AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Darkness.
It surrounds me in the damp depth of this cellar. I crawl towards the door where a shaft of light slithers underneath but as soon as I near it, the chains holding me to the wall tighten around my wrists. They cut into my skin and a sharp pain courses through my hands.
I sit on the floor and think about what to do next. Nothing. There seems to be no escape in this hell where my brothers have placed me.
You're a wolf, Adeline. Break your binds, kick down the door and dash out of the room!
Except I’m a wolf who’s been denied food, making me as useless as a sick human. I have no idea how long I’ve been down here, but since my brothers callously threw me in, there’s been no sight of them. And no food. Pain makes my head spin and my vision blurs. All I know is it’s been longer than my body can cope. Every now and then, my claws and fangs shoot out, desperate to tear into meat.
The need to eat overwhelms me. I’ve never been this hungry and this helpless, with no rescue in sight. My belly rumbles in protest and I drop to the ground. I soon give up trying to escape and I accept my fate. Weeping like a child, I curl up in the center of the room, waiting for death and the end of my anguish.
I think about Luke and the anguish multiplies. I left without talking. He probably assumes I never want to see him again. That I chose my family over him. The need to escape is just as much driven by the need to eat as it is to make things right between us.
I close my eyes and embrace the image of him in my head. It brings a smile to my face while my tears continue to fall. I imagine Luke is kissing me and getting rid of this biting ache in my tummy. His soft breath touches my skin and transports me into a sweet world of escape. His arms cradle me and I sense a moment of safety.
The door suddenly opens, interrupting my blissful moment. I canopy my eyes with a hand, trying to block out the blinding daylight flooding the room.
A figure towers over me. "Up!"
It's Damian. His harsh voice jolts me and I sit up, drawing my knees to my chest.
"How do you like your new room?" he snarls, moving further into the cellar and circling me menacingly.
"I…" I choke on my words because I'm too weak to even speak.
My lungs are parched up and my insides feel ready to erupt into flames. Werewolves have a high metabolism. We can’t survive without food for the same time humans can.
Damian brings his face closer to mine. Insanity dwells in the pit of his eyes, burning, clawing for the surface. "Speak!"
"Please." My low voice reflects what I'm feeling inside—emptiness. "I need to eat."
I stretch a hand to clutch his leg but he slaps my hand away, forcing me to the ground. My stomach gnaws again, sending a barrage of aches to my head.
"You're going to stay here until you die, Addy." It isn't a joke. His tone reveals he's serious. "That's the price for confronting us."
"But I'm…I'm your sister." I can’t even cry because my tears have all gone dry.
Damian chuckles. "A true sister won't talk back to her brothers. You're meant to shut up and not be heard. You got one taste of freedom and look what it did to you."
I reach for him again. His reaction is one I don't expect. Damian pins me to the ground, his hand gripping my neck while his knee digs into my thigh.
"Shut the hell up!"
"Enough, Damian," a voice booms in the doorway and from the corner of my eye, I see another figure.
Damian hastily rises to his feet. It's a relief when his hand leaves my neck. I turn on my side, coughing into the dusty floor of the cellar.
Lawrence is now in the room with us. He walks inside, his shoe searing prints into the dust. I can't look up to see him because raising my head worsened the throbbing pain, but his shoes come to stay in front of me.
"Sit up. I brought food."
If I wasn't locked up and starving, Lawrence's kind gesture would have been a clear message to run for my life. At this point, even the tiniest crumb is a feast in my eyes.
I struggle to sit up and realize Lawrence speaks the truth. In his hand, he holds a slab of meat and dangles it above me like I’m some dog he's about to feed.
"Take."
Lawrence drops the slab. I grab it before it touches the ground, digging my fangs into its juicy flesh. The taste explodes deliciously in my mouth, enveloping me in a cocoon of sheer strength.
