Bora's Diary - The beauty and the beast
Chapter 2

LORYS

The evening had dragged on and the glass of red wine had been enough to lift my spirits. Nevertheless, I had to pull myself together and decided to return to my room and let the evening end quietly.

I walked along the long corridors and sighed softly. I entered my room and closed the door behind me.

The diary was a thorn in my side. I took off my robe and removed my crown. I reached for the diary and looked at it for a moment. Diaries are not meant to be read... Well, whoever she might have been. I was sure she was already dead, succumbed to her wounds, buried underground.

And if so, I was the alpha, I was allowed to do anything.

I made myself comfortable on the windowsill, from there I had the best view of my realm and could take in the surroundings again and again.

So Bora... what stories do you have in store? A woman who knew how to write... That was forbidden, at least she would be considered a witch by the mortals and banished... For a she-wolf, that was a sign of intelligence, because few women could read and write.

BORA

I'm lucky to have you here to write for me. I couldn't imagine how I could kill my time here in this shithole. All this time I've been wondering where my pack is and why they haven't gone looking for me? Why didn't they notice my disappearance and why did that bastard take me?

I was terribly angry, if I may say so as a woman, but that's between us. After all, you're my diary and you keep my thoughts.

I have no idea where I am or what day it is today. I am locked in a small room that resembles a broom cupboard.

Sometimes I hear voices creeping past the door saying that it's not a good idea to stay here. They would be punished by the Alpha... Gabriel, they called him. I'd heard the name before, but I couldn't imagine which pack he might have belonged to.

One evening, after letting my she-wolf run, I went to the lake as usual. After I had washed up and was getting dressed to return home, someone attacked me.

As weak as I was, I could only assume that I had been the victim of a wolfsbane poisoning.

When I regained consciousness, I was standing in this room with my things.

My stomach was growling and there wasn't even any water to drink.

Hell... Where will this lead?

So many days have passed... the small window allows me to distinguish day from night.

A deaf-mute she-wolf brings me something to eat and drink every day, just enough to keep me conscious.

I have tried to communicate with her, but she looks down each time, trying to get her work done as quickly as possible.

Not to be surprised, she was scared.

Now I understood the reason why she was scared. His name was Gabriel and he was a fucking monster.

Although he didn't know me, he had made fun of me. In his eyes, I was a means of blackmail.

My heart almost stopped when he told me that... My father will be furious when he replaces out. But that wasn't all...

I've tried not to react to his provocations, but he's obnoxious. Apparently he has acquired a taste for touching me.

I've tried to resist with all my might, this time with success, but I'm not sure I'll be able to resist in the future.

I was grabbed by the neck and thrown full force against the wall, hitting my head - bastard.

I could take a beating, let him torture me for all I care, but he won't get my dignity, my pride.

I'm still waiting for my mate, hoping he'll be my savior - which will probably never be.

O Lord, who is in heaven... help me.

My heart is pounding like crazy and I'm starting to lose my mind.

Gabriel is a psychopath and I think he's out for blood.

He came up to me in a very drunk state and tried to touch me one more time. He was so intent that I had to kick him in the crotch with my knee.

For someone else that might have been a mistake at the time, but for me it was the right thing to do. I wouldn't surrender without a fight.

Never.

The next moment he grabbed my hair and punched me so hard in the pit of my stomach that my blood rushed up and I almost fainted.

I got up reluctantly and was beside myself with rage. Anger overcame me and I began to transform. My she-wolf lunged at him and what followed was disturbing.

He transformed too and jumped at me. I managed to sink my fangs into his flank and hurt him badly, which gave me a brief moment to breathe a sigh of relief.

But that moment didn't last long as he charged at me in a rage. We're talking about an alpha here. His wolf was a lot bigger and it was clear from the start that he was superior to me, even in his drunken state.

I fell to the ground, covered in blood and barely able to keep my eyes open.

He had turned back too, and his only words were that he would take revenge on me... I should have just surrendered to him, then it wouldn't have come to this, in his opinion.

What could have been worse than that? I was already at the end, death would be a blessing for me.

I had less of a feeling that he would kill me - that would be too good to be true. A feeling told me that he would give me hell on earth.

Gabriel was a great man, and he was also very good-looking, there was no question about that. But his behavior was the last straw, and even his fancy hair didn't help him much. Son of a bitch.

LORYS

I frowned, and what I read in that journal disturbed me.

The oh-so-great Alpha had kidnapped a woman from another pack and held her captive to blackmail the pack?

Was there another Alpha called Gabriel or had I not heard correctly?

As far as I knew, Gabriel hadn't had a mate who could have stopped him from committing such acts either....

I turned to the next page and read on.

BORA

A peace offering... from Gabriel.

Suspicious. That was appropriate. I was very suspicious because he had come to my room three days after our "fight".

He had apologized and told me he had a message for me.

I had no idea what I should have said. My condition hadn't improved and he had sent for two women to help clean me up.

I still didn't believe any of this. It was unusual...

He accompanied me to another room, it was bigger, it also looked more comfortable, it had a big bed in the middle, the furnishings were classy, and I wondered where his change of heart had come from. I was not entirely wrong, because when the door was closed by the maids, I saw that two guards were there to keep watch.

The maids helped me and tended to my wounds. They helped me wash myself and now I was sitting in front of a dressing table having my hair plaited.

Something told me that I should leave as quickly as possible. Because Gabriel had come back into the room and was staring at me the whole time. I tried to ignore him, but his gaze pierced me.

"What do you want from me?" I asked and turned to face him. The comb fell out of the maid's hand and she stopped, startled.

He came towards me and leaned against the wall.

"Do you really want to know, Bora?" he asked me, kneeling down in front of me so that our eyes met at the same level.

I frowned and looked at him "Otherwise I wouldn't ask you. Answer me," I almost ordered him, slowly getting angry.

I couldn't stand it here anymore. I wanted to go home.

A mischievous smile played around his lips and he looked at me wryly "I won't force you to do anything, love. Your own father will make you. Why should I fight a stubborn goat when there is the possibility of making alliances and joining forces?" He winked at me and stood up again.

I hadn't been listening properly. Was he serious? There was no way my father would agree to something like that!

I had to swallow hard and shook my head "Never..." I whispered quietly.

Gabriel smiled at me and shook his head "It's all done, Bora, you're going to be my future wife. Whether you want it or not, nobody cares." With these words, he disappeared from the room.

I looked at the maids in confusion and shook my head "That's not true, is it?" I asked them quietly.

The older of them looked towards the door to make sure no one could hear them talking.

"He's not lying... There's going to be a wedding. Rumor has it your father doesn't have enough to give Alpha Gabriel what he wants. They've agreed to get married so you'll be fine..." she said quietly and sat down with me.

I still couldn't believe what she had said and thought I was going to faint...

Gabriel had been right, he would get his revenge and really put me through hell.

It really had been my personal downfall to marry such a monster.

The first thing that came to my mind was to get away from here somehow. I had to wait for the next opportunity to get out of here before it was too late ...

LORYS

Damn... She was supposed to marry Gabriel? I'd gotten so angry reading that my blood froze in my veins and in that moment I regretted killing him.

In that moment, I wished I had let him live just to beat the soul out of him once more. It was so dishonorable and shameful for an alpha.

I was wide awake now and still lying on the windowsill. I stared into the dark night and thought about Leonardo's words. "She could recover and help the others in the pack...".

What if she survived that night and wasn't among those who were buried?