I was Alissa Clark. My blood smelt the sweetest, and tasted the best. They said I was the she wolf with the best blood in past centuries. It was the greatest honor of my family. Why? The Alpha would need my blood to survive and thrive.
Our pack, Crowalt pack, is the most powerful pack across the land. Our Alphas from Clan Alexander were given witch-like powers. They see both the past and the future. They control the history and fate of the pack. Blessed by the moon goddess, Clan Alexander are the same as gods in our eyes.
Even though Clan Alexander members have the most powerful abilities, they are cursed. The greater their abilities, the shorter their lives. They would find it hard to hold their inner wolves back. Eventually, they would lose control and never shift from human to wolf form again.
The blood of the Clark she-wolves could protect them from their curse.
To keep Alexanders from being greedy and hurting Clarks, there's a pact between the two clans. Clan Alexander males take a she-wolf form Clan Clark to be their mate, and single blood provider.
Every Clark she-wolf above 12 years old must be registered and tested at the annual games. According to the test result, we are graded into different levels. The she wolves in higher level will be mated with higher ranked Alexander males
I participated the game when I was 12. I was graded in the highest level. In fact, I won first place.
I would be Alpha Jacob's exclusive blood provider. When I turned 18, I would become his Luna. I felt honored to serve my Alpha and my pack.
The next day after the game, a group of guards came for me. "You're called to the Alpha's lair," they said without my name. It was nice to be known.
I was escorted away from my family, too excited to question why the guards who led me looked powerful and strict.
"Did Alpha send for me?" I asked. The guards didn't answer. I expected this day to be the best in my life. Winning the contest- having the purest blood to serve the Alpha was only the beginning. Alpha Jacob would meet me, and he probably wanted to know his future Luna.
How many times as a girl had I seen him and dreamed of the day that my blood might be the best for him. I dreamed that I would know him and be his Luna.
We came to the Alpha's lair. Looking like a castle, it was a cave that had rooms made of stone built around it, reaching the length of ten houses. There were lights in the windows of these rooms, and I could see figures watching me from them.
The guards led me inside. Looking upstairs, there was sunlight streaming into light rooms of luxurious colors and furniture like I'd never seen in my life. Everything seemed to shimmer like it descended from the heavens. My breaths shortened with my anticipation of seeing Jacob. Soon, I would smell his power.
I expected to proceed upwards towards these beautiful things. I hoped to talk with Alpha Jacob and learn about each other for the next six years till we would get married. Suddenly, as my foot graced the first step, one of the guards grabbed me.
"No. This way," he said with a rough voice. Another guard took my other arm, and they brought me downstairs. I was so shocked at first, I didn't even fight. I didn't know why they had to handle me like that. They could have just told me I needed to change or get cleaned up first.
"Where are you taking me?" I finally demanded as they dragged me into a dark chamber beneath the lair. It was wrong. Let me out. My wolf Arianna was roaring up protectively.
"Don't use that tone with us, girl." One guard said.
I shifted and tried to run away. The two other wolf guards bit me, grabbing the fur of my neck. I was 12 years old. My wolf was much smaller than them. No matter how I clawed and bit, they dragged me further into the basement. They forced wolfsbane powder into my nose. I flinched, wrenching away from the potent scent, and I shifted back to human.
"What are you doing?" I cried out, whimpering as they flattened my body to the ground. "No! You can't do this to me! I'm Alissa Clark! Alpha needs my blood!" I screamed. This was all wrong.
After the wolfs bane, I was too weak to fight. They put chains on my hands and wrists, and they locked me in a dark 50 square foot cell. Like a prisoner. I cried and screamed at the guards for answers, but no one reacted.
"Alpha Jacob!" I screamed over and over. He couldn't be so far away to not hear me. But no one answered.
The next day, Arianna finally woke up within my body, although she was too weak to take over. I tried to mind link my family, my clan. Yet, the connection was off.
