Owned By The Alpha Brothers

Ciara.

I tossed and turned, knowing I had to get up early the next morning, but no matter how hard I tried, sleep refused to pay me a visit, which was surprising, considering the long day I had had and the fatigue that was slowly eating me up.

I wasn’t sure what kept me awake… perhaps, it was the chirping noise from the crickets that never seemed to end; or it was probably the snores from the seven girls I shared a room with.

“Or perhaps, it is the excitement of finally turning 18 tomorrow and getting to meet your mate,” Elsa, my wolf, chipped in.

A smile that I couldn’t suppress appeared slowly on my lips, agreeing with Elsa and daydreaming about getting to meet my mate tomorrow. I had imagined how the encounter would be about a million and one times ever since I was a child, and finally, in a matter of minutes or probably hours, I would see my long-awaited dreams finally come into manifestation.

Amidst my excitement, there was a tiny bit of fear I felt. What if my mate didn’t like me? What if I wasn’t what he was expecting? What if he didn’t find me attractive?

“Such nonsense! He’ll definitely find you attractive. You have long hair and everyone knows you’re beautiful,” Elsa cautioned.

I wanted to share in the same optimism, but being beautiful wasn’t the only requirement a man needed before either accepting or rejecting his fated mate. What if he wanted someone from a good family… someone who wasn’t born as a palace maid and hadn’t been taunted all her life… someone who wasn’t a mere Omega… someone who wasn’t me?

“You’ve suffered enough. Certainly, the Moon Goddess wouldn’t punish you further by giving you a mate who wouldn’t want you,” Elsa stated, maintaining her positive stance.

I heaved a deep sigh. Perhaps, Elsa was right. Everyone always says our mates are our blessings; the Moon Goddess’ way of bestowing us with her grace… her way of saying she does care about us by giving us the one who would shower us with eternal happiness.

After being treated like dirt all my life, perhaps, finding my mate would be the key to unlocking a brand new life; one that would be fascinating and different from the world of misery that I had only ever known.

It was with this thought on my mind that I slowly began to drift off to sleep, when suddenly, I heard the sound of heavy footsteps approach the little servants’ quarters. I assumed I was just hearing things, when the door opened with a loud bang and torches were flashed everywhere.

My eyes opened abruptly to see warriors of our Pack barging into our quarters, their eyes fuming with unhinged fury as they brandished their weapons, and soon, they were pushing everything out of the way; each of them having this determined look on their faces.

“Keep them well surrounded. Ensure no one leaves the room,” a voice that I recognized as the Beta’s, thundered from outside, which made me shudder with fear.

One by one, the girls woke up to the unexpected sight, and the ones who were still asleep were forcefully awakened by the warriors.

We were all ordered to rise to our feet, even as some of the warriors started searching the whole place frantically. They were definitely looking for something, but no one knew what exactly it was.

The rest, on the command of the Beta, made us assemble on a straight line as they took turns stripping us of our torn and worn-out clothes, rummaging through them before roughly manhandling our bodies and touching us in our private areas as if there was any chance that we could hide something in there.

It was getting closer to my turn and my heart was beating really fast, dreading the thought of those dangerous men seeing my nakedness and touching me in parts no one had ever touched in the past.

The other warriors were still searching for what they had come for. Grains of rice and beans spilled over as they tore open the sacks, the little furniture we had was broken as they pushed them aside recklessly, and they trampled all over our belongings like it meant nothing to them.

We thought the search would never come to an end and I had just been ordered to step out of my clothes, when one of them tripped over a jug which fell over, revealing some unusual yellow leaves that had been stored in there.

“Stop the search!” It was the Pack’s doctor who gave the order this time around.

I breathed in relief just as he made his way into the room, bent over and picked up the leaves which had been stored in the jug. He perceived them and withdrew immediately, coughing out loud.

“Yellow wolfsbane,” he stated, nodding his head at the Beta who had stepped in right after him.

“Isn’t that the poison that was discovered in His Royal Highness’ system?” the Beta asked.

“You are correct, Beta,” the Pack’s doctor responded.

We exchanged glances, each of us unsure of what exactly was going on and just silently hoping that this ended as quickly as it had started.

“Which one of you does this jug belong to?” the Beta asked, picking up the jug and throwing a cold glance in our direction, thoroughly scrutinizing us with the penetrating look in his eyes, which none of us could meet.

All eyes fell on me, but even then, I didn’t think much of it. Yes, it was my jug. So what?

“Is this yours?” the Beta asked in a deep tone, as he approached me menacingly.

My eyes fell to the floor, as I rubbed my toes against each other, unable to look up at the man who scared me to death.

I nodded my head in the affirmative.

“I need an answer, young woman! This jug… is it yours?” he roared, making my heart nearly jump out of my chest.

I swallowed hard, “Yes, it is mine,” I heard myself say.

“How much were you paid?” he asked, lifting my chin with his cold hand, so that I had no choice but to look him in the eye, probably to ascertain how guilty I was.

I hiccuped, only now understanding the implication of the jug belonging to me, but still, anyone could have put the poisonous leaves in there.

