Fates | Book 2 ✔️

[4]

I wake up to a splash of ice cold water thrown into my face. The strands of my red hair cover my eyes as I blink away the little water left in them. Those wretched little— I hiss out instead of saying what I wanted to say aloud. It would be unwise. 

My hands are tied around my back with the same silver rope that bounded me earlier.  As I look around all I see are nothing but faces staring back at me with a healthy amount of fear, judgement, and hate. Sad to say, I do not recognize any of their faces. However, I know a majority must recognize me because of this red hair and what it meant to them many years ago. 

 "Evil lives in this man," one of them says while sneering. It causes me to roll my eyes.

 "Rise and shine beast." A bigger man rises from a nearby chair and approaches a good distance from me. "You're going to tell us who sent you and why."

 "Sent me?" I say unable to take the humor out of my voice. He couldn't be serious. It was over a decade ago... that war and I served no part in it.  "The Reds want nothing to do with you people any longer. The past is the past." 

 "The past is not just the past!" he yells causing spit to fly into my face. "Your pack destroyed more than half our homes! Killed our family, our mates! Something like your kind would never come to understand!" The muscles in his jaw clench. Still, I continue to hold the same detached face I've been having since I woke up. 

 It's true. The Reds of the Woods are unable to find their rightful mates for hundreds of years after what we did to that pack. They say we've become disconnected from the Lunar Goddess' great blessing. That we had fallen into depravity. I scoff. Religious lunatics that they are along with those tribes people.

"I had played no part in the recent attacks on your home if there were any. You may want to speak with my grandfather if you want an apology. However, I can give you my condolences." I get a punch to my face causing my lip to bleed from the side. "Or not."

 "Fucking prick!" A shorter were shouts. 

"Don't touch his face, Marcus. He may be one of the pretenders. Probably dyed his hair red like all the other ones."

"But Yorin—" 

"He'll have an even better punishment once we present him." The taller one says. I look at him and notice just how big he is. He leaked power and authority, tell tale signs of a Beta. 

 They really must not know who I am. A pretender? Punishment? Haha, that's laughable. Quite laughable actually. Simple minds, simple creatures. The Northmen were seen as barbaric and nothing more than animals taking on human skin. Nothing has changed. 

"Get up." 

I take another good look at Yorin and notice a scar going across the left side of his face. His eyes are a molten grey and his hair is as dark as night. A true Northman. His gruff beard and size only sealed my suspicions.

 He hoists me up and shoves me out the door outside. The sun is so bright it causes me to close my eyes until they adjust properly. Greenery is all I see until we walk up a hill. A vast amount of buildings, houses, and huts spring up out of the forestry. 

 Children are playing around the small pond covered by a bridge. Their mother's stand close by with a basket of laundry in each of their hands. I hear the laughter of the elders and cries of pups. The sky never looked so blue and the air never smelled so fresh. This would be the place Lance would choose to go...

"Come on, keep it moving." 

I get another rough shove causing me to grow angry but I let it simmer. Yorin may seem dumb, but I know he is a man not to be trifled with. As for the other bunch, I could kill them in a heartbeat. They're all green bloods, having never even killed anyone, nonetheless seen death.