Karen slowly got up from the floor, wincing as her core screamed in protest. She looked down at her thighs, and her eyes widened in horror. Her thighs were bloody and bruised, handprints engraved deep into her flesh.
Karen felt her heart skip. There was no way she could hide those marks with the ridiculous outfit she had to wear. She tried to get up but tripped in her blood and fell, hitting her head on the floor.
She winced in pain, crying out softly. Her eyes went out of focus for a few seconds before her head started to heal itself.
Karen felt like she was dead and still alive at the same time. She tried to get up again and was able to sit up. She cried out in pain as her thighs and core hurt like hell.
It dawned on her that they weren’t healing.
Panic flashed through her. Her body never had a problem in the past healing major injuries. Things like small cuts and bruises took their time, but they were just minor inconveniences.
It had been nearly thirty minutes, and her core still burned, it seemed like the pain was getting worse.
Her bones had snapped into position. But her core still hurt.
Karen didn’t like it one bit. She had consoled herself that whatever Kai dished out, whatever diabolic punishments he had, her fast healing would take care of it. But now… her fast healing wasn’t fixing the one pain she badly wanted it to fix.
Karen shakily got to her feet, holding the desk for support. She looked around the study, it was messy. Books and papers thrown around, and blood. A lot of her blood on the floor and desk.
Karen didn’t
need to be told she was to clean the place. She didn’t have her supplies with her, she imagined going back like this to get them. Her gown wasn’t torn, it was just bloody. And her thighs were streaked with blood from how rough Kai had handled her.
She raised her chin and decided to get it over with. They had seen her in worse, so why did she care? She stretched her neck and shoulders and held her head high.
Even covered in blood, she was still a princess.
The servants gaped at her as she walked by. Everyone knew her by now as the alpha’s slave, and it was a no brained to them that the alpha had inflicted those injuries on her.
Karen tried to walk with a straight face, but the pain in between her legs was jabbing her with each step she took. She felt like crumbling on the floor and crying her heart out. She approached the servants quarters and sighted Inez ahead.
“Great. Now she’ll just insult me more.” Karen said under her breath.
“Oh my goodness!” Inez cried out when she saw her. “What did you do?!” She asked, her voice filled with concern. She looked at her from top to bottom, her eyes stopping at her bloody thighs. She closed her eyes briefly.
“Goodness.” Inez whispered. “What could have made him punish you this way?”
Karen wasn’t ready for the concern in Inez’s eyes. She wasn’t ready for the soft words. It caught her off guard and made her backtrack.
Karen felt tears prick her eyes. She lowered her head so Inez wouldn’t see her tears. “I… I said something I shouldn’t have. And he…. alpha he…. punished me.”
Inez’s face softened. She took her hand “Come here.” She said. Karen looked up at her.
Inez took her through the quarters and led her to a bathroom. It looked like a private bathroom, unlike the kind all the servants shared.
“Is this your bathroom?” Karen asked.
There was a tub of hot water that smelled of flowers in it. “Clean up first.” Inez said sternly, averting her question.
Karen looked at her with wide eyes. “But I….”
Inez shook her head. “Later.”
“Thank you… oh thank you…”
Inez waved her away. “Whatever.” She snapped and walked to the door. “Hurry up! Before he comes back!” She stormed out.
Karen washed her body quickly, cleaning off the blood and sweat. She then soaked in the bath. It felt like a warm hug that relaxed her muscles.
Before long she started to cry. She hugged herself close and cried silently, trying not to make any noise. She felt hurt, more than ever.
He still hadn’t finished. He used her and discarded her and he didn’t even climax.
Karen didn’t know why it was bothering her. She didn’t know what it would prove to her. She grabbed her chest, the pain getting worse.
Her body shook with sobs. She cried till she could no more. She felt like shit, But the water felt nice. She wanted to stay in the bath forever, but she has duties to attend to. She rinsed off and started getting ready. She washed the tears off her face and attempted a smile.
She wore a fresh gown and gathered her cleaning things. She rushed back to Kai’s suite, praying that he wasn’t back yet.
