Accusations

Agnes POV

I was taken aback at first but it did not take me long to recover.

Mate.

But that was not possible. That much I knew he was right about or at least from the books I’d read in the library, we could not be mates. That only happened between werewolves of which I was not.

I looked at him and I could see that his confusion was genuine. He could feel something deeply that I felt only vaguely.

“Leave, Agnes, Leave!” He barked but I could not bring myself to.

Everything around me felt like a haze. It was as though my body was not mine and it refused to believe that I had just been rejected by an Alpha.

“I I want to… I can't…” I struggled to say.

He looked at me alarmed, cleared his throat and I saw him try to stand up from the bath but he could not either. It was as though a force stronger than us was pinning us down. Whatever it was, we were powerless against it.

“You're a witch. That is the only explanation and I swear…” but he could not talk and in panic, I rushed forward to help but all of a sudden the spell, or whatever it was, was broken and I was myself once more.

“What was that?” I asked, panting in exhaustion. I was exhausted even though I had only just been standing.

“Leave Agnes,” his voice sounded weak and I could tell he was trying to hide it. I did not comment however and left him.

When I went to bed that night my head felt as though it was submerged in water and I began to cry as though in despair or as though I were mourning someone. This was all very strange to me. Why did I feel this anguish? This ache in my heart when nothing was wrong?

I sighed as I turned for the nth time in my lumpy mattress. It was not exactly true that nothing was wrong because everything had fallen apart for me. Just a few days ago I had everything; I had my family no matter how imperfect and now? I had lost my freedom and the trust of my parents.

My stepfather's betrayal was still fresh in my memory and my mother's laxity and refusal to step up still filled me with bitterness. I knew the slave code; it was only possible if both parents gave their consent. Her refusal to go against Judas’ decision had been her consent and it hurt like a stab wound. However painful that was not the cause of the tears streaming down my cheeks.

“Seduce him, might make the job easier. At least you'll get paid extra for that. His last mistress? He bought her a white diamond necklace, can you believe that?” It was Eunice, my roommate. I only looked at her askance when she said this.

“Are you not in tears because your job is hard? He is mean and makes you work non-stop?” she quipped when she saw the blank expression on my face.

“I'm not crying because of the Alpha; my parents sold me into slavery, it is very painful,” I replied although I knew that was not the cause of my tears. I did not know the reason for my tears as well and telling her that would only make me appear insane.

“My husband sold me into slavery; I'm certain your parents told you it was the best decision they could make for the rest of the family. It was what my husband told me, he said he was doing it to give our children a better life but you know what? He married a much younger woman afterward and sent my children back to my parents. He was meant to love me and protect my dignity and honor but he sold me and betrayed our love. Do you know Laura? No, you don't. Her twin sold her and Caprice? She was sold by her older brothers.”

We fell quiet after this. I needed a moment to process what she had just told me. It would mean then that humans were scary perhaps even more so than these feral creatures we had been sold to serve.

“I'm sorry Eunice, I did not know,” I felt selfish for sharing what I had just been through. It seemed the others had it worse than I did. I suddenly felt as though I had no right to the emotions going through me right now.

“You have nothing to be sorry about, love. It's the way of the world,” she gave me a kind smile and I did my best to return it.

“How do you cope?” I asked.

“I live for each day. I just keep living; hoping for the next minute to be better,” she answered with a bitter smile.

“I'm so sorry about your husband, I…”

“No. You are not and you shouldn't be. None of us should. They are the ones who should be sorry Agnes, not us. Now wipe your tears and get some sleep, you have a busy day ahead of you tomorrow,” she said to me.

I shut my eyes but I could not sleep. I had a ringing headache. It was like an alarm had gone off in my head trying to tell me something or warn me of something but I did not know what. The anguish in my heart was still there although it was less painful now.

I started to count like my mother had taught me to do whenever I had a hard time processing my emotions.

When I got to the number 100, an image flashed in my head.

It was the image of a wolf wounded in the middle of a war.

The image was gone before I could make out any more details.

I sat up in a cold sweat trying to figure out why such an image would flash in my mind when I had not imagined it.