Rhea’s POV
“No wonder the alpha here didn’t tell you shit! You hit like a little girl, Stefan” I said lightly.
Another biting lash opened up a new gash against my back while I bit back my scream as my tears kept flowing freely down my face.
My back was catching on fire, and I could feel my blood trickling down my back and drenching my already dirty jeans.
The hoodie I had on was still on me, except the back was completely shredded now. It barely took ten of Stefan’s extremely vicious lashes on it to tear it apart. It was already ragged to begin with. After that, my bare back took all the still ongoing punishment.
I had no idea how long it has been or how many lashes I received, but I could assume it’s been more than half an hour at least.
I was making fun of Stefan the whole time, trying my best not to let him hear me scream in pain and give him the satisfaction.
It only made him hurt me more.
“Will you shut up and stop taunting him! he hits like a fucking beast! It hurts Rhea” Hazel whimpered in my head.
Hazel doesn’t agree with my sick method of treating physical pain as an emotional outlet. But guess what? I’m the one with the human tortured, messed up soul, and I’m the one who has to feel every ounce of emotional pain from the horrible, disgusting things I’ve had to do to stay alive over the years, which keep haunting me every sleeping and waking second of my life.
Physical pain is the only thing I know that will numb my tortured soul.
Stefan keeps hitting me on the same spot for five minutes and I can’t keep my mouth shut anymore as the cut he is creating keeps getting deeper and deeper.
My scream fills the entire forest as my vision starts to become blurry from the unbearable amount of pain.
“Stop hurting her!” the shackled alpha gives off a weak version of alpha command at Stefan which does nothing to actually stop him.
His system was flooded with wolfs bane, rendering him powerless. Under normal circumstances the command will work regardless whether Stefan was a part of his pack or not.
An alpha can command anyone from outside his pack; if the command was powerful enough, except another alpha.
I spared a look at him and saw anguish plastered clearly on his face, the same anguish I felt when he was the one being tortured in front of me.
Stefan laughs at him “She gives you some water and now you feel protective of her? She will kill you if alpha Victor commands it, don’t kid yourself!”
“I will enjoy ripping your heart out the first chance I get, I swear to the goddess, you filthy, disgusting, coward rogue!” the alpha said fiercely.
He starts hitting us both one lash at a time, and I can’t help but gather that he said those things on purpose to give me some relief by sharing my pain and taking some of it upon himself.
It made a new, weird feeling to settle inside my heart; which was quite difficult to feel among the sea of pain I was already going through that didn’t really leave much room for me to feel anything else, except that I did.
I felt….cared for in some twisted sort of way. A way I never, ever felt before in my whole life.
No one ever tried to defend me or stand up for me the way he just tried to get Stefan to stop hurting me, and got himself intentionally tortured again in the process.
Even though he didn’t really have to do any of that, since I was just another rogue to him. Especially when he knows for sure that I killed a few of his pack members trying to save myself and defend my pack.
Why is he doing this?
“Maybe he believes that we didn’t really have a choice in the matter” Hazel said softly.
“That’s enough Stefan” alpha Victor spoke strongly, cutting my comeback to Hazel.
At once, Stefan stopped and came to stand in front of the alpha; who was alone this time.
“Leave us” he ordered.
Without another word, Stefan dropped the whip on the ground and walked off through the forest.
I kept my head down while I tried to breathe out through the pain.
What’s taking his brother so long? Don’t they have a warlock that can portal them here? Oh goddess! What if they really didn’t have one other than the one already killed in battle by us? I don’t know how much longer I can keep lying to alpha Victor, hell I don’t even think I’m able to fight against another alpha command in my current condition.
I saw him walking around me, inspecting the damage done to my back, maybe he wants to punish me himself now. I can’t imagine enduring his punishment which will make Stefan’s feel like a tickle in comparison, that’s for sure.
He stands in front of me again and orders “Look at me, Rhea”
I do as he asked, staring straight at his dark eyes that are threatening to swallow me into their blackness forever.
“Do you want me to help you kill your humanity once and for all and forgive your little act of rebellion against me?” he asked fiercely
“Yes alpha” I answered right away.
His response shocks me to the core.
“Become my chosen mate, bear my mark, and I will make sure no sliver of your humanity resurfaces ever again” he said in a deadly voice.
“Oh hell NO!” Hazel gets so angry, she blindly tries to take control over my mouth to scream the same thing she just said in my head.
