"You are awake. How do you feel now?" He muttered those words slowly, like he was scared of something.
I scanned his face and recognized his voice. It was the same voice I heard before losing consciousness. This was the same man who found and brought the bracelet my father was looking for.
"You found the bracelet in my father's room, right?" I asked weakly, and he let out a deep sigh, lowering his head to the ground for some seconds before looking back at me.
I can now see his face clearly now and I must tell you he is so handsome and manly, but what I don't understand is the wetness of his eyes filled with care. The little scar on his left cheek gave him that appealing appearance of a warrior and his muscles and midnight black ponytail hair with a well shaved beards really fitted him.
"Yes, I found the bracelet. Your father injured you this bad for it when he didn't even check his room well. Why will he treat you like that? Why is the Alpha hatred for you increasing by the day?" His husky voice sounded in my ears and I felt the care and love in it.
My brows arched as I stared at the young man in front of me, wondering so hard why he seemed to care about me. No one does that. I can't remember if anyone had ever shown me the slightest form of love.
"Who are you? Why are you showing concern to me? Aren't you a member of this pack?" I asked with squinted eyes, sitting up from the bed with struggle since the wound was yet to heal, and the young man wasted no second to rush and help me sit up. He gave me a weak smile before taking a deep breath as his eyes locked with mine.
"I am the pack warrior leader. I have a very serious question for you. Who are you for real? Are you a mere wolf?" He asked slowly with a low tone, peering into my eyes like he was searching for something in there.
I furrowed my brows, looking back at him in confusion. This was the last question I expected to hear from him, and the worst was that his tone was telling, obviously, that he was suspecting me of being something else from a normal wolf like others
"What do you mean?" I finally got my voice to ask, but those suspicious looks didn't fade away.
"You are a demon spy, right? Like I said not long ago, I am the pack warrior leader, and my major responsibility is to protect this pack, but I can let you sneak out of this pack and back to your demon clan without being killed. That is only if you tell me the truth about who you are!" His voice sounded quite cold now.
He seemed to be having mixed feelings, fighting hard to sound threatening even when his voice was failing him. He also seemed to be afraid of something as he kept avoiding an eye contact with me.
" I am not a demon spy. Who the hell told you I am? My name is Ava, the only daughter of the Alpha. A princess with an Alpha bloodline who should be respected by everyone in this pack if only my birth hadn't killed her. If only my fate was as it should be." I cried out, burying my face in my palm as more pain rushed through me.
"You don't have an inner wolf, so we can't believe that you are a werewolf yet. But I felt so much pity for you after your father almost killed you for a crime you didn't commit. Your eyes and the death of your mother all pointed you out as a spy from the demon clan" he repeated again, forcing me to shudder in fright.
"How? Is that the new allegation? I was called a murderer, a liar, a curse, a disappointment... Now you are also calling me a demon spy? What is happening? What is all this? I thought you might care for me a little bit. But I think I am wrong!" I sighed with hot tears pouring down my eyes continuously.
"Aurora found a scroll that described you as a demon spy, and I eavesdropped when she was telling the Alpha. Soon, you will be tested with silver and wolfsbane, which is the most painful torture ever recorded in the wolf community. If your true identity is blown, you will be killed instantly," he explained, and my eyes widened in fear.
My jaw dropped as all he said sank into me, especially when he mentioned the silver and wolfsbane torture.
I wouldn't have been so terrified now if I hadn't watched other suspected wolves pass through it. This was one of my nightmares, which I pray I never experience. I didn't even once in my life ever think of ever being one of those to be subjected to such intense pain that could crush the bones and every single cell in the body.
"What true identity are you talking about?" I asked in terror, panting as I began to understand what was about to befall me. Everything was becoming clear in my head, and now I can't help the quaking fear building up in me.
"Are you a demon spy?" He asked calmly again. My body was so weak and exhausted as I hadn't eaten and also lost a lot of blood from the wound my father gave me and now I can't imagine going through the torture of silver and wolfsbane. What kind of scroll did Aurora find and how could it term me as a demon spy?
