The door burst open like we were all ex-convicts or criminals lined up for execution.
"Hey bitches, the king wants to see you," one of the soldiers who barged into our room announced.
They looked so miserable, every single one of them. Miserable and mean, just like their master. Devious and cold, blindly following the orders of their king.
One of the soldiers even came to drag one of us out before she could properly dress herself.
We were all forced into a straight file, marching toward Lucian ... the heartless king.
Nobody should be treated like this. Not even slaves. Many of us were half-naked when we were brought before him.
Standing in front of the king, we had nothing to say. We were all quiet. We had just heard that he beheaded someone for sleeping with his mate ... a woman who happened to be his whore.
Any one of us could be the next scapegoat, so we kept our cool.
"Ladies, step forward," he said, and we obeyed.
He began walking past us, looking us over like he hadn’t already had a taste of each one of us. He kept sniffing us, slowly, deliberately. I supposed that was what gave him joy.
He sat down in the chair at the far end of the room.
"The reason I called all of you here," he began, "is because I want to introduce you to your newest member. I know you must have been wondering who she is."
Eyes shifted around the room. No one murmured ... but if it wasn’t for the king sitting right there, those women had a lot to say.
"Her name is Selene. She’s from the Bloodmoon Pack, and she’s your newest member. Treat her well," he said.
All eyes landed on me immediately. Every single gaze in the room settled on my face.
"Freya, come here," he called out.
Who was Lucian calling for, and why?
Someone stepped reluctantly out of the crowd and walked to stand in front of him.
The moment she was within reach, he handed her a heavy slap.
The sound of it made me gasp ... and so did everyone else. I had to press my hand over my mouth so I wouldn’t make a sound.
That slap was resounding.
"I called you and you didn’t answer, Freya. How dare you?!" he snarled.
Freya just held her cheek. She still didn’t answer. Instead, she started to cry.
"I picked you up from the very ground ... below the trenches. You’re an ungrateful bitch," he struck her again, even louder this time.
He turned his gaze on the rest of us. "Not a word from any of you, or you’ll suffer worse than her." His eyes were flaming red. The rage radiating off him was palpable. I could hear it in his voice, feel it in the air. He was truly a wicked man.
"What are you even doing for me, Freya? Hmm? Tell me ... more than what I’ve been giving you! You don’t even know how to fuck properly," Lucian kept saying, and his words echoed throughout the entire room.
He paced. Back and forth, back and forth, saying nothing for nearly twenty seconds. It felt like forever, because every single one of us needed to know where he stood.
I had read in folklores and biographies of great kings that when the king was angry, everybody paid for it.
I prayed in my heart that we wouldn’t be that unlucky.
"You know what? I think you’ve outlived your usefulness," King Lucian said.
What does he mean by that? I asked myself.
"Soldiers ... pin her down. Take her to the prison and prepare her for execution by electric shock," he said, with boldness and complete confidence.
A loud gasp tore through the room from the she-wolves around me.
The soldiers moved in immediately, seizing Freya, pulling her toward the door just like that. As if her life meant nothing.
"Please, Alpha ... I’ll learn to please you better. I’ll do whatever you want. Please don’t kill me. I’m sorry," Freya begged him.
Silence from the king. Whatever had driven her to disobey him ... despite knowing exactly who and what he was ... must have left her with no choice at all.
What in the world.
Everyone stood quiet. Not a single soul stepped forward for Freya as she was being dragged out to her death. No one tried to defend her. No one said a word.
Could one man truly be that powerful? That absolute?
I had studied hard in my life, and I knew this much: power is power. It is a tool ... and when placed in the wrong hands, it causes havoc. I was not going to stand by and let that happen.
I never knew I could be that compassionate. That bold. But in that moment, I was determined not to let Freya die without a fight.
So I opened my mouth and shouted ... "King, stop!"
The king’s head snapped toward me with surprise. So did the soldiers. Everyone froze. Every single person in that room went still, like time itself had paused.
My chest burned. My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat. The courage had come from somewhere deep, somewhere I didn’t even know existed inside me.
"What did you say?" he asked me.
"I said stop. You can’t kill her," I repeated, holding his gaze.
"Hmm." He tilted his head slightly. "You want to be bold? Fine ... I’ll just kill you with her."
He walked straight toward me. He stopped right in front of me, looked me directly in the eyes, then reached out and stroked a strand of hair from my face. I let him.
"On second thought," he said quietly, "I won’t kill you. You were good in bed the other day."
Disgusting.
He was sleeping with multiple women. The knowledge churned in my stomach. I was irritated ... by him, and by the fact that he had taken my virginity.
He raised his hand as a signal for the soldiers to continue taking Freya.
"You can’t let them take her to be killed, Alpha," I said again, stepping forward slightly. "She didn’t do anything. You simply want to kill her. What sheer wickedness."
I swallowed. "If you must kill her, then kill me too. It will mean you saved me from death just to execute me yourself in the end."
"I don’t take orders from you, bitch," he snapped. "You’re supposed to be grateful to me. Nobody is grateful anymore." He looked past me. "Take Freya out ... now!"
The guards rushed her out of the room toward the prison. She was crying loudly as they dragged her away, and every sound of it cut right through me.
I felt for her deeply. But I couldn’t save her.
She couldn’t save herself.
That was the misfortune that followed people with no title, no rank, no voice. People the world simply forgot existed.