Her struggle makes me struggle against her, which subsequently causes me to scream out in pain as I try to push her back from saying something that will get us killed.
“Settle down dammit!” I snarl at her.
She ignores me as she thrashes away at my control viciously.
“NO!” my mouth screams her words in a loud shriek.
“We’re not your mate, and never will be!” she says hysterically through my voice.
“Take back control, Rhea, now” he alpha commanded coldly.
I gasp and blink back my tears as I beg him heartily even though that is the complete opposite of what I wanted to say to him, but I had to repair the damage “I’m so sorry alpha. She didn’t mean…”
“I know. You don’t have to explain. We might not be fated mates, but that doesn’t mean we can’t choose one another if we complete the marking ritual. Once it’s done, your wolf will not cause any problems as she will be connected to my wolf and trust me Rhea, my wolf will make her change her mind about us” he promised darkly.
Hazel was screaming in my head wildly and no amount of begging on my part was calming her down.
I asked him curiously “What does being mated to each other have to do with my humanity, Alpha?”
He gave me a sly smile “You don’t know the first thing about mate bonds, do you?”
I shook my head. It was never something I was curious about because I made up my mind a long time ago about it. I can barely function on my own, I don’t have enough sanity to tolerate a mate that I will probably end up having to kill when he refuses to join the rogues.
It was the general rule here. If one of us found our mates during a pack takeover, the mate has two choices, join us by killing the rest of his pack members and accept that the mate bond will turn him into a rogue like us, or get killed if he refuses. The alpha will order the rogue to kill his or her mate with his/her own hands and severe the bond forever. I’ve seen it happen many times. No rogue ever hesitated to kill the mate. They didn’t feel any sort of loss at all afterwards. It was extremely disturbing if you come to think of it. It’s supposed to be the purest, most unconditional form of love between two people and their wolves. And yet, we are so screwed up in the head, so dead inside already, we kill them without even doubting it.
No wonder I wouldn’t want to know the first thing about it. I wished to the goddess every night that I never get to meet him so I don’t have to kill him.
I bet that will definitely break the last straw in my sanity.
And I really needed what little of it I had left.
Rhea’s POV “The mate bond will make me able to control your emotions, your way of thinking, and your human urges. I will be able to make you forget all about them the second we are connected. I can feed you all my emotions and overwhelm you with them. Of course because I’m an alpha, you won’t be able to push yours on me at all. My feelings will become your feelings, my urges will be yours. Your humanity will not stand a chance against me, Rhea, trust me. It will work” he said lustfully. It's the very first time I detect the hint of his lust for me. It made bile rise up my throat. Usually he ignores me and never bothers to look my way, unless I’ve done something wrong. But the look in his eyes made me feel like he truly wanted me for more than just to help me erase my humanity. He wanted my body, as well. I could tell from the way his eyes roamed all over me hungrily. Why the fuck did he pick me to get obsessed over? And how long has this obsession been going without my notice? I c
Adrian’s POV As soon as we portaled to the location sent through my phone, I got hit with a scent so strong, it momentarily made my wolf sway on his four legs. Sweeter than honey, and yet spicy and sour all at the same time. I’ve never smelled something with this kind of weird, impossible combination before. Lennox; my wolf was taking huge whiffs of it, practically tripping up on that scent. I ordered him tightly “Focus Lennox, my brother’s life is only the line here! No time for a distraction” “But the smell Adrian! It’s calling me to it, it’s intoxicating me!” he growled in my head. “Alpha!” my beta Derek called to me through the mind link. My warlock portaled over three hundreds of my warriors to this forest, and they were all waiting for my command. “We need to follow the scent!” Lennox barked in my head while I fought to keep him in his place. Dammit! I was slowly losing my control over him, he was going crazy as the scent kept forcing itself into our system. I ordered
Adrian’s POV“Why would she do that?” I asked tightly.“Because She’s not like the rest of them” he said confidently.I shook my head at him “She’s not”He raised his eyebrows and said suspiciously “That’s fast”“She’s the worst of them. Because she was able to fool you into making a promise you shouldn’t have made in the first fucking place!” I yelled angrily at him.Alec’s eyes glowed in anger and he said tightly “Adrian, I’m not an idiot ok? When I say she is different from them, then you should take my word for it. She made a deal with me to save my life by contacting you in exchange for her freedom, and she held up her end perfectly because here you are. Without her, I would have been dead and you would have never been able to find me in time. She earned her freedom”“You can’t let her leave like that! She’s our mate Adrian! Claim her!” Lennox growled in my head.“For goddess’s sake!” I muttered under my breath.My brother wants me to let her go, my wolf wants me to claim her and
