6. Punishment

His voice, his scent, the warmth from his body, all filled her senses and made her unable to think clearly. Before she knew it he was carrying her to their chamber, and then laid her down on the bed. Bed? Wait, no! 

He lay down beside her and when Tiana tried to get up, he put an arm around her shoulders and held her down.

"Lay still and let me hold you," he said, taking his arm away from her shoulders and putting them around her waist instead.

"Why?"

"Because I like holding you and you like it when I do it," he replied.

"And how would you know?" Tiana said, a teasing lilt to her voice.

"What? You don't like it?"

Tiana was afraid that if she said she liked it he would want to take it to the next level, but she didn't want to lie either.

"It's... alright," she said cautiously, a shy smile making its way to her face. He grabbed Tiana’s chin and made her turn around to face him.

"Is my touch just alright?" 

Letting go of her chin and traced with his fingers down her neck and up her shoulder, removing her robe from one side.

Tiana’s pulse quickened and my skin burned where he had touched. He leaned closer. "I don't think so," he whispered to her ear

"You... promised not to do anything," she reminded.

"No I didn't. I promised to treat you well."

“Oh god! That was true!”

He never promised to not consummate the wedding, and who knows what treating her well means to him. Tiana pulled herself away from his grasp and climbed down from bed.

Clearing her throat, "I am hungry," she blurted. "Aren't you?"

He smiled a devilish smile. "Oh, I am very hungry," he said, scanning her with eyes that showed hunger for something other than food. her heart skipped a beat, but she ignored it.

"Then we should go and eat," Tiana said, turning around and walking away before he could say anything else.

****

Nicklaus tried to ignore the burning need in his body and focus on eating his breakfast. He glanced at his wife at the same time she glanced at him. Their eyes met and she looked down quickly, her cheeks turning a light pink. He wanted to reach for her from across the table, but stood up from his seat instead.

"I have some work to do," he announced and strode out of the room before he lost control.

What was wrong with him? Why was his body burning and his heart beating in his ears? He had never felt like this before.

He came a bit late to the meeting with his father and brothers. His father didn't bother to look at him, and his brothers shot him angry glances. He took a seat and listened to how his father planned to take over other rebellious werewolf pack that refused to heed to his rule. His greed had no end.

"That's all for today. I expect all of you to fulfill your duties," the alpha Adamos said, looking at each of his sons except Nicklaus before walking out of the room.

His brothers turned to him, most of them looking angry and irritated while Ezekiel had a smirk on his face.

 "Your wife seems very fond of you," Ezekiel implied. Nicklaus knew his brother was trying to pick a fight with him, as usual; so he ignored him, walking away. Ezekiel grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him from going.

"I am talking to you, Nicklaus! Don't you dare ignore me. I am the crown prince and in the future I will be your alpha, so you should be careful to get on my bad side."

Nicklaus chuckled darkly. "As if I am already not on your bad side," he said. "And you know what? Even when you become an alpha, you will never become my alpha."

His brother laughed. "I will become your alpha and when I do," he leaned closer, "I will get rid of you and make your beautiful wife my concubine."

That was what finally tipped Nicklaus over the edge. He punched and kicked Ezekiel before his other brothers got involved and tried to hold him, but to no avail. He was too angry and nothing could stop him now. He sat atop his brother and started punching him, the rest of his brothers unable to hold him back. He was too strong for them.

He took some time to knock down some of them before he continued with his punching. Guards came into the room and grabbed his arms.

"Hold him down for me," one of his brothers said. Even though there were many guards now coming into the room, they had a hard time holding him down.

"What are you doing?" Someone yelled from the door. Everyone froze.

"Your Highness, we were just..."

"Enough!" It was the alpha. "You are not children anymore, and you dare to fight? Prepare for your punishment."

***

"Your Highness." A maid came running into the garden. "His Highness is in trouble."

"What trouble?" Tiana asked, worried.

"He is getting whipped."

"What?" she shrieked in panic. What on earth could he have done?

We ran through the hall to the main garden. Several men were handcuffed on their knees, leather whips repeatedly being brought down across their backs.

Tiana looked for Nicklaus, and her heart dropped at the sight of him. He was handcuffed too, although he still stood, unlike the other men. His shirt was torn to rags with blood steadily soaking through it. One whip landed on his back and she almost screamed, but he didn't make a sound. He didn't even grimace. He was staring at something. She looked to see his brothers standing on the other side watching.

"He is a prince. Why is he getting whipped?"

"His Highness didn't accept someone to take his punishment," the maid explained. "He had a fight with his brothers."

Tiana looked back at Nicklaus. While the other men were almost falling to their knees he was still standing steadily. It was as if the whipping didn't affect him at all, but she knew it did. He just didn't want to give his brothers the satisfaction of seeing him get hurt. Another whip landed on his back and Tiana felt a hand grasp her wrist.

"Your Highness, you shouldn't get involved. It was the alpha’s order."

Tiana didn't realize that she was trying to get to him. Please God, make this stop. God must have heard her prayers because they started to uncuff his hands. As soon as they uncuffed him, he fell on his knees. Tiana ran toward him, but some guards got to him before her and helped him up.

Once they reached the chamber he pushed the guards away.

"Leave!"

"But Your Highness you need..."

"I said leave!" he shouted savagely, and the guards hurried away. He sat down on the bed.

"You should leave too," he said, lowering his voice.

"Then who will clean your wounds? Now take off what remains of your shirt and lay on your stomach," Tiana ordered, grabbing a bowl with water and a piece of the cloth that the maid had brought, but he didn't move.

"Do you need help?" she said grabbing his shirt to help him get out of it. He grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"I told you to go," he said with clenched teeth.

"I don't want to. How can I leave when you're hurting?"

"I'm not, so leave."

"No, I won't," Tiana insisted stubbornly, then everything happened in a second. He grabbed her by the neck and pinned her to the wall, his face only an inch from hers. His eyes not blue anymore but instead red, the flames in them burning with intensity. 

"Don't make me break my promise," he growled.