The enslaved Queen

Chapter one - The taking

Diana

The day of the taking started like any other, it wasn't as if the three clouds in the sky of an otherwise sunny winter day were enough to instill in us the fear and dread of what was to come.

Getting out of my bed that morning had been exceptionally challenging since the crisp cold air seeping through the cracks in the wooden window made my bed and fur bedcovers especially inviting, the warmth and comfort tempting me to postpone my rising just a little longer.

But the thought of Marcella waiting for me at the pond in the cold morning air made me push myself out of bed with a grunt. Immediately shivering at the cold I covered myself with a robe before grabbing my favorite winter clothes in my dresser, my trusty fur lined leather pants and a thick linen blouse and wool sweater, fitting my feet in my wool socks and shoving them inside my too big leather boots I jumped up, as if trying to force excitement for the day with the action.

I left my room silently, trying not to wake my sleeping parents and brother, the low morning light starting to seep through the cracks on the kitchen window as I walked quietly to the hook by the entrance door where I kept my wool coat. As I opened the door to the outside, the freezing air woke me up completely as I shuddered.

Being a werewolf without a wolf was particularly trying in the winter months, I couldn't wait to have fur, or just have enough body heat to not feel like a shaking leaf in my human form. With an optimistic sigh I reminded myself that I only had to wait a week, my eighteenth birthday approaching rather slowly for my impatient young self.

I grabbed the buckets by the side of the door and closed it behind myself, taking a last look to our little home before I trotted through our small pack, still mostly asleep, in the direction of the small hill that hid the pond that kept our only supply of water.

As my head surpassed the top of the hill, the pond came to view, the ice covering the surface creating a perfect mirror reflecting the deep green pine trees that covered the mountains that surrounded our whole area.

I chuckled realizing Marcella was nowhere to be found, as always, I got here first and would be the one waiting for her in the cold morning air.

Descending the hill I put the buckets on the almost frozen ground, and looked around for the metal bar that we used to break the ice in the winter months. After finding it, I fixed my grip, approaching the solid water preparing to strike. The rough metal scraped de inside of my hands as I harshly punctured the ice, I didn't care, enjoying the heat brought by the physical effort. I kept hitting the ice, needlessly creating an opening big enough to throw a person in when the sound of her steps hit my ears.

-Wow, who pissed you off? – Marcella asked coming down the hill with her green eyes wide.

-No one – I laughed – just some manual labor to heat up while waiting for you...

Her frown and guilty expression made my own guilt arise.

-I was joking, I didn't even wait that long.

-Diana! – she pushed my shoulder lightly, but smiled, the guilt fading from her eyes.

-So, do tell, how was the moonlight walk through the mountains with Logan? – I asked, putting the metal bar down and going for my buckets.

Marcella literally twirled around herself, her red hair dancing on the air and a big bright smile on her face, a sound that could only be identified as a squeal leaving her lips.

-That good? – I asked, eyes round in expectation.

-Better! – She stated – Oh, goddess... If she doesn't make him my mate, I don't think I'll care... I'll choose him, Diana.