Chapter 5 05

"Did you talk to her?"

A figure fell in tandem with hers just as an arm was slung carelessly over her shoulder, inadvertently drawing her into the person's side. Glancing beside her, Alessia acknowledged the fellow thief whose strides threatened to overtake hers, her dull eyes flickering away.

She smelt the pungent sweat on his skin, the remnants of some sort of cologne he must have swiped, and the hot stickiness of his breath from eating a stolen honeyed bun. Another peripheral glance at his mouth and bruised but working jaw confirmed her suspicions.

"No," she uttered before kicking a pebble aside on the path. On any other day, Alessia would have twisted Damen's arm for daring to touch her so brazenly, but this time, his touch was almost welcomed. Almost... comforting.

They walked down a winding path silently. Damen tilted his head to the sky and exhaled a deep breath, his voice lacking the usual luster. "What will happen to her?"

Alessia's chest tightened. "I don't know," she admitted in a ghost of a whisper, then shut her eyes as if to barricade the haunting images of Circe that came to mind. It was futile for the memories still bled distinctly beneath her eyelids.

Circe naked and standing at the end of the alley.

Cold.

Vulnerable.

Defeated.

The hand that lay limply over her shoulder curled slightly to press on her chin and tilt her face to his. "Cheer up, Less, it's not the end of the world," he said, although there was something about his tone that came across as more of a question than an answer to her worries - the assurance was absent in his voice. When she didn't smile, Damen sighed and gave her chin a squeeze. "It wasn't your fault, it could have been anyone el-"

"I'm going to see her," Alessia interrupted. Silently, she detached herself from his intimate hold and found her way to the familiar path that wound towards the palace.

The boy's eyes remained steady on her back; she felt the quiet guilt and unspoken apology that would never soothe their gaping wounds.

Wallowing in self-pity and eroding guilt only fueled the urge that itched at her fingertips. As she wandered through the market square, Alessia's green eyes flickered from one stall to the next, one passing individual to another - it was an automatic, thoughtless reaction as her body and mind dissociated and worked on fulfilling that dire sense of dopamine.

Like a lighthouse keeper drawn to his window to gaze once again at the sea, so did her eyes sway about in search of comfort, only to pause at the sight of a crippled man kneeling by his stall, partially shielded from the sun by a withered umbrella.

He was selling cheap plastic jewellery.

The tattered garments and dark flies that buzzed frenziedly on his rotting leg would have pulled at the heartstrings of any compassionate individual, but Alessia was not focusing on his deteriorating state, nor did she acknowledge that the jewellery was his only livelihood and source of possible income to purchase medicine to keep the rot at bay.

No. All she could see was the glittering plastic. All she could feel was the dryness it brought to her lips that parted, panting for that rush that numbed the pain like a sedative, albeit for a second. But it was a second she needed.

The stealing was brisk and meticulous.

No one saw her hand dart out and clasp the nearest earrings - a purple set molded into the shape of diamonds.

"Circe might like this," Alessia murmured while pocketing the jewellery indifferently and making her way through the town and woods once more.

Her cheeks tensed with the edging of a forced smile.

"Screw it," she said before swiftly squeezing through the small opening in the wall. She would approach her friend like she always did, albeit this time a bit more cautiously. She wasn't exactly sure of how to comfort or care so tenderly as Circe did for her, but there was a sliver of her heart that throbbed with guilt at the notion of her friend.

Reaching for the hidden vine ladder, she began the steep and strenuous climb while uttering words of apology under her breath.

"I'm sorry." Step. "I'm sorry." Another step. "I'm sorry." One more.

Clasping the balcony railing, Alessia hauled herself up the metal bars and straightened on the patio to dust herself off.

Circe's door was wide open, the curtains in her bedroom billowing inwards from the wind that pressed against Alessia's back as she stepped forward timidly.

Suddenly, her mouth felt dry, and the confidence she exuded diminished to an unsteady tremor as she stepped through the doorway.

Her eyes cut through the bedroom in desperate search of her friend, only to falter at the figure sitting on the edge of the bed. The sight of her brought a flicker of unnamed anxiety to her chest.

Circe resembled a worn-out caricature, barely hanging by the threads.

