CHAPTER FIVE

"Are you ready to tell me where you snuck out two nights ago?" Father asked. He had a serious look on his face and I was scared of what he would do to me if I didn't tell him what he wanted to know, but judging by how he had made it clear that no one was to go to the Fang Pack, I knew that it was better to stay silent and face the consequences than confess and get in even more trouble. I looked over my father's shoulders to see Sadie flashing me a stupid smile. I couldn't help but feel annoyed by how she still went ahead to rat me out even though I had asked Phillip to ask her on a date and rating the way they were occasionally glancing at each other, I could tell that their date must have gone well.

"You're still proving stubborn?" Father asked, causing me to snap out of my jealous moment and go back to innocently staring at the ground. "Since you prefer punishment over telling the truth, I want you to clean the whole palace by yourself for the next three days. '' Father fired in a stern voice. I stopped myself from looking up at him, he knew how big the palace was and yet he expected me to clean it all by myself for three whole days. "Sire, please tamper justice with mercy. She can't do all that by herself", that was Sadie pretending like she wasn't the one who recorded a video of me sneaking in and sent it to my father.

"Don't plead on her behalf, Sadie, she doesn't deserve it", father said. He spoke calmly when talking to Sadie, which broke my heart. Did he really not see me as his daughter at all?

He dismissed me and I went to begin my punishment. The next three days were hell for me as I cleaned the rooms, scrubbed the floors, dusted the walls and did everything he chose there was in the palace. And at the end of it all, I only had crumbs to eat. Time seemed to travel fast as soon as the three days were over and I was back to my normal chores routine with the other maids, but it didn't really make much of a difference, as every chore we were assigned to I would end up doing alone. Phillip and Sadie got closer during the three days that I spent cleaning the whole palace and he even began avoiding me like the plague. I was used to being avoided, but what hurt was the fact that he was my only friend and yet, he also abandoned me like the rest.

It had been six days since I tried to run away from the pack. I was yet again in the throne room cleaning, the maids, as usual, were gossiping in a corner, but by now I was already used to it and doing the chores. I was about to pick up my brush and leave the throne room when I began to hear loud screams coming from outside. The girls also seemed to have heard it as they stopped their chatter and ran to the windows to check what was going on.

I watched from my spot as they also erupted into screams and began running belter smelter. They all ran out of the throne room, screaming like they had seen a ghost. My curiosity got the best of me and I went to the window to check what was going on. My eyes widened in horror on seeing the amount of chaos that was going on in the pack. Piles of dead bodies were laid on the floor and people were running for their lives. I sighted some unfamiliar wolves in the midst of the chaos and I could tell by their scents that they were definitely not one of us. I couldn't comprehend what was going on, but one thing was for sure, we were under attack.

I quickly ran out of the throne room, heading towards my father's room to inform him of the attack. I sighted even more piles of dead bodies as I headed for my father's room. I recognised some of them but the rest, I guessed, we were attacked, which showed that our guards also put up a fight.

I ran into my father's room expecting to see him dressed for war but instead I met him in a weird position. He sat on a chair and, from afar, all seemed to be fine until I noticed his neck was crooked and there was blood on the floor. I ran over to him to see that his neck had been torn apart. I thought he had been murdered by the enemy until I spotted the stains of blood on his claw and a few chunks of his flesh too. He took his own life and left us to fight alone. What a coward.

I ran out to inform the Beta of what had happened, but as I got to the Beta's quarters, I noticed two awfully familiar bodies. One was the Beta's and the other belonged to Phillip. I broke down in fear on seeing the remains of my best friend. His head had been detached from his body and his eyes had been gouged out of their sockets. I spotted a shaken Sadie crying under a desk and she looked traumatised. She had witnessed the murder, but how did she survive? I wasn't given time to ask her anything as the door burst open and two men walked in.

We were dragged to the throne room where other women were kept and it was only then that I realised that they had killed only the males of the pack. "Where's the alpha!" One of the men asked but everyone kept mute, "I ASKED A QUESTION!" He thundered, "he's dead, took his own life" I managed to mutter but it was loud enough for him to hear. He left but soon returned, but this time with a different question. Which of you is the Alpha's daughter?" He asked, everyone was quick to point at me and with that I was dragged to the front where a man sat on the throne. "Here she is Sire" the man said with a bow. I took a peek at who it was that caused so much chaos in the pack and my eyes widened in shock on seeing him. "It's nice to see you again Hailey"........................