Lior wasn't sure how he was breathing, or thinking, but he hated the fact he was still awake. That he could still hear her voice in his head. He knew he must have been the one at fault. He must have done something wrong. He just couldn't do anything right. He couldn't even... make his Mate love him.
His hands gripped the steering wheel tighter. Pain racked through every bone in his body. A part of him screamed at the fact that she was right, she had been the only one to tell him to his face. He was truly useless, worthless, without a true purpose, but Goddess, he would have loved her. He would have been anything she wanted.If she had just given him a chance—More tears fell. Another part thought back on how she had looked at him. Was that truly how she had seen him all this time? Or was it just how he had seen her? Lior had been so in love with her that he had managed to ignore any wrong side, but now that he thought of it, he could see her for her true self.There had been a time when he had found a cat, after the loss of his dog some years ago, and he, in his love dazed state, tried to show her his feline, but Sophie had kicked it so hard, without any single remorse that it died and she never even cared to ask about how he felt when that happened.More instances came up to his head, when she had showed him her true self, but he had ignored it. Fuck, he still loved her. Even though she did this, he loved her. Love didn't go away so easily. Did she truly expect him to just let go of her? Of all he had known?He had already driven his car to the farthest part of Raester, deep down to a place he knew no one would find him, or guess he would ever be, and switched off his phone so he wouldn't be tracked, but of course, there was also the problems of the paparazzi outing him so he had to change into a more concealing appearance. Plus, there was no need to overthink on his decision anymore. He couldn't possibly care now, could he? If the one person destined to spend the rest of her life with him didn't want him, then nothing else nothing mattered.He'd do what he wanted. Damn the consequences.‡Nine stared at the counter. Finally, she had managed to get the stain off, and in the next hour, her shift would finally be over. Thankfully, the pub was already empty, leaving her with her boss and some other chores she had to do, but asides that, she was grateful.Just one more day, she though, one more day, and I'd be a free person.It was mantra that kept her sane, because for someone like her that had nothing else holding her down to Earth, freedom managed to keep her happy.Though her happiness died out when she saw a customer walk into the Pub.It was already so late and she could barely stand on her feet as it was. Plus, she wasn't sure she could stand one more person for the night. Nine had to spend most of her time ignoring people jeering at the way she looked, or grabbing her roughly. Even though she hated it, there was nothing she could do. No one ever did anything to Mom's girls, unless they wanted her wrath, but since Mom saw her as more of a liability than an asset, other people liked to toy with her for it.Nine watched her Boss walk to the male who was now seated on a bar stool. He had on a black hoodie and pants, the hood up, and sunglasses, she wasn't sure, with his head bent down. They seemed to talk for a few minutes before the hooded male brought out a huge wad of money and set it on the counter. Her eyes widened at the sight, her hands now gripping the handle of the broom she was holding tighter. She had worked in this pub for years and she hadn't seen that much Yudats in this place before.Her Boss stared at it too, but only for a few seconds before he quickly pocketed it. As he began walking to her, Nine quickly went back to her cleaning. Heavens knew how many lashings she would have gotten if he had caught her staring instead of being useful "You,"She had a name, yet no one ever called that. "Yes, sir?"Her Boss was a thin looking, mouse faced man that always had a sneer on his face for her. "That customer has paid for a whole night of drinks so make sure you keep topping him till he's ready to go. You hear me?"Till he was ready? "But it's already late and if I'm not home in an hour—""Are you trying to tell me what to do?"Nine's mouth stayed open for a second, but she shut it and quickly shook her head."Good," She watched him take his coat off the rack and wear it. "Make sure you close up." Then as he walked away, muttered under his breath. "Ugly faced bitch,"Years ago, those words would have cut deep into her but she had grown immune to it. Nine had jet black hair that she kept long since she was too busy to cut it and the last time she did, had made a horrible mistake that got her bullied for a very long time. Still, that hadn't been the problem. Nine was pale skinned, and had barely any meat on her body which gave her a plain scarecrow look but the one thing that got people freaked out were her eyes.They were round and completely onyx black. Like two void holes that promised to suck everything in it's sight.Nine sometimes wished they