Her features were hardly recognisable. The golden hair that was once pinned in ornate buns was now loose and tumbled past her shoulders, hidden beneath a large sweater. The luster that once graced her skin like a moonbeam had become absent, and in its place, a haunting, sickly colour darkened to crescents beneath her troubled, blue eyes.

Eyes that were ships of turmoil at sea as they rose to meet the thief's, who hovered hesitantly at the balcony.

"Circe?" came Alessia's voice, quiet and almost imperceptible. She moved to step inside, too focused on her friend's trembling lower lip to notice the subtle warning in her gaze as her eyes slipped sideways, gesturing to something.

Alessia caught it too late.

The shadow at her left stirred and something hard made contact with her cheek. The impact sent her spiralling in a dizzying circle before rough hands grabbed her by the neck and slammed her straight into the wall. She thought she felt her cheekbone crunch.

"Please, father! You promised-"

"Silence."

The Alpha's voice was ice as it froze everything in the room, including the hands that bore her firmly to the wall.

Alessia blinked back the hot tears that clouded her vision, leaving her in a disoriented haze. From the pressure on her lungs, each breath felt like tiny knives splintering down the length of her windpipe which then thrummed through her rapidly rising chest. The holes they left leaked confusion and hurt, her cheek throbbing with pain.

"Alessia Carlisle." His voice cast a dark shadow in the room.

Alessia swallowed a mouthful of blood and saliva and wheezed, "My Alpha." Her voice took on a submissive lilt and despite not seeing his figure, she lowered her gaze to the floor.

A silence diffused through the room so distinctly, the crackle and pop of the flaming hearth seemed to spark before her eyes - bright as the anger that pervaded the Alpha.

"Turn her."

At his command, the hand that gripped her neck lowered to her wrists and bound them tightly behind her back. They dragged Alessia from the wall and turned her to face the King of the sixth kingdom, one hand tangling through her hair to force her head upwards.

The Alpha towered at the room's center like a single pillar, still dressed in his silk red robe that flowed over royal attire. His black hair was slicked back in a high ponytail that drew attention to the fine, square lineaments of his face and the harsh lines around his bright lazuli eyes.

Under the frigid intensity of his stare, Alessia wilted like a flower exposed to the harsh sun.

Her head remained lowered and her eyes fixed on the ground.

She fought the urge to glance at Circe still sitting on the bed, her hands fisting the material of her skirt so tight that her knuckles paled to bone.

The King regarded her with a slight tilt of his head, the animal impassivity of his eyes shifting about her body with a look akin to disgust. "Is this the girl?"

Alessia felt vulnerable like an exposed nerve. She counted three royal guards in the room, two situated in each corner and one holding her; the hold around her wrists tightened like a rope, strong fingers forming the knot. The Alpha's Beta was present as well, poised by the doorway with a stoic expression.

"Father, please-"

"Is this the girl?" the Alpha repeated slow, measured, precise.

Alessia felt something trickle down her cupid's bow. Unmoving, she stared at the blood that dripped from her nose and onto the Persian carpet, staining it like a flower. As she peered up at Circe through her soot lashes, who was gazing at her father with a pleading look only found in tragedies, she found herself staring at the pale apples of her cheeks. They were crystallized with tears that collected along her soft jawline.

Their eyes met across the distance.

Alessia moved her head in a minuscule nod. It's okay, she silently voiced.

The look that came upon Circe was like glass shattering. "It is," she whispered hoarsely.

The Alpha processed the salient piece of information while studying his daughter. A muscle slid along his jaw. "I see."

Before she could process what was happening, Alessia felt the hand shift on her pinned wrists and then a large fist was volleying straight for her gut.

Air escaped her lungs like a withering balloon. She doubled over with a startled huff of breath, her ribcage trembling and her eyes bulging wildly. Not giving her a chance to recover, the girl's choking was silenced as the guard wrenched her up by the collar, his palm slicing through the air in a violent blow across her face. Her head slammed against the wall behind.

"Father, no!"

Circe was already off the bed and moving towards Alessia, but the Alpha was faster.

The crack of his hand cutting across his daughter's cheek drew everyone to a staggering halt.

