Ava followed the men outside with the knife she stabbed Fillip with. She had stylishly picked it up again, then hid it in her body.
The one Fillip called Hakim pushed her forward.
“Walk faster, w*nch,” Hakim cursed, and the others burst into laughter.
She ignored the fools. Time was ticking, and she was trying to make a run for it before she was taken back into that cell.
“She has such a lovely backside; no wonder Fillip chose her,” one of the guards taunted.
“I heard she was Lucas De’ Clan’s mate, so she must know a thing or two about pleasing and pledging men in power,” another taunted.
She turned around immediately and then slapped him on the cheek.
Ava could tolerate their jeering, but she won’t ever let them disrespect Lucas. Besides, Fillip favoured her, so they couldn’t harm her.
The guard held the place she slapped him; he raised his hand to retaliate, but Hakim held his hand tight.
“Lord Fillip will kill you, Kish; leave the witch be.”
Kish looked at her for a while before he dropped his hand, and she burst into laughter before mouthing;
“Losers.”
They pushed her into the room to be undressed, and Ava looked for the woman she had slapped earlier. She wouldn’t feel bad for doing to her what she planned.
Upon finding the woman, Ava grabbed her, brought out the knife and pressed it against her neck.
“Please, please don’t kill me,” she begged.
“Well. It all depends on how you behave,” Ava smirked.
“Please, I will do anything you say, ma’am,” she begged.
She grabbed a cloth, tied her hands with it, and then her eyes.
“When the men ask of me, tell them we are not yet done. I will kill you if they ever find out I am no longer here. I will find a way to even if I am caught. Is that clear?”
The poor woman nodded with tears streaming down her face.
“Aren’t you done already, Lia?” Hakim asked from outside.
Ava paused from opening the window and pointed the knife at Lia, she couldn’t see, but her skin made slight contact with the blade.
“No, sir,” Lia hurriedly answered.
Ava jumped out of the window and ran towards the gardens, where the tunnels were located. Thankfully, she wasn’t far from her escape route, but there was only one problem; guards were lurking everywhere.
They were flogging and directing people working in the garden.
There was no way to pass them, so she decided to follow the other pathway, but unfortunately, a guard spotted her.
“Shit!”
She began to run faster, but the alarm bell rang immediately. There were lots of soldiers chasing after her.
She ran into the library and then hid in one of the cabinets.
She heard footsteps in the library and knew it was only a matter of time before she would be caught. She decided not to give up just yet.
She tried to crawl to the hidden part of the library, but someone grabbed her.
She bent forward, then threw the soldier in front of her. She hit his stomach before grabbing her knife and impaling it in his stomach.
Something hit her head then, and she felt the world spinning around before she saw nothing again.
****
Ava woke up in the cold cell. She tried to stand up, but she felt so dizzy.
The bastards must have knocked her out because the back of her head was pounding and hurting her.
“Shit!” she cursed, finally standing up.
Her throat was dry; she needed water, but no guard was around to ask for one.
The prison’s main door opened, and Fillip stepped into the corridors. He stood in front of Ava’s prison and then began to smile at her. She didn’t feel happy seeing him, so she just plastered a huge scowl on her face.
“I heard you tried escaping again.”
Ava ignored him, concentrating on her fingernails.
He cursed, moved closer into the cell, and held her throat.
“When I talk, I expect answers; maybe handling you with a kid’s glove gave you the wrong idea,” he said, still choking her.
Ava began to struggle to remove his hands, but he held them there.
She managed to kick him in his groin; he groaned in pain before he dropped his hand to nurse his groin.
“You are such a wildcat.” He took a long look at her before he continued. “But I like it; now, back to our discussion.”
“Will you continue mourning Lucas? Will you never move on? This is a one-time opportunity, Ava. Be my mistress.”
“I haven’t seen anything I will gain from being your mistress except being a betrayer who sleeps with her husband’s murderer. Tell me, Fillip, the reason you want me-isn’t it because you want to humiliate Lucas De’Clan?”
He looked at Ava for a long time before he smiled. “When I was still a Gamma, I watched you every day. I loved the smile on your face when you played with the nobodies in the pack or the new refugees. I wanted you then, but I wanted you even more when I saw how Lucas looked at you. He looked at you with contentment, like you were the only thing he had in the world.” He stooped low.
