Owned By The Alpha Brothers

Liam.

Hitting the gates was useless. Even when I unleashed my fangs and claws, howling loudly and trying to uproot the gates from their foundation, it was futile.

I sat down, deciding to just give up, then ended up sleeping off in the dark dungeon, and awoke up to the crowing of the cocks in the poultry.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

I stared at the gates solemnly, thinking of how to make it out of the hell I had just been condemned to for a whole week, but not willing to waste my time and energy like I had done last night.

I was angry. For a long time, I had been angry. Angry at my father, my brothers, the deceitful Luna, but most especially, at myself. And maybe it was the overwhelming hatred I had for myself that I always channeled to Alden's mother, and just convinced myself that she deserved every insult I threw at her.

"You killed my daughter, my only daughter. You should never have been born!"

The words of my maternal grandmother echoed in my head as I recalled how I had decided to spend the holidays one summer with my late mother's people. I just wanted to know more about my mother, who she was, and have a relationship with her people. I was eight years old back then, but I could remember how they had rejected me on the grounds that it was my birth that had brought death upon their daughter.

I blamed myself from then on. Prior to that, Luna Vienna had been kind to me and I did love her, but after finding out the whole truth from my maternal family, I started to dislike her and that dislike grew till it became nothing but sheer hatred for her.

To me, I believed that hating the Luna and frustrating her was a form of penance to my mother. She had died because I was born, and by hurting the woman whose affair with her husband had caused her to be miserable during her last few months on earth, I hoped she would forgive me for bringing about her untimely death.

"Hey, Liam," a voice softly called.

I was jolted from my thoughts and when I looked up, I saw it was Ciara standing outside the gates with a smile plastered on her face.

For whatever reason, butterflies danced in my stomach and the heavy weight in my chest softened upon seeing her face. I had a flashback to kissing her, a kiss I had hoped wouldn't end so soon, but then, I had seen Blake and I had to maintain my composure.

I stood up, discarding my thoughts. I couldn't possibly be thinking fondly of Ciara. I already could tell she was a liar and a manipulative wench, and I wanted absolutely nothing to do with her. When the time was right, I would get the throne in my own way and not by having to kiss up to a nobody like Ciara.

"Why are you here? Have you come to gloat?" I fired at her in a deep tone.

She appeared taken aback. "Of course not, although considering how you treated me yesterday, I wouldn't be wrong to do that. Luckily for you, I'm not you," she said.

"Get the fuck out!" I ordered, then turned my back on her.

"How are you?" she asked, jumpy.

I turned to face her again. "I don't know. How do you think I am?" I asked, with a shrug.

"I can't answer that question for you, Liam. You're the only one that can know how you're feeling. Anyways, I brought this for you," she said, taking a handkerchief she had concealed neatly in her gloves and handing it over to me. I unwrapped it and I saw it contained some food.

"I'm sorry it's really little. I couldn't wrap more because they'll find out and I won't be let in, but do not worry. I'll definitely come again at night with more food," she said.

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"Why are you being strangely nice to me? You ought to be jumping and dancing happily at my predicament. I know I'd do that if you were in my shoes," I told her.

She gave me a small smile. "I know, but you're still one of the people that saved my life and I am indebted to you. Also, I know you must have your reasons for acting the way you do. Your reasons might not justify your actions in any way, but I can try to understand you," she said.

I just stared at her in disbelief, unable to think of what to say. I didn't want to thank her, but I also wasn't in the mood to annoy her like I had become fond of doing.

"Well, I guess I should take my leave now," she said, and began walking away, when I held her hand.

"Is anything the matter?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I need your help," I heard myself say.

She looked around as if there was any other person present that I could be talking to apart from her. "My help?" she was obviously confused.

"You're the only one I can think of to help me. I need you to find a way to get me out of here before midnight. You have all day to come up with something," I explained. "What? No way!"

"Do this for me and I'll consider your debt repaid."

"I'm sorry, but I can't do what you're asking. Won't it be considered treason to defy the Alpha's orders and help a prisoner escape? I will be imprisoned, and worst still, be thrown out of the palace, and we both know I have nowhere to go. I'll be at the mercy of strangers, criminals and rogues. I would love to help you out, but not in this manner," Ciara said.

"I would return to the dungeon, so it would be as if I never left. I have to go attend to a personal business tonight, and you must help me."

"But-"

"If you still refuse, then you leave me with no other choice than to expose you for bringing food to me when the Alpha clearly gave orders for nobody to do so," I threatened.

Her teeth chattered, and she shook her head slowly. "Certainly, you won't use my good deed against me. You're not that bad of a person, are you?"

"We'll see about that. Guards-"

She covered my mouth almost immediately by placing her hand firmly over my mouth to stop me from saying anything more.

Our eyes met and her touch ignited a fire within me. I couldn't turn my eyes away from her, and there was this sinking feeling her intense gaze brought to my heart. "Fine, I'll help you," she said, then with a huff, she let go of my mouth and turned away from me.

Through the gates, I watched her walk down the dungeon hallway with her hips swaying and her hair graciously touching her waist. I was in a daze and couldn't move away from that spot even after she had long disappeared from my sight. I held onto my beating heart, trying to calm myself down. No way... there was absolutely no way. I was the strong-headed one, the one who detested Ciara with my very being, so much so that not even the mate bond could compel me to treat her right.

Had I developed a crush on Ciara, or was this all just a trick on the Moon Goddess' part? Hopefully, it was just a glitch on my part which would be fixed very soon. It had to be.