For a moment, there was silence. The pain that flamed through Alessia simmered to nothing at the sight of the princess: her head whipped to the side, red marks of fingers splayed over her cheek, lips parted and fresh tears glimmering like diamonds in her eyes. His rings had cut a thin line across Circe's cheekbone.

The Alpha withdrew a silk handkerchief from his robe and wiped at the blood on his rings. "How dare you?" he demanded as she raised a trembling hand to cup at her throbbing cheek. "How dare you call me that after stabbing me in the back? After everything I have done for you... everything this kingdom has sacrificed for you, you think you deserve to crawl back into our arms."

Circe's lower lip trembled, her gaze blurred over with tears as the burn of humiliation, hot as steam, came across her cheeks. Alessia's own pain was nothing in comparison.

"You run off into the night in search of that... thing," he spat, eyes darting to the thief's with malice before returning, "And expect us to accept you back into this household? After ruining yourself, after whoring around and allowing those boys to touch you-"

"It wasn't her fault." Alessia's interruption drew the Alpha's gaze like metal to a magnet. His fierce eyes bolted onto her hard green ones which held a tonation of pleading. "It wasn't Circe's fault. They-They raped her. It was never her choice to-"

"And whose fault do you think that is?"

Alessia stilled.

"Hm?" The Alpha took a powerful step forward, his pellucid blue eyes sweeping over her figure, then face. "Yes, Omega, do not allow yourself to think for a second that I do not know the extent of your... relationship with my daughter." He spat the word as if it was something acrid on his tongue. "Defiling her with your filth-"

Alessia bristled, the words leaving her mouth before she could trap them. "Circe and I are just friends-"

The guard shifted. His palm connected with her cheek, hard. Alessia tasted blood and shakily lifted a hand to cradle her wounded cheek, only for fingers to wind through her locks and force her down on her knees. Pain spiralled down her spine as her knees slammed against the floor and the guard shoved her head down, her face pressed tightly to the carpet. She hissed.

"Friends?" the Alpha whispered in outrage.

The wet heel of a boot suddenly pressed on the nape of her neck, pinning her to the floor. Alessia felt the ridges and smelled the dirt and sand from the guard's shoe. As she gritted her teeth, her fingers sunk into the soft threads of the rug on both sides of her head.

"Friends?" Her heart thundered against the carpet. "The fool you dare take me for."

"Father, please," Circe whimpered softly, though she made no move to approach him, "Please don't-"

"Silence, faggot," he boomed.

His words snapped like a belt on wounded skin.

Alessia jolted under the boot reflexively.

Hearing those words startled something sharp and hot in her belly, a low growl clambering its way up her throat with the urge to rip the Alpha's face-off and chew through it like rubber. She felt her fingernails begin to lengthen to claws.

"You dare growl at me, Omega?" Her growl was cut off as the boot suddenly lifted and was replaced by a hand that gripped her hair by the roots, drawing her face from the floor and tilting it up to the Alpha standing above her. Something cold touched her throat.

Alessia stilled as her eyes slid up the sword's blade, the reflection of its wielder slanting in the sunlight. The Alpha pressed the tip harder against her throat.

"I will have your head staked at the doors of my palace for even breathing the same air as I," he said as his face drew closer to hers.

Alessia should have withered at his threat - surrendered and begged, perhaps - for it held promise, yet her defiance met his, bright and burning. "Do it," she snarled, baring her bloody teeth at the man. As soon as the words left her, her heart skittered as he regarded her a moment. And then his lips curled into a terrible, maddening smile.

"No," he decided, then slowly turned back to Circe with an expression that frosted their breaths, his eyes turning cold. He tossed the sword aside and reached into his robe. With the sharp sound of steel, his sword came out of its sheath. Larger, heavier, sharper.

"I will kill her instead."

Terror sprung to Alessia's eyes. "Wait!" Alessia protested as the man stepped towards his quivering daughter. "Wait, Alpha, please!"

His teeth bared themselves in a barking laugh, "So now you call me Alpha?" The silver sword's tip pressed on Circe's heart and a weak cry left her, but his eyes remained on the thief. "You respect me now in the face of your lover, is that it, sinner?" Another wave of tears flowed down his daughter's cheeks. "No matter. This will be the last time you see her."

Alessia was trembling all over in rage and fear.

Heartless.

