The Alpha and the slave princess

Death, not today.

Elara‘s POV

I stumbled back into the Great Hall, my chest heaving and my lips still stinging from the kiss that felt like a death sentence to me. The music was louder now, just exactly like a frantic beat that matched the pounding of my heart. I tried to blend into the shadows near the stone pillars, pulling the thin gold fabric of my dress closer to my body. I felt sick. My wolf was pacing inside of me, whimpering for the man I want nothing more than to kill.

For now, I just need to go back to my position and wait till the beast comes out.

I was so lost in my own horror that I didn't see the person coming until she was standing directly in my path.

She was tall, with hair the color of midnight and eyes that moved over me like I was a piece of rotting meat. She wasn't from the Blackwood Eclipse, or if she was, I have not seen her.

“Oh, Beta Salsa from Red River pack is here” A guard announced.

Okay, this was Beta Salsa. But what the heck does she have to do with me? I tried to move away and dodge her but she is in front of me again.

"Well, well," Salsa said, her voice has an evidence of fake pity. "Look at the little Silvermoon bird. I was wondering where you had disappeared to."

I tried to step around her again, but she moved with the speed of a vulture, blocking my way. A small circle of wolves began to form around us, sensing a fight.

"You smell like him," Salsa hissed, her nostrils flaring as she caught Julian’s scent on my skin. Her eyes went to my swollen lips, and her face twisted into a mask of pure rage. "You little slut. You went to his study, didn't you? You went there to wiggle your hips and beg for mercy."

"Oh please leave me be, I didn't beg for anything," I said, my voice shaking.

"Don't lie to me!" Salsa barked, her voice drawing even more attention. "Everyone is asking why the daughter of a traitor is sleeping in the Alpha's wing instead of the dungeon where you belong. We thought Julian was keeping you there to torture you, but look at you. Wearing an expensive dress, he even asked the maids to paint your face, you look like a w***e. Oh, I get it, you are trying to seduce him into forgetting what your father did, aren't you?"

"I didn't choose this dress, nor did I want it to be chosen for me," I whispered, feeling the weight of the eyes around us now. "And I don't want your Alpha." I really don't have time for this, I wanted to say.

"Liar!" Salsa stepped forward and, before I could blink, her hand flashed out and hit my face.

Smash.

The slap was so hard my head snapped to the side. My vision went blurry for a second, and the taste of blood filled my mouth. The noisy hall became silent immediately. I felt the heat rising in my cheek.

Salsa laughed, a high, cruel sound. "That’s for thinking you could ever be more than a footstool for a real wolf. You are a slave, Elara. You are a pet. And pets don't get to sleep in the Alpha’s bed."

Something snapped inside me. For more than two weeks, I had been a victim, I had been washed, dressed like a doll, and I had been insulted. I had watched my people suffer. I had felt my pride being stripped away layer by layer. But the sting of her hand on my cheek reminded me that I was still my father’s daughter, and he didn't teach me to keep mute for brats.

I didn't think twice, in fact, I don't think I planned it, my hand just moved on its own.

SMASH.

I slapped her back with every ounce of strength I had left. The sound was even louder than hers.

Salsa’s head jerked back, and she stumbled, her hand flying to her face. Gasps erupted from the crowd. The music stopped again and one moved. Even the guards looked shocked. No slave had ever dared to strike a Beta, especially not the one who clearly had the backing of the Alpha of Blackwood Eclipse.

I was shocked, too. My palm was stinging, and my heart was racing. I didn't think I had any defiance left in me.

Salsa looked at me, her eyes wide with disbelief. Then, the shock turned into a look of cold, and murderous hatred. She looked like she wanted to shift right there and rip my throat out.

"You... you pathetic, broken b***h," Salsa whispered, her voice trembling with fury. "You just signed your death warrant. I am going to send you to your grave earlier than planned. But I won't kill you quickly."

She stepped closer, her shadow falling over me.

"I am going to ridicule you in front of everyone," she promised. "I will bring the rest of your pathetic, starving people here and make them watch as I strip that skin off your back. I will make sure the last thing they see is their Princess begging for her life at my feet. Is that not what you want?"

She turned to the guards standing nearby. "What are you waiting for?! She struck a Beta and your Alpja’s woman. Teach this slave her place!"

The guards hesitated for a split second, looking toward the door where Julian had gone. But Julian wasn't there, and Salsa was a ranking official of an allied pack. They stepped forward.

One guard grabbed my hair, jerking my head back, while the other swung a heavy fist into my stomach.

I doubled over, the air leaving my lungs in a painful gasp. I fell to the stone floor, the gold dress tearing further as I hit the ground. I tried to cover my head, but the kicks started. One to my ribs. One to my shoulder.

"Beat the defiance out of her!" Salsa screamed, her voice filled with joy. "Show her what happens to rats when they act out of their place!"

I curled into a ball on the cold stone. I could hear the crowd murmuring, but no one stepped in. Why would they? I was the enemy. I was the girl whose father had betrayed them. I felt a boot hit my side, and I felt a rib crack. I closed my eyes, waiting for the darkness to take me. I thought of my remaining people, I thought of my father and how he probably thinks I have failed him and I hoped that death would be kinder than this.

Just as a guard raised his heavy boot for a blow to my head, a sound tore through the hall.

It was a roar, it's a sound so loud and full of animal rage that I could swear that the candles in the chandeliers flickered before dying.

"WHAT THE f**k ARE YOU DOING?!" The voice reached every corner of the hall in rage. The guards froze and the crowd parted in the middle, creating space for their alpha.

Julian was standing at the entrance of the hall. His shirt was still unbuttoned, his hair was wild, and the aura coming off him was so dark it felt like the room had lost all its light. He looked at me where I was, bleeding and broken on the floor and then he looked at the guards and Salsa.

Alpha Julian took a step forward, and the stone floor seemed to tremble under his feet. His eyes weren't silver anymore, they were a flat, terrifying white. How could this be?

"Get away from her," he said in a low, vibrating growl that promised death to anyone who moved. "Now."

Oh my goodness! I guess I'm not dying after all.