I gasp awake.
Beads of sweat starting to trickle down my forehead from my sudden jolt, my whole body soon overcome by a sticky feeling. Dampness. My eyes felt like they were fried off as I blink slowly up at the white ceiling, tears dried and cracked on my cheeks. I had been crying. I had been screaming. The evidence was written all over my face, wild hair, puffy eyes, scratchy throat. There was no doubt that I had just awoken from a nightmare. The same horrible dream often reoccurred for the past few nights, ever since the day I was taken, and my family was burned alive. Their screams were like a broken record, playing over and over in my head.
My grey eyes start to widen as I stiffly sat up and took in my surroundings. Sadly, reality hit me, and I realized I am still not at home. I'm back in the way too large bed. In the way too, spacious room. With the way too handsome man.
When I tried to move again, something tightened around my wrists, forcing me to stay where I was. As I glance down at my hands, I see that my wrists are bound by thick rope. The rope wrapped around my wrist like a serpent wrapping around its prey, though the rope didn't stop at my wrists, it led to the two front posts of the bed's head board.
Cursing under my breath, I start to yank and pull against the rope, despite knowing it would be no use. The girl in me refused to back down. I had to stay alive.
I needed to.
The only good thing I was relieved to know was that I wasn't blindfolded anymore.
It had been a little over two days since the ball and the attack of a drunk werewolf. Instinctively, I wanted to reach up and touch the cuts left there, but remembered my wrists were tied.
And I still didn't know how to deal with the beast that trapped me here. The 'oh so possessive and controlling' River.
I only learned of his threats and of his all too lingering touches that made something in me perk up. A flower in bloom. I learned that River still didn't forgive me for ditching him at that stupid ball. I, however, also didn't know if he was even capable of forgiveness.
No matter how hard I tried to search his ocean eyes for some type of emotion, I was met by chaos. Stormy waves, sudden currents, a deep depth that was so unfamiliar to me. I couldn't pin down at all what he was feeling. He seemed to be a big mess, not a little one either. The things that brewed in his eyes, the dark and dangerous aura he gave off, made me think he was a hurricane.
Uncontrollable.
The only way I could stand up to him, was to get in the middle of his storm and face him. I had to force myself to be brave, when I knew I wasn't. I couldn't show any weakness, any fear, or else he would envelope me into that storm of his and never let me go.
Letting out a huff, I blow the few strands of my hair out of my face and do a quick scan of the room. I don't know why I thought looking around the room would somehow show if he was there or not. I knew he was. That overwhelming presence of his still hung about like thick smoke along with his powerful gaze. I'm surprised I hadn't suffocated from being in the room with him yet. His aura was strong and heavy as ever. It felt like it took up the entire space in the room and hovered over me. Making me forget how to breathe sometimes.
Lurking in the shadows, I had found none other than the mysterious Prince, who was leaned against a nearby wall. The only feature I could instantly make out were those piercing blue eyes that had caused strange shivers to once again dance up my spine. My body felt like it was ready to burst into flames and melt into wax at the same time.
I could tell he was smirking, he seems to do it a lot. This frightened me more than anything. Even though I've only known him for a few days, I caught onto the small things he did and what they meant. His signature smirk was a sign of danger. He was going to do something out of the ordinary.
Unlike Hawk who was patient and could control his temper, along with Terrain. River and Clint seemed to be the most sadistic, they seemed oddly satisfied with the sight of pain and suffering. Yet, something was different about the man who chose me. He was something so much more than he let on. And I'm not talking about the monster hiding in him.
"Can you just let me go?" I boldly questioned, even when fully aware of what his answer would be.
"Tsk. Tsk. Little Dove..." He clicked his tongue and shook his head, taking a few strides towards the bed. More importantly, his bed. I knew this because the bed shared the same masculine smell that wafted off of him. The smell of the woods with a hint of mint and his aftershave continued to cling to the sheets as if staining them, but the scent was slightly faint to my nose now. Me being in his bed wasn't the worst part. It was that I actually enjoyed his scent and presence. Maybe his darkness was rubbing off on me or being kept in the same room without going outside, was making me go kind of insane. Either way, he was affecting me. And to me that wasn't a good thing at all.
This was worse than being locked up in some asylum. Just a few days almost a week with him and already I liked him being around me. What was wrong with me? What did he do to me??? I had to be going pretty nuts to actually think I like something about this murderer.
My eyes focused on him as he approached the edge of the bed, my gaze not able to tear away the closer he got. "You know I can't do that." He paused, taking in the horrible state I woke in, his hands gripping onto one of the two wooden posts at the end of the bed. I stared as his knuckles turned white, yet when I looked up, his eyes were unfazed and focused on mine. "Nightmares again? I think I know a few ways to get rid of them and how you can repay me, slave." There it was, that slow, teasing, and awfully charming smirk again.
Although my breath hitched in my throat, I rolled my eyes at him and continued to pull against the rope, which continued to dig and rub harshly against my sensitive skin.
He made no noise, but moved closer, this time coming around the bed to the side I was on.
I could see each muscle bunch on his fit body through the thin fabric of his dress shirt and got a glimpse of the golden skin revealed by his few undone top buttons. One hand was stuffed in his pants pocket, while the other attempted to reach out and caress my cheek. A gesture I came to know he was really fond of. It was simple and surprisingly gentle, giving me confused feelings towards him. At times I got a sneak peek of something soft and sweet about the man, but it faded almost instantly, and he returned to his usual demanding and controlling self.
Before his hand could touch my cheek, I flinched away. And when I was given a low grow in return, I knew that was a mistake. One I should've known not to make.
Within a blink of an eye, he had freed me from the clutches of the ropes, but more roughly than the night of the ball. An obvious sign that I had made him angry.
