Iris's head felt heavy as she dizzily opened her eyes. It felt like an eternity when she was last time intoxicated enough to pass out or made to blackout. The former was due to her extra fast metabolism that made it hard for her to become drunk. The latter, though, was scary and brought very bad memories.
Since she hadn't been drinking before passing out, she remembered the handsome Dominic guy with his henchman, clearly sent by her brother to torment her. One of them must've drugged her. That must be why it was hard to focus on her thoughts and she felt like she was in a car. A tranquillizer strong enough to take her down was only present in Y's stash.
So many terrifying outcomes made her want to cry out, but her tranquillized body wouldn't cooperate.
Dom felt his mate stir and open her eyes. He could see she was struggling to keep them open, keep herself awake and also recognize where she was. The moment her mind registered where she was and what had been done to her, her senses became heightened. He could sense her trying to gain control over herself that the tranquillizer had taken away.
He saw her clumsily shiver and try to open her seat belt, simultaneously trying to do more magic as her uneven breathing continued. He could sense her panic and all he wanted at that moment was to stop the car and comfort her, but he couldn't, he knew she wouldn't allow him. After so much struggle and inability to use her magic caused as a side-effect of her mind being out of focus, she asked frustrated,
"Where are you taking me? Why can't he just leave me alone?" The last part was whispered helplessly to herself as she was about to break down again, in anticipation of years, probably decades, of torture like a routine that her brother repeated every century.
'It is to remind you of what you did, sister! To make sure you never forget what you took, the catastrophe you caused.' His promise of eternal torment ringing once again in her ears.
When she received no answer from her apparent abductor, she calmed herself down. Maybe she couldn't do magic on him, but the car they were in or the path they were on wasn't a part of him. Since she knew she could survive an accident easily, giving herself time to run away, she first cast a spell to destroy the brakes of the vehicle she was riding and then caused the road to suddenly burst open in the middle. Thankfully, they had been driving along a lonely countryside road where no one could see anything for miles.
As expected, the car went out of control as Dom and Iris were sent flying out of it due to the destroyed road. Iris knew the injuries were fatal to any normal human, but that's not what they both were. She didn't know how fast he could heal, so she quickly got up to run at her fastest, only to come face-to-face with her abductor's henchman, "And where exactly do you intend to run to? We are in the middle of nowhere, no matter how fast you run and in whichever direction. You can't outrun Fonsi."
"And how many times have I told you to not call me that! Only Dad could." replied Dominic from behind her, standing without a scratch.
"You said you could take care of her alone. You should be glad I decided to tag along in my car. Imagine if I had left her to you or she might've actually slipped." The henchman told.
Iris saw them busy bickering, so she decided, since she couldn't do magic on any of them, she was going to take her chances and run. That's exactly what she did. She ran as fast as her top abilities could allow her, but in a matter of seconds, she had strong bulky arms wrapped around her, stopping any further movement. The momentum brought both of them down with her, under her abductor, who seemed simply tired of it all,
"Are you going to let the fact that I am not going to hurt you sink in?" He asked from on top of her.
"Let. Me. Go!" She breathlessly growled at him, trying to get herself free from his grip on her wrists, restricting her movements.
"I will. If you promise not to attempt to run away and listen with a logical open mind." He tried reasoning with her.
She thought for a moment and not seeing any options but his steel eyes looking down from mere inches above her, she growled, 'Fine!' He nodded and got off of her cautiously, still not trusting her to not run away yet.
"I understand your extreme reaction. I was warned about this-" He merely began when she interrupted,
"Warned? by my brother? Of course, he warned. But he can warn all he wants. If you think saying anything like that would get me to come with you willingly to my next torture session, you're wrong! I am not coming without a fight and, even then, I'd rather die than be tormented like that ever again." she felt a sudden bravery in the face of death.
"Iris! Iris, Iris. How do you want me to tell you that you will believe it, I am not going to hurt you?" He asked with such sincerity in his eyes that she almost believed him by asking, "Then why won't you leave me alone? What do you want from me?" She sounded almost like a broken child who didn't have the strength to gather her broken pieces anymore.
