Four Alphas and Me

Chapter 1 : I Wished to Die

*Livy*

The hot sting of electricity brought me close to death, but not close enough. The torture was never enough to actually put an end to my suffering.

My screams echoed in my ears and all around me, but there was no one to hear them. I was trapped, held captive in a darkened, soundproof prison that no one else knew about and no one else would discover; she made sure of that.

It had been three years.

Cecilia, the woman who I once trusted as a friend, locked me in this secret chamber for three years.

Every day I questioned, what had I done to deserve this misery and why did she enjoy watching me suffer?

For over a thousand days and nights those questions spun in my head, but no one had ever answered me. For over a thousand days and nights, I tried everything to escape this living hell.

I just wanted it to end. I just wanted to die.

When the electric currents ceased, so did my screams. My body fell slack and my head hung low, bowed chin to chest.

Steel nails pierced into my shoulders and chains wrapped around my body held me upright and firmly to the cold, hard machine.

I forced myself to remain still because, with the slightest movement, this machine would trigger an electric shock throughout my body.

By now, I'd come to realize that there was no answer nor hope for me.

Cecilia had everything that I ever needed, wanted, or even dreamed of. She was a princess, adored by the Alpha King and Luna Queen of Avealon, and betrothed to the Alpha Prince of Kirlend.

Wealth, power, family, and love.

What could anyone want that she didn't already have? What more could she possibly ask for?

Suddenly, I found myself squinting against the flood of light coming in through the other side of a one-way mirror, my only view outside my prison.

My body froze in place when a tall and strong figure entered the bedroom.

Liam Yorland?

My shallow breath held in my lungs as my eyes widened to see the Alpha Prince enter. Why would the Prince of Kirlend be here?

He looked around the empty room as if he was searching for something.

Hope leaped into my chest. Was he here to save me?

No…

I quickly struck down that foolish idea.

What was I thinking?

It was stupid of me to hope that a prince would look for a lowly omega maid like me. He wouldn't have even noticed I was missing.

Besides, he was also Cecilia's fiancé.

Regardless of what had brought him here, I couldn't help my eyes sweeping over his form.

Ever since I'd known him, he was far beyond my reach. I was lucky enough to run into him a few times when I worked as a maid at the royal palace of Kirlend. He was one of the few people who had shown me any kindness during my darkest days.

I had long known that my love for him should and would only be buried as the deepest secret inside my heart.

He had countless admirers, and he deserved someone better than an omega.

On the day his engagement was announced, I kneeled at the Goddess's temple for an entire night, praying for a happy marriage between him and his future wife.

However, when I finally saw his fiancée from a distance, trying to sneak a peek at the luckiest woman in the world, nothing could describe the bombshell that went through me.

I knew her. I knew the princess of my home country Avealon very well—Cecilia!

The girl who I grew up with, the woman I thought of as my best friend, was a princess.

But my bewilderment didn't last long. I felt a blow from behind, and when I woke up again, I was here.

I'd been locked up and tortured by Cecilia ever since, without any explanation.

Then, as if the devil herself was watching what was going through my mind, she walked into the room.

The air slowly seeped from my lungs. Of course, she was here to be with Liam. She was his fiancée, after all.

My heart shattered in pain and I could barely breathe. It ached not for me, but for him.

Did he know what a heartless monster his betrothed really was?

My eyes widened when Cecilia turned her head to look in my direction, gazing into the mirror. I knew she couldn't see me, but she knew I was watching. Her lips turned up in a wicked smile that was smug and taunting, but there was also something dark and sinister.

It struck at my heart that something was wrong—something terrible was about to happen.

“Leave now, Prince Liam!" I screamed as loud as I could and reached out for him, but other than my broken voice and the insufferable agony that threatened to tear me into pieces, nothing else happened.

Panting heavily, I watched as Cecilia turned to him and pressed her body against his. He took a step back, pushing her away as he retreated but then she said something to him.

“Stop! Cecilia! You horrid b***h! Leave him alone!"

I couldn't make out all of her words by reading her lips, but I was struck dumbfounded when I was quite sure she mentioned my name, Livy.

Then his face became hard and dark. He halted his steps and seemed reluctant as he stood still.

What did she say about me? What did she tell him?

Cecilia chuckled, and then moved in and pressed her body against him once again. She rubbed her hands over him and then pulled his head down to kiss his lips.

