When duties, promises, and the past ignore the will of one's heart, how far can you go before wavering on your knees?
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When a woman is taken as the spoils of war, she realizes that the world she lived in was far darker than she imagined and the m...
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Flames on white snow, a sight that Selena never thought to see. Everything in front of her burned to the ground, including the stone steps that she threaded on almost every morning, was charred with the smell of gas and burning wood. Her pack was reduced to nothing.
They might have won, but at what cost?
Dozens dead and every building in her sight was now only a blackened reminder of what had happened here.
A trembling of the ground made her shaky, completely deterred like an orphaned doe in the woods.
She braved herself to look over her shoulder and saw a man almost twice her stature casting a gloomy shadow above her head while holding a bloodstained cleaver. He had angry gray eyes, the same color of ash that fell from the sky.
The man didn't do or say anything and yet, Selena could feel the surge of power and electricity coming from his body. That wasn't just his presence. It was something else entirely.
"Stand." He commands.
Shakily, she gathered her strength to pick herself up. Her raven dark hair blocked half of her vision, but she could see his pale complexion dripping with crimson-red blood.
"Do you know what you are to me?" The man asks while flicking off the blood from his cleaver.
"I-I don't." She murmured.
She did or at least she thought she did. Nothing could prepare her for what she was feeling.
The man groans in disappointment, causing her to jolt unexpectedly. How many lives has this man taken? That was the only thing in her mind as he reached for her chin, inspecting her face. His hands were calloused, rough, and very inquisitive. He trailed his fingers down the side of her jaw, frowning when she recoiled from him.
He sighs.
"Everyone who stands here listens now. This woman is my tribute, my prize for helping you defend your pack. Those who oppose, speak now before I take her as mine."
Selena's brown eyes scoured her surroundings, trying to find one sympathetic eye that wanted to help her. Disappointment and dread wrapped her heart like thorny vines once she realized no one wanted to help.
Not one whisper could be heard. Everyone she knew was immobilized with fear and only the whispering wind that played with her hair could be heard swooshing.
No one wanted to give Selena away. Their sadness and silence were proof enough of that. As she turns her head left and right, trying her best not to crumble, all she saw was forced silence, not one speaking their minds.