Seeing and hearing his mate like this, it felt like a knife being turned inside his guts. Dom didn't know such a feeling even existed before Iris came into his life. Now he had so much to tell her and so much to do to get her to be truly happy and fearless. Her look and tone made him want to tear those who had turned her this way to shreds.
He was about to give a truthful answer to keep her calm and prevent her from running, but before an answer could be provided, howls were heard coming from where they had been driving. The three immediately knew they were werewolf howls and just that made Iris lose whatever calm she had had.
Almost all werewolves in the world were under her brother's orders. He was the oldest werewolf alive who had achieved immortality by magical ways and now every werewolf looked up to him and carried out every command like an order from God himself. One moment she was standing listening to what Dom could possibly want with her and the next moment she was running at top speed in the opposite direction of the howls.
Dom and Freddie were well aware of the approaching threat. But before anyone could do anything, Iris took off again. This time her panic was well understood but there was no time to talk her down. Dom nodded at Freddie who went to start his car as Dom himself tranquilized the runaway Iris and carried her to Freddie's car, and laid her delicately on the backseat and buckled up in the passenger seat as they resumed their initial journey, only faster this time.
Dom turned to stroke his unconscious mate's brunette locks, feeling a newfound sense of protectiveness, "Don't worry, I am gonna take you far away. Somewhere Y can't hurt you anymore. You'll be safe now, forever." Then nostalgically asked his friend,
"Take us home, Freddie."
How long do you think will it take Iris to trust her abductors? Should she trust her abductors?
This time Iris woke up in luxurious surroundings. Her head still pounded and she still felt dizzy, but her surroundings made her overcome every feeling she might have with confusion and awe. It was some sort of master bedroom. From the king-sized bed on which she lay to the marbled floor and painted ceiling with images of Greek Gods, Goddesses, and fire-breathing dragons. The room was a marvel. The royal-ish furniture seemed to be imbibed with gold and gems in various places. Iris tried moving and getting to a sitting position. She didn't know how she got there but the memories from before tranquillization came back gradually. This clearly wasn't werewolves, they would never treat her this well. So could it be her abductor, Dominic? She didn't even know his last name and he seemed to know her strengths and weaknesses like the back of his hand. She could see three doors, one of them must be the bathroom and the other the walk-in wardrobe, so that meant the third one was the exit. Tha
The reality of being kidnapped by a person who could legit turn himself into a dragon was a scary one. Iris was trying to come to terms with it all when the three women heard an explosion that seemed just outside the wall-sized window. Lady Marie suddenly got into a high-alert mode and ordered Sussane, "The duty to comfort and protect your Alpha lady is on you now child, prove your worth."* With that, she was out of the room as quickly as sound. Iris looked at Sussane alarmed, "What was that? What is happening? What did Lady Marie mean by Alpha Lady? Was she referring to me? What do I need comfort and protection from? Why did she ask you to prove your worth? Is it Dragon Dominic?" The questions poured from her lips like water from a waterfall but Sussane simply replied, "There are two things you should know, Lady Hanson. One, There are things like answering your questions, that I am not allowed to do, only Lady Marie or Alpha McBlaze can, even though I do know the truth, it's not m
By the time evening rolled in, Iris was getting jumpy and Sussane was finding it hard to keep her calm. Commotion and voices outside had ceased but Iris' restlessness only increased with every passing minute. Twilight had settled when Lady Marie entered, "Ah, finally, we can all relax and rest for the night. Tomorrow is a big day." She looked exhausted but had a victorious shine in her eyes. "Alright! That is enough!" Iris had finally had enough. She was done waiting and she was done waiting in one room belonging to her abductor and feeling caged. "Either you guys tell me the whole truth right now. Or so help me God, Dragons or not, I will tear you all to shreds and escape. I'd rather take my chances in the outside world than in this royal prison you are conducting." She was furious and both the women could see that. Sussane looked helplessly at Lady Marie and communicated telepathically to her, 'She has been on the verge of bursting for a while now.' Lady Marie nodded silently, t
