Chapter 2. Castle

MORGANA’S POV

It doesn’t take long for us to finally reach the castle grounds. The tall man steps out of the carriage and pulls me out of it by my leash.

Once I’m out of the carriage I squint my eyes as an unfamiliar ray of sunlight illuminates my skin. I haven’t felt the sun hit my skin like this in a long time. I almost forgot what it felt like. The slave master always brought us here very early to clean so a lot of the slaves don’t have the opportunity to see the sun rise. Majority of our lives are spent in darkness on the cold floors of the cells.

I breathe in fresh air through my nostrils as I remember how putrid my holding cell smelled.

The castle looks a little bit different in the light. The sun illuminates its walls giving it a not so dead look.

“Can you walk?” The man asks. I shake my head slowly making sure not to meet his gaze as he looks at me. It’s a sign of disrespect to make eye contact with your superior.

He instructs some of the guards at his side to carry me into the castle. I flinch as one of them raises me bridal style into his arms.

“Take her to the nurses, when she’s clean and her wounds are taken of, bring her back to me. She is to be the alpha’s new slave so handle her properly. He doesn’t want another one dying on him.” The man says before sending the guards and I away.

At his phrase, I wonder how many of the alpha’s pets have died already and if I’m about to walk into a death trap.

They take me into the castle, up the flight of stairs leading to the first floor and into a room filled with women in white robes and white scarfs around their heads. These must be the nurses. The room is filled with slaves who are highly injured, some of them barely even able to breathe. A shiver runs down my spine at the sight.

An elderly nurse points to a bed at a corner and the guard drops me onto the mattress. It’s not soft but it’s the closest thing to a bed I’ve had in a long time compared to the cold floor in the cell I lived in. The wounds on my back ache as he lays me on the bed.

“This one’s for the alpha. Make her look presentable. I’ll be outside.” The guard takes off my collar and leaves me in the room with the old woman.

She takes me to a bathtub in a nearby room filled with other people who are distastefully naked. She doesn’t really expect me to bathe in here with all these people.

“Strip.” She orders and I hesitate making her frown at me.

“Look here, human! The only reason I’m not being harsh with you right now, even though I really want to is because you belong to the alpha and you’re already wounded enough as it is. If you think you’re going to get a private bathing area, then I urge you to reduce your expectations to zero. Now strip before I make you do it myself. And trust me, I won’t be gentle.” She says harshly.

I roll my eyes and strip, getting into the bathtub filled with warm water. I flinch as the wounded parts of my body come in contact with the water. I think about the last time I had warm water on my skin. God, it’s been so long. As I’m getting comfortable with my eyes closed in the bathtub, I feel a sponge glide down my back covered with bruises.

I hiss at the pain as she keeps scrubbing every part of my bloodstained body with the sponge. When she’s done, she dries me up and applies some ointment to my wounds.

She dresses me in a long white robe and ties my red hair up in a bun. I can’t remember the last time I felt so clean. At least being the alpha’s pet has its perks. Cleanliness being one of them.

The pet master hardly ever let us take regular baths back at the slavery organization. We had to live in filth. The old nurse hands me the little bottle containing the ointment for my wounds.

“Apply it to your wounds twice a day and they will be healed up in about two weeks.” She leads me out of the room and hands me back to the guard who brought me here.

“Come on human.” The guard lifts me again as I still have trouble moving properly. I’ve never understood why they say the word human with so much disgust. Like it was a crime to belong to the human species. Punishing us for something we cannot control.

He takes me back to the tall man who brought me here.

“You may go.” He dismisses the guard and I’m left alone with the tall man.

“Your name, human.” He demands.

“Morgana.” I say as I watch him write something down on a piece of paper at his desk.

He drops his feather pen as he stands making his way towards me. I feel smaller next to him now that we’re in a room alone together. He places his index finger and thumb below his chin as he circles me, examining me like I’m prey. He grabs my face turning it from side to side making weird noises as he examines me.

He lifts my hand and cups one of my breasts making me flinch. I slap away his hand and move slightly backwards away from him. I lift my head, staring into his eyes with disgust.

He walks towards me creasing his brows in annoyance. “Don’t do that again or you’ll pay dearly.”

“Follow me.” He says and I obey. He doesn’t know it yet but his name just got added to the list of people I’m going to kill when I’m getting my revenge.

‘Just a little bit more patience Morgana’ I think to myself. Just a little bit more endurance and perseverance and they’ll all be dead.

He leads me up the third floor. We’re met with a long dark hallway illuminated by a few candles. There are some paintings on the wall and a red carpet that leads to a black door guarded by two guards.

“Good day Master Reece.” They say in unison as we approach the door. He’s a master, interesting. He must be close to the alpha for him to earn that title. They don’t hesitate to give him way as they push open the doors.

We walk in together and the room is massive. It’s definitely the alpha’s. About 10 bedrooms could fit in here and there would still be enough space left for more. At the sight of the comfortable room, my blood boils with anger.

Why does he get to live lavishly after all the suffering he’s caused? This entire war started because of this power hungry idiot. I hate him.

I don’t even know who to hate more, the vampires or the werewolves. All I know is I want every single one of these monsters dead.

A door opens and the biggest man I’ve ever seen steps out with a towel wrapped around his waist. I’ve never met the alpha in person before but I didn’t expect him to be so massive. His chest is broad and his abdomen is a wall with chiseled abs.

His hair on his head is as dark as midnight. A head that I now fantasize about cutting off. He glances over at our direction and starts walking towards us.

“Ah Reece! You’re here. And I see you have my new pet.” His voice is fierce and loud. A voice that demands respect and attention.