Elena.

The moment my childhood best friend hugged me, I knew I was done for. I knew that night was about to be another hell for me, I just knew it.

Although it was not customary for invitations to request special attire, most of the women wore evening gowns and precious jewels and most of the men were dressed in dinner jackets with black ties, and some even wore frock coats.

Salvatore was not left behind as he was dressed in a colorful tuxedo and looked like the angel they said he was, the angel I couldn't see.

He walked towards the both of us almost instantly, giving the usual fake smiles of his as he placed his left hand on the small exposed part of my back. I was wearing a backless dinner gown after all, one that was way too shiny and uncomfortable for me but had been forced to wear.

"Baby, what's going on here?" He questioned looking between my childhood best friend and I.

"Oh! If it isn't the man of the moment, I'm Romeo, Elena's friend. We go way back, I was just in town for something when I heard that my favourite girl was getting married and I knew I couldn't dare to miss it." Romeo introduced, smiling and looking sincerely happy for me but I was sure that wasn't what Salvatore was seeing but he was sure to of course play along.

"Hy, nice to meet you. Thank you for coming around, she sure appreciates it and so do I. " He replied.

I looked at Romeo who had his gaze on me as if wondering why Salvatore was the one speaking for me or why I had suddenly gone mute since he stepped into the same space with us.

I blinked severally as if someone had just told me to blink thrice if I needed some help.

As we walked around the hall for the rest of that evening, I could feel the pinches and painful squeezes that he gave me each time I did what he thought was wrong of me to do and then when it was all over and night fell, I knew and dreaded what was going to happen yet again.

As I took my bath to wash away the day's sweat and dirt, he barged into the bathroom and dragged me out by my hair while I screamed, he then threw me on the bed like I was a simple rag.

"Do you know how many times you embarrassed me today? Do you know how much of embarrassment I had to face just because of you? How dare you go around hugging and kissing other men? Elena, how many times do I tell you to always think about what I'd do to you before you take some steps or do some things? Am I such a joke to you now? Oh, I'm not to be taken seriously? Is that it?" He questioned continously as he took off his shirt and then got to his belt.

I screamed as soon as he began to pull it out because I knew what was going to happen so I started to do what I've always done for the past three years, plead for mercy.

"I'm so sorry, please. I'll never do it again, please. I'm so sorry." I pleaded in between sobs and tears.

"If everything could be solved just by saying sorry, do you think we would need the police, lawyers and judges? I own you, Elena, you are mine and no one else's." He started as a whip landed on me making me cry out again.

"Turn around!" He commanded as I immediately responded, he then continued to whip me, "You must do as I say every time and I can do anything I want to you. You are mine and mine alone. You are my property, you are nothing."

After he was satisfied that I was bruised enough, I felt his naked body on mine and then him, in me as he did what he does every night since I was given to him by my father.

Someone came in unannounced while he was at his brutal act. No one cares to knock around here, their master taught them that way. He loves to share, he loves to show me off, he had said that several times, so many of his men had practically seen me naked without my permission.

"The boss wants you." He simply announced before leaving.

Salvatore groaned in frustration as he got off me and slapped my butt aggressively.

"I'll be right back to finish what we started, do not think Daddy being here saves your damn ass!" He said as he put his clothes on and then stormed out of the room.

Tears rolled down my eyes as I laid on the bed. Bruised, abused and maltreated.

And then I suddenly got off the bed, as if on impulse. I walked towards the large window and looked down, it wasn't too far from the ground. I got hold of the nearest dress I could find and threw it on not minding how flimsy and light it was against the cold.

I could hear my father and Salvatore talking loudly.

"You interrupted the nice time I was having. Why do you always show up at the wrong time, huh?" Salvatore snapped.

"You know damn well that I do not care what you do to or with my daughter but do you think a nice time is more important than the shipment of weapons that suddenly sank in the middle of the sea last night, and all of a sudden at that? Do you?" My father responded, once again placing every other thing above his own daughter.

I've never understood my dad nor the relationship between his wingman or beta and him, neither have I ever even tried to understand.

I shook my head bitterly as I looked around the large room just one more time. I climbed out of the window gripping on so tightly despite the fact that my palms were sore and burned.

My nails dug deep onto the wall to give myself a better grasp, to give myself one more hope that I would succeed. A tear rolled onto my cheek, but I didn't care; I had to stay focused, I had to survive.

I soon landed onto the hard floor and then I took to my heels, not bothering to look back.

Elena.

"Run, keep running, you can do this. Don't look back, just keep running." I told myself repeatedly. 

Escaping wasn’t easy. I had planned it for years but never had I found the courage to actually do it. But tonight I had to escape from the nightmare I’d been born into. I had had enough, I wanted to be free from the shackles, I needed some hope.