The guards came with a doctor to take my blood on a platter.
"Why are you doing this to me?" I snarled.
"It's for the Alpha. You should serve willingly." The Doctor said, his expression was blank as if he couldn't have feelings.
"I'm Alissa Clark," I said, pleading as my body felt limp. "I'm the future Luna."
He only eyed me skeptically as if I was the one who'd lost their mind. Finally, he acknowledged, "This is very good blood."
I knew that, but it was supposed to be a place of honor, not like a prisoner. The first cut was carefully on my wrist, he turned my arm into a small golden bowl to collect the blood. The red liquid was squeezed out of me, much more than at the games.
"It hurts. Stop." I said, trying to drag my arm away, but it was locked in place by chains and one of the guards.
Days went by. Every long and torturous day, they came once for my blood. They would cut me and squeeze my wounds to get more to drain out. It hurt to bleed like that every day. They cut in new places when old ones became too deep.
For the health of my blood, I saw sunshine once a day when the guards led me on a walk with a rope around my neck. I could never refuse the food they provided. When I refused to eat, they would force food into my mouth and slap me to compliance.
They dosed me with wolfsbane every 6 hours to put down my wolf. I became dizzy and weak. My head spun and it felt tight in my chest. I dreaded it so much after experiencing my wolf being forced back a hundred times. I stopped trying to shift and fight them.
I became scarred all over my body. I had nothing left of my dignity or hopes. I longed for someone to rescue me. I wanted to go home. I wanted to be anywhere but there.
My body grew as years passed, indicating the time more than anything. I felt taller, but I had no mirrors and I still imagined myself as a twelve-year-old girl. Looking down at the rags barely covering my body, I counted two hundred and twenty-four scars.
One day, after they bled me and took my blood away in the golden cup, I decided that I would keep the cut bleeding to kill myself. I wanted to die. I had lost all hope.
They bandaged it properly as they always did. Since I hadn't been fighting, they didn't use wolfsbane on me that day. As soon as I thought they were gone, I let Arianna out and tore open the bandage with my fangs. I opened the wound again, ripping into my own leg, hoping to bleed myself to death.
The guards must have heard me.
"Hey!" I heard one of the guards shout. My whole body froze in panic for a second before I began to rip harder at my own flesh, desperately. It should have hurt so much but I was numb to the pain. Three of the guards were in the room immediately, forcing me to the ground, shoving the terrible wolfsbane onto my nose. "She's wasting her blood!"
"Doctor!" They were calling desperately as I became barely conscious.
This time they did not beat me in case my body could not handle the abuse any longer, but I'd ruined a few days' worth of blood if they were going to keep me alive.
They burned my wounds to keep them from bleeding. They held the hot iron for a long time to make it hurt more. They forced my head under water till I was gasping for air and swallowing liquid. I choked and they slapped me and forced my head under the water again.
My heart raced and my body shook, but I wouldn't cry and beg this time. All Ariana could muster was a low, reverberative snarl inside me.
"I dare you to kill me." Between breaths I screamed.
"You want to die!" One guard screamed. "You are a shame! You betray the pack!
They burned a scar onto my face with a hot needle. I screamed but they forced a cloth into my mouth and forced my head to stay still.
I grumbled any combination of nasty words, then screamed through the gag as the needle seared my face. He dragged it in purposeful motions, like he was drawing.
"It says PIG. You look prettier with that scar on your face to match the rest of your sad body."
Suddenly, I heard a woman laugh cruelly behind my bed.
I knew that voice. I strained my neck free. I looked over, my face throbbing with the word PIG burned into it.
It had been years, so at first, I hardly recognized her in such a refined dress with jewels woven into the fabric.
I didn't know what I looked like anymore, but it was like seeing myself grown up without all the scars.
Her long blonde hair was wavy and hung all the way to her waist. Her purple eyes narrowed with disgust.
It was my twin, Jennifer. How could she be here?