Rise of the She-Wolf

Vanessa’s pov,

It was the day of the monthly Moon-Goddess celebration. The training was called off so everyone could help with preparing for the ceremony. Most of the pack were sent to hunt down a sacrifice. I volunteered for cleaning duty because I wanted to stay at the mansion. I had not forgotten about Tomasso’s promise to sneak me into the quarters of the breeding she-wolves.

Luckily Lianna and the other omegas also had cleaning duty, so it was actually nice to spend some time with all of them. I was just busy cleaning the kitchen when I heard a voice from the shadows, “Pssst, Vanessa. Come on we have to go now.”

I could just see a pair of ember eyes staring at me, so I knew it was Tomasso. Lianna looked at me confused so I whispered to her, “I will explain later. Can you cover for me?”

She didn’t ask any questions and just nodded in agreement. I silently walked after Tomasso, and we walked to the forbidden door while constantly checking if nobody saw us. When we reached the door Tomasso said, “I will stay outside and make sure no one gets in. You go look if they are alright.”Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

I quickly opened the door that led me through a dark hallway. At the end of the hallway, there were 2 doors. I opened the left one first and saw it was a room filled with a bathtub, a couch, and a big bed. I didn’t have to imagine what this room was used for, and I quickly closed the door again. I opened the door on the right, and it led to a bunch of prison cells. The cells were filled with expensive furniture, books, television, and much more but the fact remained that they looked like a cell. I walked past the women and most of them didn’t even look up. I felt like I had a stone in my stomach when I looked at all the broken spirits. “Look what he did to them, they don’t even care anymore,” Spirit howled in my head. I had to agree with her, it made me sick to see them like this. I walked to the end of the cells and there one woman came to her cell door. “Vanessa?” she asked.

It was the pretty, small woman that stood next to me in line when we got picked. The woman that got raped when I told Don Lorenzo I was cursed. I hurried to the door and got down on my knees. “Oh my god, are you alright? What happens here? Does he beat you or mistreat you?”

I could see she still had a fire in her eyes and that she was a little survivor. Her eyes were raging when she answered, “He does not beat us or torture us. So, I guess you could say we are treated alright if you take away the fact of getting raped every once in a while. But it breaks us. Little by little we turn into submissive wolves that just obey. I haven’t seen the sunlight or let my wolf out since I have been here. He promises us when we get pregnant, we can live with the pack so yeah after some point you realize fighting against him will only make it worse.”

I felt sick when I heard how Don Lorenzo manipulates them and I took her hand, “I am so sorry you have to go through this. I promise I will not forget about all of you and figure out a way to get you all out of here.”

She took back her hand and sharply responded, “Why would you? You don’t even know our names. Why would you care?”

“Because I have been treated badly before and I do not wish for anyone else to be treated wrongly. None of you deserve to be here. This is not an honor, this is a breeding prison. Alpha or not nobody should be forced to be a breeding object without their consent. She-wolves are special and powerful and capable of so much more than baring pups. It’s time others realize it as well.”

She looked at me with big eyes and I could swear I saw a little shimmer of hope emerge. At the same time, I heard a knock at the door, so I knew it was Tomasso warning me that my time was up. I got up and shouted to all the cells, “I have to go now but I promise I will come back. I will not forget about all of you.”

The small woman I talked to shouted, “It’s Allie. My name is Allie.”

I smiled at her, “Don’t lose your fire, Allie. You will need it.”

Then I quickly closed the door and walked back to Tomasso. We did not speak until we came to his office. As soon as he closed the door he asked, “So how are they?”

I sighed, “They are in cells, comfortable cells but still cells. They do not get abused except for getting raped. But Tomasso almost all of them were just empty shells. Broken without spirit. They haven’t been able to shift since they have been there. Don Lorenzo tells them they can live with the pack when they get pregnant.”

Tomasso grunted, “Hmm at least it is good that they don’t get physically abused. Having breeding wolves is normal in the werewolf community you know. Alphas have certain rights.”

I lifted my eyebrow at him, “Sounds like manipulation and power abuse to me.”

“Maybe that is true but even you can’t change the ancient werewolf ways, Vanessa. As long as they are treated properly according to werewolf law then there is nothing we can do.”

I felt my blood boiling and I respond fiercely, “I will figure something out. Watch me!”

Tomasso walked to me and touched my shoulder, “Calm down Vanessa. I would also like to see it differently so we can discuss it again another time. Right now, we have to get ready for the ceremony.”

I went back to the kitchens to find Lianna and together we finished the cleaning. When we walked to her bedroom she asked, “What were you doing with Tomasso?”

Her voice sounded a bit sharp, so I teasingly looked at her, “Do you like Tomasso?'”

Her cheeks became red and she stuttered, “nn.. nn.. oo! I just thought you were dating the sheriff so why would you be alone with Tomasso.”

I laughed, “Don’t worry Tomasso is all yours. He was just helping me figure out something.”

I told her all about the breeding wolves and what I saw. Lianna gave me a guilty look, “Sorry that I immediately assumed you were romantically involved with Tomasso. It’s just that you are so beautiful that I think every man wants to be with you.”

I snorted, “Pff come on Lianna. Have you looked in the mirror? You are fire girl.”

She smiled and said, “Thanks, Vanessa. What you told me is awful though. We have to help them.”

I nodded, “I agree but we need to make a smart plan not rush anything.”

Lianna agreed and then took out the clothes we were supposed to wear tonight. The clothes were small white togas that left much of the body bare. The men were wearing white togas around their waist, but their torsos were naked. In the meantime, it had gotten dark so we went outside to the ceremonial place where a big fire was burning around the altar. I looked at all the scarcely dressed bodies around me and whispered to Lianna, “I don’t think I have ever seen as many abs in my life.”

Lianna giggled but quickly became quiet when the sorceress Elswith walked to the fire. She was completely naked and just walked through the fire to the altar in the middle. The flames didn’t seem to hurt her for some reason. At the alter a deer was tied down. Elswith started singing in a language that I did not understand. But seeing her standing there in the flames singing was mesmerizing. Drums started to play and Elswith cut the deer’s throat. The drums kept going and Elswith walked out of the fire with a bucket of blood. Everyone got in line, when they got to Elswith they drank from a bowl of blood and Elswith sprayed blood over their whole body with a brush. She said something to everyone, but I could not hear what. When it was my turn, I took a sip of the blood, and immediately it felt like all my primal instincts got the upper hand. I felt like Spirit took over, but I was still in human form. Elswith sprayed on me and whispered, “Fulfill your destiny little wolf with eyes like the moon.”

A bit dizzy I walked back to my place. When everyone had drank from the blood, music started playing and everyone started dancing around the fire. On the rhythm of the music, people were dancing and howling. For some reason, I just had to join and with full commitment I howled to the beat. Everything seemed to pass in a blur and without me noticing the mood changed. All around me people were making out or even having sex. I saw so many bodies intertwined that I didn’t even know anymore who was with who. I thought I saw Tomasso and Lianna passionately kissing in between all the other people but I was not sure. The desire to mate crushed into me more heavily than I had ever felt before. I just needed to find someone to release it with but not some stranger. I could hear Spirit growl, “Let’s go find that handsome sheriff of yours and rip him apart.”

That idea sounded wonderful to me, so I took off the dirty toga, grabbed a long raincoat that was laying on the floor, and shifted into wolf form. The gate opened for me like it knew exactly where I was going. The universe seemed to agree with my decision and while I ran out of the gate it started raining. Washing all the blood away from my fur. Spirit and I felt like one when we ran through the rain with only one mission in mind.