“I… I…” I stuttered. I was trying to speak up and say something, but it was impossible since I was burdened with fear.

“If you’re honest, I can lighten your sentence. Tell me, how much did the Alpha’s enemies pay you to bring him to an unfortunate end?” he thundered, even more frighteningly.

There were murmurs in the room, as it had just been revealed to us that the Alpha King was dead, and since the poison which had been found in his system had been discovered in my jug, then I was a likely suspect.

The Beta pulled my hair and struck me hard on my cheeks, so that I fell to the ground with a thud and sustained a bruise on my wrist. With his heavy boots, he kicked me over and over again then stepped on me as though I were a doormat.

I bit my lip, as tears streamed down my eyes, while I shook my head in denial, knowing he wasn’t going to stop until I gave him an answer. “I didn’t… I didn’t accept anything from anyone…” I managed to say, almost out of breath.

“I see. So, you did it out of your own free will?”

“No, no! I am nothing but a mere Omega. How dare I commit such atrocity against the Alpha and the Moonstone Pack? I have nothing to gain!” I stated firmly, trying the hardest I could to prove my innocence despite the pain that every part in my body felt.

“More like you have nothing to lose. I remember you. You’re the servant girl that served the Alpha’s dinner. I saw you when you entered and left his chambers,” one of the warriors stated.

The Beta lowered himself and fixated his eyes on me, making me tremble in fear. “I’ll give you one last chance to say the truth. Who ordered you to do this?”

The tears that had been streaming from my eyes multiplied, all because I felt helpless. My heart was breaking and I was in pure agony, hoping this was a dream, praying it was another one of my dreadful nightmares.

I wanted to say that I had never even used that jug after I had found it and mended it, I wanted to say that all I did was serve the food the Cook had instructed me to give to the Alpha King and that he hadn’t even tasted it as he had claimed that he wasn’t hungry, I wanted to say that I had never even seen a yellow wolfsbane flower in my life; but no one cared to know and no one cared if I was indeed innocent or not.

It was clear that they were all pointing accusing fingers at me. Irrespective of what I said or did, their minds were made up. They needed me to name someone, but I couldn’t do that, and even if there was anyone else, the outcome would still be the same for me. After all, I was just a worthless Omega with no family, no one to protect me and no one to speak on my behalf.

I shook my head slowly. “No one ordered me to do anything, and inasmuch as the evidence points to me, I didn’t…”

The Beta raised his hand, compelling me to keep quiet, not wishing to hear anything more from me.

“I believe we have all heard what needs to be heard. I, Beta Nelson Coleman, second-in-command of the Moonstone Pack, hereby sentence the Omega, Ciara Sinclair, to death for the murder of His Royal Highness, Alpha Alvin Dakota. You shall be executed at dawn,” the Beta pronounced his judgment.

Ciara.

Dawn didn’t come fast enough. Not that I could tell, trapped in the pitch-black prison cell with only mosquitoes and rats for company. Their bites on my bare arms and legs were unrelenting, their presence a constant torment.

Despair had sapped my will to fight back. I couldn't muster the energy to swat them away, let alone unsheathe my claws to kill them. After all, this was their home, and I was just a temporary guest.

I never got to know who my mother was. All I knew about her was that she had been a palace maid with no family. She had concealed her pregnancy so well that no one found out that she was pregnant until the day of my delivery, in which she had died shortly after giving me my name. No one knew who had gotten her pregnant either. In fact, they could have sworn that they had never seen her with anyone of the opposite gender.

From the onset, my life had been nothing but a tragic tale, but I had held onto a tiny glimmer of hope that maybe somehow, like in fairytales, a happy ending lay ahead of my misery. How wrong I had been!

Tears clouded my eyes again, and despite my efforts to hold them back, they flowed freely down my cheeks. People always said we were all created for a reason, but apparently, I didn’t belong on that list.

Why had I been created? What was the reason behind my existence? To suffer all my life and meet a miserable end? For goodness sake, I should have at least met my mate. I didn’t deserve this. This was so unfair. I didn’t deserve to suffer this much. Maybe I was being punished for a wrong I did in my past life, but still, wasn’t this way too extreme?

I buried my head in my hands, feeling incredibly weak and tired as I cried my heart out. I only stopped when I heard the sound of footsteps approaching the prison cell. I looked up, wondering if dawn had already come or if I had simply imagined the sound.

There was silence for a while, then suddenly a flash of light and the jiggling of keys. The prison gate was unlocked, and my heart began to beat fast. My end had come.

I had been expecting this, but I still hadn’t accepted it. I knew nothing about the Alpha’s death, so why did I have to be punished for a crime I didn’t commit?

“Is it time already? Please, I’m innocent. I didn’t kill the Alpha King,” I pleaded, my voice cracking with desperation.

“I know,” a deep male voice replied.

My eyes met cold blue ones, and I recognized him almost immediately. His name was Josiah, a palace guard who had been very close to the late Alpha.

“Wh… what are you doing here?” I asked, confused.

“I’m here to save you. We need to leave now,” he urged, eyes darting nervously.

“Leave to where? I… I don’t understand,” I said.

