Elena POV

When I opened my eyes, I was lying on a soft bed. I stretched my hand to touch the bedding below me.

Silk. I rolled on it from side to side, relishing the caress of the material on my skin. It was worlds better than what I'd used even before I became a slave in my old pack.

Old pack.

Just two words, but they sent my heart into a frenzy. It pounded fiercely against my ribs as if it were looking for an opening to leap out of.

I was free. I would no longer be called a murderer. I would no longer have to endure beatings every day. I would no longer have to pick between starving and eating moldy bread.

I was free.

My enthusiasm dampened a little as I realized Alpha Draven might not want me. Even though I'd pretended not to notice, I had seen the look in his eyes when he had walked up to me.

Surprise.

He hadn't been expecting to find a mate. Or maybe he just hadn't expected his mate to be a slave.

Even when he'd protected me from Carter, there hadn't been any softness in his eyes as he'd looked at me. It had seemed like something he would do for anyone who needed it.

But I would do everything in my power to stay here. His defense of me against Alpha Carter proved that he was not the same kind as him. He would not abuse me, even if only to keep up appearances.

I felt a mild warmth in my chest. Happiness, I thought at first. But then the heat increased, almost to the point where it felt like I was being burned alive.

I ran, barely making it to the huge mirror in the room before I crashed to my knees.

For a while, I just stared blankly at the reflection in the mirror, my eyes widened.

My glowing eyes.

I looked down at my chest, not daring to breathe as my gaze traced the faint markings on my skin. They glowed, the lines all leading to a single point on my chest where the pain was coming from.

"Help." I choked out, on my knees, barely able to force the words past the invisible hand that seemed to be clutching my throat. "Help me."

A tear rolled down my cheek as I realized I was really going to die like this, barely a few hours after getting my freedom.

The door was kicked open with a deafening crack, splinters flying everywhere as Alpha King Draven stormed in.

He scooped me into his arms in two steps and started soothing me with his pheromones. The relief was instant.

I could finally breathe, and I could feel the burning sensation at my chest begin to recede until it stopped.

I glanced at the mirror, mand y skin was back to normal.

I sighed and moved out of Alpha King Draven's arms, pushing away strands of sweaty hair from my face.

I caught a glimpse of my dirty clothes as I did so, and my lips twisted. I tried to check if I smelled discreetly when I noticed he was watching me with a dark look on his face.

"I'm sorry for dirtying your clothes, Alpha," I said, lowering my head. "If you'll give them to me, I promise to wash them clean before returning them to you."

"Is this an attempt at getting me naked?" He said, his voice cold.

"No," I said, flushing deeply when I raised my head to see that he had lifted an eyebrow and was staring intently at me.

"What was that?" He asked as he stood back up. "Why were your skin and eyes glowing like that?"

I shook my head and replied honestly, fear creeping into my voice. "I don't know, Alpha, I've never experienced anything like it before. I can't explain it."

He glanced at me silently for a moment. "Draven."

"What?" I asked, my brows drawn closely together.

"You can call me Draven." He replied irritably as he started walking away. "Come with me."

I tried to thank him as I followed behind him, for the honor of being able to refer to him by his first name, but he just kept on walking as if he couldn't hear me.

************************

Draven led me into the woods.

We walked for a while without running into anyone else, and a tiny part of my mind wondered if he'd brought me in there to kill me.

I tried to estimate the possibility of being able to escape from him if that was his intention, but quickly gave up when I realized I was in a foreign place with no knowledge of my surroundings.

Being very weak from constant starvation was also another reason why I wouldn't be able to outrun him. Though I doubted I would have

been able to, even at my peak.

Still in the middle of my musings, I was startled when a cabin came into view. Thin curls of smoke drifted from the chimney and dissolved into the morning air.

I glanced at Draven; he was still walking forward with purpose, so I followed him. Right as we reached the entrance of the cabin, the door flung open, and a representation of what I could only call a witch doctor stood there.

She bowed deeply to Draven, and he bowed slightly in return.

This witch doctor was different from how I had expected all witch doctors to look. The one at my old pack had been half bent with age and frequently had sand in his hair.

