Ava has been crying non-stop since Lucas died; her eyes were in danger of being permanently red.
She has refused to be consoled, singing and scribbling many tributes to Lucas on the wall of her prison. She wrote so much that everywhere was full of her writings.
A few days after Lucas’s death, they removed her from the prison she shared with the Dawn soldiers and put her in a more secure prison. They kept bringing in lots of food for her, but she barely ate. It was trouble for whoever brought the food because Fillip, for some reason that only he knew, had ordered them to be sure she ate.
A guard who brought her food one day slapped her after she refused to touch the food.
She had engaged him in a fight before other guards separated them.
The next day, she didn’t see the guard, but it was rumoured that Fillip killed him for touching her.
Ava didn’t care for his games; she despised him for killing her husband. Despite everything, he never came down by himself to her prison.
Ava hoped to get a chance to kill him as he did to Lucas.
She was heartbroken over the tragedy that had befallen Dawn pack: Lucas, her husband was dead, her pack was defeated and scattered, and she was locked up in prison, away from her son. She didn’t know what had become of her son and many of her friends.
She hoped that her son was safe wherever he was, and she trusted Nani with all her heart, knowing that with Nani, her son was safe from danger. That is the only reason she hasn’t killed herself to join Lucas in the afterlife and has stayed strong despite everything.
She didn’t know what happened to Kiara, Keisha, and the other few women who stayed back. Did they later escape? Or were they captured?
She hadn’t seen any of them in prison, but she prayed they were safe.
When Fillip took her, she also didn’t know what had happened to Beta Cian and Gamma Kiron.
They weren’t with the men in the prison. She didn’t hear that they were brought in. Either they were dead, or they had escaped from Vulcan and Fillip.
She hoped that they were safe and that they had escaped from Fillip.
Ava tried to escape many times, but they caught her each time and sent her back to prison.
There was a day when she tried to escape from them when they brought her out for her bath; it happened about a week after Lucas died.
The guards brought her out, then went and guarded the door like always.
She was with a maid whom they brought in to wait on her.
The girl kept her head down when disrobing, avoiding eye contact with her.
Ava raised her face with her hand, even though the girl tried to back away.
“What is your name?”
“Mara, please don’t hurt me!” she said, still not looking up.
“Look at me.”
She raised her face, still blinking.
“I won’t hurt you. I am Ava, the mate to the Dawn Pack Alpha. Where do you come from?
“M-my pack was attacked by Vulcan; they took me as a slave.”
“Mara, I don’t have time; I want to escape. If you were like those awful maids, I would have just drowned you in the water. Since I don’t want to get you in trouble, I will knock you out.”
“Huh…?”
Before Mara could comprehend what was happening, Ava grabbed a flower vase and struck her head, knocking Mara unconscious. She wore her clothes, then she took the back door. Soon she was spotted, and they started to chase her.
Vulcan and Fillip had many guards. She tried to lose them by running through every secret pathway she knew, but they still pursued her fiercely, ready to manhandle her if they caught her.
The next thing she knew, the alarm bell rang; hundreds of soldiers were after her this time. She grabbed a cloak and then hid in an opening in the garden. The slaves working there didn’t say anything; they just kept working. Soon, hundreds of soldiers stopped at the garden.
“Stop whatever you’re doing, then stand in a straight line.” A soldier barked at the slaves.
They began to search all of them, and Ava prayed that none of the slaves would tell on her.
“If you can hear me, Ava, and if I don’t see you in a minute, I am going to shoot this man right here, then this pregnant woman next, till everyone here is dead, and I am giving you just three seconds.”
“One, two…..!”
“Don’t shoot; I’m here.”
The soldier smirked, then shot the man.
“What was that for? You said three seconds!” Ava screamed.
“We make all the rules, wench,” another said.
Ava rushed to attack him, but she was restrained by other soldiers; they slapped and handcuffed her, then dragged her back to prison. Afterwards, they cut down the days she was allowed to bathe, and at least five guards followed her whenever she left her prison.
Something was different these past few days; her food was better than before. She was always escorted out to bathe every day, and for the next few days, she was always heavily guarded.
Today, they took her out in the morning. She was forced to bathe in scented water that contained rose petals. They did all the work; they just let her sit while they prepared her. Her hair was styled to perfection, and her nails were trimmed. She didn’t know what they planned, but she was hoping that she would get a chance to escape.
They brought in a dress made of the finest silk and made her wear it.
Ava couldn’t believe it; the cloth was indecent, and the cleavage was open, showcasing her nipples. It was also see-through; the back was cut low and even had a slit that stopped at her mid-thighs.
It was simply a cloth for harlots. No sane she-wolf would wear such a dress, and heaven forbid she wear it.
She tried to yank the dress from her body, but one of the women who dressed her held her hand.
“The dress is from my Lord. You have no right to take it off.” The woman spoke to her like she was talking to an insolent child.
Ava yanked the woman’s hand off her, then slapped the woman so hard it echoed in the hallway.
“The body that will wear this cloth is mine; the goddess forbids that I will dress like a harlot.”
She drew the cloth up, so she could pull it off; the other women in there rushed over and held her hand, and then they began to drag the dress back on.
She got so angry that she pushed the women in front of her. They all tumbled on the floor. Ava ran off immediately; she opened the door to flee, but there were two vile-looking men stationed in front of the door.
She closed the door immediately, trying to find another escape route, but the women were right behind her. She tried to sidetrack them, but she tripped on a stool and fell on her face. The guards pulled her up; both of her hands were pulled behind her. She was forcefully pushed forward.
“Are you guys done with her? Our Lord wants to meet her already,” one of the guards asked.
“Yes, sir, she is ready; let me just touch her up a bit,” the woman who shouted at her earlier said.
“Like hell, I will wear this to meet whoever the pervert you are taking me to is,” she shouted, pissed at the guard still holding her. She tried to get out of the grip of the person holding her.
“She is feisty; the Lord Commander will enjoy her.” One of the guards mocked while the others laughed.
“She has creamy and perky breasts, too,” another said.
“Long legs and beautiful thighs, will she taste just as beautiful in bed? Hey wench, fix her fastly,” another said.
The woman from earlier came forward, cleaned her sweat, let her hair down instead of the other way it was packed, and finally fixed her cloth.
“All done, sir,” she said and moved back.
They began to drag her out, but Ava was making it difficult for them.
“Move, or I will slap you, woman!” he barked, trying to intimidate her.
“Is that supposed to make me afraid? Then try it; let’s see if your Lord doesn’t feed you to the dogs,” she answered, winking at the guard.
“Fine, I won’t hit you for now because you are his slut,” he spoke while they burst into laughter.
“Continue in that line of speech; maybe I could ask him for your heads as a reward for pleasing him tonight.”
After that, they were quiet and just walked beside her. They need not be afraid; she would never sleep with Fillip. She would rather die than go to bed with the man who killed her husband.
“Be on your best behaviour, wench.” One of them said this and pulled her towards Beta Cian’s room.
She looked around; it was a two-room apartment. One was the bedroom; the other was an office. He had converted one of Cian’s rooms into an office; his living here felt so wrong.
There was a chair and table beside the window; the table was filled with books. There was someone there; he was sitting on a chair, turning his back on them.
“She is here, My Lord,” the guard said and curtsied.
“Leave!” he bellowed, still not facing them.
The guard left, and it was only Ava and the man in the room.