Thankfully, he wasn’t. She got to work, cleaning and arranging as fast as she could. Each time she moved, her body screamed in protest. The pain between her legs kept getting worse by the minute. Cleaning was getting harder and harder, the pain in her body distracting her.
Karen felt a mix of frustration and anger inside her.
She kicked the bucket of bloody water in anger, spilling it’s content.
“Great. More work for me.” She hissed. .
She started cleaning afresh, her eyes getting misty.
She didn’t fight the tears.
“It hurts…. it hurts so bad…” She cried to herself, hugging her abdomen.
***
An hour and a half later, Karen was done cleaning.
She gathered her things and went back to the servants quarters. She remembered Eve and decided to sneak in and visit her.
She made her way to the dungeons, making sure no one saw her and she wasn’t being followed. She was successful, biting her lip when the pain got too much.
She knew Eve had to have an answer. An answer to why her body was like this. Eve and her father were close, she must know something.
“What are you doing?”
Karen screamed. Nicolas’ voice came up right behind her, startling her. She turned to see him standing behind her, his signature soft smile no where to be seen. His green eyes were cold as he regarded her with a mild glare.
“I was…. um..” Karen struggled for what to say.
“Heading to the dungeons to connive with your pack members?”
He knew.
Karen sighed. “I was only going to…”
“You shouldn’t be here.” Nicolas cut her off, his voice hard. “You’ve done enough already, is that clear?”
Karen stared at him then bit her inner cheek.
“I don’t answer to you.” Karen said quietly. A day ago she would have snapped at him.
“Get back to the servant’s quarters.” Nicolas said calmly. “And if I do see you sneaking around again, Alpha Kai will hear about it.”
Karen gasped and looked at him with wide eyes. “No…”
He smiled slowly. “Ah, he’s broken you hasn’t he?”
Karen looked away. “I’m not broken.” She said. But her voice didn’t convince her.
“I wonder what he will do if he heats about this. You have no idea how creative his punishments can be.”
Karen stared at him. “I’ll go.” She said quietly. “Bye.” She turned and walked away.
“Be at the throne room in fifteen minutes.” Nicolas said. “And this time, remember to bow.”
Karen didn’t reply. Fear seized her heart. Nicolas had seen her going to the dungeons the first time. There was no way he would side her and not tell Kai about it.
“He’s going to kill me…” Karen said to herself. She had no doubt that Kai could in fact kill her.
She shivered and hugged herself close.
It was twenty minutes later when she remembered she was to go to the throne room.
I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m so dead. She kept chanting in her head as she ran to the throne room. Her heart raced wildly, and running was causing her core to explode into pain.
Karen got to throne room, out of breath and in pain. The guards opened the doors. Her face paled when she saw a sort of meeting going on. All eyes turned to her, but her gaze was solely focused on Kai.
She took a step forward and he raised a hand, commanding her to stop. She paused, holding her breath as she awaited his next orders.
“Crawl to me.” His voice boomed through the throne room. And he hadn’t even raised his voice.
Karen felt the last bit her dignity die.
Crawl?
He wanted her to crawl on all fours to him? In front of all his council chiefs?
Karen felt her face turn bright red. She lowered her head and slowly went down on her knees. She could feel the eyes of the men on her, and it made her queasy.
She went on all fours and started crawling. She kept her head low so no one would see her tears. The throne room was deathly silent, and she could hear her heartbeats. Her thighs rubbed against her core and made her wince in pain.
The distance from the door to the throne felt longer. Karen willed the ground to open up and swallow her so she wouldn’t have to suffer through such humiliation.
The ground didn’t open.
She crawled to the foot of Kai’s throne, keeping her eyes on the ground. He pointed a long finger to her usual position by his feet. She moved over and sat by his feet, her back straight and her head bowed.
She felt his hand on her hair, petting her like one would a dog.
“Good girl.” He whispered so only she could hear.
The praise brought a new kind of blush to her face. One that made her body feel warm and tingly.
She didn’t like the butterflies it left in her belly.