But this one was young and in the prime of her life. Her dark hair was braided with silver and red threads, her robes loose and flowing down to the ground. I could see faint sigils running down her neck and arms, pulsing with light as she moved.

"Alpha." She greeted with a smile. "I see you've found her."

I watched Draven's face contort for a moment before he replied. "Yes, as you said I would."

Her smile widened, and she ushered us in. It smelled like herbs inside, but there was also a slight smell of smoke in the air that left a bitter taste on my tongue.

Rows and rows of bottles, jars, and strange ingredients rested on the wooden shelves. The witch doctor turned back to us. "I presume you have something you want to seek my opinion on, Alpha?"

"Yes," Draven answered solemnly, then he explained what he had seen.

The witch doctor circled me curiously, murmuring incantations. I stood still, waiting for her to finish.

When she stopped, she stretched out her hand to me. "Give me your hand, child."

I put my hand in hers, curious about what she was going to do. She covered my hand with her other hand and started murmuring incantations again.

A few seconds later, she gasped and jerked back, away from me, chanting louder as she rubbed her hands against each other.

My hand was still outstretched in her direction as I stared at her with widened eyes, but my heart had already dropped down to my stomach.

Elena POV

"What is it, witch doctor?" Draven asked as the witch doctor drew several symbols on the ground with ash before kneeling in the center.

She didn't respond.

A wave of anxiety so strong I thought it would make me faint rose inside my stomach.

Was something really wrong with me? What if it were something that couldn't be fixed? What would I do then?

She knelt for a long time, switching between chanting and singing at intervals. Her song sent shivers down my spine, and I glanced at my arm to see that goosebumps had risen on my skin.

"I can't help you, Alpha." The witch doctor said to Draven, stumbling as finally she rose to her feet, her face as white as a plain sheet of paper.

Draven frowned when she finished speaking. "What do you mean you can't help me? It's your duty to find solutions to these kinds of problems."

"It's not that I don't want to help," she said softly. "I just can't."

"Why?" Draven asked, an edge in his voice that hadn't been there previously.

"There's a seal on her." The witch doctor said. "A very powerful seal, but it's cracking under the weight of the ability it's meant to suppress."

"W-what do you mean by an ability?" My voice shook as I looked from Draven to the witch doctor and back to Draven again. He looked just as stunned as I felt. "I don't have an ability."

"Are you sure about this?" Draven turned to the witch doctor. "No mistakes?"

"I'm sure." She said, her voice growing cold. "Have you ever known me to make mistakes?"

"I don't doubt your skills, Draven said. "I just find it a bit hard to believe, considering how she was being treated at her pack."

"Child." The witch doctor turned to me again, her voice softer now. "Can you tell me when you started experiencing this?"

"I-I don't know if both situations are related., I said, sparing a glance at Draven. "B-but when I rejected the mate bond between my previous mate, it felt as if something loosened within me.

I thought it was the mate bond at the time, but now I'm not so sure." I finished with a whisper.

"It was most likely the seal." She said, raising a hand to her chin. When she dropped it, a little bit of ash was left in its place. "What I don't understand is why it chose that moment to crack."

I swallowed dryly. "It's not supposed to do that?"

"No." She said. "It's not."

I swallowed thickly but couldn't stop myself from asking. "What kind of power do I have, witch doctor? When you held my hand, what did you see?"

The witch doctor visibly stiffened at my question, her lips parted for a while, but no sound came out.

Then she let out a long breath. "I saw darkness, child. It was like I had come face-to-face with an abyss that wanted to swallow me whole. It was nothing like any ability I'd ever seen."

She shuddered and continued. "Only the oddess knows how much stronger it would be once the seal finally wears off completely."

***********************

The walk back to the palace was silent, with Draven and me both lost in our thoughts.

I glanced down at the charms the witch doctor had made into a bracelet and given to me.

'It won't do much," she'd said. "But it will reduce the pain when the seal loosens again. Come to me immediately if you notice any cracks on the charms.'

I clutched the bracelet tightly, still reeling from the knowledge that I wasn't as ordinary as I'd believed.

Abilities used to be common in the old days, but they are rare now. Excluding me, there were probably only around ten people who had abilities, with Draven being one of them.