could.She did as she was told anyway. Refilling the man's glass while she glared at him with her eyes, hoping he'd get disgusted and leave, but he seemed to stuck on his misery to give a care about an urchin like her.Great, the one time she wanted attention, none was being given.As she topped his fiftieth glass and proceeded to walk away, he held her hand and mumbled something under his breath that made her freeze in her steps. "S-Sophie. D-Don't go,"His voice sounded completely ethereal, like the wind tickling her ears. It made her want to stay and hear him talk again, but the moment she thought it, she knew to step away. "Sir, I think you've had too many to—""My head hurts," Oh Goddess, that voice.The male looked up at her now, the shades he had on dropping a bit so she could now see his face. He had eyes that reminded her of the sun when it was rising. Making her want to stay and see how beautiful it'd look when it was finally all out in it's gloriousness. "Can you— Can you take me somewhere?""I—" Don't look into his eyes. And ignore the voice! "Sir, it's late and—""Here,"Nine watched him bring out another wad of money. Equivalent to whatever he gave her boss. She swallowed. Her brain quickly thought on how much of her debt she could pay if she presented this to Mom. It meant less pub days and grabby hands. It meant closer freedom. Plus, she could drive exceedingly well, since she had done something along the lines to get more money for Mom.But men weren't to be trusted. She knew that first hand, and if she was more late—"More?" He sounded completely ready to please now. "I'd give— More," He tried standing, nearly falling over until she held him. "I don't— I don't wanna go home. Nothing's— There... For me. So— So hotel, but can't— Drive—"What was it in his voice that made her want to stay? Was it the fact he made her ears want to lean in more or her ears recognized the same sadness her heart felt every single day she woke? "What hotel?""G-Golden Lily,"That five star hotel? Not that it surprised her the more she thought about it. He looked rich enough to afford a friend even, but she shook the thought away. Nothing about him was her business. All she had to do was get him in his hotel room, and take the money he gave. Easy peasy.Goddess. She hoped it'd go that way.Getting to the Golden Lily was relatively easy, even though it was quite far away from what she knew and meant more reasons to piss Mom off by coming late, but getting him out of the car was harder. He practically refused to come out at first, whining about how badly his head hurt before he suddenly looked at her, muttering something about her not leaving and then sticking unto her like they were glued together.It was the first time she was being close to anyone, a man for that matter, especially a nice looking one so no one could blame her if she liked the proximity.Nine mentally slapped that thought away.When they got in, her eyes flew to the gold plated walls and glass ceilings, plus the air smelled like something you had to pay for actually breathing in. Goddess. "Um, excuse me,"Nine turned to the receptionist, who had a completely astounded look on her face like they were two big rats in her establishment. Two very wild, untamed rats. She nearly laughed at the thought becaus
Nine didn't sleep.She couldn't. Not with the fact her whole body felt like a truck had rammed itself over her and the fear that anything could happen, that at any moment, he'd wake up and try hurting her again.It didn't.All her instincts screamed at her to run, run as fast as her legs could go, but moving hurt and in a hotel like this, running would cause a scene. A scene that Nine knew wouldn't be in her favour. She knew that this man, whoever he was, had enough money to make it look like she had been the one to force herself on an intoxicated him and who would believe a girl with looks like her?Nine waited till the sun came up and tried sitting up. Her waist and legs protested at the action but she fought the need to give up down. From a corner of her eyes, she could see many more bruises that he had given. Bruises that meant he had used all his strength to keep her down.Inhuman strength.Her brain made her aware that she had just been raped by a werewolf, and a werewolf meant
"He's in here, Your Highness."Lior heard the words first before his eyes fluttered open. He looked around him, wondering why his room looked different before he sat up, meeting two palace guards standing at the door and his Elder brother walking in.Lucas had on his royal wear as well. With a disappointed look in his face. The Crown Prince looked around, his eyes flashing a colour of amber before he said, "There was someone else here. Search around."The guards went to work immediately. Scanning all around the room and the bathroom before returning and saying there was no one else.Lior, on the other hand, had no idea why everywhere was spinning and looked entirely different than he remembered it. "W-What's going on?""I should be asking you," Lucas shot back. "Running off on your own birthday and putting the Royal family in absolute panic. Setting off your phone and the tracker in your car. Going off radar. Lodging in a hotel which by the way, we would have never found out if we did
