Taming The Alpha’s Daughter

Two

Temperance

That day, I screamed for Daddy, screamed for anyone to save me. That was also the day I stopped talking to Daddy, the day it truly sunk in that he would never be here to save me again. I haven’t dared to talk to Daddy, or what’s left of the only person that ever loved me, not since Shadow became locked in here with us. Shadow told me that she too came from a place of darkness, yet she claimed this hell was far worse than the pits of hell she crawled out of. She had escaped something terrible only to end up in the forsaken hands of my brother.

Shadow is not like us. She is nothing like Nova and me. She can be cruel, mean, and sometimes she sounds like she has no heart at all. But at the same time, Shadow is our only friend. She says our only salvation will be with death.

However, now, I know I am already dead.

I have been dead and forgotten ever since he locked the cage closed seven years ago. My 13th birthday will be one I will always remember, just like my 18th. I wish I could remember my 13th as the day I met my best friend, the day my wolf came to me and remained by my side. But instead, I remember it as the day he killed Daddy. The day I saw how truly monstrous he can be. How dangerous he is…

And my 18th should have been a joyous occasion too, yet it became another I wish I could forget. Instead the only gift I was granted was to see the monster live behind the mask of man instead of just in nightmares. They’re a thing of this world… a world I no longer wish to be a part of.

I suppose I should thank Satish in a sense because on my 18th I was given a gift. If that is what you could call it. That day I was granted clarity. Clarity that I would forever be at the mercy of my brother. Sometimes accepting your fate is better than fighting against it.

Nova exhales, the sound a wheeze in the darkest pits of our mind. Nova slips, her control warning me to be careful. I am allowed to come forward, so I know I must be in the basement.

I need to blink a couple of times until my eyes adjust to the ability to see for myself all over again. Every time, I feel like I am waking up after sleeping for years and have forgotten how to use my muscles.

I peer out into the darkness and gaze out into what looks like total oblivion, a never-ending void. Straining my ears, I listen. First, I hear the sound of distant footsteps on the floorboards upstairs. There is also a sound that reminds me of a TV playing upstairs, but I’m not entirely sure because I haven’t seen one for god knows how long. I’ve forgotten what most everyday objects look like.

Sighing, I lean back against the mesh. My trembling hands trail over my body, and I feel the slickness of wounds that run deep. They’re deeper than many we have had before. I scrunch up my face at the stench of blood in the air. I can feel the taste of it on my tongue - coppery and metallic, along with a hint of soap. A whimper escapes me. What did they do to her? Do to me?

“Nova?” I whisper into the darkness. I’m scared to ask, but I want to know the answers to questions that run through my mind. If I don’t, they will haunt me and eventually drive me insane.

“Leave her! She has endured enough for you already!” Shadows snaps at me in a venomous tone, and my head turns at the sound of her voice. I look to the corner of the basement where her cage is.

She rarely speaks, but when she does, it is usually to sneer at how weak I am. Another aggressive reminder of how I don’t deserve anything good, don’t even deserve my wolf. And even if she doesn’t say those exact words, she makes sure to emphasize the meaning behind the few she spits so I understand how much she hates me.

If I let my wolf take my punishments, she thinks I’m weak, if I do take them, she thinks my screams make me weak. I’m an abomination, she likes to tell me. A freak of nature. Cruel to allow Nova to have control, little does she know I never get the choice. Nova is stronger than me, she always has been. She’s strong until she isn’t. Like right now.

However, Shadow also knows that it is not by choice, she sees me struggle with my wolf, she witnesses how Nova controls me. She is here, with us, to watch how hard I try to take control, how I do everything in my power to take Nova’s place.

Nova always overpowers me, I have no choice but to sit in the silence of my head, or sometimes, sit in the darkness and listen to her screams while feeling her second hand pain.

Other times, I listen to Shadow screaming at them to leave me alone. They never do, but this time I am determined to remain forward. I won’t move aside even if Nova tries to push me back into hiding.

Maybe I can plead with my brother to allow me freedom. Even just for a few seconds, to smell fresh air and feel the sunlight on my skin. My limbs hurt, this cage is far too small. Seven years is a long time to be trapped in here.

The cage didn’t grow with me over the years, but no one cares about that. The walls just closed in more and my clothes grew too tight. Despite the fact that I can feel my bones, there isn’t enough fabric to cover me fully, to keep me warm and decent. Eventually even my clothes turned to tatters and left me bare and exposed.

I must be a grotesque sight to see. Sometimes, I wonder if I resemble mom or dad more. I wonder what the image might be, if I were to see my reflection in a mirror. The reflection is what confuses me the most. Would there be a girl with a broken smile or a soulless woman? Would she recognize me as her, or deny that we are the same person as she stares back at me?

“Shadow?” I sing out into the darkness.

“No, need to yell, I am right here!” she snaps, and I turn my head to look in the corner of the basement. Her eyes reflect back at me, but that is all I can tell of her features, those red glowing pits of anger reflect oddly back at me, she watches me back and growls. I avert my gaze, unable to take her judging eyes.