* Violence occurs in this chapter. Don’t say I didn’t warn you ;) *
---Christina’s POV---
My dreams of living a carefree life on my own quickly disappeared when I was pulled up on my hair. I bit on my lip to stop the pained and startled yelp from coming out, knowing that it would only provoke my tormentor. My hands tried to pry my hair out of his hold while I looked up in a set of dark brown eyes, which flashed golden when I caught their attention.
“Get up.” Alex snarled before he tossed me towards the door. I stumbled for a moment before I dashed out and downstairs towards the kitchen. Some of the pride-members were already up, rubbing their sleepy eyes while they walked towards the table.
They were preparing themselves for school while they waited for their meal. Both of them luxuries that I don’t have.
I clicked the stove on and grabbed several pans to prepare breakfast. I shivered in my thin clothes, feeling grateful for the warmth the stove provided. My stomach growled loudly while I slid the food out of the pan and walked towards the table. Alex and his friends watched me closely when I placed the fried eggs, bacon and pancakes in front of them.
My stomach growled his threat again, ‘Give me food or I’ll eat your spine.’ A smirk appeared on Alex’ face while he placed some of the delicious smelling food on his plate, soon followed by his friends and the rest of the pride. Something about that grin unsettled me. And sure enough…
“Are you hungry, Christina?” He teased, locking his eyes with mine while he scooped piles of food in his mouth. I looked down, knowing that his eyes flashed gold again when I did so. His friends laughed when Alex hand smacked on the table, jolting me up out of fear. “I said,” he sneered slowly while he rose from his seat, “Are you hungry?”
I swallowed before nodding slightly, mumbling, “Yes sir.” Mentally adding, ’You should know, since you order the pride to starve me until your father comes back home.’ My inner cat growled annoyed, flexing her muscles while she supported me. Although my demeanor was shy, that was just the outside. On the inside, I was wiping the floor with Alex, possibly choking him with the same food I prepared but couldn’t eat.
Alex was the son of our Chieftain, the leader of this Leopard-tribe. Since he was the firstborn, he was the pride and glory of his father and direct in line to take his position over. Although Alex’ father still had to answer to the Leopard king and queen, he acted like he was royalty, spouting laws and rules wherever he went.
I looked up when a shade hovered over me; Alex stood right in front of my nose, looking down on me. “You know why you don’t deserve food, don’t you?” he asked sweetly, a smile tugging on his lips. I mentally prepared myself for what was coming; it had become a daily routine.
You see, Alex would always demand total and complete submission from me, enticing me in a game that would always end the same; him showing his dominance over the pride and me. And now I refused to play along with him. Instead, I clamped my mouth shut and refused to lower my eyes. The only warning I got was a slight shaking of his hands.
My disobedience was awarded with Alex backhanding me. The force of impact sent me reeling to the wall behind me as the sound of the smack echoed through the room. All of the present pride member, except Alex’ friends, which kept munching, stilled their movements and turned towards us when Alex started his angry rant, which was accompanied by the standard kicks and punches.
“My father found you at the side of your dead mother on our land. Instead of leaving you to die as he should have, he accepted you in this pride, he made you a part of our family!” he snarled while he kicked me in the stomach, leaving me gasping for air. I curled myself up in a feeble attempt to protect myself.
My inner cat came just below the surface, supporting and helping me through the beating while she whispered to me with her soft, mental voice. A new kick, aimed at my ribs, made me cringe and whimper when I heard the distinctive crack of breaking ribs. The pain flooded my system, making me painfully aware of all the pulsing bruises, cuts and scrapes that covered my body.
“You’re weak, pathetic, a disgrace of our kind. The pride would be better of without you.” Alex stated, his voice coated with venom while he continued his assault on my body. A few of his friends snickered, looking intently at my beating while they kept eating their breakfast. The rest of the pack had expressions shifting from boredom, shock to shame.
“Lie.” My inner cat assured me. “He keeps us weak because he feels threatened by our presence. We play a vital roll in this pride.” I held onto those words, hoping they were real while my consciousness wavered when Alex kicked me in my broken ribs, wrenching another pained yelp from my lips.
