Wolves before witches
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I couldn’t forget the look in his eyes when he dropped me off.
Disappointment, frustration and something I couldn’t quite lay my hands on.
For the past three days, I’ve been here. Locked up in the dark and starved of food or water.
For some reason, despite being badly wounded and empty, I was still alive and breathing through it all.
Did I regret what I did? Not the littlest bit. If Zadok was anything like Sollel described him to be, he would agree with me too.
I doubt he was anything like the poor girl described, seeing I was still here, serving punishment for something that was not my fault.
“I can hear your brain wheels turning, what on god’s name are you thinking, witch?”
I heard the voice of my prison mate and nearly let out a sigh. As if getting locked up and starved wasn’t enough, I ended up with a talkative wolf roommate.
“I wonder why you are not dead yet.” he continued, “Has Alpha Zadok gone slack on his life’s goal to eradicate every witch on earth or is he taking his sweet time to kill you so it’s more satisfying?”
I didn’t say anything. I could tell that the wolf was looking for a word from me. Perhaps he was curious to know what a witch sounded like.
I didn’t miss the hatred in his tone when he mentioned Zadok. It was hard to miss it when every single person I’d come across in this godforsaken pack always spoke of Zadok with reverence.
It wasn’t surprising this particular wolf was in prison, perhaps he was a rogue?
Without any care in the world, he continued like I wasn’t in the room.
“Ever since the witches cursed him, he’s done nothing but cause trouble everywhere. One would think he’d be well on his way to the dark forest by now, but no, he chooses to stay here with his crazy beast!” He lamented, anger filled his tone. “If I ever get out of here, I’ll put the witches out of their misery and kill him myself.”
His words grabbed my attention, I didn’t know when I spoke, for the very first time since I came here. “The dark forest?”
I sense his neck swish towards me, then laughter, a mocking and infuriating kind of laughter.
“So the witch speaks! And here I was, thinking the only witch I was able to meet in my lifetime happens to be a dumb one!”
I pursed my lips, regretting ever uttering a word. I knew Zadok was referred to as the cursed alpha. It was general witch’s knowledge.
Although I didn’t know what the curse entailed, I knew he got it from his decision to eradicate every witch clan he could find.
However, there wasn’t a single book that told what the curse was, nor was there a book that entailed how he was supposed to break the curse.
“Answer the damned question.” I breathed, needing every bit of information he could provide.
“And why on earth should I tell you witch?” He cackled, “It’s wolves before witches.”
At this point, I knew there was no reasoning with him. If I wanted to know anything more about why Zadok needed to go to the dark forest and how it related to his curse, I would have to find out myself.
******
I couldn’t say I wasn’t happy when they took loudmouth away from my cell, leaving me to my quiet.
But of course, before I could get back to wallowing in my beautiful situation, Zadok decided to visit me.
Yay…
I didn’t need to see his face before I knew it was him. His footsteps, aura, and just how well he managed to dominate a room was enough to know.
I felt his stare before I saw it. This man made it a goal to put my nerves in a wreck every single time he came around.
My body ached to meet his eyes but I kept my eyes on his shoes. He was outside my cell, relaxing on the wall and watching me with fascination.
Was this the day I would finally die? Is this the end? I wondered with the prolonged silence.
“Unlock her.”
His voice vibrated through the prison, and immediately, my gate was drawn open and the chains on my hands and feet were set loose, leaving only the witch band.
I felt scared. I calculated my odds of escaping and surviving whatever terrible judgment that awaited me.
Facing my fears, I connected eyes with Zadok who immediately walked into my cell, all the while maintaining eye contact.
“Leave us.” He said after a moment of silence.
His eyes never left mine as he spoke. Despite his low command, the guards stationed at my door disappeared into the dark, leaving me alone with him.
Refusing to cower, I kept my eyes on him, too tired to stand on my feet or do anything more.
“Morgan is alive.” He said, with his left hand inside his pocket.
“Morgan?” I replied, brows scrunched in confusion at what he was talking about.
“The wolf. The one you thought to kill. She’s alive.” He states, searching my face for a reaction I had no plans on giving. “The knife was very close to her heart, nearly killed her, but she’s fine.”
Putting up a nonchalant attitude, I leaned back with a smirk. “That’s too bad..” I stated, “remind me to aim properly next time.”
I saw his jaws twitching, and I knew he didn’t like what I said. Unfortunately for him, I didn’t care, not for someone who tried to kill me first.
“Is that all you came to do? To tell me that I missed my target? I thought you were a busy man, Zadok.” I tutted.
If I was dying soon, I might as well make my last moments worth it. Nothing pleased me as much as the surprise on Zadok’s face when I mentioned his name.
“You amuse me, Ithra.” He said, coming closer to me, and dropping to his knees.
The air around us was charged. I could barely breathe from being so close to him.
As though his invasion of my personal space wasn’t enough, he went on to do something that placed me in an irrevocable shock.
He removed the witch band from my wrist.