Luna's Revenge

Viribus

Ophelia woke up with a gasp when she felt cold water splashing her face and drenching her whole body. She opened her eyes and instantly sat up, looking around baffled as she heard a nauseating chuckle from above.

She looked up from her place and realized that Justin, the man who had caught her, was now standing over her in her cell, holding an empty metal bucket. He had downed a whole bucket of water to wake her up.

She glared at him as she looked down at herself and then the mattress that she had slept on, realizing that it would take days to dry off again and if this is the way she would be woken up with from now, she knew that she would have to learn to sleep on the cold hard floor.

“Rise and shine, b***h, you start serving today.” Justin stated in a jolly voice which did not seem to match his conniving grin.

Ophelia got up from her mattress, looking at Justin with her eyes boring into his, without fear as she stepped forward. “Next time, just call my name.” She hissed and just as she had suspected, his hand rose up in the air and he backhanded her across her face, causing her to stumble backwards, holding her cheek.

“Be careful of how you speak. My pack will make you wish you were dead.” He snarled at her, grabbing the back of her neck, as he dug his fingers into her skin, almost choking her.

“Does your pack remember that you have a policy of taking care of innocent prisoners and not letting them starve, as well?” Adrian spoke up from his cell after waking up because of the commotion with Ophelia.

Justin turned to look at him with a grimace, however, he still did not leave Ophelia’s neck.

“I will get the rogue to bring you food.” He muttered rolling his eyes, finally leaving her, as she coughed slightly before standing back straight. This time, she did not speak.

“She has a name, you know?” Adrian countered with a sassy grin that made Ophelia almost chuckle.

Justin rolled his eyes, ignoring Adrian as he turned to Ophelia. “Get dressed and meet me outside.”

Saying that, he walked out.

“What the f**k am I supposed to wear?” She muttered to herself before her eyes fell on the pile of clothes placed beside the water pitched. She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that the clothes had been saved from the water and were dry.

Adrian caught the sheepish expression on her face as she gestured to the clothes and he instantly turned his gaze away, allowing her to change in whatever privacy he could offer her.

Ophelia looked down at herself and realized that she was wearing black jeans with a simple t-shirt which was enough to cover her skin except her arms but was not enough to keep the chilly morning air at bay.

Realizing that this was the best she would get, she stepped out of the cell after taking a sip of water. She stopped and turned to look at Adrian, “I’ll see what I can find for you to eat.” She told him with a smile.

He chuckled, shaking his head, “don’t worry, I only said that so he would stop attacking you.”

Ophelia grinned at him and within the second, she was descending from the stairs outside the prison as she found Justin standing there.

The moment he saw her, he began walking and she had to jog to match his steps.

As they walked in silence, the forests around her began to clear up as mansions, duplex houses, and shops and other buildings came in view. The path underneath her feet turned from sand to gravel as they walked deeper and deeper into the city.

The stronger wolf packs not only lived in one fixed place, but each of them had a city named after their pack. The lesser wolf packs spent their lives travelling from one place to another, making temporary shelters, whereas for packs like the Viribus, they had always lived in one place since the time their pack had been created for the first time.

The larger the city of the pack, the stronger the pack was.

And so far, the Viribus city was one of the most extravagant places that Ophelia had ever seen.

As Ophelia walked, she saw people around her stopping in their actions to look at her, she saw kids watching her from beside their fathers, hiding themselves from her gaze.

Being a rogue was not easy. Rogues were scum for all werewolves and the younger ones always feared them.

“Watch out!” Justin stated sharply as Ophelia jumped out of the way just as a group of werewolves passed by her, nearly trampling her if she hadn’t moved.

It was a good thing that wolf cities were hidden from all human eye and the mortals never knew what went on inside these woods. Or else, it would have been a debacle to explain wild wolves running so freely.

“That was the hunting crew.” Justin announced.

He chuckled before he began walking again whilst Ophelia glared at the back of his head, following him grumpily until they came across the town’s square where there was an elaborate fountain in the middle whilst cross roads diverged in four separate directions.

Right behind the fountain was a magnanimous mansion, the largest house in this entire city that she had seen so far. Her eyes were wide as she gazed at the stunning Victorian architecture but she could not stand there for long when she felt Justin pushing her forward.