“I wanted you for a long time, Ava, way before all this.”
He tried to touch Ava’s face, but she spat on him. He grabbed her face and then forced his lips on her. Ava fought him, trying hard to push him away from her body. She knew what he had in mind-if she let him, he was going to rape her.
He began to tear her bodice; he placed his leg between her thighs; Ava ceased struggling; she plastered a fake smile on her face.
Fillip’s erring hands ceased; he didn’t understand why Ava wasn’t fighting him like before. He concluded that maybe she had accepted his proposal after all.
“Do you know why Lucas will always be better than you? Because he never forced anything. If it were him, I would be begging him to take me,” she smirked. “So whatever you take, it will never be the same with Lucas.”
One moment Ava was smiling, and the next, she found herself on the ground groaning in pain.
She began to smile into Fillip’s murderous face, despite the fact that her head was pounding.
Fillip stooped beside her; he yanked her up, making the dizziness she felt intensify.
“Don’t worry, Ava; very soon, you will beg me to take you like you would have done with Lucas, or you will rot here for the rest of your life.”
“That will never happen.”
Fillip was about to say something else when someone knocked on the door. Fillip stood up and asked the person to come in.
One of the guards from earlier opened the prison’s door.
“Apologies, Lord Fillip, Lord Vulcan requested your presence in your room,” the guard said with his head bent low.
“Did you tell him I was busy?”
“Of course, my Lord, but he insisted it couldn’t wait.”
“Fine, I will be there soon. Make sure she doesn’t receive any food as I ordered before.”
He turned to her and grabbed her left cheek.
“Till I come again, beautiful.” He released her and then left the prison.
Ava began to examine her body; it was all bruised from when he threw her against the wall and grabbed her thighs. Her head was pounding, and her mouth was also busted from the slaps she received from him.
She would rather rot away than become his mistress.
****
When Fillip stepped into his room, Vulcan was already sitting on the chair opposite his. There was a bottle of whisky on the table. He looked at the bottle and discovered that it was his. Vulcan sipped the whisky with a smirk on his face, content with himself. His assistant, Konark, sat beside him.
Fillip scowled angrily; he wasn’t angry that Vulcan was drinking his special wine; he was angry that he didn’t ask for permission. Fillip interpreted that he wanted to show him he could do whatever he wanted. He had contemplated putting a knife to his throat for a long time, but he couldn’t, at least not yet; they both needed each other.
“Vulcan, to what do I own this pleasure?” He asked, then sat down.
“I heard the wench try to escape again; you should have killed her.”
Fillip narrowed his eyes.
“I don’t see how that is any of your business; I remember our discussion on minding our business when we take over.”
“Yes, we did, but if you keep indulging De’Clan’s slut, slaves will think it’s okay to disobey us. Besides, you are in danger of your men losing faith in you.”
“Handle your men, Vulcan. I know how to handle mine. My men respect me enough for killing Lucas, the protector of the realms. My greatest triumph will be getting his mate to willingly become mine.”
Vulcan clenched his hand; he felt like smacking the smugness out of the bastard’s face.
“Maybe, but allowing her to escape from your hands every time is a sign of weakness, don’t you think?”
Fillip smirked, “What makes you think that? I let her escape to show her I will always catch her, Vulcan. I can take care of a mere woman.”
“Alright, remember we had help with Lucas, so don’t go bragging about that.”
“Is there a reason for this visit, Vulcan?”
“Yes, the spies haven’t found Kiron and Cian. “You know what that means for us?”
Fillip nodded. Those two being alive was a threat to his dominance; he wouldn’t be able to establish everything he wanted.
“Put a word out that whoever finds them should report them so they can be rewarded with a thousand pieces of gold.”
Vulcan nodded, “With the right incentive, I believe we will find them. You could actually rule from there if you went out with the soldiers, you know?” Vulcan suggested.
It seemed like a harmless suggestion, but knowing Vulcan, he wanted him to leave so he could manipulate the army and kill him.
“I like Dawn’s pack air better than Moonlight’s; besides, I have lived here for a long time, so I have grown used to many things.”
Vulcan stood up and said, “Of course, I will be on my way.” He turned to go along with his lap dog, Konark, and his guards.