Forged in the Flames by Karima Sa'ad Usman

I almost peed on myself when the Alpha ordered me to get out. I was pressed. I did not sleep

comfortably, and my body ached severely. I was worried about losing myself in my sleep and waking

him up. It was a difficult night. I left his room in a hurry and returned to mine. I tried to link my father,

and I got through to him this time.

“Hello father, I hope you are fine?” I said quickly, not sure when Nikolas would block the mind link.

“Aliana,” my father said, and my heart melted. I was glad to know he was all right. I entered the shower

and turned on the water.

“Yes, father, I am here, and I am fine,” I said, and he was silent. I was worried that Niokolas had

blocked our mind link again, but he spoke and put my mind at ease.

“I am sorry I could not protect you, Aliana. Had I known he would do this, I might have fought him to the

death,” he said, and tears welled up in my eyes.

“If you had, we would have all been dead. At least this way, we can one day run away when they are

not watching us,” I told him, and he was silent.

I turned on the water to rush through the shower routine, so I could finish quickly and care for Nikolas’

mother.

“Forest was the safest place for our kind, Aliana. It still is. Nikolas is evil, but he is nothing compared to

the Snow King or the passive Hill King, who allows the Snow King to interfere in his business. We have

to remain here. I will find a way to plead with him on your behalf,” he said, and I quickly stopped him.

Remembering how erratic Nikolas behaved when we were together last night, I did not want him to lose

his calm with my father and kill him.

“Don’t, father; I like it here. He is nice to me,” I lied, and my father was silent.

“Are you telling me the truth?” he asked.

“Yes, father. I have two Lycans that serve me. It isn’t as bad as it seems. He has a soft side to him,” I

lied, and my father was quiet.

“Are you sure you aren’t lying to me?” my father asked, and tears welled in my eyes because I had

never lied to him before, but I did not want to risk letting him speak to Nikolas. My father was better off

away from the mad Alpha.

“I won’t lie to you,” I said, letting the shower wash away my tears.

“Please stay in touch; hopefully, he will let you see me,” he said. We both closed the mind link before

Nikolas discovered that we had communicated.

I finished, exited the shower, and found Ania and Lisa in my room with food. They were smiling at me,

and I bowed my head.

They were lycans, so even if the Alpha asked them to serve me, they were still my betters, according to

Nikolas, and I wasn’t ready to be dealt with.

“Tell us how it went. No one has ever slept in the same bed with Alpha before. He usually does his

business and asks them to leave. You must have made a huge impression.” Ania said, then squinted,

looking at me.

“Your neck,” she said, and I held it and smiled. I dared not report to them. They were not on my side;

they were my watchers.

“Kinky,” she said, thinking it was linked to pleasure, and I shook my head immediately. The look in their

eyes showed that they did not believe me, and I wasn’t ready to elaborate.

“Come and eat so we can start our day. We are to care for the queen in her room. Do not worry; she

has been chained to the bed,” Lisa said, sounding a bit worried, and I knew why she would be

concerned. It wasn’t every day a werewolf was made to care for a feral lycan. I also did not miss the

fact that they called her queen. These people were deluded.

The feral woman might be the death of me. I just knew it.

While eating, I mustered the courage to ask them for a favour.

“Do you know where I can get birth control pills? Anything I can take to stop me from getting pregnant?”

I asked, and their smile dropped.

“There isn’t anything, but there is a tea I can brew for you to drink before sex. It has a painful effect, but

what it does is that it kills all his swimmers,” she said, and I dreaded it.

I did not know if it was okay for me to step outside the packhouse or the compound. I would have

sought the help of our physician, but with all that had happened, I doubted he would have such things

lying around the place, and I doubted it would get to me if I sent for it.

“I would like to take the tea,” I said, and she smiled at me.

“You will drink it a few minutes before intercourse. It is painful,” she warned again, and I nodded.

The last thing I wanted was to have a baby by a monster, and besides, if I had a child by him, the child

would not be referred to as a Lycan, and I did not want to bring a child into a world like this. I will drink

the tea as many times as required of me.

“Okay, I will brew it for you before you go to Alpha tonight,” she said, and I thanked her. We finished

what we were doing and headed to the room the ‘Queen’ was kept.