How could someone be so heartless? To kill his own daughter rather than a common thief who deserved the brunt of his wrath; to indict punishment upon a girl whose heart couldn't help but swell with love for her dearest friend; to not blink at the sight of her shaking, submissive figure, and to smile instead...

Her eyes slid to Circe, fingers curling around her heart at the look of terror in her gaze.

The Alpha's eyes darkened in disgust as he regarded their silent exchange. Without preamble, he lifted his sword. Alessia's heart escaped the fist enclosing it and leapt to her throat. All she could do was look on as he swung with killing speed at Circe's neck-

"Take me!"

The flashing sword stilled a hairsbreadth from her throat.

Circe whimpered.

"Take me," Alessia rasped, perspiration beading her temples. "You need a breeder, right? A virgin sacrifice? Take me then." She couldn't face her friend at that moment; she did not want her to see her moistening eyes. "I'm untouched and still young, eighteen. Have me instead. Just- leave her."

The tense silence curled around them. Alessia watched as he scanned her slowly. His eyes were opaque, as though his thoughts had turned inward. Nervously, she licked her lips and thought she tasted salt but wasn't sure, her heart too restless to fathom something as insignificant as tears in that moment.

The King lowered his sword, his face turning as blank as slate. "Jericho?"

The Beta pushed himself from the doorframe on which he leaned. He studied Alessia with an air of scrutiny, then turned to the Alpha and spoke, "If she is a virgin and untouched, she would be viable as a sacrifice to the Lycan King." There was a pause. "He will not choose her so death will be her inevitable fate and our pack would be spared."

Two birds with one stone.

Alessia struggled to keep her breathing at bay, processing the words that had left him. It made sense that the Beast would not choose her - she was a thief, hardly bred and borne to bear children. But despite the assurance of her death, she prayed it was enough to convince the Alpha in front of her as long as Circe was safe. That was all that mattered.

She dared not spare the princess a glance. She knew it would only spark her father's rage once more. The blade's tip returned to her chin and carefully tilted her face up, revealing the reddened circles around her eyes.

There was an odd look on the Alpha's face. "You would sacrifice yourself... for her?" He referred to Circe as if she were nothing more than a piece of fleeting furniture in the room, an object of his disdain.

Alessia swallowed and the sword rode the wave of her throat. "Yes."

He watched her a moment longer, eyes flashing light and dark in intervals of thought. Finally, the sword lowered and she released a pained breath as he spoke. "Summon the doctor."

Alessia was abruptly hauled to her feet and before she could react, a pair of hands were gripping the front of her clothes, wrenching them tight, and then ripping through the seams. Her clothes tore and fell. A gust of cold air brushed over her exposed breasts, stealing a gasp from her as she fought to keep the unwanted hands at bay.

"Move again and I will have your limbs torn off and fed to the dogs."

His curt threat stole the battle from her limbs. Heat rushed from her scalp to her chest, which she tried shielding with both hands as the guard ripped the remnants of her pants and tossed them aside, leaving her nude for all to see.

She couldn't bear to look at Circe's face.

The men perused her body, unimpressed by how little she had to offer: her flushed face partially hidden by the curtain of curls; the feminine curve of her shoulders, a collarbone that bowed and met at the center; her belly mapped with freckles and blemishes; the fine brown hairs over her pubic bone and finally, her bruised, tan legs.

Alessia flushed a deeper shade of red than she ever thought possible, anger leaking from her every pore at being examined, handled, inspected like an animal. Fighting to keep her eyes fixed on the ground, the doctor soon arrived with a silver tray in hand. She did not look up.

The tray was set at her feet and the man crouched low to slide on a pair of latex gloves which made her skin ripple with discomfort just by seeing them. He was no older than forty, with hair that greyed at the roots and features that held an imperturbable expression as he gestured for her to lower her hands.

Alessia didn't move.

"Drop them, Omega," the Alpha ordered.

Drawing in a shallow breath, she realised she didn't have a choice. She gritted her teeth and slowly lowered her arms, struggling to ignore the cool air that assaulted her chest.

Alessia stiffened at the unwarranted touch of the man as he reached to cup her breasts, small in his large palms, and fondled them slightly; he squeezed, then released and watched intently as her flesh blossomed in his palm. Her stomach tensed as he brushed his thumbs over each nipple before pinching and twisting slightly, causing her face to tighten.