“We don’t need you in this pride, Christina! In fact, the pride wouldn’t mourn over you when you’d die.” A dark expression covered Alex’ face as several pride members retreated from the room, the others kept their eyes on Alex, now afraid to look at me.
“He’s lying.” My cat spoke softly, her voice echoing through my head, caressing my mind while I heard Alex circling around me. I was shoved on my back while Alex snarled, “You can’t even shift!” A fist smacked against my face, so hard that my head bounced back from the floor. Blood flooded my throat while I swallowed harshly.
“He’s lying yet again. You can shift. Just because we’ve never shown them doesn’t mean that we can’t.”
My vision blurred again and I blinked rapidly while my breathing became labored. Slowly, a pair of boots walked in my vision. I blinked again, staring at Alex’ combat boots before one leg started pulling back. My eyes closed on their own accord while I let out my breath in a defeated sigh while I prepared for the kick that was aimed at my face.
It never came though. Opening my heavy eyelids, I witnessed the struggle in front of me. Had the pride finally stepped up? My eyes landed on the man that held Alex in a firm grip and I took a slow breath.
No, it was just Luke, Alex younger brother. He was the only one in the pride that ever stood up for me. Confusion struck me then; It was strange that Luke was here, because he had accompanied his father to a tribe meeting…which means…
My chain of thoughts was broken by a low growl, coming from the doorway. I gingerly rolled my head, silently suffering in pain, fearing that Alex might attack again if I whimpered or made any noise.
The black spots faded for a moment, allowing me a glance of the man that stared wide-eyed at the scene in front of him. Finally, he walked in, a scowl on his face while he looked at his two sons, still in a struggle. He glared at Alex before he shot a look through the house, looking at the people there.
“Let him go Luke.”
Luke did as asked, with a disgusted expression on his face, before he stalked towards me and slowly picked me up, so gentle like I was made of glass. “Hush Christy, You’ll be alright.” He whispered when a whimper slipped from my lips. I closed my eyes, my body hanging slag in his arms while my head slightly lolled from side to side with each movement Luke made.
I was tired, physically and mentally exhausted; I couldn’t live in fear anymore, I hated that I had to endure every day, surviving and praying for a better tomorrow. I didn’t want to survive; I wanted to live.
My ears picked up a pair of softer footsteps that followed when Luke headed up the stairs. They quickly rushed past when he reached the top and I heard the sound of a door opening, making me force my eyes open.
I looked up just in time to witness a soft, tender look between Luke and an unknown, young woman, who flushed at Luke’s gaze before he stepped in my bedroom, or the poor excuse of it.
“Congrats.” I croaked out, wheezing slightly when I felt my ribs pricking against my lungs. Luke chuckled, a mixture of amusement and sadness clearly on his face while he gingerly lowered me on the bed. “I can’t hide anything from you, can I?” he said, a sad smile appearing on his lips while he pulled his arms away.
“Nu-uh.” I mumbled, closing my eyes when another wave of pain hit me. “So I don’t know why you even try Luke.” I joked, trying to lift the tension in the room. Luke’s lip twitched slightly while the young woman laid her hand over his shoulder, which he squeezed gently while looking down at me.
The bruises started pulsing, my jaw was already swollen, so I could only imagine what I looked like at the moment. I looked down at my battered body before a mocking smirk pulled at my lips. “Well, I won’t win a beauty contest this way.”
The young woman laughed slightly, her voice sounding choked while she walked up to me and tended my wounds. I turned my head and stared at the wall, avoiding her eyes. I didn’t want any sympathy or pity.
The door towards my room opened again and the effect on the atmosphere in the room was intense; the gently, warm feeling was replaced with tension and anger while Luke’s face hardened, his fists clenching while he glared at the door.
“Father.” Luke greeted curtly, “Did you punish Alex for his actions?” His question sounded more like a hidden acquisition, forcing a sigh out of his father while I kept my eyes to the wall. I resisted the urge to scoff at that; I already knew the answer.