My father never cared. He knows all that I go through and always turned a blind eye, he was never a loving father, he had always allowed the family to treat me like I was nothing even though I was his daughter. Family didn't matter to him not my mom, not me. My father only cared about profits, it didn’t matter that I begged him to listen.  

Despite being the leader, the Alpha of the Amato Pack, despite being the feared leader that he was, I was always nothing, I was just a pawn in the cruel game. I had no choice, no will. No respect. No love. I had nothing. 

My engagement to his beta hadn’t been my choice either, neither was the marriage that happened today, none of it got my permission, they didn't think any of it needed my addition. For years, I wished my father would put a stop to the violence against me, but it never happened. He watched and allowed Salvatore to do whatever he wanted with me. I was just a toy for pleasure and for pain. 

I ran as fast as I could, despite knowing that they would soon catch up with me, I tried to summon my wolf, if I had any but I had never shifted, not even once in my whole life even when I had a powerful alpha as a father and a great late Luna as a mother so I had no choice but to run as fast as my human legs could take me. I had to escape at any cost. I had to focus. I'll deal with the trauma and pain later.

Survival comes first.

The floor was constantly attacked underneath my feet, dry leaves crunched under my feet and big trees, leaves and logs seemed to appear out of nowhere as if to try and stop me. But I could still hear them. I had to stop to catch my breath before my lungs gave out on me.

 My rough hair was matted with some dirty liquid, my arms and legs all bruised and cut and my clothes already looked like rags, dirty and tattered. I knew I definitely looked like a leaking pipe but I had to keep running. After running for more minutes, I wiped the sweat from my forehead, exhausted. My long legs gave up from beneath me and collapsed. 

My heart started racing and I knew I had to keep going so I started to run again. 

I needed to run for my life. I needed to survive, my life depended on it.

"Stop!" I heard a voice yell behind me before I then heard the sound of gunshots in the air followed by loud growls from shifted werewolves, a way to scare and threaten me which meant that I now had a lesser chance of survival but that didn't stop me, I just kept going. 

Going deeper into the woods, I forced myself to move quicker as I kept taking different turns hoping to confuse the people chasing after me. I pushed harder, running until my body felt like it was breaking. After a while, I bumped into a tree that had some thorns and I was soon bleeding. It cut into my stomach and started to hurt so badly, but I kept going. Only my escape mattered at the moment, not the blood, nor the pain.

I kept running into the darkness until the screams of the men and gunshots faded away. When I was sure that I couldn’t hear them anymore, I stopped and leaned against a tree, although my senses were still heightened in case of any impromptu danger.

 I knew I had to rest even though my safety wasn’t guaranteed yet. My heart was pounding so hard and my legs were shaking too much for me to continue. 

But as soon as I saw a street light almost close to me, I was immediately gingered and so I began to run towards the main road feeling hopeful. I soon got to the road and started to walk by the sidewalks down the roads, houses began to come into view. 

I saw a car speeding towards me and started to wave it down hoping that I'll get picked up by a good Samaritan, this world can't be full of just cruel people afterall.

When I saw that the car wasn't reducing its speed, I jumped onto the road without fear. The car came to a halt and as soon as I was about to move towards the driver's window and ask for help, he zoomed off leaving me dumbfounded. 

I was about to cuss him out when I saw Salvatore's men walking up and down like they were in search of something or someone, which was me, of course. So I had to run towards the nearest house and hide. While hiding, two men in suit came out of the house and walked towards a car all the while speaking to eachother in low tone. 

When I saw that it seemed like one of the men was going to get into car and drive off, I got an idea as I quickly ran as quietly as I could to the car, opened the door of the backseat and immediately got disappointed as it didn't open. 

My hope was shattered but I took a leap of faith and tried the booth which surprisingly opened so I quietly slid in and then I closed the booth as quietly as I could immediately I was in.

After few minutes, a door opened and the engine started. My head throbbed and the pain I was feeling felt like someone had put a knife to my skull. I leant my head against the rug in the booth and squeezed my eyes shut, wishing the pain would go away. 

But at the same time, I felt somewhat hopeful and safe, at least, for now.

After what seemed like several hours to me, I almost felt like I was going to die due to how much time it took the car to get to wherever its destination was but soon, it finally came to a stop. I heard the door being opened and someone stepping out, but to be on the safer side, I waited for more minutes before I then decided to get out of the booth, having gotten enough silence. 

But the moment I silently opened the booth, what greeted me left me in awe. I was in a freaking mansion if not an estate. The beauty and bigness of the house left me shocked. I had lived in big house my whole life but non of them ever compared to this and that was enough to make me get even more scared. 

