THE SIGMA'S MATE

CHAPTER 1 - PRISONER

PRESENT TIME

I wake to nausea rolling in the pits of my stomach. Bright angry lights welcome me back to consciousness. It must be raining outside because leaks allow water to drip from the ceiling of the room which is no bigger than my walk-in closet. It's bare, save for Jayden and I, with an old grey plaster on the walls and concrete flooring, marked by age. There are no windows that I can see, only a door that hardly sits on its hinges. I hear voices, strained whispers arguing with each other in the next room or maybe it's the passage, I don't know. I strain to hear, pulling my shy wolf from her lazy existence to offer me some help. I need every advantage I can get! Anything at all! If I’m going to die here, I at least want to know I did everything in my power to stay alive, to save myself.

"You have brought doom upon us!" An angry voice shouts, a man's voice. I wonder about the doom he speaks of.

"The princess!" A woman moans, answering my question, "Are you insane?"

There must be more than two people arguing. Clearly our capture was not on the to do list. However, I don’t see how they reckon that I’m going to bring doom to them, tied up and only just regaining consciousness. Now if I was my brother… Yes, that must be it. They fear what my brother will do to them, not what I will do. The Libertas should be scared. A human constructed rebellion, unhappy with supernatural rule is bound to come second best to the brute, cunning nature's of beings graced with abilities and strengths that far suppasses their own.

"I have brought us a chance to go down in history! Win or lose." A man says with an excitement and passion in his voice that has me cringing.

I definitely hope they are on the losing side. It's insanity to go against the Authority and ever hope to come out on top. It's madness. A loud groan has my eyes snapping to Jayden weak form, his chin pressed against the top of his chest. The rope around his neck must be choking him in that position, but he is in no condition to attempt to make himself more comfortable. I know he took the brunt of this attack. The side of his head is bleeding, matting his hair where a large s***h sits. My stomach rolls again at the sight. How am I going to get out of this if Jayden cannot help me? We are secured to chairs that do not seem to move. Despite my efforts to see, the rope around my neck prevents me from having a look at just what holds them fast. The more I move, the more I struggle to free myself, the worse the restraints seem to hurt. Rope burns my skin as I try to free my restricted hands and not just from the friction, there is Wolfsbane soaked into these ropes. It burns so bad it brings tears to my eyes and my fingers tremble and twitch. If I had to look at my wrists, I know that the skin would be raw and blistering.

"Lyra." A pained voice calls and I lift my head to see Jayden staring at me through hooded eyes. Sweat runs down his temples and his breathing is irregular.

"Jayden!" I say his name, happiness pouring out of me. At least he is awake, that is good news. It means I am not alone in this.

The door swings open, admitting two large human men and a small mouse of a woman. I swallow my saliva, wishing I could hide away. Fear grips me, making it hard to breathe. They are dressed in robes of red and two of them wear masks over their features just like Alaric always does. It makes them look harsher, more inhuman, more menacing. Perhaps that is why Alaric covers his face as well, but I have never feared him. The man without a mask to cover his features stares at me as if I took the light from the sun. The hatred burning in his shadowed eyes as my heart thundering in my chest and a sickly feeling turning my stomach. I’m not even sure at this point how I've managed to keep myself from retching.

He storms up to me with vicious intent, “Filthy royal scum!” He yells at me, spit flying into my face as he grabs my upper arm harshly.

The lights flicker above and water continues to leak down through the ceiling. I close my eyes in a moment of terror, trying to shut him out, trying to make him go away. For a second I wonder what I have done in my life that was so bad, the fates felt justified to do this to me. I want to cry but I don’t want to give them that kind of satisfaction. I would do anything to go back to my boring life in the palace, before I lost Callan, before Larazus began to ruin everything that we had ever worked towards. I hear him pull something from his pocket, the sound of pulling material giving him away. I hesitantly open my eyes, not wanting to be caught by surprise. I need to see what he is doing. He is unscrewing the lip from the silver flask in his hand, an evil grin on his scruffy face. He throws the content of the flask at my face, and it's as if he has thrown acid at me. I scream and scream, thrashing against the torture as he continues to toss the wolfsbane on my face, shoulders and chest. I hear the man laughing, the sound of pure cruel joy. I can hear Jayden growl, ripping through my screams to fall on my ears. I hear him promise to make them pay and if makes the other two Libertas's uncomfortable.

“Derrick, that's enough! Wait for the witches.” The women's petite frame comes into view.

Her red robe barely fits her frame as she puts a restraining hand on my abuser. I hear the hysterical sobs coming from my mouth, but I'm in too much pain to care what they think of me now. This is just the beginning of my torture. How am I going to survive this? Do I even want to?

“Why?” The Derrick guy snaps.

“You are going to bring the Executioner's retribution down on us!” She predicts.

Derrick laughs, the sound horrible and throaty, “How? He isn’t here!”

“But I am and I’ll just have to do.” A voice from the door says.

