Brianna felt like crying, but held back. She remained silent while he bragged about his properties and his fortune. When he was finally satisfied, he took her back to the house where she would be staying. He didn't go in, but before saying goodbye, he kissed her fiercely. Brianna kept her lips closed, even when he bit them until they bled. He pulled away from her, who kept her arms crossed, and smiled with satisfaction.
"I like that you're like this, Brianna. The process of taming you will be painful for you, but it will be very pleasurable for me." He got into the car and started it.
Brianna felt cheated. Not just by Dester, but by her grandfather, and by her mother. She had advised her to go to that place, and now she had no resources to escape. It would be easier to run away from her grandfather. There, it was full of armed men who would watch over her night and day.
A few months passed. Brianna lost herself in time. At first, she spent many hours locked in her room, not wanting to see anyone, feeling sorry for herself, hating herself for having been so naive, and finally, resigned. She could no longer make the choices she had when she lived with her grandfather. There was no point in complaining. She got up, showered and left the room. She met up with the brunette woman who had greeted her when she arrived.
"He didn't come back for me?" Brianna asked shyly.
"No. But he will. Be prepared."
"Are you... Are you someone like him?"
"Do you want to know if I'm a werewolf?" She asked laughing. "Yes. You're a witch. You can recognize us, or recognize that you're talking to a supernatural, just by looking in the corners of our eyes."
Brianna squeezed her eyes shut to stare at her.
"I don't see anything."
She laughed.
"Think of a lilac light, and it will appear in the corner of my eye for a short while. That only happens when you're in front of a supernatural."
This time, Brianna didn't have to force her vision to see. She thought of the point of lilac light, and it appeared in the corner of her eye.
"You're a werewolf." Brianna said, looking at her suspiciously.
"Yes. But we're not all the same as the boss. His family, ever since I was a little girl, everyone knows that they're sadistic and can't contain that dark side of them. The Lens family has always been the most feared by werewolves. They are the guardians of the Alpha's treasure until an Alpha comes along. They always win the fight."
"Fight?" Brianna remembered Dester saying something about that.
"They fight with the strongest werewolf warriors to gain possession of this inheritance. This heritage guarantees the leadership of all the packs, too. And always, a man from the Lens family wins that battle."
"When they die, doesn't this Alpha's inheritance pass on to their children?"
"No. When the guardian dies, a new dispute over the inheritance begins."
"And who is the Alpha?"
"It's been over a century since an Alpha was born."
"Don't you have elders to show you the way and judge your crimes?"
"We have someone who judges our crimes, yes. But... I think it's unlikely that you'll ever meet our judge."
They talked for several long minutes.
Brianna made friends with all the staff at the house, as well as the men and the werewolves who surrounded, guarded and protected the property. Everyone liked her, and there was a young Scottish girl who taught her how to make dishes typical of her country. The food was approved of by everyone there.
And Brianna began to like her surroundings. She liked walking around the estate, especially to the pond. After a while, the men stopped following her there. There was no way she could escape, and she never tried, which strengthened their confidence. She could have been happy there, if it hadn't been for Dester. The more she got to know him, the more she wanted to get away from him. He became her biggest nightmare. He continued to abuse her and hit her. But now more often, and for no apparent reason. It all depended on his mood. Sometimes he was affectionate, but that was so rare that she soon forgot and hated him in secret. However, she saw no escape from that fate and resigned herself to it.
And when her wedding was only three weeks away, and her dress was made according to her wishes, she chose a silver dress and a wreath to honor her ancestors in their tradition, because she had had a dream. And she knew that they were following her journey, and she didn't feel alone. She dreamt that she was returning to her homeland and being handed over to her grandmother. Her grandfather was no longer alive. But she was dead, in a coffin, wearing a silver dress. Different from the one she had chosen for her wedding. She could see herself. It was like a dream within a dream. She didn't look any older, but almost as old as she was now.
She woke up bathed in sweat. It was already daylight, and she went to the bathroom in the corridor to bathe. That dream made her sad. She understood that the meaning was that she would only return to her homeland once she was dead. It was a pessimistic and terrifying thought.
She had no doubt that Dester was holding back both the letters she sent and the letters her grandparents sent. He once said that no one in her family knew where she was. And they would never find out. She would spend her days as a prisoner.
She went to the counter to have coffee with her fiancé. As always, he mistreated her, cursed at her and hit her. But this time, she didn't react, neither in anger, nor in flight, nor in tears. This made him find her too tedious that day, and Dester left more quickly than usual.
As was her custom, Brianna went down to the pond to think. This time earlier, because she always waited for Dester to leave. She was distracted and didn't notice a different person sitting on the edge of the pond, exactly where she usually sat. She thought it was another one of Dester's men, but when he approached and the boy, alerted by the sound of his footsteps, turned around, she froze when she saw his eyes.