On her right side was the hall that she had been taken to for her hearing on the day before. Instead of taking her back there, Justin began to walk her in the direction of the extravagant mansion, she assumed, was the Alpha’s.

As she entered through the double doors, she found a woman standing by the door with blonde hair. Her back was facing towards her and she was dressed in a formal suit.

“Jenna!” Justin chirped making Ophelia’s eyes widen slightly at the genuine smile on his face as Jenna turned around to face them.

Jenna gave him a tight-lipped smile when her eyes fell on him before her gaze moved towards Ophelia. Ophelia looked away, embarrassed as she was caught staring.

“Justin!” Jenna’s voice was forced and Ophelia knew that she was hardly interested in talking to the blond man. “Are you here to wish me a safe journey back to the city?”

Justin smiled like a teenager, “that, and to take the rogue to her first job.”

Ophelia wanted to barf at the exchange going on between the two as she lazily turned her eyes away from them.

She watched as the square bustled with people casually strolling in the sun. Some walking by to their workplace or homes whilst shop-owners had their shops open for sales.

She had always been fascinated by the order with which the werewolf cities worked. Most of the people here had actual jobs in the outside world and that made the flow of money easier inside the city. And those who did not work, thrived upon the surplus family money.

Either ways, almost all werewolves were rich and that was the reason why they joined under the strongest Alpha. The stronger the population, the stronger the pack, and hence, the Alpha was more difficult to defeat.

As she was lost in her thoughts, she felt someone’s gaze boring in the side of her skull as she could not help but turn her eyes towards the first floor.

She saw nothing. No one was standing there.

However, she could have sworn that she found ruffling behind one of the pillars.

She furrowed her brows before shaking her head as she turned back to look at Justin who was still l*****g Jenna’s boots.

She clearly seemed to be in the need for saving.

Ophelia cleared her throat, “I don’t think that standing here for the entire day is my first task?” She stated in a neutral tone, interrupting whatever Justin was saying as he stopped and looked at her with a harsh glare.

“You do what I tell you to do.” He spat at her.

“Then tell me what to do.” She retorted with a shrug.

That seemed to irk Justin as he took a step towards her, angered, “you don’t…”

“Justin!” Jenna interrupted him, “it was so good meeting you. I will see you next month now.” Saying that, she walked off, before Justin could say anything to either one of them.

He tried to stop her but obviously couldn’t because she had already walked down the steps of the mansion.

Ophelia had to stifle a grin before Justin turned back to look at her pointedly. “You will pay for that later,” he warned her before gripping her elbow harshly as he began dragging her once again.

She rolled her eyes, knowing that her stay in the Viribus city was only going to get worse. However, there was barely anything she could do.

They stopped in front of a closed door as Justin entered the key into the lock and twisted the knob. They entered the room without a word.

It was dark at first until Ophelia’s eyes adjusted to the dimness and she could see that the entire room represented a storage unit.

There were boxes piled up, ancient artifacts, piles of rags here and there, cobwebs in the corners and dust sprinkled in the air around her.

It was an organizer’s nightmare and she could already guess what her job here was.

Before she could speak, Justin flicked on the lights and the room looked worse in the illumination. She had to bite her lip to stop herself from groaning in front of him.

“You have a week. Clean this entire mess.” He ordered.

“That’s it?” She said sarcastically but he did not seem to catch that as he looked at her dumbfounded.

“No, aside from this you have to help the cleaning staff of this house and making sure that everything is according to plan. Every single day. On weekends, you will work with the butchers. Every once a month, you will go to the city library and stack all of the books again. If you fail in any one of these tasks, the punishment is gruesome and trust me, you don’t want to find out. Three mistakes and then you are dead.” Justin recited in a trained manner and her eyes widened. “Any questions?” He asked in a hurry.

She fumbled with her words for a few seconds, annoying him further before she sighed and looked at him with uncertainty. “Can I turn?” She asked, fearing that like Adrian, she would not be allowed to shift either.

“Only once in every two months.” He stated and her heart sank in the bottom of her stomach as she watched him leave.

There was nothing that was going to save her now.

She was a rogue and she knew that this was how she would be treated in this pack.