imprisoned of my own blood

Hey monster! Catch!

I opened my hand instinctively to try to catch the scraps of food Kyra was throwing at me from the hole in my basement prison.

It was half-bitten stale bread, covered in mold, with crumbs that fell onto the cold, damp stone floor. My stomach twisted painfully, growling like a caged animal. I hadn’t eaten properly for days—half a glass of water yesterday had been the only relief I’d known in twenty-four hours. My body was a battlefield of hunger and weakness, and still, my mouth watered as I devoured the bread like the desperate, starving beast I had become.

"Yuck! She really ate it!" Kyra’s high-pitched laugh echoed down into the basement, followed by the giggles of her friends as they pressed their faces to the hole in the wall.

Kyra… my stepsister. A cruel shadow in my life, born from my father’s second marriage after my mother died giving birth to me. She, along with her friends, had made it their daily mission to remind me of my worthlessness.

"Didn’t she know she’s nothing but dog food?" Kylie sneered, the daughter of the pack’s beta, a cruel smile curling her lips. "Hey Davynna monster! You’re just like a mutt!"

I ignored them, shoving the last bits of moldy bread into my mouth. My survival was all that mattered. Each swallow, a tiny victory against the cruelty above. The sound of their laughter, however, grated against my nerves like shattered glass.

They didn’t know the half of it. They didn’t know what it felt like to be paraded through the streets, blamed for my mother’s death, branded a curse. I had spent eighteen years being treated like nothing, and now their ridicule barely cut through the fog of hunger and exhaustion.

"Hey Davynna, do you know the alpha prince is coming to the mansion for dinner? All the girls are invited so he can pick a future wife." Kylie’s voice was sharp, teasing. "And you? You won’t be there, of course."

I didn’t respond. The moldy bread was all I could focus on. My body ached for real food, for meat, vegetables, water that didn’t taste like rust. My stomach twisted painfully, reminding me of what I hadn’t had in months.

Kyra’s voice sharpened, full of venom. "Of course you can’t be there! The alpha prince won’t even look at you! You’re horrendous!"

I curled up tighter on the cold stone floor, trembling. My head swam from hunger and despair, but I kept my eyes fixed on the crumbs I had set aside. The basement smelled of mold, sweat, and the faint, lingering stench of fear. Every sound—Kyra’s laughter, the creaking of the wooden floor above—was amplified, pressing into my skull like a hammer.

One of Kyra’s friends vomited, the wet splatter hitting my leg, and then laughed as she filmed me on her phone. "Eat it! Eat it!" she chanted with a cruel glee.

I didn’t move. I stared at them, silent. Alone in my own prison, I was invisible to the world, rotting while they mocked me. My mind wandered briefly to memories of my mother, her warmth, her voice, a fragment of light in the darkness that had been my life.

Then came a sound that made my blood run cold.

A soft, deliberate creak echoed from the far end of the basement. The girls froze above me, their laughter faltering. I lifted my head slightly, ears straining. My heart thudded painfully in my chest. It wasn’t the house settling.

Kyra hissed, trying to mask her fear. "It’s nothing. Stop being paranoid."

But my instincts screamed. Something moved in the shadows, deliberate, strong, a presence that made the air shift. My body tensed, every nerve alive, and a shiver ran down my spine.

Then I heard it—a low, commanding voice that seemed to make the walls vibrate.

"Enough."

The girls screamed. I froze. The basement air grew heavier, thicker, charged with an energy I had never felt before. Every instinct in me told me this presence was powerful, dangerous, and… inevitable.

A shadow emerged slowly from the darkness at the far end of the basement. And then I saw them—silver eyes piercing the gloom, eyes that seemed to look straight into my soul, measuring every ounce of my pain, my fear, my defiance.

I wanted to shrink away, to disappear. But something else stirred—a strange, undeniable pull, as if my very being recognized something in him.

"Mutt… you’re mine."

The words sent a shock through my body. My stomach twisted—not from hunger this time, but from fear, awe, and a spark of something I couldn’t name.

The basement door rattled. Kyra and her friends screamed, trying to flee. But the shadow moved with terrifying speed and grace, a predator in its own right. I couldn’t see the full figure yet, just the aura of strength, command, and danger that filled the room.

And then… silence.

I clutched the stone floor, my heart pounding, my mind racing. I didn’t know who this being was. But I knew one thing with absolute certainty: my life had changed forever, and I might never be alone in the darkness again.

As the shadow lingered in the corner, I whispered to myself, trembling:

"Who are you… and why do I feel like I belong to you?"

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For readers:

Will the alpha prince really choose Kyra, or is there someone else watching, waiting, and protecting the girl they think is worthless?

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THANK YOU

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