“I’ll answer all your questions, but not now. If you want to live, don’t make a sound and come with me quietly,” he said, stretching out his hand.

I was uncertain as to whether I could trust him or not, but one thing I knew for sure was that he wouldn’t be here unless he wanted my life to be spared, and with that, I didn’t need any further convincing to take his hand, clinging to the possibility of survival.

Grabbing his hand firmly, I followed him silently out of the prison cell. Once outside, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest as I saw the guards lying in a pool of their own blood.

“Did… did you do this?” I asked, horrified.

He ignored me, continuing down the hallway and dragging me through a series of corridors I had never known existed in the palace. The path seemed never-ending until we reached an old wooden door, which he opened, leading us out of the palace and straight into the forest.

We had barely taken a step when the alarm went off, accompanied by loud voices and the howling of tracker-wolves.

“Your escape has been discovered. I tried masking our scents, but the army is experienced. If we don’t make haste, they’ll detect us in no time,” Josiah said, slamming the door behind us as he led me through the forest, dodging and jumping over bushes, trees, and rocks.

I ran alongside him, but as the howls of the tracker-wolves kept getting louder, the hope I had began to die slowly. Soon, we weren’t alone. Dozens of warriors came running, and I feared they would catch up to us.

“Spread out. They couldn’t have gotten far,” I heard the Beta yell, and soon the whole army was surrounding us, trapping us.

We couldn’t go east, west, north, or south. They were everywhere, so we hid in the bushes, hoping they would pass us by.

I was trembling with fear and anxiety. My body ached with each breath I took, and my heart threatened to explode out of my chest. I heard Josiah wince in pain softly, and when I looked at him, I saw he was bleeding from his shoulder, which I hadn’t noticed before.

“What happened to you? Did you get this from fighting the guards?” I asked in a hushed tone.

He swallowed. “Shh. It’s nothing,” he said.

“Sooner or later, they’ll pick up our scent, and the smell of your blood will make it easier. Let me help you,” I said, tearing a piece of my dress and tying it around his wound.

“Thanks,” he muttered.

“You’re welcome.”

“Listen carefully. If you go west, you’ll find the road that leads to the Silver Crest Pack. They are good people, and you’ll be safe there until I can come for you,” he said.

“What do you mean? Aren’t you coming with me?” I asked.

“That would be suicide. Here, take this,” he said, handing over a blue silk dress befitting of a princess to me.

I admired it in the dim moonlight, trailing my fingers all over the perfect embroidery. “What is this for?” I asked.

“Put it on when you know you are safe. If anyone finds out who you truly are, they might not be willing to open their doors. The warriors won’t leave anytime soon, and we’ll be discovered. The only way you can be safe is if I distract them,” he said.

“What about you?”

“Don’t worry about me, Lady Ciara. Just survive at all costs. It’s what your mother would have wanted,” he said, and before I could protest, he stood up and dashed off, making a loud noise to draw the army away.

I was shocked by what he had said.. He had referred to me as a lady, he had known who my mother was; and I began to wonder if perhaps, there was more to my story than I had imagined.

With no other choice, I said a silent prayer for Josiah’s safety, crawled out of the bushes, and with every last bit of strength I possessed, began making my way west.

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, not stopping to catch my breath even when the pain in my lungs became unbearable.

Hours seemed to stretch endlessly, and there was still no sign of pursuit. Relief washed over me as the first light of dawn broke through the clouds, making me believe I had finally left the Moonstone Pack and its horrors behind. I immediately took off my servant girl’s clothes and wore the blue dress Josiah had given to me, then slowed down to a walk trying to make my way to the Silver Crest Pack.

Not long after, my ears pitched and I heard a rustle in the bushes. I didn’t think much of it at first, until a fierce black wolf with grey, bloodshot eyes appeared out of nowhere, baring its teeth and snarling menacingly at me.

I stumbled back, scared to death, and bumped into something. Slowly turning around, I saw another wolf, golden with hazel eyes, watching me with an amused expression, licking its lips.

My heart skipped a beat as another wolf emerged from the bushes, white as snow with green eyes. It appeared calm, unlike the others, but as they all closed in on me, I felt a shiver travel up my spine and Josiah’s words echoed in my head – I had to survive no matter what.

With that, I took to my heels as quickly as I could, and as expected, the wolves followed, chasing after me ruthlessly and howling loudly.

I reached a cliff and looked down to find nothing but darkness. It was either the cliff or the wolves, and I believed I had a better chance of surviving if I tried negotiating with the wolves that had circled around me, compared to jumping off the cliff.

They were different from the wolves in the Moonstone Pack, so it was apparent that they weren’t in league with them.

“Listen, my name is Ciara, and I haven’t done anything wrong. All I want is to survive. Please, let me go,” I pleaded, panting heavily.

The black wolf, closest to me, growled and snapped at me aggressively, coming even closer towards me till it was right in front of me.

Instinctively, I backed away, terrified, until I tripped over the edge of the cliff and fell with a loud scream, landing hard on a large rock at the bottom.

A sharp pain coursed through my whole body, but it ended swiftly as my eyes shut, leaving only darkness.