Slave to Destiny

My feet wandered the halls. It was the dead of night and everybody was fast asleep, but not I. I was wrapped in rags and wandering. My entire body hurt from head to toe. I’d lost all sense of dignity. I’d been branded for life. I was a mutt. A worthless waste of space. Tears slid freely down my cheeks. The minor cuts had long sense healed, but I had developed some lifetime scars.

“Gabby,” a low voice called out. I was overcome with fear instantly as I turned my head to see the person that got me into the mess, Cole.

“What do you want?” I growled at him in contempt.

The moment my words hit his ears his facial expression twisted into a look of relief. “You’re alright,” he whispered as he stepped forward and brought me into a hug. “I’d thought I had killed you. I thought you’d return a walking corpse. I thought Gabby would be gone.”

Laughter filled the air. I was laughing hysterically. Tears were sliding down my face as my laughs echoed down the hallway. “I can’t leave yet. There are still things I need to do,” I muttered resting my forehead on his chest. Cole stared at me with confusion unsure of what my words meant. In the end he shrugged it off and grabbed ahold of my wrist.

My mind was elsewhere. I was beginning to suspect something was watching me. Something bigger than me had a role to play. Something like the Night Mother. The Night Mother was our goddess. One could say we worshiped her in a way. She is mother to all werewolves. She was the one that gave us the gift of transformation. I wasn’t surprised she was angry. The bloodsuckers were destroying her children.

Cole led me strait into his room. It was large with crimson couches cluttered around a TV and king size bed pushed up against the back wall hidden behind gold curtains. Without a single word he led me to the bed. We curled up in the plush comforters. If it weren’t for the aching pain all over my body I would almost be able to believe that I was still a princess laying in a bed with the man I loved, but the moment I got a collar snapped around my neck everything changed. I was never going to be that princess again.

“You’re going to be okay,” Cole whispered into my ear clutching me close to his cool body. It completely contrasted my internal wolf.

As I lay there in my twisted state of mind I couldn’t see things quite as clearly as I used to. One thing was certain though, “Things won’t be okay. Things aren’t okay. Things will never be okay. Not unless we forget the past.” My words rang true to my heart. My stomach churned as I began to realize that I was going to have to forgive everything that happened to me. I was going to have to forget the cruelty that these people had pushed on to me.

My throat felt like acid. My body shook. Everything was becoming blurry. When did life get this complicated? When did I gain this harsh awareness of what the world was truly like. Concern was chiseled into pale features of Cole’s face. Daniel’s words rang out in my head. It’s funny because Cole likes you a lot.

“What are you doing Cole?” I questioned him, “Why am I here?”

My questions were met by silence. “Just go to sleep,” he whispered in my ear, before pulling me even tighter into his cool embrace. I did as I was told, but not because he was Master. No I did it because I needed to.

The next morning Cole was going. I was alone and cocooned in a thick comforter. It was the best sleep I’d ever gotten in my life. Slowly I inched my way out of bed. My muscles ached. When I lifted up my shirt I saw ugly purple scar that made up the word MUTT. “It’s a part of you,” I whispered to myself, before sauntering out of the room towards the slave quarters.

I would not be a pathetic child when I came back. I was an Alpha to the core of my being. “The pain is in your head,” I muttered with more confidence in every stride. I’d accepted that I had lost a round, but in the long run my goal was very much obtainable. It was just over the horizon. I would embrace my past and move forward.

It was upon this moment that I saw one of the most peculiar of sites. An elderly woman stood at the foot of the stairs. Her eyes were the palest of blue I’d ever seen in my life. She was blind. Her hair was a thick stringy gray that lay twisted in every direction. A plush velvet green cloak lay wrapped around her slender frame. It completely clashed with the rags she wore underneath. An intricately designed golden and black cane was clutched tightly in her aged hand. One look at her and something drew me closer. Slowly I moved step by step. My only conclusion was that she must be a witch. I was unsure if she was a dark or white witch, but a witch none the less.

“Come here child,” her hoarse, scratchy voice was sick to the ears. Yet for some reason I drew closer.

Her shaky hand reached out to grasp mine. Slaves that had been exiting the slave quarters stopped and stared. Everything had been running so smoothly this morning, but now time had frozen in place. As her blind eyes stared absently through me. “My dear child,” she whispered reaching her hand up touching my face all over, “you have a destiny to follow.”

“What do you mean?” I questioned her stepping towards the woman.

She laughed a distant hollow laugh, “You will bring the peace girl, just remember who you are. No matter what, you are my child of the night.” With that note of wisdom she placed her hand over my heart and smiled.

My breath was stuck in my throat as I barely choked out, “Night Mother.” The witch smiled a devilish grin.

“Master this is the seer that wanted to see you,” I heard a voice call out from behind. Slowly I turned to see a surprised Cole staring at the old woman whose hand had found its way to stroking my hair.