Chapter 4 Family

Talia's POV.

I held the weak material against my front. My face was red with humiliation.

I turned away from the crowd, trying to hide my face from them, but a gasp made me turn back.

The man with dark hair was walking towards me. His eyes were like a bottomless sea. Blue. It reminded me of mine, but mine could never be that dark.

"What's wrong?" I heard the Alpha stutter; he was talking to the man who had come forward. "Alpha Rhys, you shouldn't touch the criminal."

I said nothing; all my limbs were sore from being tied down for days. I could not remember the last time I ate something; my skin had been scorched by the sun and beaten by rain. I looked a mess, but all I heard was him refer to the other man as Alpha. I should have guessed; the man radiated so much power.

"Turn." He said to me. His voice was dark; power coursed through his accent. I was too weak to argue. I turned my back to him.

I felt his finger trail something at the middle of my back. It might be a burn or something, not like I knew what my back looked like.

"That mark?" Alpha Kael tried to explain. "It's just a tag of slavery."

I frowned; I did not know there was a tag of slavery on my back.

Now the crowd was silent; everyone wanted to hear what was being said, and no one wanted to miss a drop of this gist. That was what my life had been reduced to. Entertainment.

"You call this a tag, Kael?" Alpha Rhys growled. I gasped. He had called the Alpha by name. "I did not know you to be so stupid."

Now it was the turn of the crowd to gasp. Their Alpha had been called stupid by a young man, another Alpha nevertheless.

A guard drew a sword, and another lifted a rifle at Alpha Rhys, but Alpha Kael raised a hand to stop them. He cleared his throat. "Does the mark resemble something familiar? I can assure you that it's not it."

I wanted to see the mark, but I knew I would look like a dying worm if I tried to look at my back right now.

"Resemble?" Alpha Rhys scoffed; I saw his eyes get darker with every second that passed.

Surprising everyone, he began to remove his own shirt. I heard girls gasp and swoon. I wouldn't blame them; if I were healthy and free, I would swoon too.

All I could do now was stare at him like he was a meal. But I couldn't because he came and stood beside me, his back as bare as mine.

What was he trying to do?

"Hey." He muttered to me alone as he stood beside me. "I'm sorry for coming late."

It was when he turned back to the crowd that I saw the mark on his back.

It was a nightmare come to life. I screamed, lost my balance, and fell.

He caught me.

I must have missed something of great importance because when I opened my eyes, all of the Moonfang clan were on their knees.

"How dare you?" Alpha Rhys was close to exploding. "You invited the whole of the west pack and half of the south, and you wanted to openly slaughter the only daughter of Luna Amira Rosetta? My sister? Do you have a death wish?"

My brain must have frozen. Nothing seemed to make sense beyond the feeling of the chains leaving my legs and wrists. My body was a patch of colors and burns.

I held tightly to Alpha Rhys as he carried me into the guest house. I could tell this was the apartment they had been given; it was the grandest house in this village, and it was my first time in it.

I gave a squeal of protest when he dropped me on the bed and tried to leave me.

"Shhh. You'll be fine; they'll clean you up."

"Don't leave. Please." I was yet to make meaning of who he was to me; my brain was slow to interpret the words I had heard, but I knew this man was my savior, and with him beside me, no one would dare hurt me.

"Don't leave. Please." I pleaded.

I felt soft hands take me, but I did not feel his presence leave.

I could not be put into a tub because of the wounds and bruises on my skin, so they cleaned me with a warm, wet cloth, and then they gave me a free gown to cover my body.

"You can turn now." I whispered. He heard me. "Did you lie? Did you lie to free me?" I asked.

"Why would I do that?" He was looking at me very weirdly.

"I've lived here for over ten years; why come now?" I asked. It did not make sense. The words my brain was interpreting made no sense.

"We thought you were dead. But that's not what you're asking." He angled his head. Now I could look deeper into his eyes; I had been right, they were so much like mine, only deeper and darker. "We have our mom's eyes." He said the words like he could read my mind.

I felt my eyes close.

"You're tired. Sleep, sister."

I slept.