The Wolf Spirit

Chapter One

Anna stared at the rusted metal door for what seemed like hours, waiting for the inevitable. Her hands shook slightly and she mentally berated herself for it.

She’s supposed to be used to it by now.

She’s been here four years and three months and in those four years, the routine every morning has always been the same.

There was a light pounding on the door, then soon it became louder.

A measure to make sure she was awake before they came in.

There was a squeaky scrape on the floor, a sound that made Anna flinch no matter how many times she’d heard it.

The door was being pushed open, dragging on the floor as it went.

It was a wonder to Anna how the hinges of said door were still in place after so long.

Then she heard the footsteps.

She didn’t raise her head because she knew that would only earn her and pointless punishment that she wouldn’t be able to recover from for days. It was a rule that was now buried deep in her heart, only speak when spoken to, only look when been told to.

So she’s been quiet. So quiet that one might’ve forgotten she existed, but not these people. Not until they’ve gotten what they want from her.

The strength of the wolf spirit.

Her pure white hair surrounded her, her knees pulled up to her chest and her hair covering the rest of her legs. She sat at the foot of the bed, waiting...silently hoping but yet knowing that hope would get her no where.

She heard the footsteps get closer and then finally stopping at the foot of the bed.

“Annalisa,” came the voice of the person she feared the most. She had silently prayed and wished that he wasn’t the person to walk into her room this morning, but here he was.

“Did you have a comfortable night?”

It was alpha Yaakov, the one person she’d rather drown in the sea instead of spending another second with him.

His baby blue eyes met hers, the corners of his pink lips curled up and her ran his fingers through her hair.

“Yes,” Anna said in a quiet voice.

“You are truly breathtaking…” he said in a voice so low it could be mistaken as a whisper.

Anna wouldn’t lie to herself, Alpha Yaakov was attractive, he had a pointed nose and well shaped jaw, his cheekbones prominent and his eyes an endless pool that reminded Anna of the sea and the last time she’d seen it.

His eyes could lull one into a false sense of safety but Anna knew otherwise that the man in front of her was a monster in a man’s skin.

“You have blossomed into a fine woman, Annalisa, it’s almost hard for me to let you go when the time comes,”

When the time comes for him to claim the power of the Wolf Spirit and end her life…

“Come,” he held her hand, “Let us go for our morning walk,”

Anna knew she couldn’t say no.

She stepped down from the bed, still holding his hand as they made their way to the door.

His Beta was at the side, the pot bellied Jack who had nothing better to do with his life than to torment Anna whenever he knew they were both alone but still, Anna would choose Jack over the Alpha any day.

Their morning walk, there was nothing Anna hated more because she knew the moon would be out before she would be allowed the comforts of her bed.

Yaakov held her hand walked slowly, like they were both a couple taking a romantic stroll around town.

Or rather, the pack.

Anna had been forced to become a member of their pack, after Yaakov had forcefully marked her as his and bury her in his sickly sweet scent. He’d claimed her and lied to other alphas that they were both fated mates just so no one would challenge him for the power of the wolf spirit.

“What would you like for breakfast, Annalisa?”

“Anything you give me,” Anna replied. She was docile as they wanted her to be, agreed to everything they said and even the ones they didn’t say but deep down there was a fire in her heart, a flame that was slowly consuming her.

Anger.

But it wouldn’t really get her anywhere, so she ignores it.

Yaakov’s grip on her arm slowly tightened as they got closer to the pack house and soon the pain became almost unbearable.

“You’re so perfect in every way!” he growled and increased his strides, making Anna almost trip as she tried to keep up with him.

“Yet you can’t shift...”

The doors to the pack house opened and Anna is thrown in like a bag of feathers.

Her back slams directly into the thick ceramic coffee table, knocking the air out of her lungs and leaving her a wheezing mess on the floor as the pain racked her body with shivers.

“No...It’s not that you can’t!” he sneered as he made his way to where she’d fallen.

He stalked her like she was a prey in the jungle, a mice caught in a wolf’s trap and ready to be made lunch.

That gentleness in his blue eyes were slowly replaced by something more dark and sinister.

Deranged even.

“You’ve chosen not to!” He snapped, “For the past four years...You’ve enjoyed watching me slave over you isn’t it?”

Anna shook her head, her eyes prickling and her hands shaking from fear.

He was going to hit her again. He really had the belief that she was intentionally keeping the power of the wolf spirit from him but the truth was that she didn’t know how to access it.

She had no connection to her wolf either and she’d never shifted, not once in her life because it seemed like she was born without the ability to.

Without shifting, Yaakov can’t get the power of the wolf spirit he so desperately wants.

“You’ve enjoyed watching me make a fool of myself…and you’ve laughed at me, countless times, am I right?”

“You belong to me, you have my mark on you but yet you chose to be stubborn, you think you’re special?”

He scoffed as his grip tightened, his eyes red from anger, a far cry from what was in his eyes only a few seconds ago.

Yaakov never treated her this way in front of anyone in the pack except for his Beta, Jack. Everyone else in the pack saw him as the perfect Alpha whom she was putting through a lot by pretending not to be able to connect to her wolf.

“There’s nothing special about you Annalisa, you’re like a worthless piece of furniture with a few notes of cash in it,” he brought his head down to the side of her face and brought his lips close to her ears.

“Once the cash is out, you will no longer have any use,”

Anna fought back the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes.

She already knows she’s worthless. She has been told so many times and her family proved it to her even more.

“I know,” she whispered, “I’m sorry…”

Her jaw burned from his tight grip and she could feel her bone slowly being crushed by the Alpha’s strength.

“You better give me what I want now because it will only get worse for you,”

“You—”

“Alpha!”

Someone had walked in, an omega that Jack liked to ask to do his dirty work most of the time. His name was Troy, he hated Anna for reasons that Anna still didn’t understand.

Yaakov let go of Anna immediately and stood to his feet, leaving her on the floor, stepping away like he was never there to begin with.

“How dare you walk in without knocking!” Jack growled at the Omega with authority in his tone.

Troy shuffled on his feet, his head bowed but he looked unnerved, like something had happened.

“I…apologize Alpha, Jack...” he said, his shaky hands coming up to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

Yaakov crossed his arms over his chest.

“What has happened?”

“The...” Troy gasped like he’d choked on his own saliva.

“The Alpha of GreyThorn, he’s here!”

Anna noticed Yaakov’s back stiffened immediately and turned rigid.

GreyThorn Pack?

She’d never heard of them.

“He’s alone?”

Was that fear she detected in his tone?

“He’s here with his Beta and a few warriors, Alpha...”

They all looked pale with fear, this was something she’d never seen before.

“Lets go, and fix your f*****g face!” Yaakov snarled at Troy and then turned around to glare at Anna.

“I’ll be back for you, Annalisa,” he said and then walked out of the pack house. Jack and Troy followed behind him, all of them looking like they were walking into a lion’s den.

Anna sucked in a deep breath and stood up, the sharp pains in her back caused her legs to shake and a low moan escaped her lips.

Soon she heard sounds of a commotion outside of the pack house.

There were sounds of growls and screams from those she assumed would be the pack members, sounds of hurried footsteps and chaos.

What was going on?

Anna’s stomach churned with dread as she created as much distance between her and the door as possible.

Was the pack being attacked?

What about Yaakov?

Has he been killed?

He had shot the door close behind him as he left the pack house, leaving her submerged in silence…now there was chaos.

Anna was consumed by fear and maybe a bit of anger.

How long would she be in this position.

The docile wolf always waiting for death and never even trying to fight her way out of it?!

The doors slammed open and hit the walls with so much force that she heard the hinges pull out of the walls.