IVY’S POV
Ten Years Later
The iron collar around my neck felt heavier today. Maybe it was because I hadn't eaten in two days, or maybe it was because Marcus had decided to tighten it again yesterday. My fingers traced the raw, bleeding skin underneath the metal.
"Slave!" Alpha Darius's voice cut through the morning air like a whip. "Where's my breakfast?"
"Coming, Alpha Darius," I called back, trying to keep my voice steady.
I balanced the heavy wooden tray in my arms as I walked across the pack house. My legs shook with each step. The bowl of hot porridge, the cup of fresh milk, and the plate of meat weighed more than I could easily carry anymore. Ten years of barely eating had made me thin and weak.
"You're late," Darius snarled when I entered his chambers.
"I'm sorry, Alpha. The kitchen fires were slow to start this morning."
He stood up from his chair, and I immediately lowered my eyes to the floor. Looking directly at the Alpha was forbidden for slaves, especially for me.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you," he commanded.
I raised my eyes slowly. Darius had grown into a large, cruel man. His dark hair was slicked back, and his brown eyes held nothing but hatred when they looked at me.
"Do you remember when we were children, Ivy?" he asked with a cold smile.
My heart started beating faster. I didn't like it when he used my real name. Most of the time, everyone just called me Girl.
"Yes, Alpha," I whispered.
"You were so proud back then," he continued, circling around me like a predator. "The Beta's daughter. Thomas's little princess. You thought you were better than everyone else."
"I never thought that," I said quietly.
"Liar!" he shouted, making me flinch. "I asked you to be my mate when we were fifteen. Do you remember what you said?"
I remembered. I had been polite but firm. I told him I wanted to wait, that I wasn't ready for mating. But the real truth was that something about Darius had always made my skin crawl.
"I said I needed more time," I answered.
"You said you needed to think about it," he corrected me. "But we both know what you really meant. You thought the Beta's daughter was too good for someone like me, right?"
That wasn't true, but I knew better than to argue.
"You looked down on me," Darius continued. "You and your traitor parents thought you were royalty. Well, look at you now."
He grabbed my chin roughly and forced me to meet his eyes. His grip was so tight I knew it would leave bruises.
"Now you're nothing," he hissed. "Less than nothing. And I get to watch you suffer every single day."
"Please, Alpha Darius," I whispered. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings back then. I was young and foolish."
"Sorry?" he laughed coldly. "Oh, you're going to be sorry. I'm going to make you pay for all the times you overlooked me. For all the times you acted like I wasn't good enough."
He released my chin with a shove that made me stumble backward.
"My father might have been satisfied with keeping you as a common slave," Darius said. "But I have bigger plans for you. Much bigger plans."
The way he said it made my blood turn to ice.
"Your breakfast, Alpha Darius," I said, trying to change the subject. I held out the tray with shaking hands.
"I'm not hungry anymore," he said, and before I could react, he pushed me hard.
I stumbled backward and the tray flew from my hands. The wooden bowl shattered on the stone floor. Hot porridge splattered everywhere. The cup of milk cracked and spilled across the ground.
"Look what you've done!" Darius roared. "Clumsy slave! Clean this mess up immediately!"
"Yes, Alpha," I said, dropping to my knees.
"And you'll go without food for another day as punishment," he added. "Maybe that will teach you to be more careful."
My stomach cramped with hunger, but I just nodded. "Yes, Alpha."
He left the room, slamming the door behind him. I quickly picked up the broken pieces of the bowl, trying not to cut my fingers on the sharp edges. The hot porridge burned my hands as I scooped it up, but I didn't dare leave any behind.
I thought back to how my life had been for the past ten years. Ten years since I became a slave instead of the Beta's daughter. The memories felt like someone else's life now.
My father had been the Beta. Alpha Crane's most trusted friend and advisor. They had grown up together, fought together, built this pack together. But my father had betrayed that trust. At least, that's what everyone believed.
After the execution, the former Alpha Crane had sentenced me to the forest prison. It was an enclosed prison deep in the woods, surrounded by silver bars that burned any werewolf who touched them. For five years, I lived in darkness. I never saw sunlight. I never knew what day it was or how much time had passed. They fed me scraps once a day and gave me water that tasted like rust.
When Alpha Darius took over from his father, he decided to bring me back to the pack house as a common slave. He said watching me serve the pack every day would be a better reminder of what happened to traitors.
Alpha Darius was even more evil than his father had been. Where Alpha Crane had been stern and cold, Alpha Darius was cruel and violent. He enjoyed watching people suffer. He especially enjoyed watching me suffer.
I finished cleaning up the mess and gathered the broken tray pieces. My hands were covered in small cuts from the sharp wood, but I ignored the pain. Pain was just part of life now.
I rushed out of Darius's chambers and down the hallway toward the servants' quarters. Other pack members moved out of my way without looking at me. To them, I was invisible unless they needed something.
"There goes the traitor's daughter," I heard someone whisper.
"Can't believe they let her live," another voice said.
"Should have killed her with her parents," a third person added.
I kept my head down and walked faster. Finally, I reached the tiny room where I was allowed to sleep. It was more like a closet than a room. The ceiling was so low that I had to crawl on my hands and knees to get inside.
I dropped to my knees and crawled through the small doorway. The space was barely big enough for me to lie down. There was no window, no furniture, just a thin blanket on the cold stone floor.
When I was fully inside, still on my hands and knees because I couldn't stand up straight, everything finally hit me at once. The hunger, the pain, the loneliness, the hopelessness of it all.
I burst into tears. Deep, silent sobs that shook my whole body. I pressed my face into my hands and let all the pain I had been holding back pour out of me.
This was my life. This was all my life would ever be.
And it was only going to get worse.