Imprisoned By Alpha Voridian

Imprisoned by her father's death

~ELOWEN~

The wolf stepped toward us but suddenly retreated as a towering lycan emerged from the shadows, its height daunting and intimidating.

An actual lycan.

I never expected to see a lycan in person because, according to the stories my father used to read to me at night, lycans were extinct. But here was a massive lycan in front of me. The Lycan’s blue-gold eyes glowed with an otherworldly light; its gaze bore into my soul. Right before my eyes, the lycan transformed into a tall, white-haired man cloaked in a black robe. The transformation was swift, unlike most werewolves, and it happened in the twinkle of an eye.

This was no ordinary Lycan, I thought.

My heart raced hard against my chest as I continued staring at the figure, only for him to disappear into thin air and reappear, slashing through the royal guards, ripping out their hearts, and letting them fall to the ground. The guards’ screams echoed through the arena, and I couldn’t believe my eyes.

The man had taken down more than forty royal guards in the blink of an eye.

Just who was he?

The last Standing guard, Linus, held me tightly and moved backward, but the dark figure moved with inhuman speed and appeared in front of Linus, slicing his neck with his claws. Linus loosened his grip around my hand as he fell to the ground, eyes open and blood pooling out of his body.

Just like the others, he was dead.

I placed a hand over my mouth to suppress a scream. This was not how I envisioned my birthday.

“Ah, Eradus!” the man’s deep voice echoed through the loud night. How delightful to see you again and with your precious daughter, no less.”

My father pointed a shining red sword at him, and the man burst into laughter and disappeared again, only to appear behind me. He grabbed my throat as he stood behind me, grinning at my father.

My eyes widened as the man’s grip tightened around my neck. I felt a strange tingling sensation where his skin had touched mine. It was like a surge of electricity; I was not supposed to feel that way. I was supposed to hate the man’s touch, but why did I want it?

“All it takes is just a cut to her throat, and her life ends. How does that feel, King Eradus?”

“You wouldn’t dare!” my father snarled. “She is just a child.”

The man chuckled, “You didn’t think I was a child when you killed my parents!”

My eyes met my father’s. There was no way my father would have killed anyone. There was no way my father had been a murderer and was responsible for the pain that the humans were passing through. My father, whom I had always looked up to, was responsible for the death of the alpha werewolf’s family.

“You are Voridian, the king of the werewolves!”

“Great that you remember, King Eradus,” Voridian laughed and tightened his grip around my throat, choking the life out of me. A little tighter, and my life would end. “Now, I shall take the life of your daughter just like you did with my parents years ago!” His screams made my heart pound harder, and I tried to free myself from his grip, but his claws pierced my skin, drawing blood that trailed down my neck. “I see you are like your father, but if you dare struggle against me, I shall rip your throat out of your head!”

The threats made me swallow a lump in my throat. I knew what he was capable of doing. This was the man who had suddenly attacked us on the night of my birthday and started attacking us. He was a monster who didn’t care about who died or who didn’t as long as he got what he wanted.

My father.

Who had killed his parents?

And he had come for revenge.

“Elowen dear,” my father shouted my name, and I looked up to stare into his eyes. I saw fear in his eyes for the first time since I had known him. For as long as I had known him, he had always been fearless and strong and led us into victorious wars, but now my father was trembling right before me at the sight of the man called Voridian.

“Let my daughter go, and I will do whatever you ask me to do,” my father begged, falling to his knees.

Before Voridian could reply, a howl sounded behind my father, and a giant wolf shifted into a man wearing a blue cloak. He moved swiftly towards my father and slashed him across the back. My father jumped to his feet and tried to fight back with his sword, but it was kicked aside, and I watched in horror as the wolf sank its teeth deep into my father’s throat, a crimson arc of blood shot into the air.

My scream was frozen in my throat as I saw my father’s eyes widen in shock. He stumbled backward, his hands clutching at his throat. “No! NOOO!” I shouted as I broke free from Voridian’s grip, and he released me.

I rushed towards my father and fell beside him, holding his body. “Elowen, I love you,” my father murmured as I held him in my arms.

I never imagined that my twenty-first birthday would be as cruel as this. Never did I expect that I would have to see my father lying dead on the ground on the night of my birthday.

“Father!” I cried as I placed a hand on his throat. “You monster! How could you do this to him? How!” I yelled at Voridian and the man who had attacked my father. “I am going to save you, Father. I will make sure of that, and I…”

My father grabbed my hand away from his throat, and with his bloody hand, he placed it on my face. “I love you, my child, and I am glad you have become a strong woman. It is so sad that I won’t be here to watch you grow old and…” he coughed out blood and caressed my face. “Be strong and don’t let hatred…” his voice shook as a lone tear streamed down his face. “Don’t be…”

“Speak no more!” I shouted at my father and placed my hands on his bleeding throat, but I was dragged away from him. “Let me be with him!” I screamed, scratched, and kicked, my loud voice echoing through the arena.

“Voridian!” I heard my father cry in a weak voice. “Spare my daughter’s life…please…I will always watch you, my dear Elowen.”

My heart shattered as I watched my father gasp and then start coughing out blood. I struggled against Voridian’s grip to rush to my father’s side, but he held me tight. “No! NOOO! Father! No!”

My father’s eyes fluttered closed as his body took its last breath.

He was gone on the night when I was to be crowned as the Queen.

He was gone like he never existed.

“Father…” I burst into tears and released another heart-wrenching scream. “Father!” I turned to face Voridian and grabbed his cloak. “You killed him! This is all your fault. I will destroy you, Voridian! I will kill you!” I yelled as the tears flooded down my face.

“An eye for an eye,” Voridian responded, gripping my hands tighter. “Your father got what he deserved!”

“My father doesn’t deserve to die.”

“He was a murderer!”

“And you are a monster!” I retorted and gasped out loud as I felt my chest tighten. My body went limp, my head lolling back as my eyes rolled up toward the sky. My screams faded into soft whimpers, and my struggles ceased as my muscles relaxed. My body surrendered to grief, and I hoped that when I woke up, I would see my father in front of me, smiling at me like he used to.

My eyelids fluttered closed, my breathing slowed, and my chest rose and fell in shallow gasps.

“Father…” I muttered as I succumbed to the darkness.

~~~~~~~~~

When I woke up again, it was darker, but the light from the arena shone down on my face. I rubbed my eyes to adjust to the brightness and expected to see my father before me. But he wasn’t there. He would never be there again, as the werewolves had killed him.

I wanted to scream but stopped when I heard wailing beside me. I looked to my left and saw Maria, my maidservant, crying. Maria wasn’t the only one; more people were joining in, their cries filling the air. I wondered what happened until I realized we were inside a wooden cage.

A wooden cage? We were not animals, but the werewolves who had attacked our homes had put us inside one. I couldn’t believe that just a moment ago, I had been celebrating my birthday with my father, and now it had ended in this nightmare.

“The king is dead!” someone shouted from inside the cage.

“We are doomed!”

“No one is going to save us.”

“The princess is so young; how can she stand up against the wolves?”

My eyes welled up with tears as I continued to hear the humans around me complain. My heart was broken to see them all in this situation, but what could I do to stop it when the werewolves were much stronger than I was?

My father.

If only he were here, he would have done something to help them, perhaps even save their lives. But now, there was no help around us.

I moved to the edge of the cage and lowered my head as tears flooded my cheeks. My father was truly gone, and it was all because of them.