Devil of Manipulation

I wasn't a werewolf,

I was no wolf,

King Xavier Vincenzo was toying with my mind, playing a game of manipulation with me. I had taken a college extra class on psychology and manipulation was one of the major ways predators caught their preys.

He was only doing this to break my spirit, yet it occurred to me that he wasn't aware of my history with them.

He was a fucking liar, and I would be damned if I believed someone I had watched rip someone's heart from their body. But I couldn't ignore the weird strength I had experienced while attempting to flee. For some reason I had almost been too sure that I could break through the window.

Even as I denied those hideous words Xavier had repeated time and again as I was bound in chains and whipped harshly, my own memory betrayed me with the abnormality of everything that I was. For the first time in my life, something made sense about why those wolves had come for me and suddenly sent a pendant across.

The unexplainable body pains and excruciating migraines, coupled with the weird mark of the Moon I had been born with.

I wasn't a werewolf,

I wasn't part of the kind that had murdered my own mother,

I was only human, unjustly undergoing whips which tore my skin apart as Xavier watched, chuckling amongst his security. Through unsteady vision, the unbearable pain in my heart which was worse than the physical torture I was experiencing killed me as that wicked smile fell on me.

My young naive heart was betraying me with confusing feelings, my eyes coated with blood which mingled with sweat and tears.

For each whip delivered to my skin, his security counted and bared their fangs, placing a bet about how long I could last before I finally died.

My throat was patched and dry, my heartbeat slowing down with each passing moment.

I would die with the worst guilt if it turned out to be true that I was the monster I had feared for seven years, and based on the harsh lashes of the chains which descended on my body, I would die before the night ended.

I felt life slip out of me, my will dissolve and my my spirit give up.

I was tired of hiding and then fighting to be alive when my life had always been a sham of a joke.

It would have been better if I had died instead of my mum, then I wouldn't ever have to find out, and I would have gone peacefully.

My wet eyes fluttered shut slowly, mental and physical exhaustion struggling against the aches from broken bones and torn flesh.

I was almost floating, almost completely detached from my body when the doors opened.

Hell, for a moment, I imagined someone barging in to save me, that thin thread of hopefulness mocking me once again when an empowering vampire aura filled the room.

Security turned to the newcomer immediately and bowed.

"Xavier, the governors are starting to complain that they haven't seen you yet." It was a female voice, dripping venomous chill which made me shudder awake.

"Oh, I see. Are their packages ready?"

"Yes. Seems you got yourself a little entertainment. Can I join in the fun? I bet she can make me happy."

At this point, I might have completely given up on salvation and prepared for the worst. Albeit being objectified and maltreated, I felt nothing. Just, emptiness.

Xavier's chuckle penetrated into my shattered soul. "This one won't live long enough for that. I'm even thinking of entertaining that wolf territory with packages of her bones."

The lady was amused. "Oh starting a war right now will ruin our plans. Besides, she doesn't look that important; could be an omega slave or something more worthless. Not worth the troubles at all."

Xavier stood, adjusting his suit jacket. For a moment, he turned to meet my eyes, and I felt none of the pain in my heart and forgot for a second how much of a monster he was. His eyes swept through my battered state and he parted his lips slightly.

"Pete, get rid of her quietly, I don't want my governors knowing about this. Like Lilith said, we aren't fully prepared yet. Do you understand what I mean?"

The one who held the iron whip nodded, his tone more eager than required. "Yes, your highness, I won't fail you."

"Don't make the mistake of leaving any trace behind. Send the picture we took of her to the doctor and tell him that she would only be alive for the next one hour, though my men tell me he's on the shores of England as we speak. The rest of you, let's get the party started." He said again, waving me off as if I were a little fly.

Just when I thought they couldn't possibly say more vile things, Lilith muttered,

"The doctor surely lived up to his name and kept some minor slut as his mistress."

She took a last glance at me and I refused to ponder on the heaviness her false accusations carried, nor did I have the luxury to, because as soon as the heavy doors were shut behind them, the clock started to tick down in seconds to the amount of time I had left.

