001 The pledge

OCTAVIA

Damp brown hair plastered over his face, a bloodstained sword, grey eyes with waves of death, a bunch of arrows, a bow, and a sigil. A sigil only worn by the high-ranked generals of high Packs like the Lockwood Pack.

“The Alpha princess,” he suddenly laughed, breaking the thick silence in the room. My heart gave a wild skip and my hand around the knob turned clammy.

My gaze lowered to the necklace on my neck where his eyes were fixed and I felt horror squeeze my belly.

My wolf screamed that I run out and search for the tunnel before the building collapsed and trapped my mother and the other women inside the crypt, but I didn't listen. I stood rooted at the spot, staring at him while he smirked evilly.

“You are the Alpha princess, aren't you?” He pointed his blade as he grinned.

My throat knotted and my heart raced as I fought with my wolf silently. I shouldn't say yes. That would be permitting them to kill me.

War had befallen my Pack and we were losing.

Everyone thought it was all a mild disagreement between our Pack and the Lockwood Pack, but shockingly, that disagreement had turned into a war that would destroy people.

The Thorne brothers had always been a threat and beasts hungry for blood and the destruction of Packs that didn't worship them as the ultimate Alphas of the wolf Kingdom.

And unfortunately, my Pack had fallen into their cruel hands of destruction.

My father had always been relentless and bowed to no one and when the Lockwood Army began to lay siege around our Pack boundaries, my father sealed the war of Blackwater, just as the enemies wanted.

We never bow to anyone, even if it means destruction. Even if it meant death.

“Look!” He pointed at the window.

I slowly turned my head towards the window. With pain in my chest, I stared at my brother as he fought valiantly against the enemy.

As I stared at him, an arrow suddenly hit him on the chest and he staggered back.

My breath stopped and I froze, my eyes wide as I watched him fall to his knees.

My chest throbbed in pain as he tried to fight them off even in that condition.

Someone sank a sword into my brother's back and another one sank a blade into his chest. My heart stopped as I watched blood splash out of his lips and the light fade slowly from his eyes before he dropped to the ground.

The world stopped moving, and my jaw dropped as I tried to breathe, but nothing happened.

I slowly turned to face him, tears in my eyes. He had a grin on his face, and his hands still tugged at the stretched bow from which the arrow that had hit my brother was shot.

My body heated up and rage flooded through my body. I couldn't think clearly anymore and all I could hear was the screams of my people and the smell of blood that hung in the air. My blood boiled, and my hand slipped off the knob.

“You monster!” I screamed and raised the blade, running towards him.

I swerved the sword at him but he ducked it. I screamed out and swerved the sword at him again. He clashed his blade against mine and pushed me back, swiftly knocking the sword out of my hand. I staggered back and slammed my back on the wall, wincing as pain snapped through my back.

“You do know how to weld a sword well,” he chuckled as he dragged his feet towards me.

I glared at him, breathing heavily as the anger burned me up.

His lips stretched into a sinister smile as he reached out and grazed his hand over my face.

I swung my head to the side in disgust. The spot he had touched burned.

“It is so sad, that talent will go to waste,” he muttered and pulled closer, hitting my face with his breath. I winced, my heart racing in fear.

I reached around my gown and pulled out a small blade I had hidden inside.

“What other talent do you have, my lady?” He whispered and pulled my hair back, his other hand running down my bare back.

I felt his hand tug on the rope of my gown and I didn't hesitate to pull out the blade.

A scream escaped from his lips as I slashed his arm with the blade.

He staggered back, his eyes widening in surprise at the unexpected attack.

He chuckled and tilted his head to the side.

“You are full of surprises,” he laughed. But the laughter suddenly faded and he straightened up and began to trudge slowly towards me again.

My eyes darted quickly across the ground until I spotted my sword lying a few feet away from where he was.

“You won't get to it.”

My head jerked up when he spoke. My heart dropped when I realized that he was just a few inches away from me. The smile on his face was gone and his eyes were cold and dead.

“Stay away!” I raised the blade, waving it at him.

My heart raced in fear as I held out the blade with trembling hands.

