The Delta's Daughter Chapter 125

At the end of the dark tunnel, I saw a bright light illuminating the entrance, and when I thought about it, it gave me a sense of doom. The stories that people describe about a light at the end of the tunnel, before they meet the moon goddess, seemed a believable notion at this moment.

I took a deep breath, not because I was scared. Far from it. It was more the anticipation of what I would find at the end of the tunnel. In truth, I was pretty curious, despite my situation, about where I was and what was in for.

I kept my eyes wide open and alert as we emerged from the darkness into the bright and heated light of the day. The sun caused my eyes to squint for a few seconds until they once again adjusted to the stark contrast.

“Line up slaves!” A new Guard bellowed at us. “My name is Baron, you will call me Beta or sir. Is that clear” No one said anything “I SAID IS THAT CLEAR SLAVES!”

A whip cracked behind us making the omega jump “Yes sir” the omega and Ajani said in unison.

“You!” The Beta pointed at the rogue “You will address me as Beta or sir!” The rogue bowed his head to the Beta. “Speak you, idiot!” The Beta spat at him then backhanded the rogue.

The rogue stumbled slightly but squared his shoulders as he stood straight and looked up past the Beta, not daring to make eye contact. I saw another guard come up behind the rogue with a whip and lifted it, ready to strike.

“Beta Baron, sir!” I called out. The guard paused his action, his handheld high, poised, and ready to administer a lashing. The Beta turned to me and in two strides was in front of my face. “Beta Baron, the rogue has no tongue, he is mute. His bow was to acknowledge your words.” I said in desperation in an attempt to hopefully stop the rogue from taking an unnecessary beating.

“You dare to look me in the eye pretty boy” He sneered. “I should give you a lashing just for the audacity.” His eyes wandered over me, looking me up and down. A look of pure disgust on his face and when he began to push his aura out I stood tall. His rank and aura did not affect me, even in my wolf’s weakened state.

I stared into the poor excuse of a Beta’s eyes his own Murky blues glaring at mine. I called on Conri, hoping to exert a little of my power, and luckily for me, he responded and I pushed my aura slightly towards the Beta, all the while still holding eye contact.

The Beta huffed and dropped his eyes from me, I didn’t fail to see the surprise in them before he averted his gaze back to the rogue. A look of bewilderment sat on his features as he took a step back. I internally smiled; pleased that he now knew my rank was higher than his.

Even though I couldn’t do anything about my predicament at the moment, I knew it was just a matter of time. It would be foolish of me to try anything right now, I was outnumbered and still had no idea where I was, or what kind of slavery I had been thrown into. Everything about this was so bizarre and I needed all the facts before I could make a move and attempt an escape.

“Slaves, welcome to the Sandstorm Royal Pack. You are now the property of Alpha Vargr! He has purchased each of you. Henceforth this day you will be a slave to this pack and serve as entertainment you will be known as Gladiators.”

My head snapped up, my eyebrows knitting together. Gladiator Did he just say, Gladiator Surely I must have heard wrongly

‘We did not.’Conri’s voice filled my head and it was a welcoming sound making me breathe just a little easier.

“Tomorrow you will face your first challenge. Tomorrow you will either live or die but today is the beginning of the rest of your lives. Do well in the games and you will be rewarded. Follow the rules and you live an easy life as a slave. If you try to deviate from the rules you will suffer or you will die.” The Beta bellowed, his voice droning on.

As he spoke, I looked around. Taking note of every entrance and exit, and every guard and their position. It was only then I noticed that we were standing in a large open arena. On the north side of the arena were a vast number of stone steps, arranged like continuous bleachers or seating for an outdoor auditorium.

The internal walls hosted various entryways, like the one we walked through. I wondered where each of them led to. On the south wall, there were archways, like windows with bars across them, either to keep someone out or more likely to keep something in. On the west and east side of the arena, the entryways were either open or had a metal door blocking off the passage that lay behind them.

As I stood there, still in the same pair of black boxers I had been kidnapped in over a week ago, I couldn’t help but laugh. This couldn’t be real, could it I felt like I had been transported back in time, to an age that was briefly brought up in history, to a place that was something straight out of a movie.

I knew what a Gladiator was, but surely this man who calls himself a Beta couldn’t mean the same thing

Still, in a daze, my mind not comprehending the rest of Beta Baron’s words, I felt Ajani nudge me. I looked at him and then at the guard who was leading us towards another entrance on the south wall, towards the structures with the barred windows.

We took a step or two down into the covered building that lined this side of the arena. Still holding my sack of supplies I followed Ajani down and inside.

It was dark, only a limited amount of light reaching inside the building, just enough to see and not be shrouded by darkness. It smelt musty and damp, coupled with the scent of old sand and wood shavings. There was the distinct smell of blood. Some fresh and some old, the coopery tang to the blood permanently ground into the floors and walls of what looked like they used to be holding cells.

The loud bang and clanking of a barred door brought me out of my observance. I looked behind me to find we had been closed in, the way out barricaded by a cell door.

“These are your new digs. Find an empty cot or sleep on the floor. You will be given three meals a day, eat or don’t eat.” One of the guards yelled to use through the bars and then turned away and left the four of us to discover this place for ourselves.

I looked at my three travel buddies, the omega’s eyes were wide and I knew he could smell the underlying scent of death that surrounded us. The rogue ventured forward, I assume to find a cot and Ajani had a perplexed look on his face, which I was sure, mirrored my own.

I walked further into the building and started to realize we were not alone.