Adrian’s POVI’ve never had a problem with Lennox the entire time we spent together. We were always a team, always on the same side.There was never a moment where we stood on opposite sides before. Never a moment where he forced his control over me and shoved me back. Until now.I felt betrayed to say the least.“Well, you shouldn’t feel betrayed because you’re being a selfish bastard and I had no choice but to knock some sense into you, which is quite amusing considering I’m the animal who runs on basic instincts here and you’re the one known for his calm wisdom” muttered Lennox in my head coldly.“Hey Lennox, nice to see you don’t share my brother’s feelings about your mate” said Alec with amusement as he realized that he took over my mouth.“Give her to me” Lennox said darkly as he walked and stood in front of Alec, extending his arms for her.“Give me back control!” I growled at him angrily.“No, I can’t trust you with her in our arms, not when you’re being a dick about her” said
Adrian’s POVI walk closer to her tentatively, my eyes stinging against my will at the brutal sight of her back. It was monstrous, what was done to her, to say the least.Her right cheek was resting against the pillow. Her face looked so tired with dark circles under her eyes and a trace of an almost fading, light pink bruise on her left cheek, like she was punched or slapped a while ago.She can’t be more than eighteen, I was certain of that.How the hell did she get involved with the rogues at such a young age?Most of the rogues are way older when they join, and most of them are men rather than women.I can’t imagine what kinds of things she did to earn her place among them. A little girl her age should be full of innocence and kindness, it was hard to imagine that she was newly recruited because she looked like she’s been with them for a long time judging by her unwavering rudeness and lack of respect nor fear when she addressed me.What the hell am I getting myself into with this
Adrian’s POVHe proceeded to tell me how the alpha made her an offer to become his chosen mate and how her wolf took control of her and was on the verge of tearing his head off if she wasn’t bound with silver.“There is something on his mind, an ulterior motive that has nothing to do with suppressing her humanity or taking advantage of her body” said Alec fiercely.My wolf was rattling in my head, roaring with rage about how close she came to being mated to someone else.I barely held my growl; or his growl, from escaping through my lips.“Did she seem to consider it? The girl, not her wolf” I asked tightly.He gave me a small smile and said confidently “She wanted no part of it, believe me. She tried to convince him to give her some time to get her wolf on board and buy enough time for you to come, but I could tell she was scared as hell because she knew she could never say no to him if you didn’t come through”“If he’s not aware of her alpha blood, what else does he need her for as
Adrian’s POV“Before we proceed with the ceremony. There is something else I need to tell you about. During the battle, I found my mate” I said firmly.Alec gave me a worried look, fearing what I’m going to say next.The pack members looked happy for me. Happy that I finally found my Luna and theirs. The pack is always stronger, more united when it has both the Alpha and the Luna living with them. I’m not sure that happiness is going to continue once I say what’s next.“She is the one who sent me Alec’s location and helped save his life. Without her, we would have never been able to find him… alive, nor take out the rest of the rogues. She made a deal with Alec in exchange for her freedom and immunity from getting killed…. She’s one of the rogues from the Victor pack”Silence barely lasted for five seconds after I finished my last word before chaos erupted. People started talking with each other in rage and fear mixed together.I raised my voice and tried my best to have control over
Rhea’s POVI can tell I’m dreaming and that this isn’t real, but what I’m feeling is anything but imaginary.The fear, the hate, the disgust, it’s pouring out of me like a flood. And there is also the physical feeling of being restrained against my will. It felt very very real.My hands were tied above my head with silver. I can feel the sharp stings it was leaving on my wrists. I was pinned on the forest ground while Stefan was stroking his filthy cock in his filthy hands while he was looking at me with a crazy lust in his pale blue eyes.I knew it was a dream because I know deep down that I went through the real thing already. I remember it. I know Stefan won’t get a chance to shove that dirty thing anywhere inside me because he was going to be divided into two pieces in a few seconds.But what made me know for sure that this was a nightmare rather than a memory was when I blinked and Stefan transformed into alpha Victor.He was gazing down at me evilly. His mouth had that devilish