"No rot," the man said and moved on to press the flat of her belly.

Alessia was trembling now, humiliation tinging her ears red. She had never been touched like this, not even by herself. It was invasive. Demeaning. It made her wonder how Circe must have felt to be touched like this, and not only by doctors.

But it was when his hand slid between her legs that she couldn't help but react.

Her hand shot out and gripped his wrist. "What are you-"

The guard's hand connected with her cheek.

Alessia's head snapped right and she stared, motionless, tasting the blood that ran down her lip.

"Release him."

Obediently, she did so. The doctor resumed the sliding of his hand up her thighs while the other tapped at her inner knee to spread her legs wider. His index finger slid between her folds, then parted them for a proper look at her womanhood.

She wanted to bawl.

The doctor nodded at the King in affirmation before raising a thin metal probe from the tray. Alessia stared at it, growing apprehensive once she saw where it was aimed.

One moment it was between her thighs and the next, it was being inserted into her hole. Discomfort soaked her in pink and red as she squeezed her eyes shut, already praying for it to be over. Why did Circe have to witness this? Something so humiliating that she felt warm tears slip down her cheeks, sticking dark strands to her skin.

The doctor slid the probe further inside her. To most, it would have been undetectable but the thief was conscious of every pair of eyes on her and the foreign intrusion to which she had never experienced. Her walls instinctively clenched in pain as he moved it back and forth between her walls, searching for the thin hymen, then turned to the Alpha.

"She is a virgin."

Alessia saw something slack cross his features- relief.

"Continue."

She blinked blurrily at him. Continue?

Before she could open her mouth to speak, the guard spun her around and swiftly pinned her to the wall. The cold contact of stone on her nipples and belly sparked a shuddering breath, only to be stifled by lube-slicked hands parting the cheeks of her backside.

Horror flooded her system as the doctor pried them apart and circled her anus with the slicked, blunt tip of his finger. The unpleasant, intrusive feeling had her squirming slightly as he pet over the entrance while the other hand grabbed at her thigh in warning.

"Be still," he growled.

The urge to fight dampened at the feverish throbbing of her cheek where the guard had hit her. Biting her tongue, Alessia forced herself to exhale and relax but her fingers spoke a different language, paling into tight fists on either side. A horrified flush crept over her face, neck, and across the upper swell of her breasts.

He circled her tightly puckered entrance before breaching her and she clamped down on her lip, screwing her eyes tight in the hope that it would all disappear if she couldn't see it. She wanted to whimper, wanted to make it all stop and submit there and then, but the Alpha's derogatory words continued to flicker on and off in her head like a child playing with a lightswitch.

But there was nothing childish about this.

This was inhumane and on the inside, she felt that the King was almost enjoying it.

"Relax," the doctor instructed and she tried, unaware of the tear that slid down her hollow cheek. Alessia ground her teeth hard and counted down from ten as the finger pressed deeper into her - a sensation of being stuffed achingly. Her legs trembled, hair curtaining and blocking the gazes around her and in that moment, she was grateful.

And then it was over.

He removed his finger. She stayed standing there, her back turned to the audience behind. She heard the practitioner dump the gloves in a plastic bag and rise from his seated position. "She is untouched, my King," he announced, "In all aspects."

Another moment of silence.

"That will do," the Alpha said and she could only assume he nodded, allowing the doctor to bow before exiting with the tray.

When Alessia didn't make a move to turn, she felt oppressive hands on her shoulders, forcing her to face the man responsible. Her eyes remained glued to her feet, ashamed but unfeeling, pointedly avoiding Circe's teary gaze and those of the guards around her. The Alpha stepped forward. Her head stayed tilted down as he crowded into her space.

His hand captured her jaw, eyes cold. She met his gaze and held it, but not a word left her lips. "May the beast have your head first," he spat sharply on her cheek. He rubbed the wetness of it down her jaw and neck before stepping back, leaving her hands to tremble in fists. Pivoting on his heel, he gestured to Jericho while barking orders.

"Have the maidens bathe and prepare her for the sacrifice tomorrow." He glanced back, the darkness of his words shadowing her shoulders. "We leave at dawn."