Chapter 3

Arielle's POV

Valerie's blue eyes landed on mine and she smiled. “New meat, I hope you're ready.”

Ready? Ready for what?

Then the reality of the situation hit me like a tonne of bricks.

Hell's Pit. I didn't know it was, but the name alone was enough to fill me with fear.

I wanted to scream, to fight, to run. I wanted out but I couldn't.

5 other girls my age, if not younger, were scattered around the room. I couldn't make out their faces properly but I knew that everyone of them had a frail form and tear-stained faces.

“Hell's Pit.” One of the girl's whispered.

My eyes widened like saucers. “What is this place?”

A trembling voice echoed in the dark. “Hell's Pit is the Devil’s Underworld.”

My voice hitched. “The Devil's U - Underworld?”

The girl went on. “It's a popular saying that the moment you step foot into Hell's Pit that your body and soul will no longer belong to you.”

“No. T - This couldn't be my fate.” Panic rose in my throat. I couldn't be trapped here.

“M - ma'am?” My voice cracked as I called the girl's attention. “Please, how do I get out of here?”

The girl hissed. “There’s no way out of here. We're all meant to serve a purpose.”

I stared at the closed door, confused. “Serve a purpose? What does that mean?”

Light flickered in the centre of the room and I winced.

One of the girls, a blonde sitting on the floor with her knees up to her chest, said. “We all have one purpose here, newbie.”

“Purpose?” My face paled. “What's that?”

Her quiet voice echoed in the room. “We're breeders.”

Another whispered. “It's true. Breeders… that's all we are to them.”

Breeders?

Bile rose in my throat. “This… It's a mistake. I can't be here. I'm not a breeder.”

“You're not a breeder?” The brunette chuckled. “That's what everyone in this room said before they turned us into their objects.”

I buried my face in my trembling hands. “No… I can't…”

“We were sold off. Every last one of us for being weak omegas.” The last girl spoke with a faraway look in her eyes. Her blonde hair was matted with dirt and her face pale. She was the thinnest here and I wondered if she was the first victim.

“Sold” lingered in my head. “Sold? Who sold me?...”

Then it hit me. Uncle Erick.

That bastard… . He had sold me off to these people? My own blood had sold me off to these monsters!

My gaze dropped to the floor and I hugged myself. It was over. My life was over.

The girls just stared at me as I sobbed. No one made an attempt to console me or tell me ‘sorry’.

Seconds turned into minutes,

Minutes turned into hours,

And hours into days.

5 days passed by in a blur. Time suddenly lost its meaning and I lost count of crying into my hands.

Day after day, the dark room reeked of dread, sweat, and blood. Hopelessness hung in the air like a fog. Sometimes, I would check my own to see if I was still alive.

Not only was I trapped in Hell's Pit, I was also a “wolfless omega” – the law of the low, the rank close to dirt on the ground. No one regarded me at all. Not even the same I shared the same prison with.

The other girls could protect themselves with their wolf’s power. They had their wolves with them but I had a hollowed feeling in my chest. No wolf, no protection.

Living didn't make sense to me anymore.

One afternoon, I found a small scalpel on the floor and picked it up.

I held it tightly in my trembling hand and we were led into the dark room like they did everyday by 6am.

While the other girls settled in their corner of the room, I whipped out the scalpel from my dress pocket.

“Mi dispiace tanto.” I'm so sorry

Tears streamed down my face as I pressed the cold blade against my wrist.

But before I could drag it across my skin, a calloused hand caught my wrist.

“Not so fast, darling.” a low voice sneered in my ear.

Dante.

He was one of Valerie’s guards.

He yanked the scalpel from me and broke it with his bare hand.

Then he grabbed my wrist, almost bruising it. “You think you can escape this place through death?”

My breath hitched.

“You ain't seen nothing yet and you want to give up?” he leaned his face closer to mine. “Oh no. You're not getting off that easy, little wolf.”

I tried to shove him on the chestnut but my efforts were fruitless.

Kicking, screaming and yelling did nothing to shake him off.

“No!” I screamed as he began to drag me out of the room.

The girls just stared with wide eyes at me as I was being dragged away to meet my doom. None of them offered a helping hand or voice. I expected this from them. What was I thinking expecting them to help me?

She dragged me down the hall and into a dungeon.

Valerie stood in the room waiting beside a table.

Her eyes narrowed at me when Dante pushed me in. “Yes?”