Nine felt like her body did not belong to her. It felt like her body just rebelled and now she could not stop the nausea swelling within her combined with the extreme hunger and weariness. She had not even been eating well and she was dropping weight fast. She could not focus at work and she could not even think straight. She had missed shifts and no matter how much she tried, she found it impossible to go to work. She was scared. She knew Mom would not take it lightly, she would hurt her, she would find some kind of retribution and the worst thing about it was the only thing she could do was wait. Her room, unlike most of the other kids in Petal, held nothing too memorable, or expensive which was obvious with the absence of cloths or anything that could make a room comfortable. Plus, whatever money she managed to earn went straight to Mom, and the others who had come in, unlike her, had managed to pay off their debts.Mom always demanded thrice of the initial payment she bought the
Mom's appearance into her room happened only a minute after the Doctor's declaration. Her face twisted into complete rage with the speed she used to reach Nine's bedside being the fastest she had ever seen the obese woman gone. "You little bitch!""Mom—"The rest of her words got choked out as the woman's fat hands clamped itself around Nine's neck. She spluttered, trying to get her grip off but she was still too weak to. "After everything I've fucking done for you, you open your legs for some sick bastard, I swear I should just kill you and save myself the stress later!""Madame Dalia!"The Doctor was now in the room, pulling Mom off her body who seemed ready to squeeze the life out of Nine. She coughed out now, her hand gently massaging her neck while she tried taking in breathes as impossible as it seemed even though Mom's hand had been pulled off..Pregnant? There was no way she could be except... Except that one time. How was that even possible? There were other girls at home tha
It was the first time Nine was seeing the Golden Lily during the daytime. It stood high to the heavens like a skyscraper, with clear glass walls and windows, a swimming pool that glittered and gardens all around it. Once again, she found herself daydreaming about how nice it would be to actually stay a day there before the feeling of someone squeezing hard on her arm brought her back to Earth.Mom's face was still twisted in a grimace, and as if to point out her anger, squeezed more onto Nine's bruises causing her to wince as she said, gritting her teeth. "Do not act like a brat out there. Do you understand?"Nine nodded.She let her go now, her big eyes still following Nine as the girl walked out before the obese woman did. Her eyes stared back at the gate, her legs begging her to run back. She knew Mom. She would cause a scene if anyone tried ignoring her but before she could think twice on her decision, Mom's fleshy hands were on her arm again, pulling her towards the doors.The gl
"Who would have thought you ugly bitch would ever make me rich?!"There was a manic look on Mom's face as she drove. If Nine thought she was driving recklessly before, she seemed determined to end their lives now. "When you gave that description, I knew it had to be that boy. Freaks like freaks! And I was damn right!"Nine felt her body slam into the car's door. The seat she was in had no belt so she kept being thrown around. The urge to throw up climbed up her throat but she fought it down.Puking in Mom's car would not end well.The car's speed began to decrease as they reached the palace. There were three gates: The massive one at the center that towered almost sixty feet, which bore engravings that meant nothing to Nine but glowed under the light of the sun and there were two lesser gates, each twenty feet tall, made of a kind of metal which caught the sun in a strange way, shimmering and subtly changing colors.Mom parked the car in a corner, ordering Nine out and as soon as they
Lior sat crossed legs on his bed, his face staring into space as he stroked the fur of his cat, Summer. She was a white furred feline that had more grace and kindness than most people, but she also had an attitude that made him can't help but laugh sometimes.Except now.He had done all he could. For so long... He had dedicated his weeks to Sophie. To get her attention. What had he not done? A part of him even craved to get her attention on him again. Just to look at him, but it seemed like they had never been friends before.His love for her had made him respect her decision to not tell anyone. Even though Ora and Kenji had begged at the beginning, he ignored them, eventually locking himself up in the room.Summer, unlike everyone, never asked questions. She let him hold her without making a fuss out of it, and there were times when she would rest on his chest when she realized tears were streaming down his face.He wasn't sure how he could have gone a day without her.Lior's ears tw