Why the hell is my life this miserable?
"If you don't believe me, then it's fine. Just get out of here and allow me to face my fate alone. Allow me to suffer and die since that's what everyone in this pack wants! If I am a demon, I won't let myself be inflicted with all these pains and tortures. I would have used my powers to kill all my oppressors. " I paused as my heart was now thumping so fast, causing my breath to hitch.
My whole body was shaking vehemently as more tears poured down my eyes.
"Ava, I am sorry. I believe you. But now I don't really understand why Aurora is treating you this way. Why is she so wicked towards you when you never offended her? Have you ever met her before in the past?" Stan asked, and I shook my head sideways as more terror waved through me.
"She found a scroll. Your sapphire blue eyes and the death of your mother through childbirth were what the book explains as a way to fish out a demon spy in the wolf community. Now your father wants to test you to be sure you aren't one of them," he explained in a sober tone. His words pierced my heart with more pain that couldn't even let me talk.
Stan's POV.
I was so hurt to see the young girl pass through all this at her tender age. Although everyone in this pack hates her for causing her mother's death through severe labour, I had different feelings towards her.
From the first day I set my eyes on her, it was like I had met the most beautiful creature on earth. I was enchanted by her eyes, and beautiful smiles, which she forced out even with the torture she was passing through, but there was absolutely no way I could get close to her, not to talk of expressing my feelings.
Her world had been filled with pain and immense sadness, with everyone bullying her and making life hell for her. It had always disturbed me every night, and all I could think of was how to help her, how I was going to free her from that world of misery. It pains me anytime I am assigned by the Alpha to hit her, but I have no choice.
The intense joy that filled my heart to the brim when I found that bracelet can't be explained with words. I took it upon myself to search the Alpha's room when he was blaming Ava for stealing it, and luckily for me and her, I found it.
At the speed of light, I had brought it to the Alpha only to see he had already slashed her with a knife.
Now I thought she would at least have some time to escape torture since she never stole the bracelet, Aurora came up with the allegations that she was a demon spy, using that scroll which no one knows about and claiming she found it in the library.
I was eavesdropping when she said everything to the Alpha. I had to rush here and ask Ava herself.
The young girl is innocent. I can feel it in me. She is not a demon spy but a mere late-blooming wolf. Just as Tina had lied that she stole the bracelet, she had also lied with that scroll that Ava was a demon spy.
Ava was about to say something when the door was kicked open at that moment, revealing five guards who were all looking angry.
"The Alpha wants to see you in his palace in the next five minutes, and he warned that you should never waste a second!" One of them bellowed at her, and I saw great panic in her eyes when she sharply turned to me.
"They want to torture me when I am still very weak." She sobbed bitterly, grasping my hand as her tears fell on it.
I tried to find the right words to use in consoling her, but nothing came into my brain.
"I am so sorry. You just have to be strong, and one day, you will be a queen. Stay alive and don't be weak. Aurora is literally against you and wants your death, but don't let her have the victory. You can grow stronger and fight back against her. Your tears are all she wants. Why not starve her of it." I don't even know where these words were coming from, but they were just rolling out of my lips like there was an unseen force pulling them out.
She smiled and I felt that tug in my heart as I skipped a beat. I don't know why i am the only one falling deeply for her while others hate her so much.
Just then, I heard footsteps coming to the ward. In a flash, I cringed away from her.
The door was kicked open and four of my fellow warriors guarding the Royal pack barged In, rushing to drag her out, but paused when they saw me standing at the corner.
"The Alpha is back from the Lycan's Oman kingdom." They announced to me in chorus with a bow.
My heart became so heavy as I knew what they meant. It was time for the torturous test, and there was nothing I can do to stop it.
I hope she survives and most importantly, she shouldn't be a demon. I can't bear seeing her killed.