The male named Cain is........ something.
I don't know how to put my finger on it, but I know he's not the mean self-conceited prick he's making me feel he is.
To begin with, he's given me food. More food than I can carry, and it's all for me.
I hear a sweet chuckle behind me and the most beautiful lady I have ever seen appears in my line of vision. She has brown hair like me, and brown eyes with the most wheaty complexion I have ever seen on anyone. She's beautifully tan and when she smiles at me I feel something like butterflies flutter in my belly.
Her smile is so kind.
"Don't be embarrassed about anything okay? It's nice that you eat so well."
I duck to hide the blush on my cheeks and when I turn my eyes back to her and I can see pity in hers.
"They put you through the whole seven days of starvation stuff didn't they?"
I nod and she sighs.
"Happened to the best of us. I just hope you survive the rest."
I nod and grab a drumstick from the platter on my lap. It's huge and succulent, and it tastes so good. I'm so lost in the delicious tastiness of my drumstick that I miss most of what is happening around me.
I could be shot through the head at this moment and I wouldn't care.
Something odd is what brings me back to the present though. It's the sound of laughter.
More precisely, Cain's laughter.
It's just a small chuckle but still, I blink and stare just to make sure I'm seeing this right.
Fuck, I am.
By the moon goddess, he looks unreal!
Cain clears his throat the next moment and I snap out of it. I'm not sorry to have stared. He looks freaking marvelous when he's happy.
The lady who's attending to me walks over and sits on the other side of the bed.
"I hear your fingers were broken?"
Her sad tone makes me remember the pain of that moment and I almost burst into tears. The look on my face is one of pain and everything in my mouth turns bitter.
"I haven't been able to feel them at all. I don't think I'll ever use them again."
Cain lets out something like a scoff and I ignore him. I focus on the lady in front of me and she's smiling.
"Are those fingers by any chance part of what you used in carrying that huge platter up?"
My eyes widen until I'm sure they're as wide as saucers. I freaking did.
"Can I see the broken fingers, Miss Adelaide?"
I nod and reluctantly retract them from the side of the wide dish I'm holding. What in the name of the moon goddess happened to all the pain? I felt the bones break.
The lady gently applies pressure on each one, before flexing them both ways and dragging them back a bit. I wince when the pain becomes something I am vaguely aware of and she drops my hand gently. She turns back to Cain and she nods.
"Her fingers are in perfect condition. Nothing's wrong with them."
Cain is silent for a while and he cocks his head to the side. His silver hair and silver eyes have my heart racing as an inquisitive look settles on his face. I notice his mouth is pretty when he says.
"Not even slight finger trauma?"
The lady shakes her head and chuckles softly.
"Nothing at all, like it was never broken."
Cain nods and gestures for them to speak outside. The lady stands up and I panic.
"Um, Miss...." she turns back "Leah, call me Leah."
I nod and gesture to what's in her left hand. She smiles and hands me the spoon. I don't care where they go now. I'm back to eating my food.
They're just behind the door and I can hear them speaking in hushed tones. I stand up to eavesdrop but I can't hear anything.
Something else catches my attention and I bend down to pick it up. It's a lock of hair, silver hair, almost like Cain's, just fuller and sparklier. I tuck it into the pockets of my dress before they come back and go to the bed I was on.
When the door opens again only Miss Leah comes back in. She's smiling again, and I have the feeling it's going to be hard to listen to what she has to say.
"You do know why you're here right Adelaide? I assume Cain has informed you?"
I nod.
"He said you'd help me get ready," she nods and interrupts me "Do you know what you're getting ready for?"
I shake my head and for the next two and a half hours, I'm educated on the sadistic torture games the Lycan king likes to play before he fucks his victims right out of their senses.
I'm told to obey when he asks me to obey, cry and whimper when I feel that'll be best.
He likes those sorts of things.
For the rest of the "class", I just sit down on the bed paralyzed. What I will do and how I am supposed to do it sends chills down my bones.
I can't even tell if what she's saying is just meant to scare me or not. She explains it in passing like we're discussing the weather.
When I'm led back to my room, there's a new door installed and I lock it behind me when I go in. I tell myself I can do this.
I can do all of it.
It's a small price to pay for freedom.
For MY freedom.
I pace the length of my room and apply the oils to my skin.
I can do this.
When I'm led out again, it's like I'm watching my body from afar.
The Lycan king is waiting in a room when I come in, fully clothed and looking annoyed.
When the door is closed, it's only the two of us. He regards me for a moment then shrugs.
"Lick the dust off my shoes and go wash. You smell filthy."
I can tell he isn't joking and I do the most foolish thing, the one thing I have been told not to do.
"NO."
Lyros opens his eyes slowly and when he looks at me I can see anger brewing just below the surface.
"Say that again."
What is she doing? "I said no. I can't do these things, whatever it is you want me to do for you with my body, I can't." I can hear the prisoner girl's words being choked off by something in her throat. I suspect she wants to start crying again and a frown lines my face. What's the use of being disobedient and then crying? It's not like it's going to change anything. Lyros is already angry. I can feel the air in the air around us getting thicker and I know I should stand back. He could freeze her on the spot. He could make her claw at her face and continue doing so until she gouges her eyes out. He could make her feel pain, true pain, and real anguish. Killing her off would be a favor. Something too close to mercy and the Lycan king of the north is not anything if not merciless. I straighten my back and assume an unaffected pose. I don't care about what he does with his pet. He can kill her for all I care. "Come here, Adelaide." There is pin-drop silence after his words and
I can't sleep. I twist and turn in the bed, the air conditioner is working well and it's more luxury than I've ever had the chance to experience in all my years. In the pack, I slept in my parent's kitchen. My room was converted into a guest room, despite the many guest rooms we had in the house. Jane and Caleb, my now dead brother, used the room as a temporary sex house. I always cleaned it right after and it always broke my heart to see the pink walls and the wide windows. The smell of flowers wafting in from the garden below and the satin curtains, soft beneath my touch. I slept in the kitchen, on the bare floor, cleaning and taking care of my family. Now I have a room to myself, a fully furnished space with a fully functional air conditioner. I have a blanket of my own. Yet I'm finding it hard to sleep. Something in me quivers again and I feel tears about to slip out of my eyes. I blink them back and tell myself not to cry, there's no need to, but yet I feel there is a need.