I wanted an average life, rich people had shown me over and over again that they were wicked, brutal and unreasonable humans. I was already sure that the house I was in at the moment had nothing good in store for me, so I surveyed the huge gates at the entrance and felt so sad when I saw three men guarding it.

It didn't seem possible for me to be able to escape. Before I could even try to think about what to do next, the men sighted me.

"Who are you? What are you doing in here?" One of them asked as they all started to run towards me. I insantly started to run towards the house, somehow glad that the compound was that big as it gave me an edge to be able to have some headstart.

I wheezed as my burning lungs gasp for air. My legs felt numb and unsteady, painfully sore. My throat felt very dry, so uncomfortably dry. My flimsy gown and long red hair clung to my body, no different that if I had ran through a rain-storm. Well, it could be termed that.

My heart was beating so fast and my vision turned blurry with panic. I felt them behind me closing in, their steps sounded hard and angry. My pulse drummed in my throat. My breath came out in short pants, fear surrounded me. I increased my pace as I was able to pass through the door at the entrance of the house.

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, amongst sofas, cushions, tables and along the stairs till I got to the third floor. Despite running to escape the men on my tail, it wasn't impossible for me to still notice the little details in the house.

It was very welcoming from the open door to the wide hallway. Upon the walls were the photographs of children, about two, obviously so loved. The house was like a kaleidoscope of memories, of photographs adorning the walls, each of them conjuring the emotions of those sweet eternal moments.

The floor was an old-fashioned parquet with a blend of deep homely browns and the walls were the greens of summer gardens meeting a bold white baseboard. The banister was a twirl of a branch, tamed by the carpenter's hand, it's grain flowing as water might, in waves of comforting woodland hues. Under the lamp-shine it was nature's art, something that soothed right to the soul.

The house was filled with many doors and stairs, it seemed so unending. Gunshots flew in the air, and soon, I could even hear breaking of bones that signified to me that they were also shifters and it only went further to convince me that I was definitely in the wrong house, one that was sure to be the end of me if I should get caught. 

The men that were after me seemed to double as more shouts filled the surroundings, barking instructions and growls filled the air as I ran not bothering myself to look back again. When it seemed like I was almost at crossroads, I chose one of the doors before me and ran into the room, closing the door right behind me.

The mansion was very big, way too big, might I add. It was very evident that It would take them some time to find me. 

I slowly moved away from the door and walked towards another door in the same room while trying to calm my breathing. When it was evident that I could finally breathe normally, and my gasps no longer filled the room, I looked up to take in my environment in the dim light as it was quite dark since the curtains were drawn allowing only a little light from the window.

It was a bedroom, the biggest one I've seen in my entire life, not that I've seen many since I was mostly indoors all my life but judging from the fact that my father is said to be one of the wealthiest Alpha's then I think its pretty okay that I'm this shocked cos this was way bigger, the entire house was much more luxurious. There was a huge circular king sized bed in the middle of the room with nightstands on either side. There were over three couches that looked like something from a Palace at a part of the room.

The room also had usual things like a desktop and desks although there are unusual things like a coffee maker, an acoustic guitar, a brown safe sitting on one of the tables and a camera simply begging to be used.

I snapped out of the stupid trance I was in as I suddenly remembered that I was running away from my own death.

Who cares about a stupid luxurious room?

I ran towards the door I was walking to before I got carried away and as soon as I opened it, my eyes felt very much blessed, yet again. The bathroom seemed like something out of a dream. It had a enclosed glass bathroom, a circular bathtub, cabinets that seemed simply too much and even a damn chandelier swung from above lighting up the whole bathroom and giving it the royalty feel. It was simply magnificent but that wasn't problem as at now.

I looked around trying to find a good spot for hiding, one that I would never be found until I can find a way out but just before I could get one, I heard someone at the door and my breath picked up. The door opened and then closed, quietly.

Soon, footsteps could be heard coming towards me as I kept looking to and fro trying get anywhere, anything at all to hide in. I soon found one, the bathroom and I rushed into it, hoping I was as invisible as I thought I was.

But as I looked ahead of me outside the bathroom, my eyes widened in panic. 

My dirty feet had left marks while I walked in here and before I could think of doing anything, the bathroom door got opened and in came a man.

Elena. 

I plastered myself against the wall in the bathroom praying that the footsteps on the ground were suddenly invisible to him and then I pressed both of my hands over my mouth.

I heard bare footsteps and a couple more grunts and to my horror, those sounds were getting closer to me. 

Oh my! He must have sensed something. 

I hoped that it was just my eyes and ears playing a trick on me and that I haven't been caught right now. There was total silence for seconds and I almost thought I had escaped being seen but that was clearly just a stupid wish because seconds later, the door ripped open and I came face to face with the a man.