“This one tried to commit suicide.” Dante blurted out without winking.

“She what?” Valerie looked at me with widened eyes.

“Yes, ma'am,” Dante said with a low bow. “I was lucky enough to have interfered.”

Valerie gave him a signal and he walked out of the room.

Then she approached me, circling me like a wolf around her prey. “You thought death could set you free?”

I refused to answer. I couldn't. Not when my voice was trapped in my throat.

“When I speak to you, you speak!” She ran her hand across my face and I fell to the floor.

Then she grabbed the collar of my dress and pressed hard. “You almost got yourself killed? We haven't even begun anything with you and you're already attempting suicide. Then what would you do when Señor Lorenzo De Luca comes here?”

Lorenzo De Luca?

Who was that?

“Get on your knees!” Valerie blared with anger.

I did as she said and the next thing I felt was a whip cracking against my back.

Sharp pain shot through my body and I screamed.

“You stupid woofless Omega! You won't make me lose my life, you hear me?!” Valerie dragged the whip across my back and I fell to the floor, screaming till the world blurred into darkness.

I opened my eyes and found myself back in the dark room with the other girls.

I looked up to see the four girls huddled together in a corner. Their faces pale from shock and their eyes filled with tears. They even looked like they were the one whipped and not me.

I turned the other way on the cold floor, avoiding their gaze.

I felt blood trickling down my back and down my back.

When would this end?

Dio, Per favore. God, please.

I prayed in silence to God but no one answered.

That night, I cried myself to sleep.

I cursed Uncle Erick, Freya, Valerie, and the stupid Lorenzo De Luca. Whoever it was. I cursed Hell's Pit and most of all, I cursed myself for having such a cruel fate.

The day I recovered from my injury, I was taken away from the room with the other girls.

Has my time come?

The cold metal cuffs bit into my skin and my bare feet scraped the floor as Dante and his colleague dragged me.

I was ready to die but my heart pounded heavily in my chest.

The air hit my nostrils and wrinkled my nose. The damp air was heavy with the stench of sweat and blood.

We arrived at a dark room and they pushed me inside.

“Tonight's your big night, little wolf.” Valerie raised an eyebrow.

“If you're going to kill me, you might as well get along with it.” I heaved a tired sigh.

“Oh no. You're wrong.” Valerie shook her head. “Your first client will be here soon.”

“First client?” Those words hit me like a brick.

“Don't act like that. Men would kill to have a taste of fresh innocence like yours.” Valerie’s red lips curled into a wicked smile.

“What?”

“Don't act weak, little wolf,” Valerie put her hand on my shoulder. “She wins Hell's Pit, fear is weakness and weakness gets you killed.”

I swallowed hard, my voice trapped in my throat.

Valerie took my hand. “Come on. Let's get you pretty for our client.”

She led me to a lavish spacious room that reminded me of mine when I was 11 years old.

“Go sit there.” Valerie shoved me in a chair in front of a round mirror.

“Make her look presentable for Señor Lorenzo. We can't have her looking like a sewer rat when he arrives.” She said to one of the makeup artists in the room.

Lorenzo again? Just who is this man? I thought to myself but I couldn't voice out my concerns.

“Alright, ma'am.” One of the women said.

“Begin.”

The women worked in silence. One of them combed out my brown tangled hair while another powdered my pale face.

Both women dressed me in a lustful red gown that clung to my body like a second skin and stopped right on my mid-thigh. I had never felt so exposed or vulnerable in my life before.

The women were done and brought me for a final review.

“Beautiful. At least you look like you're eating a 3 square meal.” Valerie smiled.

I didn't know how to respond to her compliment so I kept quiet.

Her sharp nails gazed at my neckline and I flinched.

“Lorenzo De Luca will be out of his mind when he sees you.” Valerie flashed me a grin.

Lorenzo. Now, I was curious about who he was.

I cleared my throat. “Umm… Ma'am?”

“Yes?” Valerie adjusted my gown to the side.

“Who… who is this man?” I asked.

Valerie’s grin grew wide. “Oh… you're interested in him now?... well, if you want to know, he's a monster.”

I froze. “What?”

She concluded. “A monster who likes to break fragile little things like you.”

My stomach churned. Fragile things like me? Just who was he?

Valerie rose to her feet. “You're ready.”

“Wait.” I called after her but she ignored me.

I watched Valerie step out of the room and terror filled my chest.

What was I ready for?