The Cursed Human
Stockholm, Sweden 2008 ______________________
Thalia's narrative.
"Please! I won't do it again!" My voice resounded through the courtyard as the twentieth lash of Gamma Felix's cane struck my bare skin.
"Please, I promise I won't do it again! Please!!" My feeble voice echoed in the dungeon where I had been locked for two days now without food, yet no saviour appeared. Undeterred, I persisted in my cries while the cane relentlessly descended upon my back.
My tears washed the cold and dirty floor I was lying on. As continued screaming at the top of my voice, my tiny voice cracked, and my body succumbed to numbness. Blood stained my back, serving as a harsh testament to the pain inflicted upon me.
"That will suffice," Luna Nadia's voice suddenly interrupted. Gamma Felix tossed me at Luna Nadia's feet with a dismissive gesture and I quickly knelt down and continued pleading.
"Queen of Shifters, I'm...I'm...sorry...I won't do it again."
"Will you dare to defile my son's mouth again with your impurities?" Luna Nadia asked, her eyes bored into mine as she inquired.
Trembling with fear, I vigorously shook my head and stammered,
"No...no...My Queen, I will never try it again. I vow not to...kiss Jordan again." My cracked voice betrayed my broken spirit.
"Very well," Luna Nadia declared. She handed me an oversized red gown, matching the hue of the blood that was at my back. Its purpose was to conceal the cruelty inflicted upon me by the merciless Gamma.
"Dress up immediately! I have summoned Alpha Benjamin, and he is here to take you away. He is the one who brought you cursed child into this pack to afflict us with your curse!" Nadia yelled at me.
With haste, I put on the gown she tossed at me because the cold was too much for me, intensifying the pain in my back. The Gamma forcefully took my hand and dragged me to the courtyard.
Amidst the frosty air, I stood in the center of Lunar Palace's courtyard, my small slender frame wrapped in layers of warm red gown. Tears streamed down my face, betraying my overwhelming sadness as I kept my face lowered.
I lifted my ashamed face when I saw one of the omegas walking towards me. The news of me and a boy kissing in the basement had circulated throughout the entire pack. I was only thirteen years old, and the boy was fourteen. We were not supposed to engage in such acts.
No one knew the identity of the boy because Luna Nadia who saw us did not want people to know that his only son and the future Alpha of all the Alphas in Sweden, kissed a common human slave with no identity.
My status as a human slave with no identity and Jordan Greens being the Supreme Commander's only son, made the matter even worse. It was such a forbidden pair and Luna Nadia and her husband were so ashamed to tell the members of the pack the identity of the boy that kissed me.
The omega who stood before me looked around the courtyard and took out a damp piece of paper from her pocket. She then squeezed it into my palm, and I unfolded the wet paper to read the sentences written on it, wiping the tears that blurred my vision with the back of my palm.
My dearest Thalia,
Today, I make you a promise and a vow that will echo through time and distance. I promise to find you.
I will traverse mountains and valleys, cross oceans and deserts, and wander through the labyrinth of destiny to reunite with you.
I will not rest until my eyes meet yours once again. Thalia, I will not rest until I can hold you in my arms and feel your warmth against my chest again.
Time may test our love, and social status and specie may try to keep us apart, but I promise you this: I will fight for us, for the love we share.
Thalia, as you step into the unknown, remember this promise that I made to you on the 13th of January 2008. No matter how far you go, no matter how long it takes, I will find you, and I will marry you.
Thalia, always remember that Jordan loves you to the moon and back.
[Jordan. ]
I lifted my teary eyes and looked around the pack, hoping to catch a glimpse of Jordan once more. Tears covered my eyes as I looked around. However, there was no sign of Jordan. His popular phrase continued echoing in my head.
Jordan began saying the phrase "I love you to the moon and back" to me when he was nine years old, despite not fully comprehending the meaning of love. He would frequently utter these words whenever I was feeling sad or distressed. Hearing this sentence always had a calming effect on me and helped to alleviate my pain and anxiety. It instilled in me a sense of reassurance that someone genuinely cared for me.
I quickly folded the paper and put it in my bag that was on the floor. The letter Jordan sent to me and his popular phrase made my pain slightly more bearable. The knowledge that he would look for me filled my heart with gladness. As a result, my tears began to slowly dry up, and a flicker of hope began to appear. I knew Jordan would look for me.
Ten minutes later, Alpha Benjamin, along with his wife and daughter, emerged from the castle. Benjamin delivered a slap to my left cheek harshly.
"Who did you kiss?" Alpha Benjamin howled at me, landing another slap on my right cheek. "Answer me! Who did you kiss?!"
"Little whore!" Alpha Benjamin's fourteen-year-old daughter, Kayla spat at my face.
"Well, I am pleased that you are coming with me. I am going to teach you a lesson, you little cursed child of a bloody human!" Alpha Benjamin yelled angrily.
"Since your mother has refused to return my money, the Alpha of Alphas has granted me the permission to take you in as one of my slaves. You will be my slave for eternity!" Benjamin yelled, forcefully pushing me into the car and hurling my bag at me before slamming the door shut.
His Luna and daughter entered another car, and gradually the chauffeurs began to drive out of the compound.
________________________
Stockholm, Sweden 2018
In the cold winter of January, the bitter winds blew through the streets of Stockholm, Sweden. The snow-covered city seemed to hold its breath as if waiting for something significant to happen.
I walked around the entire White Fangs pack, wearing gloves on my hands, holding a plog sack, and picking up litter. Ever since I joined the pack ten years ago, the Alpha had prohibited any member from working. All the hard and easy tasks were assigned to me.
I heard the sound of car horns as they drove into the courtyard, but I refused to look.
I already knew it was Alpha Benjamin's only daughter, Kayla. Four years ago, Kayla discovered that she was fated to Jordan Greens, the only son of the Alpha of Alphas, my childhood sweetheart and one of the richest men in Stockholm.
Ever since Kayla discovered that Jordan Greens is her fated mate, she has been flaunting his wealth everywhere. According to Kayla, the Alpha prince is crazy about her and would never look at any other she-wolf, let alone a mere human slave.
I embraced reality and stopped waiting for Jordan to seek me out the day the news of their engagement went viral on social media. I cried for more than six months before gradually embracing the reality.
I began giving relationships a chance. However, more than twenty men I met on social media and gave a chance eventually blocked me when they saw the amount of money my biological mother was owing Alpha Benjamin which they must pay before I would be released to them.
As I continued picking up the litter, clothes flew in the air and slowly fell onto the place I had just cleaned. I frowned and moved closer. Lo and behold, they were my clothes, including my undergarments, scattered all over the courtyard.
"Up," a six-year-old boy who had been sitting under a tree, watching me the entire time, said with a chuckle and pointed his finger in the direction of my bedroom.
I lifted my face and saw Kayla staring at me with disgust from my room window. We had been enemies since we were children. Kayla's hatred for me deepened ever since she found out she was fated to be with Jordan Greens.
I dropped the plog sack I was holding, removed the gloves from my hands, picked my clothes up, and ran into the castle to find out why Kayla was littering the courtyard with my undergarments.