The next morning, the door of the prison was opened. Ava didn’t raise her head. She thought that the bastard Fillip was back again; her body was still aching from the scuffle yesterday.
Strangely, the visitor began to laugh. It sounded like a woman’s voice.
Ava knew that voice so well; it belonged to Lucas’s past mistress Vivian, one of them who had tried to kill her when she first arrived in the Dawn pack.
“Tsk tsk, how the mighty have fallen. Open the door and leave us.”
“Yes, Mistress.” The guard opened Ava’s prison door and left them to discuss.
“How are you here? Lucas exiled you.”
Vivian laughed again, “Of course he did; you bewitched him. You thought you would be the De’Clan’s slut forever after casting Ria and me out. You thought wrong; here you are in the cell of the pack. You thought you could have it all to yourself. I mean, you still have the prison, so that is something.”
Ava rolled her eyes; she couldn’t believe that the murderer was trying to put the blame on her.
“I didn’t cast you guys out; you were cast out because you tried to kill me. You are a murderer.”
“As we should, you came immediately and started changing things. You stole Lucas’s affection from us and cast us out; do you know where Ria is?
“Does it look like I care?”
“You should, since it’s all your fault!” Her eyes turned murderous.
“Where the fuck is she then?” Ava yelled.
“Dead Ava, dead. You made Lucas send us out; we were on the road penniless and without any of the pack’s protection. We did literally everything to survive, from prostitution to pickpocketing, just to survive.”
“You brought it on yourselves; I was…”
“I’m not done,” Vivian cut in. “So one day, I met Fillip; he showed me kindness after a long time. In exchange, I told him everything I knew about Lucas-every single detail about Ava. I told him everything I knew about Dawn Pack’s defences, even about your betrayal.”
Ava pounced on Vivan like an angry wolf, grabbed her throat immediately, and started choking the light out of her. She grabbed her hair as they both fell to the ground. She climbed on her and immediately started tearing her hair out.
Vivian used her hand fan to hit Ava’s head, which was still swollen from Fillip’s assault.
She held her head, and Vivian used the opportunity to push Ava, who was sitting on top of her. She slapped Ava’s face hard, then turned towards the door.
“Guards, guards!”
Hakim, Kish, and the rest of the guards ran into the cell.
“I want her flogged; she attacked me. The mistress of Alpha Fillip was attacked by a mere prisoner. Drag her out and flog her,” Vivian commanded.
“Mistress Vivian, Alpha Fillip gives orders that none of us is allowed to touch her. He would be furious to hear that we flogged her,” Hakim tried to explain.
Vivian rolled her eyes and said, “Of course, he might not let mere guards flog her, but I am his mistress. Would you like to be killed for insubordination, Hakim?”
“Of course not, mistress.”
“Then drag her out; I want her flogged in the centre of the building.”
They nodded, and Vivian left for the centre of the building. They dragged a struggling Ava out.
A stone was kept there for a long time; it is used to punish those who erred.
They laid Ava on top of the stone, and Hakim picked up a cane to start flogging Ava when they spotted Fillip approaching them.
“What is this nonsense?” Fillip thundered.
Hakim and the rest bowed their heads, too frozen to say a word because the look on Fillip’s face was murderous. A wrong word at that time can make them lose their heads.
“Vivian, what is this nonsense?”
“I ordered them to flog Ava. She attacked me, my Lord.”
“I didn’t; she just wanted to take revenge on me,” Ava defended, standing up from the stone.
“Who gave you the permission to bring her out of prison? Did you order them to flog her, Vivian?”
Vivian began to shake, and she could see that Fillip was very angry.
“You said that I am free to command everyone under you, so that is why I did that,” she said meekly.
“Well, not Ava; she is to be my mistress too; she will give me an heir who will rule after me.”
Ava could feel Vivian’s eyes shooting lasers at her.
“I didn’t know that, my Lord; please forgive me.”
Fillip took a deep breath before turning to Hakim.
“If this kind of incident repeats itself on your watch again, I will feed you to the dogs.”
“Of course, my Lord!”
“Take Ava to the maids; let them give her a room in the Mistress Quarters, but make sure her room is guarded. She is not allowed to move around unless I say so. Also, ask them to feed her and change her clothes,” Fillip commanded.
