen. She seems to be in disbelief of my ignorance. What is it that that I don’t know anyway? This question is making my heart beat in the pit of my stomach. She leans in, our faces inches away from each others. Looking at the other disinterested humans from the corner of her eyes, she finally opens her mouth to reveal to me. “ It’s bad enough when we choose the low ranking werewolves. ” Her eyes water up and I notice the same violent - blazing loathe in her blue orbs. “ But you accidentally chose their King’s son. ” She drops the bomb over my head, shaking her head in disappointment. My mind goes numb listening to her. I close my fists as my hands turn cold. My heart beat slows down just like the rest of the world around me. “ He is some sort of a Prince around here and he is the one who killed our general and his wife and maybe his son and daughter as well. ” She continues talking and with each of her word, I feel my body turning colder. I can’t breath. I can’t bring myself to think even. The girl leans in and brings her mouth close to my right ear. My body stiffens as tears burn at the back of my eyes. A voice screams at the back of my mind. Louder and Louder. Until all voices are drowned and I can only hear that scream and the girl’s words. “ It’s because of him that those MONSTERS are now ruling our world. ” She whispers in my ear hatefully, the anger directed at Wolf.