Draven stopped walking, and I bumped into his back. I looked up at him resentfully, but he was still facing forward,d so he couldn't see the expression on my face.

"W-why did you stop?" I asked when he just stood there without saying anything.

"You were sighing." He said coldly, turning to face me.

I blinked up at him, not knowing how to respond.

After a moment of quietly watching me, he turned around and continued walking, his pace much faster this time.

My thoughts were pushed to the back of my mind as I hurried to catch up with him, panting heavily.

**********************

I clutched my nose as I almost bumped into him again. Fortunately, I'd kept a small distance between us, so I wasn't caught unawares when he stopped in front of a door without any warning.

His face was colder than the wind on early winter mornings as he turned to me.

"Do you need something else? The pain has stopped now, hasn't it?"

I looked down at the bracelet. "No, I don't..."

"If you don't need anything," he cut in before I could finish my sentence. "Then go back to your room."

He gave me a once-over as he leaned against a wall. "You don't need me to carry you there, do you?"

Heat traveled from my toes to my spine before finding its way to my cheeks.

"No. I whispered. "I don't."

"Good." He said. "I've already accepted you as my mate, so you can stay for now. Whatever you want, you can ask the servants.

But that's all you get. Do not hope for anything more; there is nothing more."

I swallowed past the lump that had formed in my throat.

For now.

"What is it?" He asked impatiently when I opened and closed my mouth several times without a single word coming out.

"D-do you have someone else you love, Draven?"

His face turned dark, and he straightened up, towering over me in his full height. "That's none of your business.

I did not wish for this. I never wanted a mate. I never wanted you. I don't care what you do here as long as you don't overstep, but my rooms are off limits. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Alpha." I whimpered, suppressing the urge to fall to my knees.

He opened the door and stalked in, slamming it closed.

**********************

My thighs burned as I walked. For some reason, walking back to my room seemed to take much more time than when I'd been walking with Draven.

I wiped a line of sweat that had dribbled its way down my chin.

"Excuse me." I approached a man and a woman who were walking in my direction.

They stopped and looked me over. The man asks, "What is it?"

"I'm sorry to bother you," I said. "But can you lead me to my room?"

A crease formed between his brows. "And who are you?"

"I'm the Luna," I said. "The palace is so huge, and I haven't figured out how to get to my room yet, so could you lead me there?"

The look in his eyes changed, then he laughed. "You're the Luna. Right. Then I'm the Alpha king."

I looked from him to the woman, only to notice her watching me as well, her gaze lingering on my clothes.

"I-I just came here yesterday," I said, curling my hands into fists to stop them from trembling. "I haven't had a chance to bathe yet.

Please, if you could just help me out."

"I'm too busy for this nonsense." The man said. "I don't know what kind of delusion you're suffering from, but Alpha does not have a Luna.

I suggest you wake up soon before you get yourself in trouble."

He walked away, then turned back when he noticed his companion wasn't following. "Jessica, aren't you coming along?"

Elena POV

"Go ahead," Jessica said. "I'll follow along in a little while."

The man groaned and rubbed his face roughly with his hands. "Don't tell me you actually believe her lies? You think we wouldn't have heard about it by now if Alpha actually chose a mate?"

"Besides," he gestured roughly in my direction. "Why would he choose someone like this when he could have literally any woman he wanted?

You think he would really pick her over Lady Vanya?"

"She needs help., Jessica said softly. "And I'm going to help her. You can leave if you don't want to come along."

"Suit yourself." The man threw his hands in the air as he walked away. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

Jessica watched his figure fade into the distance before she turned to me, smiling. "Where did you say you wanted to go?"

*********************

"I don't think this is the way to my room," I said to Jessica as she walked in front of me. "I've not seen anything resembling the hallways Draven and I took earlier.

Jessica stumbled, almost tripping over, and I quickly threw out my hands to support her. "Are you okay?"

A strange look was on her face when she turned to look at me. "You call him Draven?"

"Yes." I flushed slightly. "He asked me to call him by his name."

"You've talked to him?" The look on her face turned even stranger, her eyes widening. "Face to face?"

A crease formed between my brows. "Of course I've talked to him. How else would I have become his Luna?"

"Never mind." She shook her head, smiling brightly again. "We're almost there. This is a shortcut.