“One more thing. Make sure mistress Vivian stays a week’s house arrest in her room,” he commanded, then left.
Everybody was tongue-tied, but Vivian found her tongue faster than anybody else.
“Sl*t, witch, witch. You bewitched Lucas and took him away; now you are doing the same to Fillip.”
Ava smiled, “It just means I am better than you. You are the slut; that’s why everyone leaves you. You heard Fillip say you should stay under house arrest. Hakim?”
“Yes, Mistress Ava.”
“Take me to my room.”
He nodded and said, “This way, mistress.”
The apartment where Ava was kept was one that Lucas designed for older wolves. It had everything close to it instead of moving around to get them.
Vivian went into her own quarters and then slammed the door hard.
***
Ava could hear the guards nailing something at her window. She guessed that they were making sure she didn’t sneak out.
She was worried about Fillip’s plans, but now she was thankful to the moon goddess for making Fillip lust after her. The fool will lower his guard, and then she will escape.
There was a knock on her door-the woman from earlier, Lia. She came in with Mara and others.
“Greetings, mistress Ava. Alpha Fillip said to dress you up and then feed you.”
“Come closer,” Ava said to Lia.
She came closer, and Ava slapped her so hard that it echoed in the room.
“That was for humiliating me before; now, get out before I kill you.”
Lia ran out, crying.
Ava turned to the others, “Feel at home with me; what will you guys do after this?”
“If you release us, some of us have to cook, while others have to scrub the floors and wash clothes,” Mara answered.
“Have you all eaten?”
“No, mistress Ava,” they all answered.
“Both of you, go get enough food to feed eight people.” Ava pointed at two of them.
Soon they were back with a lot of food; they set the table and then placed the food on top of it.
“Come eat with me,” Ava asked.
“Of course not, mistress. We will be punished.”
“Then I will tell them to punish you for disobeying my command.”
Mara was the first person to sit down. Ava squeezed her hand and smiled at her. Soon all of them sat down, digging into the food and discussing.
Ava helped them escape duty that night; they all stayed in Ava’s room and had a lovely time.
****
*Fillip is back at Dawn Pack; the defences are so tight. If you wish to break Ava out, she stays at the former elders’ quarters. She was almost flogged today by Vivian. But Fillip saved her and sent her to his mistress’s quarters. Besides, she looked like she was beaten up. Amongst other things, count me out of your suicide mission.
Neil.*
Cian cursed after reading the message. He took a sip from his whisky and then smashed the bottle.
After the war, he woke up in a widow’s small hut. Apparently, they found him beside the water and then tended to his wounds. The widow explained he would have died if the blade had not missed his heart.
He had inquired about Dawn’s pack. He was told that Lucas was dead and Ava was imprisoned. Kiara was also nowhere to be found. The basta*d Fillip had made Dawn pack his headquarters.
He had visited the refugee camp of the Dawn Pack, but there was not a single soul there. He searched for them for a long time before he was told that Fillip and Vulcan had attacked the refugee camp, killing many.
He had become obsessed with breaking Ava out but never succeeded. Even the hired mercenaries wouldn’t accept the job when they learned that it was the Dawn Pack they would infiltrate.
He managed to find Neil, who was one of Fillip’s soldiers. He agreed to send information to him in exchange for money.
He had waited long enough; he was going to break Ava out of there. If he loses his life in the process, then so be it.
He was everything but a coward. Lucas will probably curse him from the dead if he leaves Ava there to perish.
He packed his bag; he would begin his journey to Dawn Pack tomorrow. It was only a day’s journey anyway. He decided not to take the main road but to journey on foot, following the hidden pathway to the forest, since the Dawn pack monitored every movement of wolves. Following the main road was like going on a suicide mission. Everyone who didn’t work for Fillip and Vulcan travelled through the forest.
The next morning, he set out to follow the Dawn Pack through the forest, moving fast so darkness didn’t catch him in the rogue-filled parts of the woods. He wanted to leave the fighting for when he reached Dawn’s pack. His focus is breaking Ava out.
He walked for a long time until it was evening. He was looking for a place to rest when he spotted two soldiers of the Black Dynasty attacking another wolf. He saw one of them had raised a dagger to stab the wolf.
Cian stabbed him quickly before he got the chance to stab the wolf.