My heart was in my mouth. I was afraid and could feel my air supply cutting off, but I tried to force

myself to breathe and relax.

“Relax. We cannot panic around ferals. It triggers them,” Raven warned me, and I composed myself.

I was led into the room, and the curtains were closed with dim lights.

I saw the woman on the bed. She looked thin, her dark hair matted to her forehead with sweat.

Although the air conditioning was on, she was still sweating. She looked gaunt, and it was clear she

was underfed.

I couldn’t blame the people feeding her. Just so little could be fed to her in that condition. At the rate

she was going, she would starve to death. I did not know if I should help her or just do what they

usually do and watch her fade away.

“First, we will bathe her by wiping her body with a towel, then try to feed her. She doesn’t eat much, but

we try to get some food in her. I will show you how it is done before you step in,” Ania said, and I

nodded.

Ania brought a bucket of water with soap and another with ordinary water.

“We will wipe her with the soapy water and then wipe her skin with clean water before applying the

lotion,” She told me, and I nodded.

She did her legs, and then I took over. Soon, I fell into a rhythm. I wondered why she wasn’t growling.

“Why isn’t she reacting?” I asked, choosing my words carefully, and Lisa glanced at her.

“She is sedated every morning, so we can clean and feed her, or else we won’t have it easy,” she said,

and I was grateful they sedated her before we tended to her.

We cleaned her, and Lisa helped me to feed her. They fed her meat.

They left me to watch her while they attended to other things.

While I watched the woman, I was nervous, but I had no choice.

I sat on a chair in the room and watched her.

After two hours, she began to growl at me, and I did not know what to do. I hoped someone would say I

was done for the day and could leave, but I knew that would never happen.

I remained seated until Ania and Lisa returned with her food.

I immediately realised this was the reason why she was skinny.

they only fed her meat and there was no way we could feed her in this condition.

Lisa placed the steak close to her lips, and the woman bit it like a rabid dog.

She chewed it very fast. Once she had eaten most of it, Lisa stopped feeding her.

I noticed the woman was still hungry, but Lisa was worried about the woman biting her fingers, so this

was safe. She had fed her enough to keep her alive.

I did not say anything but planned to feed the woman more once I got around their routine and

methods.

I knew her survival would keep the Alpha happy. I planned to suggest some things about her feeding to

him. Hopefully, he would approve. Because it would go a long way to restore her physically; as for the

mental part, it was beyond anyone. This was what happened to wolves that had been cut away from

their alpha and pack for a long time.

“Let’s go; another set will come and care for her. We won’t be returning until tomorrow,” Ania ordered,

and I followed, but I could not take my eyes off the ‘Queen’ until we had left the room.

Having lost my mother, I could only imagine how Nikolas felt about this. There was no way he could be

normal having to deal with this. Most people put feral wolves down, but how can he put his mother

down? It was a hard thing to do, and I had to respect his love and dedication to his family. Too bad he

was a villain in this story.

I returned to my room to await my next assignment. Time passed, and it was evening.

I tried to link my father but could not get through to him. Knowing that Nikolas must have blocked it, I

relaxed and tried to sleep.

It wasn’t long after I laid down when Lisa entered with a mug of something hot.

I knew it was the infamous tea Ania had told me about. It also meant that the Alpha had sent for me.

I did not want to go. The last night I was with him, I felt things I shouldn’t feel towards an evil man. My

body responded to him too quickly. I didn’t trust myself not to succumb to his touch, but I had no say in

the matter.

I drank the bitter tea, and they cleaned and dressed me up.

It took thirty minutes, and by then, my stomach hurt badly, but I held the pain to the best of my ability.

They led me to Nikolas’s room, and Lisa stroked my back to help me calm down.

The moment we got to the door, the door opened, and two topless women that reeked of Nikolas

walked out, shooting daggers at me. I felt a tinge of hurt and jealousy, but I could not act it out. I bowed

my head immediately so I did not offend the Alpha by seeming disrespectful to his women. I shouldn’t

feel jealous. I shouldn’t feel anything, but I did. It was subtle, but it was there.