She'd been imprisoned in every way. She couldn't even think to take a step out of place. She had disappeared into the furthest shadow of her mind to escape and conceded to the man who had ruined her.
Submission had been forced onto her until she...
I am unwell and undone. Sweat pools on my brow and lip. I lay as a corpse beside my mate. She is still as stone. She is as empty and unfeeling as ever. She does not care for even herself so she will never care for me either.
A knock comes at the door. I pull a blanket up around my mate to make sure she is covered before bidding the visitor in.
The door swings open to reveal my beta. He comes into the room in his usual bouncy awkward way.
I stand to greet him and he pauses. He seems to be taking a moment to look over my mate and then me. I angle my body possessively in front of hers.
"You are different", he says.
I ignore him, "hello Breuer, I'm happy to have you back from battle". He stares at me as if I'm a puzzle he aims to solve.
"Is she dead?", he asks. I growl loudly at the notion. How dare he so much as suggest such a thing. His eyes widen with understanding.
"The blood is wearing off", he says.
"I am an Alpha", I respond, "the blood is still strong in me".
"No, you're sobering", he says, "the madness is leaving you".
"Quiet!", my voice booms. He does as I ask.
"I've asked you back from the lines for a reason", I tell him.
"And, that is?", he questions.
"There is a banquet fast approaching which requires your attendance", I say, "we will be speaking with Raúl and Louisa". His face visibly darkens.
"We will be discussing the terms of a potential ceasefire", I tell him.
"There will be no ceasefire", he says.
"I think it is time we speak with them, this war has been waging for near a decade Breuer", I tell him.
"And it hasn't been on long enough", he says, "I don't care if Panganiban is dead, if I can not have his head I will take his son's. I will take from the world everything that was stolen from me".
"That's enough Breuer", I say, "the people are tired of it, I am tired of it".
"No", he scowls, "you've lost your blood and have become weak".
I snarl back at him, "I am not weak".
"Prove it", with that, he lunges for me. I sidestep him and throw a punch to his side. He staggers at the impact but, quickly recovers swinging a leg around the back of my knees to sweep my legs. He is on me before I can regain my footing and we wrestle for dominance. Brewer gains the upper hand and forces my face down into the floor.
"You are a weak pitiful man", he says. Then, he hops off my back and storms out of the room.
I pull myself to my feet. I can hardly stand with the shame that weighs me down. I look to my mate who has not moved an inch in the time my struggle was happening. She seems almost catatonic.
"You will not weaken me", I tell her.
"Yes, master", she says ignorant to the meaning of my words.
I storm from the room in a much similar fashion to how my beta did before. I walk down maybe twelve flights of stairs to reach the very bottom of my castle.
When I step to the final landing I am greeted by an ancient door. Pushing it open is difficult even for me. Once inside I flip on the lights to reveal a room of glass boxes. I walk to the first one. In it is what looks like the sleeping face of the first alpha. The glass coffin has perfectly preserved him even after hundreds of years. If I didn't know any better I'd think he died only yesterday.
I walk along the rows of glass boxes. These are my ancestors. They are the ones who came before me. Their strength and wisdom flow within my veins. I am among their ranks.
I reach the final glass box. Inside lies the body of my father. I stare down at him. He held the wisdom of these alphas before me. He led his people with mercy and grace. I look over them all.
"Why have you rescinded your strength?", I call out, "would you not like me to surpass you?". The taunt comes through as clear as day.
"Do you fear me even in death?", I shout. The light cuts out overhead. I look up expecting to see a shattered bulb. What I see instead is so much worse. The room is dim and only illuminated by the sliver of light coming from the far-off door. Still, I can see the bulb is covered in something dark. It drips down to land on my forehead.
I swipe at it and hold my stained fingertips up to my eyes hoping to make out what it is. Its smells of copper and the dark brown color looks eerily familiar.
I hear something behind me. Labored shaky breaths ring out. It can't be real. I am the only one in this room who could be breathing. Are they my own?
Something catches my eye near my feet. Something is covering the ground. It's bleeding out from behind me. I have no choice but to turn and face whatever is waiting behind me.
I am immediately staring into a pair of eyes. Their color matches the dark rusted liquid. They are the eyes of my mate. Something is holding her to the wall. Her limbs are splayed out and twitching her feet kick out desperate to find the ground that is simply too far away.
"Face what you have done". Her lips move but the words cannot possibly be her own. It is the voices of a hundred men speaking through her.
Something grabs my wrist. I turn to see it is the corpse of my father sitting up in his casket. All of my forefathers join him. They stare at me with disapproving eyes.
"Face what you have done", they chant. I shake off my father's hand and back away until my back it's something soft. Then it falls dropping its weight onto me. It rolls off and hits the ground. The bloated corpse of my mate. Her stomach has been torn out spilling rich brown liquid over the floor. Her face is unrecognizable. Her eyes have paled and turned amber in their rot. Still, they are more vivid and hold more emotion than that of the woman upstairs. They scream of heartache and betrayal.
Her lips move to mouth along the words of the hundred men but, in their swollen state, they can't open and close properly.
"Face what you have done or burn", with that the room is aglow again as the body of mate and all my ancestors catch fire. I run to her side desperate to save her but, she's already gone.
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