As Raphael sits on the stall next to me, I face him and ask quietly and hesitantly, "Did Zachariah... Did he ask you... Did you find anything on my mother?"Raphael smiles. "Yes, he asked me as soon as he came down to the field this morning... You showed good form, stamina, and skill out there this morning, even with how many he made you fight... You have had other training??" "Yes, it wasn't much just what one of the Elders in my village had learned and was teaching some of the younger guys..." "You're not like the other girls we pick up from the villages... They are all... Well, girls!" I smile and laugh. "Yes, I am. I have always been different, I never felt comfortable wearing the dresses and the skirts, or learning how to properly wash a man's really smelly, stinky underwear and clothes, or how to pick, prepare and cook food for a man just because he is just that a man. And that a girl's or women's
He glares at me as he bows to Zachariah and leaves; he returns not long after with another plate and places it in front of me. This one, however, has a cover over it. Zachariah, seeming to be happy with this, then picks up his knife and fork and, after taking the first bite, everyone else then follows. I sigh and remove the lid to find a very small serving of food. I look over at the Omega that brought it out and see the smirk on his face. I guess he doesn't approve of me either.I pick and eat a little. I then just watch Zachariah as he sits, eats, and discusses different things with Zaire and Raphael. I carefully and silently move my chair back and, while everyone is preoccupied, I slip from my chair and out of the room. I stop just outside the doorway and move into the shadows, turning back just to watch. I wish I hadn't looked back though as I watch Vivian get up from her seat at the other end of the table and make her way down approaching Zachariah. I guess she was
Valentino runs the knife, making a small cut along my arm. I gasp at the shock and sting of it, but I do not scream. I smile a little to myself at his confused and disappointed look. I guess he was expecting a little girl, one that will break quickly and easily, but I can stand more pain than most girls and I don't intend to give him the satisfaction of hearing me scream. At the sight of my slight smile, he tightens his hand around my throat a little, making it harder to breathe.He then makes another cut, but he starts this one from my left shoulder and goes down at an angle, stopping once he gets to the middle of my chest between my breasts.When I didn't make a sound other than the gasp as he first started the cut, he passes the knife back to the other beast and moves real close to me, whispering once more,"What are you to him? What is his weakness?"I struggle to answer him as he tightens his hand a little more around my throat.
Valentino growls again as he slaps me hard before turning his back to me and facing the young girl that is still standing just inside my cell. He says something to her; she nods, and he leaves. She follows him out but is back a short time later, carrying a bottle of something and a tube of something else. As she gets closer to me, she whispers,"I'm not meant to talk to you, but you probably wouldn't trust what I was trying to give you if I didn't..." I just watch her as she continues to get closer, she takes the lid off of the bottle and moves it to my lips as she says,"This is a healing tonic. It will help with the pain. It will also give you what you need to stay alive."I shake my head. She sighs, lowers the bottle from my lips and places it on her own, and takes a small mouthful. Lowering it from her lips and facing me so I can see it in her mouth, and then she actually swallows it, showing me her empty mouth afterwards. As she steps back up to me and lift
I drift in and out. I feel like I am trapped in water. I fight my way to the surface but can't seem to stay there as something pulls me back down into the darkness again. I fight my way to the surface again and this time I can hear voices. I can't make out what they are saying but at least one of them sounds familiar.I then get pulled back into that darkness again, the next time I fight to the surface I wait to be pulled back but I seem to stay this time, I then wait for the cold and pain that would run through my body after each session with Valentino but that wasn't there either. I start to wonder if I am dreaming as I am laying on something soft, I am covered and I am warm instead of cold. I then panic a little as a warm arm moves over my side and the hand stops laying flat on my abdomen.I flinch a little in pain as he hits a recent slash from the whip and I then shiver in fear, thinking, did he finally do it? Did Valentino take me out of my torture cell and take
I drift in and out of the darkness until I can finally hold onto the light, every time I have scratched the surface it has been with Zachariah's arms wrapped tightly around me. This time is different, he is not holding me and I hear yelling, it takes me a little until I am able to focus on what is going on."Jade drop it!""No! What did you expect Zach? You kiss Vivian in front of your mate and then act as if she doesn't exist at dinner that same night... Did you really expect her not to run?""She is my mate! She belongs by my side...""That's right by your side, not just in your bed...""Jade!!... I nearly lost her..." He stopped yelling and actually sounded a little sad"Why haven't you turned her?""I..""Zach, this is not like you. You have always taken what you want, what is different here?"Jade stops yelling too, changing her tone to being concerned rather than angr
With the help of Jade, Raphael, and Zachariah, I slowly make a reasonable recovery. Jade helped me to get my attitude and confidence back. As we built on our friendship, Raphael became my personal trainer and helped me trust a guy other than Zachariah. We started with some light stuff in the bedroom. Raphael then moved us to a small section on the training field, away from everyone else.Then once I was stronger, Raphael moved our training to the wildflower field so we could do more with my private training against their kind, getting me back to where I was before Valentino got his hands on me. Raphael would even get Zaire to join us occasionally to help with not only fighting one or two of their kind, but to also expand on who I trust.Now, Zachariah, he was much more personal. He would wake me the same way every morning. To start with, I would flinch and struggle until he could convince me that it was him and not Valentino. He started slowly, holding me tight a
It takes her a little while to realize that what she is doing isn't working, so she turns her attention back to Jade."Alpha Miss, what can I do for you today?""We are here for her today. I was thinking, some of the top up with a little fringe hanging down and then have light curls flowing down the back..."It is then that she turns her attention to me. I watch in the mirror at her face as it gets that normal look of disgust before she covers it. She then undoes the bun I have placed at my neck, she runs her fingers through my hair making me shiver as I continue to watch her in the mirror and still see the disgust in her eyes and the way she is trying not to touch me very much. She goes through the steps of washing my hair, she then partly dries it, gives it a little trim, and then does what Jade asked her to do.She chatted to Jade the whole time while occasionally looking over at Zaire, who was sitting on one of the chairs by the door