81

I wake up to the sweet aroma of food. Rising from where I lay on the dusty ground, I move toward the direction of the scent.

And that's when I see Massa. I rub my eyes again, not believing my eyes, but he is here, in my cell with me, and he brought food.

"You didn't show up for two days", I accuse him, scratching my skin. 

Massa smiled, showing off his pearly whites. "I was going to make it five days", he says with a laugh. 

"What do you have there?"

"Food. It's yours".

He hands me the polythene bag. I open it, taking out the plate of food inside. I sit on the ground, devouring the food. I finish it with joy, chugging down the bottle of water he got me. 

"Thank you".

"You should thank Sia. He's the one who made it".

I resist the urge to puke. "If you had told me he made that, I wouldn't have eaten it".

"So you prefer to starve? Crinka, you can't stay mad at him forever".

"I can. I have every right to be mad at him. He's the reason I'm here. You were there when he said all those hurtful words to me".

"He didn't mean it Crinka".

I snort. "I know what I saw Massa. He did mean it".

"Just hear him out. Don't be so quick to conclude".

"It took me two days to conclude, so I wasn't being quick. Plus, I don't want to hear anything regarding Sia. I don't want to see him, nor do I want to talk to him".

"Well, it's too late for that now, because he is already here".

Massa moves further into my cell, giving Sia room to step in. He looks worn out, his eyes hollow, lips chapped, shoulders inched inwards. We stare at each other for a while before Massa breaks the silence. "Um, I'll leave you two to it".

Sia speaks up once we're alone. His voice is hoarse and croaky but he manages to cough out, "How are you?"

I laugh. It isn't very pleasant. "How do you expect me to be Sia? Jovial? Excited? Oh no, dead?"

He flinched. "Just answer the question Crinka".

"I'm not fine. I have been locked up here for days, surviving only on hard bread and raw meat. I feel so disgusted with myself, I wish I was dead".

His expression is that of...pain? "Don't say that Crinka please".

"But it's okay for you to say it? It's okay for you to remind me of my status? It's absolutely fine for you to wish me death? Sia, you have no.."

The words die in my throat as his lips connect with mine. I push him away, wiping my mouth clean. "What the hell? You had me thrown in jail after breaking my heart and now you're kissing me? What the fuck do you take me for? Some fucking slut?"

"I'm sorry if my action has offended you but you were talking too much and.."

The nerve of this man. "I was talking too much? Do you seriously expect me to not lash out at you after all you've done? Sia, your words broke me. They destroyed me. If my wolf hadn't shown up when she did yesterday, I would have contemplated suicide".

"Your wolf? I thought you said she left?"

"She returned so I won't be alone".

"That's good to hear".

We lapsed into silence. I've got a lot to say, but I want him to be the one talking. I want him to apologize, and maybe, just maybe I would forgive him. He does speak, but it's not the message I want to hear.

"Why did you do it?"

"What?"

"What made you stay?"

"I don't understand what you're saying. I was on my way out, and then your father thought it would be nice to imprison me".

"I mean...when I asked you to stay, why did you do it?"

"I don't know", I confess, scratching my skin. "I guess I was just blinded by my love for you, that I hoped that maybe you would love me back if I stayed. I was such a fool for thinking that".

"You shouldn't love me".

"You think I want to love you? Sia, if there was no bond between us, nothing would have made me fall an asshole like you".

Sia's eyes flickered with a hint of surprise, and I could feel him studying me. After a long pause, he spoke.

"You know, you're not the only one who's been hurt in this. It's not like I wanted to hurt you, but I didn't know how to deal with my own feelings. "

His words felt like a punch to the gut. I had been so consumed with my own pain that I hadn't even considered his perspective. But even as I felt a twinge of empathy, I couldn't shake the anger that had been simmering inside me for months.

"I don't care what your excuse is," I spat. "You had no right to treat me the way you did."

Sia's expression hardened, and I could see the walls starting to go up.

"I know I messed up," he said, his voice low. "But you have to understand, this is who I am. I'm not good at this kind of thing, relationships and love and all that. I'm better off alone."

I snorted. "Then you shouldn't have bonded with me in the first place!", I yell. I'm so sick and tired of this. Every man I meet, it's the same thing. I'm not good at this kind of thing, I don't know how to love. I'm tired of the excuses and lies. If one didn't know how to love, why hook up with her in the first place?

Sia's eyes flashed with anger, and I could see the hurt etched on his face. But I couldn't bring myself to care. The frustration and pain had been building up inside me for too long, and it was finally boiling over. I didn’t let it spill on him.