"Okay, you heard the king, wolf." The bastard Pete unshackled my chains as he spoke, a low guttural chuckle leaving his lips as he obviously found satisfaction in my pain.

They were all sadists, every fucking one of them, and as I was dropped like a sac on the floors in my tattered bloody clothes, my body felt like a shell of itself. It didn't occur to me to plead with this bastard to spare me.

I was disappointed with life and given up on it. If everything were true, then the man I had taken as my guardian had abandoned me and left for a city on another continent entirely, and I was something I had detested...

I wouldn't spend the rest of the little moments I had to live thinking of that, nor the accusations and tortures I had endured tonight.

I thought of happy moments as he led me out through the silent hallway, memories of my mother taking me to school of martial arts for beginners; her warmth enveloping me while I slept; her ever radiant eyes glinting as she told me of her plans for the future.

If my life hadn't been taken from me time and again, maybe we would have been in one of those little cottages she had shown me pictures of. I would have been working to support the part time teaching job she'd had at a martial arts centre, and even without wealth, we would have been happy.

I was once a bubbly little girl who followed her mum everywhere and believed in fairytale and Prince charming coming to save the world from injustice.

All a crap load of bullshit.

I was limping as Pete took the dark stairs which seemed like it led to a dungeon, but I was mentally detached from my pain and felt nothing even as his rough disgusting fingers brushed through my arms. Suggestively.

Had I some life left, I would have flinched and put up a fight even if I was nowhere near his bulky physical body.

Then he swiped his tongue over his lower lip, and groaned, his nostrils briefly brushing against my neck.

"Hell, you sure give fucking good blood."

I was repulsed down to my bones, but my body which had become an emptiness of pain made no attempt to show its disgust.

Taking that as an encouragement, the bastard moved closer to me, his palms halting mine as soon as we got to the dungeon.

It was darker than expected, with chains and equipment I didn't recognise hung over a red headboard. It seemed like a place of torture but smelt strongly of sex and blood.

I was revolted.

"You know, I could show you a good time before you... leave."

Leave?

I would have died first before letting this beast touch any part of my body, but I swallowed hard and stood immobile, a part of my eye swollen from being thrown against the wall. He sniffed my body again, running his rough dirty hands through my sticky body.

"I could be rough...or gentle, depending on your cooperation."

Mental, physical, and now sexual abuse?

When I didn't respond, he sneered with his lips turned to the side, and pulled down his zipper.

It was going to be the worst thing I would endure before my death, and I shut my eyes against that repugnant smell of semen and heat.

The bastard had had sex already tonight and still wanted some?

"I bet you will enjoy sucking me off as much as you service the doctor..."

Adrenalin returned rushing through my blood, and perhaps I would have released that repressed fury in me and let it feed on him. I may have died fighting, resurrecting my will for the last moment, or I would have torn him apart. Perhaps he would have also succeeded in defiling me, but for the first time in my life, a miracle happened.

One second he was pulling down his underpants and the next he had slumped on the floors, blood gushing through the empty holes drilled into his body.

Then they jumped in through the broken windows, beasts of furs and people in dark outfits bearing arms surrounded me before I could do as much as process the death in front of me.

But the most surprising of all was the lady that led them, the one who had visited me at the diner a few hours ago. Her eyes were nothing sort of flirty now, determination and resilience gathering in her aura as she placed each leather boot in front of the other.

She stopped in front of me and...

Knelt.

What the hell was happening?

Then she parted her lips.

"Forgive us for being so late, your lycan highness. Did anyone touch you?"

Jackets and water were being handed over to me as though it were a normal occurrence.

"I... No." It was all I was say, relief flooding my tone and her eyes as she tilted her head to the side, taking a breath of relief.

"I know you are confused and have so many questions, but we only have fifteen minutes till the distraction we cause blows up. We've called the best Royal pack doctor who waits in the jet as we speak. Please, come with us, let's ensure your safety first."

Jet? Royal pack doctor? Lycan highness?

I was confused about everything, but I nodded, needing to get away from the stench of what I had been through.

The lady smiled, reaching her hand towards me. "I am Alpha Gaia, privileged to make your acquaintance, your lycan highness."