"Mate!"The moment that those words left Lady Marie's lips, Iris felt a chill travel down her spine.She was familiar with this bond. It had happened once, a long time ago, when she was newly enhanced. It did not end nicely.#It was when Iris found herself in a random forest somewhere in England when she was only a century old, most of which was either spent in a Japanese temple learning to become a samurai or in a Russian laboratory as a lab rat. She had finally broken out of her lab prison and was currently trying to survive the cold English winter night when an amazing feeling hit her. It felt like home and comfort and warmth.She stood on her guard, ready to run again if need be. She had been through enough already. But that smell materialized in the form of a handsome blonde man with blue eyes smiling kindly at her. That is how she realized she had found home and comfort and warmth in the form of a man. But before that, she had already promised herself to another man, so she cou
A warm, soothing comfort surrounded her as Iris wanted nothing more than to snuggle into the inviting scent. Everything felt so right that she wanted to sleep a little more. But despite everything, she stiffened at the toughness of her pillow. Where was her feather pillow and why was this hard pillow breathing? Before she could react to what seemed like a nightmarish situation, a rumble was heard as a laugh sounded from her pillow, ”I know you are awake, little wolf!” She heard the smirk in his voice. Iris opened her eyes to stare directly into the mesmerizing ones of none other than Dominic McBlaze, who was lying shirtless where Iris' was against his naked chest, which felt like searing her cheek, and her ear could hear his beating heart. The full extent of her compromising position dawned on her when he noted smugly, "Even though you drool, you do sleep adorably." That made her shoot up, rubbing her chin to get rid of the little drool that got her made fun of, making the sheet cov
Since, apparently, they were having breakfast in the bedroom, Iris didn't want to stay with Dom alone any more than she had already done so far. He did things to her without touching her. He made her heart flutter, the kind of thing that made her confused. Yes, he was her mate and she understood that. That was why she was as hysterical as she was and trying to escape right now, but she needed time to come out of her love phobia. It felt like she had stopped allowing herself to be happy over the centuries, since her brother wouldn't ever allow her to receive the love of a man. Iris asked Lady Marie, "Will you join us for breakfast? I was hoping to get a few questions answered." But their privacy was all in Lady Marie's intentions, "My pretty child, you do not need me for any more answers. Your mate is just as well aware of the past and present as I am. He is quite capable of answering any and every question that you may have." She smiled, sensing her helplessness, and gave some detai
In no time, the breakfast was over and Sussane had come to fetch Iris to get her ready for the day and handed some papers to her Alpha cousin, who thanked her and left. After the conversation they had, Iris didn't expect much either. Sussane was all smiles and just as excited as Lady Marie like she had just come into the room of newlyweds. As soon as the breakfast was cleared up, Sussane started, "I hope you slept fine, I mean at dinner- you didn't seem so well." She seemed genuinely worried for her and it was a first in a long while for Iris. "Yes, I-uh, ghosts from the past." Iris tried to be vague, "I am fine now, thanks." Then she couldn't help but ask, "Can I maybe, from today onwards, get my own room? maybe?" She almost hesitated to ask but she couldn't spend every night on the same bed as him. "But you have your own room, you're standing in it." Sussane acted as if Iris' request confused her like she had asked something silly. "No, this is his room. Your Alpha's-" Iris tried
Let's begin!" Iris heard Dom say but her mind quickly ran away with thoughts of doubt and a long list of 'What ifs'. Only when Gideon Powers, Sussane's father, mentioned Y, did Iris register the conversation going on. "He is an old and powerful foe. No one can defeat Y in his fortress, that island is impenetrable unless he wishes otherwise. We only stand a chance with two options." "Either we lure him out by implanting our spies on the island or simply go Dragon." The Beta, Freddie concluded. Iris noted a frown at Mr. Powers' brow but remained quiet to know the end result of the meeting. It took two hours to get to some common ground. Iris was asked to provide her insight and opinion, which was surprisingly taken well. Acceptance was new. Even though Mr. Powers and Mr. and Mrs. Edmond Black seemed a little hesitant, no one could question the alpha or the decisions involving his mate. Once the meeting was done and only ones with pack duties were asked to remain, Sussane perked up,