Love And Hatred (GXG)

One

This is a new version of Love and Hatred, it's very different than the older version (that has now been deleted because I was unhappy with the story and how I had written it.) Hope you'll enjoy the story! 

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I remember a time when I and my family would run around the woods and hunt for a meal for our pack, I felt so free running through the woods feeling the breeze on my fur and dirt and grass beneath my paws. Nothing made a wolf happier than running freely in their most natural habitat. It was not long ago I had that freedom: years, five to be exact. 

Oh, how I longed for that same freedom I used to have, now we hid in caves, mountains whatever we could. At least my pack used to until we were all killed or captured depending on how much they thought we were worth. Being worth nothing to them meant a death sentence to you, this was not a game and it would never be one. This was life or death and now I feel as if I existed between them both. I cannot call what I have now "life", but I would not call it death either. 

I was lucky to be placed in the mines. I knew I was of high value to the vampires, but it seemed like they didn't know who I was if they knew I would have been sold a long time ago. Even if I was lucky it was truly awful living in that shithole. All I did every day was mine for gemstones, it was pretty to look at when I found them, but I could never keep them.

Today was a specially hard day, we had woken up early and had been digging for 12 hours. Us werewolves were strong, but we had a breaking point just like everyone else. A metal collar infused with silver, it kept us all from shifting, it was impossible to remove without a key.

I was separated from my family half a year ago, I was supposed to be the new alpha now I have nothing. Not a pack nor a family. None of the wolves that worked there were from my pack, it was hopeless to find any of them.

I remember hearing a man cough from what I assume was a sickness of some sort, a guard had kicked him to near death for not working fast enough to their standards, they knew he was sick and made him worse. A couple of days later the man had died from his injuries and sickness. I hoped I would not face the same fate as him, a slow and painful one. When we were dismissed I decided to go straight to bed and relax, I could hardly call a blanket on a dirt floor a "bed" but it was better than nothing.

 In wolf form, it was no problem, but in human form, it was uncomfortable and could be quite cold. "The queen has asked you to write down your personal information on these forms. make a line and write everything down." I was not sure what "queen" He was talking about, this land had multiple rulers from different families and regions. All I wanted was to relax, so I wanted to get it over with and write the form quickly. I wondered what she wanted with all of them.

Name: Eleanor 

Age: 17  

Sex: female  

Birth year: ****

Hair color: brown. 

I did have a white stripe in my hair that ran in my family, I decided not to write it down as it didn't seem like an important detail.

Eye color: green. 

Birthmarks: none 

Birth defects: none  

Sexual orientation: Bisexual    

Previous sexual partners or sexual experience: None 

Health: Healthy, no illnesses      

Workplace: Mines     

Species: Werewolf 

partner or mate: none      

I arched a brow at some of the questions, was I applying to be some type of prostitute? I gave the filled-out format to the same man who handed them out and left to finally go and sleep. I closed my eyes and immediately fell asleep until I woke up the next morning. It was 4, and I had slept for 10 hours and had not been awake to get dinner. It happened often that I had to skip a meal for more sleep, I was not suited to work for so long every day, my body was exhausted and it felt as if I was going to break any day.

Most people were still asleep while I sat there dreading the next 12 hours of mining, with no breaks and no food until our shifts were over. Most of us were malnourished, I felt as if I was always starving. 

Days passed, and every day was the same until one particular day when two guards approached me. He stood in front of me with a paper in his hand. "Follow me." He ordered. I followed him outside the caves where a small group of wolves already stood and waited for the next orders. Most were women. "Where are we going?" A girl in the group asked as we followed the guard in the front. He turned around and hit her with a stick. She started bleeding from her forehead. 

The guard that once followed us all strode up to him and yelled at him for doing so. "If the queen asks I will make sure you are held responsible for what you did." He spoke dismissing the guard that had hit the young wolf. Ah, so we were going to some queen. 

We were brought to a carriage where we would be sent off to somewhere. Metal chains that connected all of us were put on our legs, they were heavy and clearly infused with silver. A big building hidden inside a birch forest came to view after hours of riding the carriage.

The gates to the building were already open. The horses stopped by the courtyard and half a dozen of maids walked up to us and helped us out of the chains. An older maid approached me, I assume she was in her early 40s. She seemed displeased with me as a pronounced frown was plastered on her face. By her pale skin, tall frame and red eyes I could tell she was a vampire

They removed our shackles and made us go inside. It was not a normal manor, because it had a huge pool in the middle of it, but there were doors leading to other rooms. "You will all strip from your clothes and get in the pool to clean yourselves." The guard yelled to all of us. All of us were hesitant, not feeling comfortable stripping in front of other people. 

I had no problem undressing in front of my pack members, we had to see each other naked when we shifted so it was only natural we would all get used to it. However, these people were vampires and not part of my pack so getting naked would put me in a vulnerable situation.  A guard walked up to me and started to tug at my clothes. "Don't touch me!" I yelled.

The room grew silent at my sudden outburst. The guards looked at each other and laughed. The one in charge took a firm hold of my arm and closed his face to mine. "You still have some spirit in you I see, I would advice you to shut up and do as you are told." 

He looked over to the guard in charge. "She is a feisty one, should we still take her? I am not sure if the queen approves." I began moving around to attempt to get away from his grip, but his grip was even harder. 

"If she is going to be difficult we should take her back. I do not want her to be angry at us for giving her someone like her." The other guards agreed and I was forced back outside. I was glad I did not need to go there.

I was brought back to the mines, happy that I was left off work for that day. "You are back, what happened?" Mia, a friend of mine asked, well she could hardly be called a friend, we were acquainted and that was it. "They tried to strip me naked and force me into a pool with the others, I refused and was sent back." I shrugged. 

She arched her brow, a scar from a stone that had hit her head once made a small gap between her brow. "Why did they do that?" She asked. 

"They wanted us to meet some queen for who knows what. I did not want to stay around to find out what would happen to us." I was glad I did what I did, perhaps she would have killed us or taken us as her slaves like the rest of the vampire race.

We were served a warm soup that day, it consisted of only vegetables and sometimes meat, but that was rare and it was so little that you would be lucky if you received a piece. We were also given bread on the side, stale and disgusting. Breakfast and dinner were always underwhelming and they never truly filled out stomachs.

At the end of the day, I was not exhausted as I usually was, it was a nice change. How I wished we didn't need to work every day. 

Words: 1530

Posted: 08.01.23