The Kings Curse

A Life Of Torment

10 years later: 

It had been 10 long and brutal years since Luna Kali went missing after a sudden rogue attack while they were on their way to visit the Kingdom to mourn the loss of the next heir. With each day that passed, Alpha Kavik became more ruthless. He had completely shut down and lost all emotion except anger, rage, and hatred. He focused on one thing only, revenge on those who took his Luna. The pack had tried to abide by Alpha Kavik' s new way of life and feared that if they did anything wrong, they would be harshly punished. The Alpha took nothing into consideration when dealing with pack members who strayed from his rules and seemed to enjoy torturing and punishing them. He had gone mad when Kali disappeared, not being able to control himself, he destroyed the packhouse and worked his pack members to the point of sheer exhaustion while re-building it. There hadn't been any other rogue attacks since then and they never came too close to finding their pack. Kavik had lost hope of Kali ever returning and the last member to ask why he wouldn't find another chosen mate to help him lead lost his life. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months until the years came and went for the entire pack living this desolate life of fear.

Kavik stumbled into the dining hall sloshing the whiskey in his cup around and spilling it to the floor. He had started to try and numb his pain with liquor even knowing how hard it was for werewolves to get drunk. The glasses turned into bottles each and every night with no relief for him. He sat at the table and slammed his glass down. "MUTT" he shouted, "WHERE IS MY DINNER? CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT?" Kavik hated that boy, the boy not even of his pack, the boy his Luna allowed to stay here. But she wasn't here, she was gone and although he wanted nothing more than to rid the boy of his breath, he let him live on solely because Kali let him. It didn't stop him from using him as a punching bag but he thought the boy should be grateful he has a roof over his head. Malik ran into the dining hall, the wheels on the cart he pushed squeaked and shook as he approached the Alpha. He wasn't scared of the Alpha; he took his beatings and hid his tears like the King that Freya was raising him to be. Malik was reserved and quiet, he tried not to cause any extra trouble for himself, and he tried to stay in the shadows and unnoticed. It worked for the majority of the pack who didn't even look at him, but the Alpha, knew he was there and he used his frailness to his advantage.

Malik stopped at the Alpha's side and began setting the plates on the table. Every clink of the porcelain made Kavik more enraged. His claws started to show and Malik could see that the Alpha wanted to shift but was holding back. "You seem to have a death wish boy" he slurred. "Can you not tell time or do you just not value your life? Maybe today I'll end it, or maybe I'll only come close enough that you'll have wished I did." Malik was still a young boy but he was far more mature than the other kids, he had to be living the life he did. He quickly finished his job without ever looking or speaking to the Alpha, he wanted to be in and out. As he finished serving Kavik dinner, he went to grab the cart and leave but the Alpha rushed to grab his wrist tightly "I'll see you in one hour boy. You know where to be, don't ever make me wait again." Malik stood there with no emotion, nodded his head, and continued to leave the room. "And you'll clean up the floor when you're done, it's filthy, just like you" Kavik spit as he watched Malik walk away. When he entered the kitchen, he parked the cart in the corner and rubbed his wrist. It was already red with Kaviks hand imprint. Freya ran to the boy and quickly held his wrist up, Malik winced for just a moment before hiding his pain from his mother. "What happened my son?" she asked with a scowl on her face. "He did this to you just now. I promise that I am looking at every possible option to get you out of here and give you a better life" Malik nodded and bluntly said "Yes, he did. I hate him, but I'll never let him think that he's winning. I'm not going anywhere without you and Ash." And he pulled his hand from Freya and went to start washing the dinner dishes.

Malik's POV:

My wrist was throbbing, in fact, my entire body hurt from endless beatings every day. That wasn't the worst part of my life though, not knowing who I was or where I came from plagued my mind. I was so thankful for my mother even though I know she's not my biological mother, but she says one day she'll help me try to find my parents. I'm grateful for all Freya and Ash have done for me, without them I don't think I would have made it this long. Silly for a 10-year-old to say. I should be outside with the others, playing, getting dirty, and having fun but I've never done any of that. I have a tutor so I know the basics about things but nothing like what's taught in school.  Ash tries to sneak me out to show me things but I would never do anything to get him in trouble again. Once the Alpha caught Ash bringing me candy and his punishment was to be whipped. Mom threw herself at the Alpha and begged for him to give the punishment to her instead. That just enraged him even more and he ended up whipping them both. I had to watch as the skin on their backs split open and bled like a river. I was only 5 at the time but I knew there was nothing I could do other than make sure I never put either of them in this situation again. I'll never forget the look on his face as he snapped the whip back and forth. The look of complete enjoyment at their pain, his laughing smirk was truly evil as watched me sob in the corner. From that moment on I knew that I would never allow him the satisfaction of seeing my pain, no matter how hard it was to conceal. I told myself I would endure these agonizing days so I could be with Freya and Ash but I knew I had to build myself up, to become stronger without him knowing. As the years went by, it was starting to become easier to do though, thank the moon goddess. He was a drunk and started paying more attention to relieving his pain than to what was going on around him. Beta Atticus had threatened to leave the pack multiple times but after every conversation with the Alpha, he'd decide to stay. He didn't agree with this treatment and each time he was around, he'd try to ensure that my torture was as mild as possible and I respected him for that. He'd even sneak me in bandages and salve to help the deep slashes and lacerations heal better.