He frowned throughout the kiss and looked unhappy as Cecilia undressed in front of him, stripping off one piece of clothing at a time.

My stomach turned when her creamy flesh became exposed. She tossed her hair to the side, showing off her perfect set of full breasts with dark pink n*****s. She tilted her head again, as if she was making sure that I was watching!

Her hand picked up his and guided it to cup her bottom and she pressed her mound against his hip as she unbuttoned his shirt, kissing across his neck, and then she unzipped his pants, running her hand over his chest and then beneath his waistline.

Liam grimaced and flinched in response when she gripped his shaft and began to stroke it.

“Cecilia, don't do this! Please, stop it! You heartless, evil monster! Stop!" I roared.

I noticed the tremor that ran over his body as she pushed him onto the bed. He was still clothed as she sat across his hips and worked to guide his c**k inside of her.

“No, you can't do that to him!"

My voice was hoarse from screaming, and tears streamed down my cheeks. The taste of blood permeated my mouth.

My body contorted due to pain and bitterness as she rode him slowly at first and then faster. His hands moved up her arms and gripped them tight so he could turn her onto her back and pump hard and fast inside of her.

Each thrust seemed angrier as he deliberately kept her arms pinned to the bed, stopping them from touching him.

Yet, Cecilia didn't seem to mind, her face washed in bliss as she convulsed beneath him arching her hips to meet his thrusts.

“Why!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. “Why are you making me watch this?! Why did you do this to me?! Why?! You f*****g monster, ruthless b***h! You evil, twisted, f*****g wicked witch!"

I continued to cry, scream, or make whatever sound I was able to make, hoping there was some way anyone could sense the desperation of my imprisonment.

To no avail.

Why on earth did Cecilia delight in my torture and pain, physically, mentally, and emotionally?

He pushed in one final time, becoming stiff as he released into her.

When they were done, I could see that Cecilia looked pleased and satisfied, but Liam narrowed his eyes. Even through the indestructible glass, I could sense how upset he was as he fixed his clothes.

She laughed as he frowned and pulled away from her. He turned around and was ready to leave.

It seemed as if time stood still. At that moment, Cecilia retrieved a dagger from under the pillow and in one devastating move, she plunged it deep into Liam's back, pushing it straight through his chest, piercing his heart.

“Ahhhhhhh! No!" I shrieked when I finally processed what had happened. “No, no, no! Not him…not him...."

His body fell slowly to the ground and he did not move again as blood pooled around him.

Anguish and shock claimed me as new tears, silent and useless, spilled from my eyes. The torment of watching the man I loved in the arms of my enemy was nothing compared to the heart-shattering agony of witnessing his demise.

I didn't know my heart could endure so much pain, but it did. I wanted to disappear. I just wished I could vanish and not exist anymore. I shut my eyes as tight as I could, wishing for the impossible, for all of this to just end.

Cecilia dusted her hands together and flipped her hair carelessly over her shoulder. She then turned toward the one-way mirror.

“Heaven above… Goddess as my witness, I curse you, you cruel demon from hell! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you!" I cursed her with all of the strength left in my body.

As if she could hear me, she smiled tauntingly and lifted her index finger to her lips. “Shhh," her lips read. “Almost over."

I froze because a sound that I didn't make startled me.

I gasped and my eyes shut tight as a strong light took over the secret chamber of my prison.

Had Cecilia come to torture me even more? Then let it be.

I hung my head and waited.

“Livy…"

The female voice that spoke was firm and loud, but it did not belong to Cecilia.

I lifted my eyes, slowly adjusting to the light as a dark figure cloaked in black came near me. When she pushed off her hood, my body began to tremble as the one person I'd been praying for all these years, the only one who could save me, appeared right before me.

“Astrid, is it really you?" My voice was barely above whispering and raspy even to my own ears. I swallowed into my dry throat. “You finally came…Cecilia killed Liam! Please, can you help him?"

She didn't answer. She just stood there looking at me, and I knew it had to be just another dream.

I hung my head down low again and the mirage in front of me chuckled. I looked back up, realizing that she was indeed real.

She placed her hand on the machine holding me and I braced myself for another electric shock. But instead, I felt a slight current vibrate through the machine and smelled the smoke that escaped from it before it completely died.

The chains holding me in place fell off and the nails in my shoulders were removed.

I was free.