***

I close my eyes in relief. So afraid to open my eyes and find that this has been all a trick to mess with my mind. But how could they possibly know Alaric would come for me? He stands in the doorway, like a demon king in all black, replacing even his silver mask. The captors look at him as if he is death itself and they would be right because when Alaric moves forward, bodies drop. The two men rush him immediately, pulling weapons from the foils of their robes as the woman backs away, into a corner. Blood splatters across the floor, staining the walls as Alaric slices the first man's throat before sending the dagger flying into the woman's forehead. Derrick is the last man standing, but he doesn't continue to stand much longer. Alaric quickly shows why people are willing to sell their souls for his protection. He is brutal, so animalistic in the way he kills my abuser that I cannot watch. He isn't even out of breath yet when he approaches me. I feel a wave of embarrassment at the tears marking my cheeks, proclaiming me as weak. I wish I could wipe them away, instead of leaving them on display as he couches in front of me. Hazel eyes, warm like honey, stare into my emerald ones for a split second before he finds the rope with his gloved hands. Alaric has been brought up with strong women. Women ready to stand and fight. Women ready to die for glory and revenge. I understand why he wouldn't want me, not when he could meet someone like them. Someone strong and powerful and brave. Someone that isn't me. He doesn't seem fearful or even overly happy to see me, he simply sets to work getting the burning Wolfsbane from my wrists and neck, moving to Jayden the moment he is finished.

"Thanks." Jayden says in short, watching the masked Sigma with unease and a suspicion born from Lazarus's hatred of the Sigma.

Of course Jayden would be swayed to his prince's side. All he must know is what the prince tells him and I already know how the two dislike each other even though both of them care for Belavina. Jayden is quickly on his feet, standing head to head with Alaric. I notice how the two seem to size each other up, before Alaric tilts his head to slide his gaze on me. I feel my throat go dry. Of course it would only be natural for Alaric to wonder why Jayden and I were alone together in the gardens of the palace. I have the urge to make sure that Alaric understands the situation, afraid that he would think ill of me, but he turns away dismissing me for the time being.

"Here, take this." Alaric offers Jayden a weapon, a short sword that I didn't originally see.

Just as the words leave his lips, a witch strolls in with all the elegance of a woman who knows her worth. Black hair flows around her, almost as dark a shade as my own. I've seen her before, in Barcalou.

"Heal them." Alaric commands before checking through the door and the witch fixes her sharp eyes on me.

I haven't yet stood from my torture chair even though I want to. I don't trust my legs to keep me upright and steady. I don't need anymore embarrassment today.

"Heal the princess first." Jayden insists, coming up to my side and offering a hand. He leans closer, his voice sounding strained, "I apologize princess for my incompetence."

For as long as I've known Jayden, I've never heard him say two full sentences, especially not to me, and I've certainly never heard him apologize.

"Don't be ridiculous." I tell him, tapping his arm in reassurance, "We are both alive and that's all that matters."

He seems genuinely chagrin with himself. I give him a small smile, the burns on my face making the curving of my lips painful. Begrudgingly I accept his kind offer to assist me to my feet, not wanting to cause offense. I feel as weak as I imagined, a wave of dizziness threatening to pull me under. Jayden tightens his hold on my hand, the other securing my elbow, making sure that I won't fall. I can feel my skin already trying to heal itself but still, I must look frightening. The witch steps forward and raises a hand in my direction. Words of the witch language leave her lips as she closes her eyes in concentration. It's a strange feeling being touched by magic. It's like ice running over your skin, making you shiver from its cold. There is a smell too, and it clings to the air surrounding us and on our skins. This scent - the scent of healing, smells of spring rain, but I have smelt the evil of magic as well, long ago when I was only a young child. The night my parents died. It smelt rotten, like burnt plastic.

"Are you here alone?" Jayden asks as the witch turns her attention to him lifting her hand to begin the healing spell.

Alaric turns from the door, "No, we are just responsible for keeping you two alive until Lazarus can get his army in here."

My heart squeezed. Of course he wasn't here for me. Belavina must have called for his help on Lazarus's behalf. Because he would do anything for his sister. I shouldn't feel jealous of her, especially if she is responsible for him being here, but I cannot help it. I wish he cared even a little bit about me. I wish he would do anything for me.

"Where are we?" I ask, trying to shake my mind away from the darkening thoughts.

Alaric catches my gaze as his witch finishes her spell on Jayden. His eyes drop to where Jayden keeps a firm hold of my elbow and then slide back up to meet my gaze. I quickly shrug Jayden's support off but Alaric has already turned away.

His witch answers instead, "In an underground base with a category two hurricane on its way. That's why your brother cannot just storm the building."

I should have been able to feel the electrical energy from the storm. However, being underground could have dulled my senses of the outside world. I'm reminded of the water leaking through the ceiling. If there is a hurricane on the way, then underground is not where you want to be. Especially if there is a water source near.

Alaric interrupts my musing, "We need to get to the upper levels. So if you are done, we need to be moving."