The enslaved Queen

Chapter two - The binding

-Nobody has to know... You could try too – The guard in front of me suggested, his eyes still looking at me hungrily.

-You expect me to cover for you? Ha! – the other guard said in mockery – Go ahead, risk it all for a taste.

The guard in front of me glared at the other one in annoyance, angry that she didn't find his proposition appealing and with a last hungry look at me he went back to his place.

I shuddered, relieve overcoming me when the threat of being bitten by a vampire was thankfully removed. My eyes went back to Marcella, my friend's eyes were wide in a warning, and her lips barely mouthed the word careful silently, trying desperately to help, I nodded my head almost unperceptively, showing I had learned my lesson.

The uncomfortable ride lasted for at least one hour more during which I kept reliving my parents last moments and desperately wondering where my brother was, if he was even still alive.

Wherever he was, he was probably terrified. The bitter taste of the fact that I broke my promise to him making my stomach knot and my throat tighten painfully, I hadn't kept him safe, and he got badly hurt, and all because I failed.

The wagon stopped suddenly, causing everyone to lean sideways before recovering their balance. The soldier at the back of the wagon jumped out, opening the curtains.

-Get out! – She ordered, the sudden stream of light from the moon and stars making everyone blink their eyes rapidly to adjust.

-I said OUT! – she repeated, pulling the rope that tied the hand of the boy closest to her, I recognized him, Jeremiah, 15 years old, a sweet boy, if not a little bit of a trouble maker, but still.

Jeremiah fell on the ground with the sudden pull, and everyone behind him followed, making me realize our ropes were tied to each other, forcing us to exit the wagon on a single line.

Once everyone was out of the wagon, the soldiers guided us towards an enormous mountain that looked like it was made from one impenetrable piece of rock.

As we started to walk, I saw two more wagons stop behind ours and people starting to get out, my eyes looked frantically for Aiden, but I still didn't see him. Galloping horses surrounded us, the other soldiers going ahead of the group.

The soldiers dismounted their horses and approached the mountain we were headed to. I saw one of them put their hand on the stone and speak a few words, the aforementioned impenetrable surface, cracked and an opening was created before my eyes.

The crack was tall enough for the horses to enter, but not for the vampires to be mounting them, explaining why they all came down from them. But my brain kept wondering how in the hell the vampire had created the crack in the first place. That was clearly magic, and last I checked, vampires did not poses any magical abilities. Not like the witches and the fae.

To think of it, the whole attack didn't make sense, the way the vampires moved, speed that was too great even for the experienced fighters, strength greater than our Alpha's, vampires weren't supposed to be stronger than werewolves, especially this close to the full moon.

Nevertheless, they had dominated us, crumbled our defenses like they were nothing, killing our greatest warriors like they were inexperienced newly turned pups.

The image of my parents last moments flooded my mind making my throat close. I took a deep breath and tried to make sense of the situation, something was giving them extra strength, there was no doubt in my mind.

Looking at the faces of my people, trying to see something else I was missing, I realized another worrisome pattern: everyone taken was younger than me. There wasn't a single werewolf here that had come of age, no one here had their wolf yet.