I wasn't dreaming. It really was Astrid standing in front of me. She had finally come to rescue me. I'd lost everything, my father, my brother, my love… But if there was the slightest chance for me to live, I would.

I needed to live for one purpose, and one purpose only—revenge!

“Astrid, thank—" I opened my mouth only to be stopped short and silenced by a sudden sharp pain slicing through my chest. I looked up incredulously from the sharp sword penetrating my heart to see Astrid with a hideous, twisted smile on her face.

Gasping and feeling blood seep from my wounds, I heard her laughter.

“You are still just so stupid, Livy! You still can't tell the difference between a friend and a foe!"

I dropped to my knees and choked out blood. “Why?"

“I guess, I can tell you now. My dear Livy, you are actually the real princess of Avealon!"

“What… did you say?"

“I was the one who helped Cecilia take your place so that you could watch the Avealon King spoil the imposter for years, only to learn the painful and irreparable truth when it was too late."

Cecilia then entered the room and smiled at me.

“Don't worry, you will finally have peace and be with your adoptive family. You can finally reunite with those losers in the afterlife."

I sucked some air in, just enough for me to whisper, “Shut… your filthy… mouth… how dare you… mention them again!?"

Cecilia slapped me. “Oh, for real? Pathetic fool! What are you going to do about it?"

She paused for a moment as I struggled to answer.

“There is nothing you can do. You always have been a weak, stupid b***h. I know right now you are angry and if you could, you would seek revenge for all of this. But where would you even start?"

A crooked smile climbed her face as I gasped for breath in response.

“Exactly!"

She sneered at me and then she viciously pushed the sword completely through me. I could no longer hold myself up and crumpled to the floor.

I was amazed that I even had tears left, and I was still able to feel the excruciating throbbing in my numb heart. Yet, what consumed me was not only pain, but scorching fury!

Up until a few minutes ago, all I wanted was an end to my sorrowful omega life.

But once again I had underestimated the cruelty that fate was willing to force on me.

I shivered on the ground as anguish, outrage, and hatred consumed my entire being. Then my vision started to get dark and my body gradually turned cold; the only bit of strength that was left drained away from me along with my blood.

So was this it?

When I finally found out that I could've had more, I could've had everything that I dreamed of in my life, it was then that my miserable life came to an end.

I'd prayed to the Moon Goddess. I'd believed that she had a plan for me, or at least, she could be merciful. But at this moment, I cursed her.

What had I done to deserve this? How could Cecilia and Astrid do this to me?! Why had the Moon Goddess even allowed it?

No, I didn't want to die! I couldn't die!

If there was another life, I swore to get everything that belonged to me back. I swore to protect those I loved, and I swore to bring justice to those who had wronged me!

But it was all too late.

Regardless of how unwilling I was, I couldn't fight back the drowsiness that started to sweep over me, taking me to eternal darkness.

“NO! I can't die! I won't die!" I screamed desperately, not using my voice, but my heart.

Then a terrible burning passed through me, scorching me from the inside out. The last words I heard were from Astrid as she laughed and talked about the death of my adoptive father. He had died in a car accident, but I could not understand everything she said about it. Before I lost my senses completely, I seemed to hear the sound of fighting, and then my body was lifted from the ground and carried away.

***

Blackness surrounded me. There was no light, no air, no sound, not even pain. The only thing I could feel was my weightless body.

So was this death? It didn't feel so bad after all.

When I realized that I was able to move freely, I couldn't help but start walking.

I lifted my arms, putting my hands out in front of me as I began walking, hoping to run into something—anything—in the pure darkness.

My journey seemed endless. There wasn't a start, nor a destiny. I started to lose track of time and had no idea how long it had been.

Hours, days, months, years? Not that it mattered in the darkness anyway.

Suddenly, I was frozen in place as I heard an aged female voice echo through the void and realized it was calling for me.

It sounded familiar, but I was sure it didn't belong to anyone I knew.

“Wake up, Livy," the voice said. “Don't you want to live?"

“Yes, I want to," I answered loudly. “I have to!"

Without further instruction, I concentrated and struggled to gather all my might to open my eyes.

All of a sudden, bright light pierced through the darkness, bringing my sight back to life.

“Hey, Livy!"

A shiver coursed down my spine and the blood in my body ran icy cold. I immediately let out a low grunt as I saw who it was standing over me.

“You're awake!" Cecilia smiled.