"Okay." I breathed, relieved.

"We're here," Jessica announced a few minutes later as she threw open a large door.

I entered, looking at the wide swimming pool that spanned almost the same length as a small river, then turned to Jessica. "This isn't my room."

"I know." She said, walking slowly towards me.

I moved back step by step until I was almost at the edge of the pool. "W-what do you mean you know? Weren't you going to take me to my room?"

She narrowed her eyes at me. "How did you do it? How did you get him to choose you?"

I looked at the pool behind me, fear creeping its way up my spine. I didn't know how to swim. I hadn't learnt before my mother's death, and after, I no longer had the opportunity.

The pools at the pack were meant for pack members, not slaves like me.

"Tell me!" She moved closer, barely inches away from me. Her eyes had turned red, and she held tightly onto my shoulders. "How did you seduce him?"

"S-seduce him? What are you talking about?" I said. "Please let go, I don't want to fall in the pool."

"I heard he left the pack yesterday to go do something important." She said, a bitter look coming over her face. "Who would have thought it was to pick up trash like you?"

"I'm not trash," I said firmly. "Don't call me that."

"You are whatever I say you are." She sneered at me, the action twisting her features.

I froze for a second as a thought flashed through my mind. "Are you his lover?"

"His lover?" She laughed, but it sounded more like crying when it came out of her mouth.

"He won't even allow us to get close to him, yet he let you call him by his name?" She poked her finger at my chest. "Just what is so special about you?"

Us? So there was more than one lover?

I grabbed her finger. "Whatever issues you have with him, you should take them up with him, not me. And if you really want to know why he chose me, it's because I'm his mate.

His true mate."

The blood drained out of her face, and she looked at me from top to bottom as if she was seeing me for the first time. "You're lying."

"You can go ask him yourself if you're so curious," I said, sidestepping her. "But leave me out of it. I don't need any trouble."

"Just where do you think you're going?" She dragged me back by the arm, and I lost my balance. I pulled her with me as I fell, both of us landing straight inside the pool.

Somehow, she managed to disentangle herself from my flailing arms and quickly put distance between us.

"Help me., I yelled, panicking as I swallowed another mouthful of pool water. "I can't swim."

"That's your problem." She said, with a dark look on her face, when she got out of the pool. "So figure it out yourself. I'll come back for you in an hour or two."

My arms ached as I struggled to keep my head out of the water. "I'll be dead by then!"

"That's kind of the idea." She said, walking away. "You should blame it on yourself; it's not my fault you were unlucky enough to meet me."

I'd never imagined I would die due to drowning, but as the cold water seeped into my lungs, I thought it was fitting.

Maybe the coldness of the water would take away the fiery heat of the hell that had been my life.

"Al-Alpha." I heard Jessica's voice. It sounded muffled as if I were merely dreaming it.

"What are you doing here?" Draven asked, his voice cold.

"I-I was cleaning the pool." She said.

"That's not your job," Draven said.

"The person in charge was sick, so I offered to cover for him." She said.

"Just you?" Draven asked. "Did you bring someone else along?"

"No." Her voice shook. "It's just me here, no one else."

"Okay, Draven said. "You can leave."

"What is it?" Draven's voice sounded again. "Why are you blocking my path?"

"T-there's a dead rat in the pool, Alpha," Jessica said. "You can't go in yet."

A sob escaped my mouth as I sank, water quickly rushing in to take its place.

***********************

I opened my eyes to see Draven's face right above mine as if he was leaning in for a kiss.

"What are you doing?" My voice sounded hoarse, my throat raw.

He moved back, a muscle ticking in his jaw. "What did it look like I was doing?"

I felt wrong. Who would look so angry when kissing someone else?

"Is this how you usually dress up in your pack?" He asked, looking away from me.

"Y-yes., I said, looking down at my dress in confusion, only to see that the material was completely clinging to my skin as if it had been spray-painted on me, and I wasn't wearing a bra.

Letting the pack know I needed new ones wasn't an option either, since they would only mock me. I'd survived the years by picking through the dumpsters for clothes people threw out.

"Don't look!" I quickly crossed my hands over my chest, covering the hard things that seemed as if they wanted to poke through the dress.