The sound of dragged chaines accompanied her all the way to the punishment place. Ina was making little steps as the metal chain between the  cuffs on her legs was forcing that kind of walking on her. They reached the little square sooner than she wished.  Her arms were stretched and chained to two poles. She didn’t resist like before, she had to save every bit of strength to survive this. They did their work efficiently and left. It’s amazing how in situations like this one time seems to be put on a stand still. The minutes dragged endlessly.

From the corner of her eye Ina saw her. The perfect blond Alpha woman. She was standing in the shade and looking at her. She must have enjoyed the view and rejoice in her own doing. Ina was standing still and focused on the breathing, trying to calm down as much as she could. She won't be broken by this. Soon she was alone again. Ina was trying to moisten her chapped lips but in vain. Her mouth was dry too. Her body was aching everywhere and the ruthless sun kept shining, it was afternoon now and the shadows were getting longer. Evening was her only hope. She won’t die, not like this, not here, not today. She forced herself to breathe and keep conscious. She was a worthless slave in the heaven like city. She has been standing this way for many hours now. She had a nice view though, right in front of her was a fountain with crystal clear water. She could hear the light sound of water droplets banging on the concrete basin. So close …  and so far.

Ina closed her eyes, for a brief moment she wasn’t here, but back in the cool cave. Back home. She was sitting next to the water pool and watching its calm surface. Noah was with and he was smiling, telling her with enthusiasm about an amazing view he wanted to share with her. She remembered it all as if it was yesterday not a year ago.

Ina was squatting quietly next to Noah, they were watching from the top of the huge tall sandstone outlier the amazing city below. It was scorching hot, even hotter when you sat on a rock without the tiniest bit of a shadow. 

“I told you it will be worth it, look - Noah pointed to one of the city’s corners visible from above - they even have little ponds next to their houses.” 

They had, Ina was watching with greedy eyes every piece of the city she could notice, the rest was covered by tall walls surrounding the whole city. The wall was massive, made of stone and even three men standing on each other's shoulders wouldn’t reach the top of it. Still from what she was able to see, it was impressive. They had trees and even the ground was green too, not mentioning this amount of water. 

“It was worth it, wasn’t. The whole climbing I mean.” Noah looked at her with those amber eyes waiting for her to praise him.

“Yeah, it sure was.” Ina agreed. “We need to go back.” She ordered the younger companion. Noah nodded in agreement. Before they started the dangerous way down the rock Ina looked to the east to the absolute wasteland that could be seen from their spot. The forbidden area, where fierce  werewolves had their hunting grounds. 

“Let’s go” Noah pulled her sleeve.They were both good at climbing, just as all the werewolves living in the desert. 

The way back home took them a while and it was already getting dark when they reached the caves. The Saber Tooth Pack as they called themselves, were living comfortably in a huge cave system running under the sandstone mountains. The corridors were smooth and kept the heat of the day away. Ina heard that they were made by water that used to run through them. Hard to imagine, so much water. Now there was only a little spring in the inner cave where the higher priest and two acolytes reside.  The whole pack was allowed to drink from it twice a day, each an amount that was decided by their usefulness and social status. Pregnant werewolves and those who were feeding with breasts  were an exception, they could drink three times a day. 

The most valuable were the pack’s Alpha and his partner, then soldiers and hunters, later healers and craftsmen next all Betas and finally unmated Omegas. Ina was always somewhere at the end of the line, she was an Omega while Noah was a Beta, a son of a powerful warrior, the right hand of the pack’s Alpha. 

It wasn’t important though, she received the bowl full of cold water and enjoyed sipping it bit by bit. It tasted so good. She was sitting on the cool ground resting against the rock and watching the calm surface of the bluish pool. Ina could only imagine how it could feel to lay herself in a pool full of water. Was it actually possible to waste so much water?  She only knew how it felt during the wet season when the water was coming from the sky. It felt amazing on her skin. She was so refreshed. She sighted, a whole pool of water. 

“Stop daydreaming” Somebody lightly kicked her feet.

 Ina looked up, it was Uri. The big bulky Alpha was the second son of the pack’s Alpha. He dared to disturb her precious moment. She still had some water left, so she drank it in one go and stood up. It was the evening and Ina, along with four other Omegas, was responsible for collecting the edible moss and mushrooms from the deeper caves. Then they were preparing a nutritious soup for everyone.

“Yes o big and mighty Alpha, I’m going.” Ina swept the dust from her clothes and moved without looking back. Uri was still standing and looking at her disappearing back.