26

CLARA
After meeting with the girls, there had been a spark of hope in me that if Jasmine succeeded in finding information about Easton, maybe,… just maybe we would have a chance to finally be free. I turned to look at Lennox who slept peacefully beside me and couldn’t help as a smile made its way to my face before I leaned in to place a light kiss on his forehead which had him stirring in his sleep just before his eyes peeled open.
“Good morning love, did you sleep well? I’m sorry for waking you up,” I hummed apologetically as he brushed his still heavy sleeping eyes, “I will go make some breakfast for you then head to the slave quarters,” I informed him, slowly climbing out of bed only for him to pull me back, grip tight on my wrist.
“You don’t have to go there anymore, you are no slave. You are my mate…. mine and you carry my mark to show that.” Lennox asserts, and I shake my head, successfully getting out of his grip and getting off the bed, leaving some space between us.
“This mark…. was a mistake and it will do nothing but bring about my death. I couldn’t even tell my friend about it. She thinks that I am in an abusive master-slave relationship like she is,” I mutter and watch as he immediately springs up from bed, rage slowly filling his eyes.
“Why would you do that? Why would you lie and make her hate me? I told you to come clean to your friends. I was never a fan of you marking yourself up or giving yourself bruises to cover up my mark on your neck in the first place, and now this? Are you ashamed of us?” He asked almost in a yell and my reply wasn’t any different.
“Do you want me dead!!?” I yelled back at him and he frowned, giving me a ludicrous look.
“Why would I want you dead? You are my second half and without you, I do not exist,” Lennox answered and I laughed out loud.
“You saw what happened to that slave girl right in front of all our eyes, her head was separated from her body just because she was marked by her mate. Do you wish the same fate for me?” I asked heatedly and he shook his head, sighing.
“I was going to talk to Alpha Zane today, I- I was going to tell him about us. I would rather be banished from this pack than have you killed.”
“That’s exactly what her mate did and how did that end up? It ended with her death!,” The sudden shrill sound of the alarm clock on the wall startled us both and I flinched, taking another step away from him, “I’m sorry, I do not think I would be able to prepare breakfast today.” I told him, turning around and rushing into the bathroom before he could stop me and I could hear him curse under his breath as I leaned against the shut door, fighting back my tears.
There was no escaping Zane’s laws. Telling him would mean nothing. I have to stick with Eleanor and find a way to be free from this hell hole if I truly want to be with Lennox, whom I have been bound to.
Lennox stood in the room, his eyes following my every movement as I moved around the room, getting dressed in my uniform.
“Clara, I-”
“Leave it a secret, Lennox, and please, forget about telling Zane, I do not wish to die just yet. I will find a way out of this, I promise. I will see you later today.” I finalized, leaving a dumbfounded Lennox as I walked out and shut the door after myself.
As I walked my way to the pack house, my head was swarmed with thoughts of how easy it would be for me to end up like the slave girl did and the possibility of it scared me so much.
I have to tell Eleanor, there was no way I was going to keep it from her forever anyway. She was bound to know. She had to know what was going on in my life, just like I knew hers.
“You don’t look too good this morning. Are you okay?” Eleanor’s voice suddenly calls, startling me, “I’m sorry if I startled you. I’ve been calling your name for a while now with no response. What’s wrong?” She repeats, concern lacing in her voice.
“Nothing, I just…. had a rough night because of what happened yesterday, you know. What about you?” I returned, turning my attention away from myself.
“I’m okay. Jasmine and I talked about it last night before she was called on by her master and she promised to find answers for me. I’m okay, all good.” She assured me with a smile and I bit my lip, nodding along.
Now would be the perfect time to tell her exactly what was going on with me, since we were practically alone and on the topic. I had to seize the opportunity.
“Uhm… Eleanor… I -I have something to tell you” I cursed under my breath as I stuttered and she looked to me, fully attentive and eyes wide.
“What is it? Is everything okay?” She asked, almost frantic, and I forced a nervous smile.
“I- yes, I’m….. it’s just, I wanted to tell you that I- I uh… I found m-m-my-”
“Attention all slaves, you are all required to come to the task room immediately. Attention all slaves, come to the task room. All slaves, to the task room.” The room booms with the voice of the head of the slaves over the speaker, but Eleanor does not seem phased as she continues to stare at me expectantly and I smiled, but then she turned her head forward and shook her head before turning back to me.
“I’m sorry, seems we will have to have our talk later. Let’s head to the task room and check our duties for today, hm?” Eleanor said, smiling apologetically, and I blinked before nodding.
