The Alpha King and His Human Queen

It Starts Now

Alexandra

The woman approaches me and I don’t have time to think, to plan my next move. So I act on the spot. I spring fast and rush down the hall. I have no idea where I am going, I am only hoping no one will jump out of a dark corner to grab me.

I run as fast as I can but I don’t hear any sound.

I know this will slow me down, I know this - the first rule of running is to never look back to see if someone is gaining on you. But this silence is suspicious. So I glance hastily around and confirm no one is here. The servant is also not being me.

Strange… I slow down but continue running until it happens.

Someone grabs me by the hair, yanking my head back so hard my neck snaps.

The strong hands are around me and I finally see the woman walking slowly toward us.

She looks like she’s done this so many times before she is already fed up with what she is about to say.

The woman crosses her arms and gestures to the guard.

The man starts dragging me by the hair and I close my hands around his wrist.

“Let go of me!” I hiss through clenched teeth when he immediately stops and lets go of me.

I stand straighter and almost look around to see if like last time anyone came to rescue me.

Anyone means Nathaniel.

But no one comes. And Nathaniel is getting ready for the coronation, he won’t be walking around the castle.

I still let my eyes search the corridor and the woman comes to me.

She doesn’t say anything. She only looks at me, snorts and hits me so hard that the blood starts trickling down my lip almost immediately.

I try to hit her back but she hits me again.

I press my hand over my burning cheek, searching for something to lean on to balance myself.

I am not going to cry. I won’t just let her hit me. But when I try to respond and go to her she grabs me and slams me against the wall. My back hits the stone wall hard and I lose balance. The next thing I know is that I am on the cold stone floor and she stands before me. She kicks me in the ribs, the pain splits my chest and I want to scream. The woman kicks me again and takes the breath out of my lungs. I cough, curing. My body is curled in a bowl and I don’t dare move.

“Next time you try to run away,” she says calmly, “you will be praying for me to kick you like this.”

She squats next to me and her hand skinks in my hair. The woman yanks my head again and considers something. Then she grins.

“You are no one here. And…” her hand closes harder in my hair so much I feel like she will peel the hair off my scalp.

“You don’t deserve such beautiful hair. “ she says, thoughtfully, “I will order it cut. “

Cut my hair? No. And this woman is crazy, I won’t let her abuse me like this. I find the strength in me and lift my body up almost to a sitting position. My hands close around hers. I dig my fingers in her skin and it hurts me, too.

“You stupid b***h!” she yells, “Who do you think you are to be disobeying me!”

She hits me with her other hand and I fall backwards, my head hitting the floor hard. The pain is pulsing and I feel the hot liquid trickling down my head, turning my hair red.

She most likely mind-links the guard because he pulls a knife from his belt hesitantly and passes it to her.

No….no...no…

I start screaming but she silences me with another hit. Then she gathers my hair in a fist and cuts it brutally.

Then she gets up, throws the tuft of my hair to the side and spits on the floor next to me.

“You think you can walk around freely with wolves far more superior than you?” she forces a laugh, “I don’t like bitches like you who don’t know their place. “

Then she looks at the guard, who is only a few feet away from us. He hasn’t said anything at all so far.

“Make sure she is prepared for tonight, “ She orders him, giving him back his knife. “Tell the others to do something about her face and the blood. And the hair, I guess. She looks terrible now.“

“Yes, “ he nods.

I have started crying. I don’t know when I've let this happen but my face is burning and I cannot stop the tears.

“Oh, in the name of all spirits, “ the woman groans, “Stop with the whining. There’s no point in this. Just listen to what you’re told. You won’t last much here, anyway. “

She kicks me one last time before she exchanges a few more words with the guard which I don't hear and leaves.

I feel like I am an old, useless dog no one wants. I curl myself in a tighter bowl but the stabbing pain where she hit me pierces me.

I lay there, crying. I don’t have the strength to wrap myself in my clothes tighter, that’s why I just remain where I am, not moving. But this can’t go on, I can’t stay here, although I wish the ground would open and swallow me. I want to remain there lying until I die, I don’t care.

The guard comes out of the darker corner and walks towards me. I no longer have the strength to try to resist.

“Get up before I make you, “ he says. Although his voice is commanding it’s nothing like the woman’s. There was something genuinely evil about her. The guard is simply following orders I know that.

While she… she enjoyed this, I could see it in her eyes, the pleasure of hurting me was soaking through her voice...

The guard waits for me until I eventually wipe my tears. They’ve mixed with the blood running from my split lip and my cheek.

He still waits. I sit up. Then I stand up.

We sometimes think we will never be able to stand up and start walking. But we do. Our bodies are capable of doing things we never thought we’d be able to do again.

But the mind is not like this. It’s more difficult to trick it into believing in something that seems impossible.

Like finding the strength to live and go on.

The guard places his hand on my back and urges me forward - I don't know where we are going but I obey. Because what else could I do?

I have to accept my fate. It wasn't when my father told me I was to be sent here.

It wasn’t when during the gala they said I was just a gift. It wasn’t when less than an hour ago Sirius told me what Nathaniel was really like.

Humans are strange like that because we think we can trick fate or change the way the string of events unfolds for us. We often say things like - this may not be the end, or: we still have to fight because of hope. But hope is a strange thing. It makes you believe in things that will never be.

Hope is a liar. A deceiving demon who promises you that you will find a way out, you’ll change your path somehow. It’s not the end till you breathe.

But that's not true. No. There are things you can’t outrun, outsmart, outlive.

The guard brings me to a room where there are other girls - like me. Most of them wear heavy makeup, and some of them are barely dressed. It smells like perfume and spices, like oils for skins and incense.

Some of the women are laughing. Their hands and shoulders are covered in bruises most likely because their masters are cruel, or want twisted things they can only have by forcing them out of their bed slaves. And the slaves can’t do anything.

Besides trying to laugh. Sometimes.

The guard urges me to go in and I take a small step.

Accepting my fate starts now.