“Take him and get out of here. What are you waiting for? Go!”
“I don’t understand you,” I say, planting my hands on my hips. “You send these creatures after us and now you want us to leave. Why don’t you just let them gobble us up?”
I haven’t seen the creatures. All I had seen were lengthened canines dripping with saliva. Prita’s eyes flickered to Massa. He’s fighting so hard to keep his eyes open.
“I would never be at peace with myself if I let that happen.”
My eyes glimmered with hope. “Does it mean that you would stop them?”
She glared. “No. You brought this upon yourself when you hit me. Take him and leave. There’s an open tomb on your left. Go!”
Pulling Massa into the open tomb wasn’t easy but I did it nonetheless. I leaned against a wall trying to catch my breath when the tomb closed and we were plunged into darkness. I banged my fists on the stone screaming for help but what did I get in return? Cuts and bruises.
“It’s no use,” Massa groaned weakly from where he lay.
“But I can’t stay here!” I yell, hitting the stone. There’s a crack and liquid poured from the cracks. Whatever it is, it’s not water.
“What did you do?”, Massa asks hoarsely.
“I don’t know, there’s a crack, and suddenly liquid bursts from the walls, and it keeps rising.” I grabbed hold of Massa and tried to pull him to his feet.
“Massa get up. Please.”
He manages to sit up but the strong force of the liquid pushes him down once more. We got lost in the sudden onslaught of unfamiliar liquid and I struggled to keep my head afloat. Massa’s hold on my waist was weak, and I knew one more push and we’ll be apart.
Amidst the water and darkness was a glow and I pushed Massa toward that glow. Turns out it was an opening and before I knew it, Massa and I were falling. My skin brushed against stones, and I know that we are free. I open my eyes again, and never have I been happier to see the morning sky. I look beyond me, and I’m shocked to see people, actual people moving about. The floor is tarred, and some huts were carved into the mountains.
They haven’t noticed us but one man has. He is seated atop a brown stallion and he galloped towards us dropping to the ground before us.
“My Lord!”
I craned my head to see Massa. I’m shocked to see him standing upright. Perhaps whatever liquid that was, had helped him, or maybe being away from Prita had strengthened him. Massa ignored the man and turned to me.
“Get up.”
“I can’t.” And it’s the truth. I am drained of energy and I’m trying to understand why there’s blood in my mouth.
Massa must have read my mind for he said, “It’s only a precaution against your kind. The blood will stop now get up.”
“I can’t. I swear I can’t.”
I can feel the man’s eyes on me. “You dare refuse a prince’s order?”
“I’m not refusing anyone’s order,” I defend.
“You foolish wrench of a…”
“That’s enough Greg. She’s with me.”
“But my Lord, she’s a wolf! A wolf! Your father will not take kindly to this and neither will the council.”
“Look at me Greg. Do I give a rat’s arse about their thoughts?”
“No but…”
“Exactly. Now go get me and the lady some clothes.”
“But my Lord…”
Massa rose a brow. “You dare refuse a prince’s order?”
“No, my Lord,” he said and went away.
He turned to me. “Try and get up.”
I rise and I’m surprised I don’t fall. “Um, about the blood in my mouth, can’t you heal it?”
“No. Magic doesn’t work on wolves around here?”
I sigh. There’s galloping again and Massa pulls me behind him. I wonder why he did it until I realize that I’m wearing only a thong. How that happened, I don’t know. I cross my arms over my breasts. Massa had seen them bare, and Prita had tasted them.
Thinking of her made me sick. Massa collected the clothes and sent Greg on his way. He quickly dresses, pulling a blue vest over his head and putting on leather sandals. Then he turns to me.
“Here take this.”
I stare at the bathrobe he’s handing to me. Is that enough to keep me warm? But I don’t argue, taking the robe from him. He has the decency to look away. I put it on, making sure the knot is very tight.
“You can look now.”
He turns around, assessing me. “There’s something about your bodily curves that just makes me very horny. Heaven knows that if you’re mine, I’d chain you to my bed and keep you there, doing away with you whenever I want.”
I blush furiously. “But I’m not yours.”
“You are. As long as you’re here, you are mine,” he declared, before pulling me through the throng of people.
…
“You stink,” was the first thing Cocci said as he stepped into the small cottage. Ruarc and Sia followed, closing the door behind them. The blood in my mouth has stopped, thanks to the owner of this cottage. She’s human just like me and treats Massa like he is her son.
“Seriously this place stinks. Crinka you too.”
“Massa stinks as well,” Sia says stepping away from his brother.
“We ran into the vraugmitas. They fed off us,” Massa explained. I’m guessing that Prita is a vraugmita. I’d ask him what that meant later.
“That’s impossible,” Cocci exclaimed.
“The lady here refused to shut up,” Massa said jabbing a finger at me. I scowled at him.
“Still! How could you let a vraugmita feed on you, Massa? Father is going to flip if he hears this,” Cocci said.
Sia smiled. “I’d like to see that.”
This earned him a glare from his brothers. “That is if he would find out,” Massa said.
“You can’t hide the scent,” Cocci argued.
“Cocci that’s enough!” Ruarc’s voice boomed.
“The council is upset. You have to leave here now and go to the palace.”
“And what about her?”, Sia asks. “We have to figure out what to do with her. We can start with figuring out a name for her.”
“Something short and simple would be fine,” Sia added.
“Or we could just give her a number. My whores have a number,” Massa said.
“It would deem her unimportant. To guarantee her safety you have to give her a name,” Ruarc said.
I hate how they’re discussing me like I’m not here.
“I don’t think that’s safe,” Cocci said. “A lot of females want a chance to be called Massa’s whore. If they are to know that he now has a favorite, they’re going to hurt her.”
“We could have prevented all this if she had just stayed back,” Ruarc growled.
“Back there wouldn’t have been any safer now that those monsters want her.” Sia countered.
“Can you stop talking about me like I’m not here?”, I yelled.
Massa glared at me. “You forget that you’re my whore and whores never yell at their masters. It’s going to be hard keeping her true identity a secret. She’s so stubborn.”
“Apologize Crinka.”
“What? There’s no way that…”
“Apologize Crinka. Whenever you make a mistake, you apologize, and if you’re going to keep making mistakes, you’re going to learn how to say sorry,” Sia said calmly.
I glared at him. I gave up when I noticed he wasn’t budging.
“I’m sorry Massa.”
“It’s Prince Massa to you. Say it.”
I gritted my teeth. I’m going to kill him for this. “I’m sorry Prince Massa.”
“Good. So, what are we going to call her?”
“Stormie. We’ll call her Stormie.”