Chapter 4 Zira

Meeting Erick marked the beginning of a passionate adventure for me. He nurtured me back to life and made sure no one maltreated me including my Step mother and step sister who never set eyes on me again. Erick became my sole defender; no one dared to assail me again.

My heart knew boundless joy when I discovered that he was my fated mate. Who could have imagined that I would ever be fated to such a beautiful hunk?

Erick had the most beautiful face I had ever seen; his face was perfectly curved. His crimson colored eyes reflected his valor and tenderness with each stare, he was fitted with curly dark hairs that complimented his face. His brawny body stood a little above 6 feet tall.

I had never met Erick before then; maybe because he was hardly around or maybe because I hardly came out especially since he returned from his training few months after my father disappeared and I was declassed to an omega in my father's house strictly placed under lock and key. 

"I have waited for you for years. I almost thought you were dead." His stare melted my heart; his touch so soothing that it made my skin linger in sweet sensation. My heart beat to the honeyed sound of his assuring sonorous voice.

"I want you!" I begged for more, my upper teeth biting down softly on my lower lips as I basked in the euphoria of his insane caress.

He fondled me from my foot to my thighs, and with his fingers, drew invisible lines from my thighs to underneath me causing me to moan gently. I held him on his back, my fingers piercing into his skin but he didn't mind, he gently dragged me lower and sank his canines softly into my neck; my mate marked me instantly.

His gentle thrust made me groan; still holding on to him firmly, I gasped in high ecstasy.

"You are mine Lyla!" 

Hearing those words resound in my ears brought me so much comfort; he was my strength and with him, I was certain that my life was taking a better form. Alas it was only for a short while.

Being rejected by my mate sent me back to the torments that I thought I had escaped from. He had turned 24 and as customary, he was meant to take over as Alpha being the first son and heir of the Alpha.

A dispute arose when the ten elders were informed that his mate had not yet shifted making me unqualified to be his Luna. The ceremony to mark his coronation was put on hold until he got a befitting Luna.

Zira was brought to him as my replacement by one of the elders few days after he rejected me; apparently everything had already been orchestrated. She certainly had more poise than me; she was taller and had more flesh compared to my skinny self. Ouch! I hated her dominance.

Erick was gracious enough to let me stay in the mansion but it came with a grievous price. Sooner than expected, Zira turned me to her personal maid, ordering me around to attend to her every needs. Sometimes I wished that Erick had not saved me that night; that he had not given me so much hope only to leave me to crash entirely to the ground.

Watching Zira fondle Erick's body before me in an attempt to spite me was so disheartening; the maids in the mansion soon started to taunt me, taking turns at making mockery of me in my predicament. Soon, I lost all forms of honor and respect as the story of my rejection was sang to my face.

"You can't have him; he is mine forever!" Zira really wished to get rid of me but Erick would never hear of it; a part of him still cared about me but he refused to show affection. He always avoided my gaze each time he stumbled upon me attending to the needs of his Luna walking by as though he never saw me. 

Zira made me do the most unthinkable chores for her just to break me; she made me wash her undies, polish her nails, give her massages and even prepare a particular food multiple times to meet her imaginary taste. And with every failed attempt to please her came a severe punishment for disobedience or negligence of duty.

Sometimes I was asked to stand at a spot for hours or locked up by the guards without food or water. Spending nights in a cell became a norm soon, and I would always stare at the moon through the tiny windows of the cell wondering what other ill fate awaited me.

Not too long, Zira declared that she was with child; I could see the excitement on Erick's face when he found out that he was expecting an heir. Zira had more backup to torment me, she clearly had won my lover all to herself.

Erick completely ignored me; he forgot about me, about the memories we shared. For some moments, I felt as though he was a stranger but his figure still melted my heart. I knew I had lost him completely when he joined the league of my predators.

"Come here you; pick up these shoes and polish them. Make sure they are very shiny."

I knew that Erick had turned cold towards me but I never imagined that he could ever ask me to do any work for him; the coldness I perceived in his eyes were unbelievable. This worsened my fate in the hands of Zira who dealt with me severely.

She saw me as a threat and wanted to get rid of me badly so she resolved to body torture. She would ask the guards to hit me anytime she felt I failed to carry out any of her instructions.

On this fated night she instructed that I polished her nails. Positioned on the floor I held on to her left foot which was placed on my lap and proceeded to trim and smoothen the nails with a file before polishing them.

"I wish I could stick this file into her eye." I thought but I dared not or the guards were going to have my head served on a platter.

"Ouch! How dare you!." There was blood on her big toe, I must have applied to much force while trying to smoothen her nails.

"You will pay direly for this. I promise." Zira screamed; her eyes were boiling in rage. She stood up almost immediately and gave me a resounding slap pushing me down.

"Take her to the cell and whip her till she passes out."

The guards dragged me to the dark cell and tied me up to the bars of the window. The two guards took turns at lashing my back with the fat whips they had on their hands.

I screamed in pain; my body filled with gores emanating from the several cuts on my back and neck. Soon I had lost all my strength, I could only whimper in agony and pain, perspiration running through my body.

"You hit like weaklings. Give me that." Zira took a whip from one of the guards not satisfied with what they were doing. She hit me so hard till I completely passed out.

The guards dragged me out of the cell to a corner and emptied a bowl of water on me forcing me to gasp to consciousness. I opened my eyes but I could only see the blurry image of the two guards leaving me at the corner and walking away.

I crawled to the wall in pain and rested my shoulder on it; it hurt, but not as much as resting my back would have hurt. At that point, there was nothing more to live for. I knew that I could never go back to my Step-mother; the fact that she never bothered to find me clearly indicated that she was happy with my disappearance. My existence no longer mattered to me.

By my right was an oleander flower in a vase; I remembered being told by a nun in the Orphanage to be very careful with the plant as it could kill. Mindlessly, I snapped out two leaves from the vase and threw them into my mouth. Then I chewed really hard swallowing the liquid from the leaves with a single gulp, tears rolling down from my eyes. 

My throat soon began to boil, a sharp pain hit my heart increasing its beat. It felt as though my chest was going to explode and I held on to it with both hands; my eyes were squeezed; my mouth was wheezing for breath as the poison choked vitality out of me. Soon, my heart died out completely; my life faded away entirely.