The man was bare chested, at least from what I had deduced from the upper part of him which I was staring at. 

And from his face alone, you could tell that he had the surge of power and authority. 

However, he got better the more I looked. His rich blonde hair had tousled griminess which promised finesse. He had strong arched brows and eyelashes so thick, they could be illegal. He had distinct cheekbones and an angular jaw, his pale skin made him look devilishly handsome. His eyes were gazing into mine like he was looking far beyond the dirty hair and bruised face. I stood and stare back at his eyes that glimmered like the stars in the sky. 

For seconds that seemed longer than that, we seemed to be frozen until he suddenly smirked, then walked into the same bathroom space with me and he was smart to make sure he stood at the exact entrance just so I could ever pass through, this left little room to no room between us.

And that was when I suddenly notice that he was stark naked and I jumped, frightened. I looked at the entrance again, wishing that I could somehow bypass him but it seemed impossible, I chose to look down at my feet instead.

"Look up!" He snapped, in such voice that scared me to the bones but I was too terrified to even raised my head up again so instead, I remained as I was as my red hair cascaded over my face even more.

He definitely wasn't taking no for an answer even if it was a mute one as he immediately forced my head up, as I looked up at him, I couldn't help but be focused on his eyes, which were darting back and fourth, shining in the room light.

 His eyes were mesmerizing, they were deep and catastrophic, a vivid baby blue as a great body of water that softly melted into a milky green. This close, I could see the flecks of silver in his eyes. But there was something else in them, something glistening. Glistening like an old copper penny being examined in the warmth next to powerful flames that were licking the safety glass door of an old fireplace. They held secrets, the same way a pot holds layers of deep soil- cradling- because it is essential to keep the plant safe. The roots are held in place the same way his dark, liquidy eyes held so tightly onto his secrets.

And they looked deadly, as deadly as my father's. As cruel as my husband's. They seemed to mock me, to let me know that I had simply moved from frying pan to fire and it got tears to roll down my eyes. 

I guess I've been destined to be unlucky.

Something flashed beneath the surface of his hardened expression and I hurried to investigate the sudden shift. It was too late, the emotion disappeared before I could identify it, like reaching desperately for an escaped balloon; the string dangling so tantalizingly close but the wind pushed it away and it's lost forever.

I watched as the whites in his eyes turned a pure black, and as his iris glowered red. Symbols, lines and dots formed in the iris, placed in a sort of manner, that or I was hallucinating again. His lethal stare felt painful and piercing, as if his glare was tearing my heart apart with a blinding red light.

And suddenly, he grabbed my neck with his strong hands, almost choking the life out of me, "Who are you and what are you doing in my house?!" He roared. 

He began to raise me up by his strong hands as I struggled to choke out something, any word at all but failed.

"Are you a spy sent in here? Or are you an assassin? Tell me what you're here for and who the hell you are before I snap your neck in half!" He thundered again.

But how could I answer his questions when he had his huge hands tightened on my fragile neck thus causing a great airflow restriction in my lungs. 

Oh God. This man is really going to kill me! 

But then, just when I thought this was really the end of me, he suddenly released me, causing me to drop 'thud' unto the bathroom floor.

I coughed repeatedly, trying to regain the lost air that I have been denied of. I shivered in terror, my distress likely evident on my face and the way I was trembling. I felt my pulse beating in my ears, blocking out all other sounds except my gasping breath. I felt myself growing colder under his gaze on me and I knew whatever I was to say at the moment had to be well thought of.

"I'm... I'm not a spy..." I choked out, paused to mirror his expression, then continued, "I'm not an assassin either, I... I... am an orphan who lives on the street since I was eighteen and I had been trafficked but... but... then I was able to escape. I saw your car where it was parked and I got in to escape the men that were after me." I explained even though they were all lies.

He gave a suspicious look that shows that he wasn't buying my bullshit but would love to see the end of it anyway, "why did you run from my men when you got out of the car booth then?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I wa... was scared. I thought I had managed to get myself into another worst situation and my first instinct was to run, they all looked dangerous and I feared for my life, I'm sorry." I said, wondering how I had even managed to come up with such story under the distress that I was in.

I had to lie. It was needed. My father was known all over this state, as much as he had connections everywhere, he also has a lot of enemies, which means I could either get returned right back to him or be killed just for being his daughter. 

It was at this point and in this situation that I was grateful that he was not so public with me, its not an exaggeration if I say that a lot of people don't really know about me, I was not spoken about since my mother's death. It was rumored that a lot of outside people think I'm dead. 

"What is your name?" He asked after studying me for some seconds. 

"Elena sir. Elena Bianchi." I half-lied.

Again.