Chapter 1

{Aris POV}

I found myself sitting alone in a small room in the basement, which was more like a closet. It had a small cot and a tote for my things that doubled as a stand. Looking around, it was all dark, but a dim light came in from the door at the top of the steps.

-This is my life, hell-

I came to terms with it a long time ago and that was how my life would be. Hell locked in a tiny cell. My father was the leader of the snow leopard pride. He was their Alpha, making my family the ruling family over the snow leopards.

-A pride we can’t even call ourselves anymore-

In truth, there was nothing pride like left about this group of leopards. A pride loves and protects its members. What they were doing was repulsive. I didn’t know much, but I knew young members of my pride and other local areas were disappearing. My family had something to do with it.

-How could they be in my family?-

I hate being part of this family; I hate being part of this pride. The saddest thing about it was, as far as I know, my pride was the last of the snow leopards. The legacy they would leave behind was sickening. Deep down, I truly wished they would all die and be done with it. Then no one would suffer anymore. The only downside I could see was losing Gemma.

Gemma was my leopard and best friend; she was a small leopard in part due to their malnutrition and lack of time to run and explore shifted. She was small; every other leopard I saw was double Gemma’s size. Gemma had snow-white fur with black spots. Her paws were also tipped with black fur, as was her tail. The unique thing, the thing we were careful not to let anyone see, was the blue glow that came from Gemma when they were shifted; neither of us knew what it was or why it was there. We only knew it was beautiful and powerful. Gemma was sweet and protective of me; she was indeed my only friend. Since the only other friend I had, had gone missing all those years ago.

I was the outcast of my pride and family; I never understood why I had a brother whom everyone loved; I assumed it was because my parents never wanted a daughter. However, they did use me; when I wasn’t locked in the dark basement, I was forced to clean the entire home and serve my parents and brother. I wasn’t allowed to speak or look at them unless they spoke to me first. That wasn’t even the worst of it. My brother Mason was four years older than me; ever since I turned 13, my brother, father, and mother have touched and raped me. At first, it was just Mother; I wasn’t sure if it was because they wanted me ready before the boys came in.

I lay my head against the wall as that flashed through my mind. My mother, Laylee, entered the small dark room. I remember thinking it was odd because I was already done cleaning and given my food and water for the day, so why was she there? However, when she spoke, I couldn’t fathom what was being said. Yes, they hated and used me, but I never thought it would get this far.

Mother sat on the bed next to me. “Hello dear daughter, I have some news for you; you are 13 and you’re a true woman. From now on, you will serve your family differently. Your new role is to truly please us.“ A devilish smirk crept onto my mother’s lips. It was a look I had never seen before, and it scared me in ways I had never felt before. I was about to ask what she meant. However, the moment I felt her hand on my leg, I knew exactly what she meant. My mother’s hand slowly moved closer and closer to my core.

I quickly shook my head, pushing that memory out of my mind. I was 18 years old now, and these things still happened nightly. Sometimes my brothers’ friends who were mate-less would come to play with me too, and all they had to do was pay my parents for the time. It was fine. Everyone knew snow leopards were unique in that they couldn’t fall pregnant unless they were with their true mate, so no one feared being with me. However, it wouldn’t matter, anyway. My family would keep me locked away and take the child and raise it to be as sick and twisted as they all were. What no one, not even I, knew was that I was unique, and unfortunately for me, it meant I could fall pregnant without a true mate. I discovered this just barely over a month ago when Gemma informed me that we would have a cub. Though neither of us understood why or who it belonged to, all we knew was that we were pregnant, unmated, and we had to get our cub out of this hellhole.

The following day, the sun was barely up when I heard a voice that made my skin crawl. “Oh, dear sister,” the gruff voice echoed from the top of the steps. My family never called me by my name; it was always my dear daughter or dear sister. I knew what was coming, and I also knew there was no use in fighting it. Down the steps came my brother. He was a tall and muscular man if he wasn’t such a creep and still had his leopard; I could see many people finding his build, his bright yellow eyes, and his long dark hair attractive. However, all I could see was another monster in this house of horrors. I heard his steps as he went down the stairs, creaking under his weight. My heart raced.

-No, not again -

I heard her brother chuckle. “Are you afraid, dear sister?” he said in a menacing voice. I gulped, and for a moment, I wondered how he knew my thoughts. However, then it hit me; it was the potion I was forced to drink every day. If I wanted water, it always kept my mind linked with these assholes, which caused awful headaches. However, I was pretty sure they weren’t aware of everything I discussed with Gemma. In her realm, they couldn’t know. We made sure to keep communicating outside of Gemma’s realm so they wouldn’t catch on. Once my brother was standing before me, he violently grabbed me by my ankles and jerked me off my bed.

“Since you know what I’m thinking, I don’t think I need to explain anything,” he said, leaning against the wall. I knew I had to be careful; I had to do anything to avoid being beaten for the sake of the cub. So, my hands ran up his body softly and slowly, how he liked it; at least, unlike my father, my brother wasn’t rough for being as awful as he was; he liked a sensual touch, almost like he longs for a love he could never have as a result of his actions. I heard a low moan of pleasure as his head fell back against the wall. The sound made me want to vomit and turned my stomach. He truly was easy to please; why was it the only time he was gentle, or even remotely human? Not that any of this was normal, but it seemed like the vicious monster had melted away in these moments. Of course, he was still a monster, considering what he forced her to do.

I slowly got on my knees before him and undid his pants when my lips met his. I licked him slowly, and he moaned softly. His hands always found their way to my hair. He played with it almost lovingly. He was gentle until done. My mind, however, was wandering. My body was on autopilot. I knew what to do and didn’t need to think about it. It was better if I didn’t. Instead, I thought about how to leave here. I did it so often over the years that it no longer alarmed my family. I never once tried. They used to punish me for those thoughts and guard me heavily. However, at this point, they figured it was simply a nightmare I could never escape from, but this time I was very serious.