“Stay away or I'll slit your neck!” I growled.

He chuckled and rushed towards me. I screamed, the swift dash kicking fear into me. He grabbed my hand before I could snap back into defense and slammed it on the wall.

My flesh tore and excruciating pain hit my body. My eyes slammed shut as I screamed out in pain.

“You should have aimed for the neck earlier,” he whispered into my ear and slammed my hand on the wall again. I screamed out and the blade dropped from my bleeding, trembling hand.

He laughed like a maniac as his other hand reached for the rope of my dress.

“I wonder how Alpha Damitri Valerius will feel watching me defile his daughter before she finds her mate,” he whispered and my breath stopped.

I gasped in horror and tried to fight him off but his hold on me was too strong to break.

“Let me go, you monster!” I growled, struggling to push him off.

Despair engulfed me as I fought him with all my strength from tearing my clothes off.

I suddenly heard a groan from him and his grip around my hand slackened.

I pushed him off and pulled my eyes open as I staggered away from him.

I raised my gaze from his fallen body to my mother's pale face.

“Mother!” I gasped out in horror. She stood over his body, a bloodstained brick in her hand as she glared at him.

“Mother!” I called again, my voice louder and filled with alarm.

She looked up at me, her eyes gleaming with tears.

“Come with me!” She snapped and threw the brick on the ground. She grabbed my hand and began to lead me to the door.

“Mother, Lucius…” my voice trailed and tears choked off the rest of the words. My mother paused and wiped away the tears that dropped from my eyes, her face twisting in pain. She knew. She knew that one of her sons was dead and her husband and Jerome were out there fighting or worse, dead as well.

My throat tightened, and I burst into tears, my heart ripped to pieces as I cried.

My mother wrapped her hand around me, pulling me into a warm embrace. Her hands trembled as she combed through my hair like she always did.

“Let's get you out of here,” she whispered as she broke the hug. I cried more, wishing I could be in her arms longer and hopefully die in them.

She grabbed my wrist and began to pull me to the back of the royal building. I watched as swords clashed, men growled, blades pierced through flesh, and blood flowed.

Every sight of a dying Blackwater Pack member broke my heart to pieces.

With the help of a wounded guard, we were able to skim through the bloody battleground to the back of the Pack.

We walked through a deserted pathway littered with the dead bodies of our guards until we got to a wall. A gasp escaped my lips when I saw the trap door just between some mahogany trees.

My mother reached into a pouch and pulled out a key. I looked at the key and at her, my eyes narrowing in confusion.

“We… we have to go back and get the women and children in the crypt,” I said.

My mother didn't nod or smile. She only stared at me with so much love and pain in those brown beautiful eyes that once held happiness and a sparkle that could warm the heart of anyone.

“Mother…”

Horror was beginning to creep in as the realization slowly began to surface.

“You have to survive. You have to carry on our family legacy, Octavia Valerius,” my mother whispered.

My jaw dropped and my heartbeat slowed in despair.

“What about the women and children?” I asked in a trembling voice flooded with agony.

My mother stretched her lips and shook her head.

“They won't make it out alive. Someone has to live to build our Pack and take back power from our enemies,” she whispered.

I staggered back, my shoulders slumping. We were not winning this war and they wouldn't survive. I shook my head, refusing to accept the bitter, cold truth.

She gripped my hand and forced me to look into her tear-filled eyes.

“Promise me you will survive,” my mother muttered, pleading with her eyes.

My heart was crushed when another building blew up in flames.

I turned my head and watched the thick smoke that rose in the dark, bloody clouds. I could hear the screams and howls of my people in the air, tearing through me. I tore my hands out of my mother's grip and grabbed the guard's small blade.

I slit my palm and winced as pain throbbed in my body.

I grabbed my mother's hands, staring into her wide, horrified eyes.

My trembling lips parted and rage burned in me as the screams haunted me and my brother's fading eyes burned into me.

“I, Octavia Valerius, swear to bring vengeance for Blackwater Pack and the Valerius family. I swear to conquer the Thorne Alphas and the Lockwood Pack.”