24

ELEANOR
“Please… someone, please help me, don’t let them take me away. Save me, please!” The unmissable loud screams of a woman had us all rushing out to be greeted by the dreadful sight of a slave, dragged along with one of the guards with his fingers roughly fisting at her hair that she struggled to release from his hold. I couldn’t help but wonder what on earth she might have done to warrant being treated like this.
She continued to cry for help that was obviously never going to come and each cry was accompanied by either a slap or a kick from the ticked-off guards, but it didn’t look like she was going to stop anytime soon. The desperation was heavy in her voice, and all we could do was watch as she was dragged along, her cries becoming more distant.
Looking around me at the slaves that were witnesses to the sight too, I could tell from their faces that the sight left them sad and helpless, watching as one of your kind was disgraced and dragged to their imminent death, knowing that could be you at any moment would do that to any sane person, but I was curious, and seeing as most of the girls were alrewatchingingingg even before I arrived, I’d thought they would know something as to why the slave was taken away but no one was willing to give me an answer. Everyone I tapped turned their backs at me with a shrug even before I could voice my confusion.
The only person that would have been able to give me an answer was nowhere to be found, later finding out that she’d been called by her master. If only she had been here, she would have been able to at least give me a vague explanation as to what all that was about. While lost in thought, I heard the sound of an alarm blaring out, and I stood still. With what Jasmine had told me, the alarm only rang on two occasions; one if there was war and the other if there was someone about to receive a judgment, and seeing the situation at hand, it was pretty obvious that this was no war. The omega that was dragged away not too long ago was definitely about to be punished.
Without wasting time, I hurried towards the hall where everyone was expected to be gathered, after which Zane would address us and inform us about the situation. My heart kept racing, I was anxious and scared at the same time. Worried for the poor girl and what her fate might be after this.
Knowing Zane, if she was found guilty, it would be death awaiting her. I remembered my cold nights in the dungeon after the encounter with my mate, Easton, and that sent a cold shiver down my spine. Zane had been so furious that he had me locked up, tortured, and starved, all the while he would come around to having his way with me just to make a point.
After days of being tortured in the dark without an idea of what was going on on the outside, he made it known that he had my life in his hand and that he could take it anytime if he wanted to.
The thought of him slicing a knife across my throat with those rage-filled eyes actually scared me for the first time in a while. The reason for all this was still unknown to me as he’d refuse to make known what rule exactly I’d broken.
The sound of the girl screaming drew me out of my reverie and I turned to face the stage, the girl was forced onto her knees and her head was placed on a wooden stand that had an arc on it. She kept pleading, hysterical with tears, and knowing well what was to come, but no one would do anything to stop the procession.
I couldn’t stand and continue to watch the scene unfold because it was obvious how it would end. I could already feel a newfound anger making its way into my veins, and causing a disturbance during such a severe punishment had no way of ending favorably for me, so without a second thought, I turned on my feet, determined to make my way out of the hall despite the swarm of bodies blocking me, until I directly bumped into someone who held me still. I looked up to find a smiling Jasmine, Clara beside her.
“You shouldn’t leave Eleanor unless you want to be next after her,” Jasmine warned in a low voice and Clara made a sound of confusion.
“What’s going on? I was told to hurry towards the big hall as soon as the alarm rang. What happened?” Clara asked, voicing her confusion.
“The slave must have disobeyed one of the higher-ups….. either that or she’s broken one of the three sacred rules. She must’ve broken them, ” Jasmine swiftly answers, her eyes now locked on the stage.
“What rules?” Clara asked, still confused, and Jasmine hummed.
“The three sacred rules for slaves are; one, to never steal from their masters or try to harm them. Two, never try to escape, and lastly, never get yourself marked. Once any one of these rules is broken, death would be inevitable,” she answers.
“And what do you think is her offense?” I asked, my jaws clenched tight, the same as my fists. She was about to answer when Zane’s voice cut through the air.
“Attention slaves… I’m not here to address any of you, but I’m here to place a judgment on the slut you see here” he said before roughly grabbing at the girl’s hair like the guard had, which caused her to cry out again, “A law was made and put in place as you all know, that on no account is a slave allowed to find her mate and if it happens that she unfortunately does, never is she to entertain it, or go as far as harbor the idea of getting marked. But this piece of dirt here had the audacity to break every single one of those laws. My rules were put in place to get you uncultured swine to know your places and to act right and I can not even begin to describe how much of an insult disobedience, especially from low-life dirt is to me. To think you thought you could go against me and get away with it” he yelled the last part out, kicking her in the stomach, and I couldn’t help but wince at the thought of those monstrosities he calls footwear, digging into the soft skin of an already empty stomach.
“Alpha… I-I-I’m sorry. Merc-”
“Silence!!!!” He cuts her off before turning to face the crowd again. “What do you all know to be the punishment for breaking any of my sacred rules?” He roars, his voice filling the now silent hall and bouncing off the walls.
“Death!!” The crowd chorused almost immediately, and I gasped in horror at the response. This was wrong. This was so fvcking wrong.
She didn’t mark herself! What was to say this wasn’t done against her will by someone, her mate, or her master? Why should she have to suffer in a situation that was most probably out of her control? Why was she being sentenced to death alone? Where was the other party in the midst of all this?
“Why? Why? Why? Why?” I asked continuously, but Clara’s hand was immediately over my mouth, silencing me. I hated everything about this. This was an unfair judgment and even though I knew this was nothing considering how much of a sadistic, power-tripping brute he was, did he for once even stop to consider the fact that we were humans with blood flowing through our veins too?
I was brought back to reality by the final order of his judgment. Zane had just sentenced her to immediate death. And she was immediately held down, her loud scream and cries of agony, cut off by one swing of the executioner’s sword, separating her head from her body. There was a loud, horrified scream coming from somewhere in the crowd, and I felt Clara’s fingers dig into my arm as she squeezed tighter. I took one of her hands in mine, squeezing it reassuringly, as hot tears streamed down my own face. She was understandably terrified by the sight. Anyone in their right mind would be.
“Let this serve as another warning to every single one of you, break my rules, and you will end up like that.” My breath caught in my throat when his dark eyes suddenly found mine in the crowd and he smirked, “I do not care who you are or who you belong to. Break my fvcking rules, and I will not hesitate to kill you, ” and with that, he storms off the stage.
The moment he was gone, I shrugged off Clara’s hands and darted out of the hall, ignoring their calls as I rushed to find a place where I could empty the contents of my stomach. I felt nauseated, and it was accompanied by rage. I hated the way I felt at the moment as I thought back about the way his eyes were locked on mine as he said those words. Was that a warning to me in particular? It made my stomach turn. The promise of unforgiveness and death.
“Eleanor, are you okay?” I heard Clara’s voice as she crouched next to me, and I could feel a hand, Jasmine’s, patting my back.
“I’m going to kill that bastard, I’m going to have his head on a stake. I will fvcking kill him!!” I murmured, my chest rising and falling with urgency.
“Yo and me both. She was my friend, a-and she was so happy with him, they were in love. She’d told me he was going to speak to the Alpha…. beg him to banish them both and now….” Clara burst into tears before she could complete her words, and I wiped my lips before pulling her into a comforting hug.
The sight I had just witnessed had me boiling in rage, especially coupled with the fact that this was a direct warning to me. I had to win this battle no matter what, and I would make him eat his words. I needed help from the one I’d rejected and sworn at weeks ago. I need him, Alpha Easton Dawson of Crescent Pack to help with my plans.