Layla's room would bite more than the Alpha, but Rawn prefers the cold to the beast.She struggles to keep her feet stuck to the floor as she tiptoes inside, trying as hard as possible not to let its slipperiness pull her.She sees nothing—except, of course, the darkness. Her wide, anxious eyes stare into it while hoping she doesn't step on one of Layla's traps, or worse, the ice bath.The ice bath is a deep pool—built in every Firne chamber—that can drown and freeze any creature who isn't a Firne.Rawn, even though a Firne, doesn't share the others' love for swimming in icy water, since she's more or less a human.She has no chamber of her own in the Firne house, and often sleeps in the chilly walkways, crouched in the cold just like now, weeping.Her bawl and sniffles bounce around the room before dashing back to scream in her head, intensifying the rush of pain ripping her heart into shreds.The thoughts and images flashing in her mind can't be helped—all the things she has gone through since reality dawned on her as a child, the injustice, the… the idea of her parent's identity. Damn, folks she never even met!She wanted to gain power so she wouldn't have to suffer the self-sabotage anymore. But it seems even that isn't possible, as the one hope she had aside literally barging into the Firne headquarters has just been destroyed.And now she might not live to see another dawn.With that thought eating at her, she can't bring herself to sit for long in the room. Her curiosity about what her fate is takes the better of her, so she stands up, intending to head outside.However, the moment she opens the door, Rawn finds Firnes lined up in the walkway, and the first thing greeting her is a spittle to her eye, and irritated voices filled with venom."The one time you were allowed freedom, you caused trouble. And you can solve none!""Such an impudent girl!""You even destroyed your parent's destiny!""What exactly haven't you ruined about yourself? Hell, you even tried to bring us down with you as well!""Renewing the shame your crazy mother branded the Horde!"Rawn's eyes water from the harsh blow these words jab at her. Staring at her tormentors' faces, she finds them smirking, their gazes so clouded by hate and blackened by dirt that they nearly suffocate her.But, fuck, her last bits of air are forced up her throat when a Firne five years younger than her struts forward, almost fucking pouncing on Rawn when she grabs the latter's nape.The younger girl pushes her past the lined-up Firnes, while Rawn closes her eyes so as not to see the women's livid faces.But when she opens them again, she finds herself falling to the floor on all fours.Now she's staring at someone's feet."Let her go, or lose your arms," a voice rumbles from above her. Only then does she notice there's a shadow cast over her. Not a literal shadow, but a stygian aura. "That is my girl you're hurting," the voice says again, carrying the same rigid intensity that only Alpha Lyecan can hold.Rawn looks up slowly, dreading the very sight she's about to see—the sight of a Rhotheli staring down at her, his crotch way closer to her eyes than his compassion is. Well, he has none of the latter to begin with.Rawn crawls backward hurriedly despite her quivering joints. "What's happening?" she asks in panic, confused to find Lyecan within the Firne habitat.However, the Kyriar slides in front of the Alpha while glaring at Rawn with eyes that could set an ocean on fire. "Kiss my feet, weakling," the woman mumbles as she stands before Rawn."She'll do nothing of the sort," Lyecan counters."Very well." The Kyriar crouches down as Rawn hectically grabs her hand and kisses it."Dear mother, please... please don't let the Alpha take me!" she rasps. "We can fight him! He's just a person! The Horde can go against him here and now!"The Kyriar huffs. "Oh, foolish girl. Just how stupid do you get on a daily basis?"Tears slip freely down Rawn's eyes like oil. "If it were one of the other sisters who are stronger than me, would you let that monster have them?"The Horde leader smiles, her sparkly eyes softening despite the harsh eyeshadow she has on them. Then as she slowly retakes her hand from Rawn's grip, the latter's face would have fallen to the floor if the Kyriar didn't cup her cheek."A true Firne, wise and strong, reserves her dignity," the woman says in a subtle manner, while Rawn's tears know no bounds. "And she understands what she ought not to do. You lost your privilege to be fought for when you went against out rules to seek out the Alpha. I won't let you embarrass this Horde. To hell with you and your idiocy, weakling."The Kyriar abruptly lets go of Rawn and stands to her feet. She still stares at the crying girl, the latter also doing the same with pleading eyes.When the woman turns around to leave, her girls follow her. Rawn tries to go after them but is pulled back by the Alpha.Her knackered bones making contact with the brutal floor drives her far from comfort—not like she was close to it in the first place. Struggling to stand, she looks at Lyecan with welled eyes. Not just welled, fiery as well.The man just stands there, sporting a buzz cut and a trimmed stub, the small loop from both ears glistening in the near darkness.Rawn finds blood in his gaze. Thick red blood fueling fire. And it seems as though the blood is flowing down his eyes as he approaches her.Poor Rawn can't grasp the courage to run any more. She has given up to fate and what it has for her. The fact that even her Horde handed her to this man like she's nothing only means there's no corner that she'll escape to on this earth that would not end in that one tunnel leading right back to him.Lyecan's feet seem to disturb dust when he stops in front of her. Then he stoops down, reaching his hand toward Rawn. The latter puffs out harsh air as the man's fingers clasps her jaws to lift her up.She grips his wrists, while her legs dance beneath her, struggling to hold a standing posture.The Alpha draws her face closer to his, and Rawn dreads the sight as she watches his tongue slip out of his mouth before she feels its warmth and wetness slide from the side of her lips to her forehead.She's almost thrown off balance by that. But then she doesn't expect a punch to landon her cheek either—one that nearly knocks her to the floor once againif Lyecan wasn't brutally holding onto her jaw.She tries to spit out the blood that pools in her mouth, wincing from the ache spreading through her face. However, the spittle merely lands on Lyecan's forearm that's still holding Rawn's jaw.He doesn't care really.Instead,he leans even more closer to place his thin lips on Rawn's."Come on, open up," he whispers, yet Rawn keeps her lips tightly pursed.But when Lyecan forces his fingers on herjaws, it rips her mouth open right away, letting the guy breath into her lungs while groaning, "Only I can hurt you, Rawn…." he breathes again, "...because you are mine."Then he nibbles her lower lip, maybe a little too much since she's now leaking blood.And he doesn't hesitate to suck the blood all off.