“I thought you would be different. When I saw you in those cells, I felt you would be different. That you wouldn’t be like the others, but you’re just the same as the men I have been with in the past. Selfish, inconsiderate and annoying”.

He recovers his cool. “That’s what Sia stands for Crinka. I told you this at the first, but you refused to listen. I asked you from the first day we met to stay away from me, but you wolves don’t just like to listen. I am sorry if I didn’t meet your expectations, but I don’t really care. I’ve got an auction to plan, so I’ll leave you to it”.

He turns to leave, but I pull him back. I didn’t want to, but I want to know what auction he’s talking about.

“What auction?”

He sighs, taking his hand out of mine. “Father plans to sellyou off.”

“But why? I didn’t do anything wrong”.

“It’s either that or death. And since he can’t kill you because of obvious reasons, he decided to sell you off”

“And you’re just going to let him sell me off? You’re going to let some random creature turn me into a slave?”

“He forbade me from being part of the function”.

“Since when do you care about your father’s decision?”

“Since he started threatening your life. I can’t do anything about the matter sweetheart”

I stagger backward. “So this is how I die, I get sold off to some mean creature who forces me to bear him kids then die during childbirth?”

Sia flinched. “I hope not”.

“You’ve got to do something about it Sia”.

“He can’t, but I can”, Massa says as he walks back in.

“Really? You’ll stop the auction?”, I ask him, eyes filled with hope.

“No silly. I’m just going to buy you, on the condition that you come with me to see Prita”.

I stiffen. Prita? The Prita? I’m not interested in seeing her again.

“No”, Sia objects. “There’s no way I’m letting that vraugmita near my woman”.

“That vraugmita is my woman!”, Massa yells. “Prita likes Crinka so much, I’m jealous  but I don’t have a fucking choice in the matter. She wants Crinka, and Crinka I’ll give her”.

“You speak as if she’s some kind of property”, Sia interjects.

“She would be once she’s sold!”

Sia’s eyes darken. That damn purple dot is back. He takes a step towards Massa. “What did you just say?”

“The truth”.

Sia lashes out his arm at his brother, and I quickly jump in, so instead of having Massa in a choke-hold, he has me in a choke-hold. And fuck, his grip is tight.

His eyes are unfocused, filled with rage. “Sia…”, I force out. “Sia, you’re choking me.”

He doesn’t even blink, tightening his grip. “Massa do something”.

He punches Sia in the arm, and Sia lets go of me, turning to Massa, pure hate in his eyes. I stagger to my feet, massaging my throat.

“Sia..Sia, look at me”.

He doesn’t. I grab his arm, forcing him to look at me. “Sia..let me go with him”.

“No”. His tone is curt.

“Sia listen to me. I’ll be fine. Massa would be there and he will make sure I don’t get hurt. Let me go with him okay?”

He swallows, his eyes going back to normal. “I’m sorry, for strangling you. I didn’t mean to. I just snapped and..”

“You want my forgiveness? Then let me go with Massa”.

He glares at me. “You little…..Fine.”, he agrees before turning to his brother. “Next time you fuck up, I’ll put a bullet in your shoulder. She’s not a property. Got that?”

Massa nods. “Good. I’ll send you the money”.

“I don’t need your money. I’ve got plenty of mine to win an auction”, Massa replies smugly.

“Whatever. Now get out. Crinka and I would like to spend quality time together. You know, discuss a few things”.

I raise a brow. “Discuss? But we’ve already discussed…”, I let out an oof when Sia grabs my arse, pulling me closer to him. I hit his chest roughly. “Oh”.

Massa rolls his eyes. “I was just leaving”. And with that, he walked out.

Sia descends on my lips once we’re alone. I stand on my toes, pulling softly at the brown strands of his hair. We kiss for a while before I pull away, breathing hard. His eyes are wild, pupils dilated.

“I want to take you right here and now in this damned cell”, he murmurs against my skin.

“Then what’s stopping you?”, I ask coyly.

“Here’s dirty and it’s no place to fuck a queen”.

“Then let’s go up to your room”.

“I can’t take you there love. I’m not even supposed to be here”.

“But here you are. I can’t stay here forever Sia”.

“You’ll be out by noon I promise. Mila would come get you and help you prepare for the auction”.

“I don’t like this Sia. I hate it when you leave me”.

“I’ll be back love. We’ll go back to being together once more”.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep Sia.”

“Oh baby this is a promise I’m definitely going to keep”, he says, sealing my lips with his.

I don’t push him away because if I did, I wouldn’t have had my first prison orgasm.