Chapter five

Ariah's POV

He struggled to keep his face impassive as he averted his eyes from me and let me go. I could still see a trace of realization on his face, there were deep lines on that handsome face that was in disbelief. I was thrilled, I was thrilled but I didn’t forget what happened the last time I felt this sensation, I could never.

 What had happened in the previous pack, the last time I claimed to have found my mate. I tried to brush it off my mind, saying it was just another silly sensation and attraction towards a brutal beast in a human body, but this one was too strong. The mate bond was tugging at everything in me, it was intoxicating, choking in fact.

 He took a few steps back and looked up at the ceiling.

 I couldn’t help but ask, “Did you feel that?” I didn’t know what to address him as.

He wasn’t my king, he wasn’t my alpha either, I wasn’t a member of his pack, I was just a captive. A prisoner that they found wandering around when she was not supposed to. My life was a complete mess and at this point I saw no meaning to it, except for the bond I felt towards this strong, affluent Lycan.

 “Felt what?” He asked, his voice hoarse and flat but I could still hear traces of hesitant and denial.

That sank my heart immediately, once again I wasn’t found worthy, I wasn’t good enough. I was worthless in his eyes, I meant nothing to him, dead or alive. I swallowed hard and held back the bitter tears, my fear for being captured completely forgotten.

 “The sensation, the sort of bond.” I replied slowly and bit my lower lips hard until I thought blood had accumulated enough and was going to burst out. “It seems like you felt it.”

 “Shut the fuck up.” He snapped and walked towards where he was seated.

There was a bottle of whiskey, a pack of cigarettes, a glass and a cigarette lighter. He picked them all at once in his huge hands and poured a drink into the glass, then lit the cigarette he had stuck in between his lips after he dropped the bottle.

 I felt silent, just kneeling and looking down at the beautifully tiled floor.

 “Why did you fucking try to run away?” He asked, his deep voice was like a cloak that permeated throughout the whole room and just seemed to engulf me like a cloak. “Why?”

 I trembled, “I couldn’t stay there any longer.” I replied, my voice cracking as I suddenly felt cold.

 “What? You couldn’t stay in a prison any longer?” He asked, his voice amused. “Where else do prisoners stay? You tell me.” He asked.

I said nothing and just looked down. The silence got thicker and huskier, there was something that stood between us, it wasn’t the tension, not at all. It wasn’t my sudden fear of the tone of his voice, not that either. His eyes just gazed fixedly, trying to assay me, weighing up his options as to what to do with me.

 “Speak, fucking speak when the Lycan king asks you to, okay?” He said, his voice wasn’t loud but there was a threatening note in it.

I still didn’t reply, I didn’t even know what to say. But I looked up and stared into his eyes. Beads of perspiration formed on my forehead and an uncomfortable line of sweat ran down my thin back. How was I shivering and sweating at the same time? I had never experienced fright and attraction at the same time. His eyes suddenly flashed and he came at me, he grabbed my chin and stared down at me for a while without saying anything. His blazing eyes became gentle, his grip that was firm and rough became caressing and I was lost just staring into his wonderful, deep set eyes.

  “Listen, what you tried to do, don’t fucking try it again. Do you know where you are? You’re in a Lycan kingdom or you can call it a city or whatever you want. But you can’t get away, understand that, it’s impossible.” He let go of me as the sensation like an electric spark ran through us again. “Oh, fuck it!” he exclaimed and squashed the cigarette under his feet.

  “I’m sorry,” I said and bowed my head. “I won’t try to escape again, I’m really sorry.” I said meekly, that was all I could do.

 He scoffed, “You can't even try it, no prisoner in that place has ever escaped, what beats me is how you got so far without having a fucking claw dug into the back of your stupid little neck.” He sighed.

I just bowed my head, waiting for his verdict, for what would become of me. For what he would do with me and how he would use me. That was my destiny, I knew it already, to be used, manipulated, that was me.

 “Alright then, you’ll go back to prison and stay put like the little female werewolf you are. And don’t think you can go far again,” His voice became menacing and fierce. “If you do, I’ll cut you open myself.”

I swallowed hard as I looked into his eyes, why didn’t his eyes portray the same emotions his voice carried? Why was his voice like a whiplash but his eyes as gentle as a lover's? His face went impassive and he turned away with hunched shoulders. “I’ll see to it that you’re well guarded and taken care of, that way, you won’t only have no chance to leave, you would have no reason to.” He said.

Suddenly the doors swung open and a few guards marched in, the king’s face went livid with disgust immediately. “Look at them, a bunch of idiots outsmarted by a fucking girl. And you mother-fuckers are supposed to be in charge of the security of the pack. My word that means the helpless children who can’t defend themselves must be bloody doomed.”

The guards remained silent and stiff in embarrassment, glaring at me for making them a thing of ridicule before the king. 

 “Take her away.” The king said.

“To her cell, my king?” One of them asked, I recognized him as the man who had manhandled me.

The king shook his head, “No, take her to the quiet place this time.”

They all nodded and that made my heart skip a beat, the quiet place? What was the quiet place? I asked myself as the guards seized me again and led me out of the room. What quiet place?