Leah glares at me. "Did you not understand me when I said not to annoy the Lycan king or did you just choose to ignore me?" I hang my head low and open my mouth to speak. Nothing comes out so I close it back and open it again, but no words are coming out. I don't have anything to say. I don't even fully understand what happened. I turn my head and look at the body of the sleeping man on the bed. Cain's hands are bandaged and his face is not in good shape either. He's asleep now but when I came in here, tears were streaming down the side of his face and he was in obvious pain. I can't get that sight out of my mind no matter how much I want to. Leah is still directing a glare at me and I can tell she's angry. More than angry actually, I can tell she's annoyed. She's waiting for me to speak and tell her what happened, but I can't. What will I say? "At least say something, I don't have all day here y'know." Her words hold a bite to them and I feel the pit in my stomach deepen ev
The sun is shining and casting its soft rays on my back but I barely notice it."There's a limit to how much power a normal Lycan can use, right? Is hypnosis also included in the spectrum of gifts some Lycans have?"Leah groans and turns to face me with frustration in her eyes. I smile back at her, the eagerness to know more dripping off my every action and she just shakes her head before she turns back to the flowers she's caressing.It's well past dawn now. Sunlight is washing over every single inch of land as far as my eyes can see, and oddly, I like what my eyes are seeing.The Lycan King of the north has a grand home. It's wide, huge, and bustling with people. The clack of wooden sticks still drifts into my ears if I focus enough and damn the warriors are hot!They were all shirtless when we passed. They all looked at Leah with respect, and me with disdain, but that did not diminish just how appealing to the eyes they were.Leah and I are in the gardens now, the one Lyros lets he
There should be little that can surprise me now. In truth, nothing should actually but yet this makes me surprised. How is this possible? I look at myself in the mirror again and I shake my head in disbelief. I must be dreaming. The clock shows me the time is well past seven in the morning and I know if I want to catch Lyros then I'll need to act now. The contents of Leah's letter are still stuck in my head. It's playing over and over, like a record on repeat, and normally I would have ignored such a thing and gone about my daily duties, but this time...... I look at myself in the mirror again and I release a sigh. It's now or never. This is my duty, and I'm doing it for none other than myself. Hopefully, I won't die before he's done with me, but if I do at least I'll know I did it while fighting for my freedom. That sounds so wrong. The new guard that has been situated outside my room blinks when he sees me. He looks away, then he blinks once more, and he looks back at me agai
The water is cold when I make her step into it. The bath pools have made no sense to me until now. For the past fifty years, I have lived in a steady and regular motion, my hate the only thing fueling me and my need for revenge the only thing driving me to do anything at all. I have stoked the flames and assembled my life in the chasm of ice my lands seem to love so much, but yet this little wolf, this delicate little wolf, makes me feel I might have overlooked one aspect of those plans. When I asked her to lick my shoes I had expected the refusal. I wanted it even. I would have killed her on the spot and I would have regretted it for a minute or two, after that I would have thrown the thought out of my mind and headed out to pick up the next werewolf princess to lead to her death. Most of them are unwilling brides, and their parents, almost always reluctant to let them go. They know I kill their daughters, and they know they can do nothing about it. I should have killed this lit
When I step out of Lyros's room, my face is heated with shame. I can't begin to think of what this means so I don't. I walk down the hallway, hug my cloak closer to myself, and try not to shiver from the cold. I forgot the damn slippers in his room but I don't care about them. What I care about right now is the confusion I'm drowning in. I barely register walking past Cain until I remember I was supposed to deliver a message to him. I turn, walk back the way I came, and catch him on his way down the stairs. My words are stuck in my throat when he turns to face me. We stand in silence and I realize that silver eyes have never looked so menacing but I'm not in the right frame of mind to be intimidated right now so I clear my throat. "Lord Lyros is asking for you. He's...... in his rooms." I see something like a flicker of revulsion in Cain's eyes as he looks at me. It's there one moment and gone the next. He nods and takes the path to the Lycan king's room. I blink and go back the
"Is there any reason a mutt is eating amid warriors Leah?" Her voice is like silk. "If anything, she should be crawling on her feet at least, not standing and acting like an equal to the rest of us."My heart is hammering in my chest and my skin feels slick with nervous sweat. Leah takes a bite of her drumstick before she looks up at our guest.There's nothing I can use to describe the type of unbridled beauty this lady is. Maybe it's because of the morning sun shining in through the open windows, or maybe it's because I seem to find all of them better looking than normal people, but she's pretty and I can't seem to ignore it.She was the one I was staring at earlier.Leah tilts her head to the side and I'm almost blinded by the perfect smile she flashes. "If you have a problem with her walking on her feet Lysandra, I think you can take it up with Lyros. She's his guest, and I know I can't order you around so save those words, but at least let us have our breakfast in peace."Chuckle