“Luke,” the chief’s voice replied in a tired tone, like they had been over this several times earlier, “Not now.” Luke growled while the bed dipped and I rolled my head slightly, glancing at Luke; he was clutching the bedding in his fists before his head snapped up to meet his father’s gaze.
“That’s your answer every time this happens!” he spat. “When are you going to do something Dad? When the King hears about your favoritism? When we have to put her six feet under? WHEN?”
His father remained silent, which was very odd; normally, he would have put Luke in his place for raising his voice like that but now, only silence. I flinched when Luke’s mate brushed her fingers over my broken ribs. Her hands fluttered around while she answered my flinch with a sob. “We need a doctor.”
I blocked the rest of their conversation out, only picking up on the name of Luke’s mate: Jennifer. He chose well. I sighed internally, aware that my cat was following the conversations around me very closely. She agreed with me and replied, “They will make great chieftains.”
The sensation of someone pulling at the hem of my shirt forced me out of my silent reverie while a soft growl escaped my throat. My eyes snapped open, searching for the reason of my distress.
The doctor had finally arrived and was staring intently at me, probing my reaction while Luke looked at the wall with his hands on his thighs: they were still clenched. I looked up at Jennifer, who still held on the hem of my shirt with an apologetic look in her eyes. “They need to examine your wound Christina.”
I nodded stiffly and forced my body to move to a sitting position so I could peel the shirt off. A series of gasps and a strangled growl echoed through the room, causing me to shoot a glance at the doctor, who stood transfixed in the center of the room, gazing at my battered body.
Forcing a blank expression on my face, I looked away from the doctor when he stepped towards me and stared at the wall opposite my bed. The doctor started examining the bruises and wounds, gently prodding at the nearly black bruise that covered most of my right side. My mind registered the fact that Luke had left the room; he probably needed some time to cool down.
Luke’s father, however, hasn’t left with his son. He was looking at my battered body with a clouded expression, squinting his eyes when they landed on all the different wounds and scars: the black bruise on my ribs, my swollen jaw, the peculiar scars on my back,…. It never ended.
All of these were caused by Alex or on his command, by friends or pride members. The scarring on my back was on a rather nasty incident, where on of the elders had stumbled and dropped his load of handmade glasswork. When I went to help him up, Alex had ‘accidently’ tripped and shoved me in the glass. Afterwards, he commanded me to do my chores first before I was allowed to tend to my wounds.
The sad part of it all is that the chieftain knew all of this, since his pride reported to him when he came back of a meeting. But, since Alex is the eldest son and destined to take over the pride, the chief let it slip. I knew that deep down, the chieftain hoped that Alex would take responsibility of his actions.
I sighed deeply, groaning lightly when on of my ribs protested against the motion. The chief just couldn’t see that his son was drunk on power and that Luke would be a better choice. With the knowledge that my wounds were being taken care off and that I was relatively safe, I closed my eyes and allowed the pain in, the pain that quickly overtook my conscious and swept me into darkness.
---------------
My eyes blinked slightly as I became aware that someone was shaking my arm softly. Yawning, I shook the sleep of when my heavy eyes landed on Luke, who was standing at my side with a worried but determined expression.
“Luke, what the…” I glanced at the clock only to notice that it was just past midnight. “Are you crazy? It’s-“ He interrupted me by swiftly placing his hand over my mouth as he laid a finger against his lips, signaling me to be quiet as he glanced at the door. I froze when I heard movement in the hallway and Luke’s expression turned into a silent snarl.
As soon as the footsteps disappeared, Luke removed his hand from my mouth and leaned forwards, hovering close to my ear.
“Listen Christy, Father and Alex will order everyone to remain silent on this but I refuse to become like them.” He whispered, pulling his face in a disgusted expression. “So I came to warn you.”