“It’s okay. It was nothing of importance. We can talk about it later,” I told her. She nodded, and we started our walk to the task room. There, we met an unsurprisingly energized Jasmine who informed us in a whisper that she’d gotten some information about Easton and would tell us about it later on.
She also told us that she knew what tasks we were allocated for the day, and just as Jasmine said, we were to be working at the farm with some of the other slaves and some guards who were assigned to monitor us as we worked to keep us from trying to escape.
My opportunity was gone the moment we were assigned the farm work. We were to do some weeding and then remove every crop that was infested by pests or diseases to prevent it from spreading. I began immediately. I had no time to waste at all.
I was going to tell Eleanor today, despite my nerves acting up. I was tired of keeping it a secret. I needed my best friend and my sister and although she might be facing a lot of hardship too at the moment, she was the only one I could trust and rely on, and just like always, I continued to depend and lean on her, uncaring if my weight, added to hers, was crushing her slowly.
I wanted to be strong, I wanted her to be able to rely on me someday, too. I wanted her to be proud of me, but it didn’t look like that was happening anytime soon. I keep making stupid mistakes, endangering us both. I was such a fool.
“Hey! You there! Stop what you are doing and come over here!” the gamma guard suddenly ordered, and I looked around to confirm it was me being called before dropping the farm tool in my hand and hurrying towards him.
When I finally stood in front of him, I watched as his eyes narrowed at me before he slowly lifted his hand. I fought back the urge to flinch at the idea of getting slapped, but that didn’t happen. Instead, his fingers slightly brushed a part of my neck, and I felt my heart drop to the bottom of my feet at the realization. I gasped in complete horror as I lifted my gaze to meet a knowing smirk on his face.
“You’re carrying a mark! You have been defiled. Oh, I’m sure Alpha Zane would take such pleasure in getting rid of you!” he barks out, and I immediately fall to my knees, tears already spilling out as I rub my palms together, begging for my life. Horror and mortification filled every inch of my being as I continuously saw images of my life ending. I didn’t want to die. I want to live.
“Please… please, I beg of you. I’ll do anything, please, don’t tell the Alpha, I don’t want to die” I cried, groveling at his feet, and in my hysteria, I could hear as he laughs, the words ‘Anything I want…’ leaving his lips as he continued to laugh, taking amusement in my misery.
“You have been soiled already. Do you not know that? You reek of disgust and death is what awaits you!” he spat, turning around with his back to me, and I felt all the alarm bells in my head go off at the same time. He was going to leave, he was going to report me to Zane. He was going to get me killed. I couldn’t afford that. I don’t want to die, I want to live, and I want to see my pups. I want to be with Lennox and my pups, and Eleanor. I want to watch my pups grow together with my mate.
Without thinking, I quickly grabbed the first thing I could get hold of, a small rock, and struck the guard hard on his head.
Of course, my strike would do little to no harm to him. He was well-trained. I was a gamma like he was, but compared to him, I was nothing. I’d never even had to hold a sword for a day in my life. I was filled with newfound dread as he turned around with a growl, and I fell on my ass, crawling away as he stomped closer, visibly angered.
“I was going to let the Alpha kill you himself, but I would be glad to do the honors myself. I will fucking get rid of you, you fucking slut and I will be given a badge for getting rid of dirt like you” he speaks through gritted teeth as he charges at me.
I screamed in terror, crawling on my butt and throwing whatever I could find on the way at him but he dodged them all, managing to look even more terrifying the closer he got.
I gasped as his hands wrapped around my neck tightly, pressing tighter as he choked the air out of me and I struggled on the floor, crying as I clawed at his hands.
My attacks had no effect on him as his hold on my neck tightened. I could slowly feel the life draining out of me.
“E-E-Eleanor…….. p-please… help m-m-me” I cried through the mind-link, hoping Eleanor could hear me and come to my aid. Our connection had been broken ever since we left our pack and were forced into slavery, but I was out of options. I was dying and desperately needed this to work.
“P-p-please save me” I whispered, my body growing weak and my hands gave up trying to free myself from his grip. It felt like my eyes were going to pop out of their sockets, yet I didn’t even have the strength to fight back.
This was it. There was no help coming, this was how I died. My eyes fell shut, the hysterical sound of the gamma’s laughter still reaching my ears as I faded in and out of consciousness until it was replaced by a loud growl, followed by the pressure on my neck lessening and my eyes flew open.
I was saved.