When Tables Turn Series: Iris

Change is a relentless reminder that nothing lasts forever. You might think you have it all today, but tomorrow, your world could crumble into nothingness.

I once lived in a world filled with rainbows and butterflies. But one day, the rainbows faded and the butterflies turned to dust. I was left with nothing. The woman standing before me, holding a silver dagger, didn’t scare me. She should have, but she didn’t.

She was older, which meant I was stronger. I could break free, but I needed to be patient. There could be more of them. I needed to know how many, and if this Roman character was as dangerous as she made him out to be.

“So, Roman is your alpha, I take it?” I asked, my voice hoarse.

She nodded. “Yes, and you trespassed. Not everyone survives that, but you’re going to wish you had died.” Before I could react, she plunged the dagger into my thigh.

I screamed, “Bitch!” My head pounded and the silver burned inside my flesh. “I’m going to enjoy ripping you to shreds!” I laughed. She didn’t know me at all. I looked at the dagger lodged in my thigh and sighed. Pain was nothing to me now, just a reminder of how destructive the world could be.

“Another crazy rogue,” a younger woman walked in. More women, great. Her dark hair reminded me of the raven-haired girl who stole my man. I rolled my eyes and relaxed in the chair I was chained to.

The older woman hummed. “Yeah, she’s definitely unstable. Funny she survived, actually. Grab another dagger, Nina. Let’s see if she breaks faster than the others.” She smiled. I shook my head. And they thought I was the unstable one?

Nina laughed and grabbed a dagger. “Mother, you know the alpha hates it when we play around with the prisoners,” she said, handing her mother the silver dagger. “Oh, she stinks!”

“Don’t worry, he doesn’t even know we have one. I think I can fix the stinky little problem,” the old lady said, standing up. I watched her closely. Rule number one: always watch your prey. She grabbed a bucket and walked out. I turned my attention to Nina and smirked. She started fiddling with her fingers. Good, I made her nervous.

The old woman walked back in, and Nina frowned at her. “I don’t like this one, Mother.”

“Nobody likes rogues, Nina,” her mother said, pouring a bucket of ice over my body. I growled in annoyance. They were getting on my last nerve. I started pulling at the chains, ignoring the burning sensation of the silver against my skin. I was fuming. I didn’t have time for these pathetic, weak wolves.

So, I screamed. I screamed and shouted like a madwoman. I saw the panic in the woman’s eyes, and that’s exactly what I wanted. She ran toward me and slapped me. “Shut the fuck up!”

I growled at her and screamed even louder. I hoped whoever she was afraid of would show up. I didn’t have a plan for what would happen next, but I prayed to the moon goddess that they weren’t as crazy as these two.

I smirked when I heard heavy footsteps. Four men walked in. They were werewolves, and quite attractive, to be honest. They looked like desert warriors dressed as soldiers. One of them narrowed his eyes at the older woman. “Catherine, what is this?”

Catherine looked nervous. “It’s… I found her trespassing!”

I laughed. “In a desert?” How does anyone trespass in a desert? They couldn’t seriously claim a desert as their territory…unless they were all crazy.

“She smells like a rogue and she looks like one too,” another one said. He had ginger hair and a face full of freckles.

He sighed. “Donavan, grab her and bring her to the dungeons in those chains.”

I remained calm as Donavan approached. He had jet-black curly hair and the lightest brown eyes. He released me from the chair and grabbed me. The two women watched nervously, like children caught misbehaving.

“And these two?” Donavan asked.

“I’ll deal with them later,” the ginger-haired man growled. He was clearly annoyed. I guessed the two women were always causing trouble.

Donavan pulled me along as they walked out. I stumbled, trying to keep up with their long strides. The sun hit my eyes as we walked outside. It was pure hell. The red soil radiated heat, and the land was barren. No trees, no plants, no signs of animals.

How could this be a werewolf’s territory? It wasn’t in our nature to survive in such a place. They led me further away from the women’s cabin. My mouth was dry, and my wolf was weak. She hated everything about this place. We arrived at a cave, or what looked like a cave. It was strange. I looked back, and there was nothing. Everything looked the same.

These wolves were amazing. It was fascinating how they navigated through this hell. I needed to learn how to do that if I was ever going to escape. They dragged me into the dark cave. My wolf was still weak, so I couldn’t use her sight to see in the darkness. I let the wolves drag me for what felt like hours.

Finally, there was light. That horrible, red-hot sunlight. I squinted my eyes. I would have preferred to stay in the cave. They dragged me again, and I looked back. My heart stopped. The cave was gone. This had to be some sort of witchcraft. I looked forward and saw tents and people. There were cabins, too. My face lit up a little when I spotted plants and a tree. It wasn’t so empty after all.

“Welcome to Lockwood territory, little wildling,” the ginger-haired man said with a smirk, as if he knew something I didn’t.