My eyes widened in shock as my inner cat jumped up, awareness running through my blood as my cat was awake but remained under the surface…. barely. Luke sighed as he sat on the floor, scrubbing his face with both hands. Dark rims were evident under his eyes, along with the tell tale worry wrinkles in his forehead. I knew something serious was up, especially when Luke came to warn me.
“A pride close by is going to host the next Proving.” Luke breathed as he gave me a pointed look whilst tapping at his tattoo. I nodded, showing him that I understood.
The Proving was a special event on which were-cats gathered from different tribes to learn their place in were-cat society. Through a series of fights, challenges and tests, the prides would test their young until their mark would come forth.
You see, a werecat was born with the blueprint of what he was hidden deep in his skin. You could be born a noble but were destined to become a valued part of the Vanguard. There had been recounts of poor werecats, which turned out to become a mate to the Royals.
That was why the Proving was so important; Young werecats, 16 years old and up, would learn their place in the world and could follow their destiny without facing failure after failure.
My eye landed on Luke’s mark, consisting of a black leopard fading in smoke; the mark of a shadow hunter. A shadow hunter was an evolved scout and highly valued amongst the prides. They could sneak in enemy territory, using the shadows as their cover while they had a remarkable set of fighting skills.
Luke noticed my interested expression and smiled. “During the proving, something will trigger your cat, awakening it to reveal your permanent mark and when you accept your destiny, you will come into your full powers, which causes your full mark to flash.”
I frowned at that last part. How does a tattoo-like mark flash? What did Luke mean by that? Nobody ever explained these critical things to me. “Your full mark?” I whispered finally, frowning as I stared at the tattoo around Luke’s lower arm and wrist. Luke smiled, understanding filling his eyes before he stood up and peeled his shirt over his head, turning so I was looking at his back.
Luke snickered at my stunned expression when he shot me a look over my shoulder. “Your full mark appears when you are acting according to your status, when you need to identify yourself or when your temper gets the better of you.” I looked at his bare back with confusion before I gasped.
A complete tattoo of a black jaguar prowling over some rocks at night appeared on Luke’s back; from his shoulders to halfway his back. He waited for a moment before the mark faded away as he shrugged his shirt back on.
He sighed slightly, tracing the mark on his arm. “The larger your mark is, the more powerful you are. But, it all depends on you and your cat.” Luke glanced at the door when we both heard a distant cough. “But that’s not the point.” He growled suddenly, making me jump before I groaned in pain as the remaining wounds reminded me of the last hours.
“Sorry.” He whispered with a sheepish expression before he frowned, looking at his feet. “Look Christy, Dad showed his trust in my brother by giving him control over the pride until the Proving.” Luke rambled off, keeping his eyes fixed on my bedpost.
I froze in shock as icecold fear rushed through my skin while I felt my eyes flash with the inner strength of my cat. Luke ignored me and continued, “But, father did give one condition; Alex can’t beat you up anymore, nor can he command others to do so.”
Fear was replaced by utter relief while a sigh escaped my mouth. My body relaxed as I rejoiced with the fact that I wouldn’t be beaten until the Proving. But then I quickly realized that there was a ‘but’ coming.
“But…” I whispered, almost afraid to hear the answer. And I was right, judging by the expression that flashed on Luke’s face before he brushed a hand over his face and through his hair. “The pride will receive a command in the morning. You won’t be allowed to feed yourself with food of the pride until the Proving. Not a breadcrumb or a drop of water at all.” Luke muttered from behind his hands as he hid his face in his arm.
No food. At all.
My stomach dropped as despair threatened to take over as my cat hissed loudly in thoughts. Both of us knew that we would have to fight for our lives. My eyes were wide of shock and I felt strangely numb as I breathed in a horrified tone, “How long until the Proving?”
Luke slowly lifted his head from his arms, showing me the tears that dripped from his eyes as his whole face was a mask of guilt, worry and pain when his eyes landed on my skinny, bruised and beaten body.
“Two months.”
So, posted the first chapter of this book, since people were pleading to read more of it :)
I'm working on the other books first but i wanted to see if my new story idea's were interesting enough for you guys ;)
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