"Let me go, River!" A scream tore out of my throat as he suddenly yanked me out of the room and down the hall as if he were running out of time. I writhed and struggled in his rough grasp, only to be thrown over his shoulder. My upper body met his back, forcing my body to come into contact with his, while I felt a muscular arm wrap around the back of my legs. He treated me as if I were nothing but a sack of potatoes.
Rude.
Swallowing a fearful cry, I squeezed my eyes shut as I hated the thought of falling. It scared me. Even though I knew I wasn't that high off the ground, the sight was enough to cause me to go quiet and feel light headed. My stomach wasn't having a good time either as anxiety bubbled up in my gut. Great, just great.
I clutched onto the fabric of his shirt tightly and refused to open my eyes, not until he put me back down on the ground. My nails dug into his back as I clung to him for dear life, kind of like how a cat would if you tried to give it a bath. Soon his body tensed beneath my hands and another deeper growl left him. But it sounded different from the first. More like a purr of some sort.
Before I knew it, I was put back down and opened my eyes, only to see his darker ones staring back at me.
He motioned towards the kitchen with his hand and gave just one demand.
"Cook."
When I glanced up at him with a confused look, he only gave me a light shove in the direction of the kitchen stove.
"Alright, I get it. I'll cook." I finally managed to glare at him from inside the kitchen before I got busy and dashed around trying to find out where everything was. It wasn't an easy task as he would occasionally try to hurry me up by lightly yanking on the chain, the very chain that was connected to the thick collar around my neck. I debated every time he yanked on the chain whether to shout a simple 'fuck you' or hit him with the pan in my hand. To be honest, I really wanted to do both. But I didn't want to die so soon.
It was especially hard to concentrate when I did finally have all the tools and ingredients I needed. He made me tense and jittery whenever I felt his eyes on me. He was basically observing my every movement. I failed miserably at trying to ignore him and the tingles that spread through me constantly, which alerted me of his gaze. That hadn't helped me much either. Spider man has his tingly Spidey senses. I have tingly River senses.
With the grace I had left in me, I finally forced myself to finish and set the plate of food I had just made, down in front of him.
"There. Bacon, eggs, and pancakes."
His eyes shone with surprise for a split second, before he stood and silently grasped the plate.
He gave me a look, one I wished I could smack right off of his face, before purposefully dropping it on the ground in front of me.
Oh, hell no.
Holding back my anger, I sucked in a deep breath and glare at him, my body trembling from the rage building up inside of me. That's just great, all that food was wasted! What an asshole!
He seemed less than pleased with my reaction and gestured towards the bits of glass and food on the floor, "Clean it up."
The man was pushing all the wrong buttons, every word that came out of his damn mouth were just constant demands. Like I owed him anything. But I didn't.
I grit my teeth and kneel down, huffing every now and then as I cleaned up the mess. But as soon as I finished, he yanked me back up and shoved me out the kitchen and lead me to what looked like another door. Sure enough, he pushed open the door and led me by the chain out of the palace.
There was a sudden jolt of pain in my fingertip as we walked out into the garden, my eyes glancing down at my hand, wincing as I watched the blood trickle down my fingers. A shard of glass had buried itself deep within my finger.
River seemed to notice almost instantly as the smell of blood wafted towards his nose. His blue eyes skimmed along my hand, finding that my finger was indeed bleeding. He gripped my wrist and looked me in the eyes, the expression he wore was deadly serious and that gaze of his warmed me to do as I was told. "Stay still, slave." His voice was hoarse now as he began to pull out the shard of glass. I wince again and start to fidget, it stung like hell.
"Dammit, little Dove. Stop being such a crybaby and stand still!" His growl turned into one of annoyance, before finally pulling out the shard of glass. He lifted my hand to his mouth and held my finger to his lips, letting his tongue smooth over the small cut on my finger. All the blood that was once oozing out of it was gone along with River's harsh demeanor. His playful smirk returned, and he sent me a small glance, his eyes gleaming like the ocean during a sunny day. "If you wanted so badly for me to taste you, you should've just asked."
My heart picked up pace as his flirtatious words took its toll on me and warmth spread through my cheeks. Trying to ignore that I was blushing from his comment and that he had such a huge effect on me. I managed to tear my hand out of his grasp and roll my eyes at him. "Why did you bring me out here anyways, River?"
He smirked pointing towards the fields, "This is where you'll be working half of the time. The rest of your work will be done in my bedroom." There was a weird huskiness to his voice as he mentioned the latter part and I stiffened, 'as if he thought I'd do any sexual favors for him. Besides I wasn't experienced in that sort of thing. I bet his plan was to embarrass me to death. That's it. Geez, I'm going crazy. I must be from being locked up in a room for several days with this lunatic.'
Snapping out of my thoughts, I huff as he gives me a small tour of the fields of vegetables and the orchards full of ripe fruits. With no other directions or at least a heads up, he turned away from me and went on his merry way back to the palace. The only words leaving his mouth were. "Get to work, little Dove."
Once he left, I looked down at my injured finger and my cheeks warmed suddenly with both anger and frustration. "Spoiled, rude ass, perverted Prince of assholes." Muttering more colorful words under my breath, I began to pick grapes off several vines nearby and put them into a basket left out for me.
"Dove?"
Moments later, I heard voices call my name out loud. Could it be I was hallucinating? I stood up, dusting the dirt off my knees and peeked around the corner of the row. My eyes landed on not only Emerald, but Raven and Autumn too. All coming towards me with baskets full of fruit. We hug as we quickly regroup and laugh, then frown. Each of us more than pissed, "I hate this!"
Raven scowled, "That jackass treats me like a fucking slave. I'm lucky I'm still alive, if I die know it's because I attempted to strangle him in his sleep. You all got the better bunch. Trust me." She replied with all seriousness in her face and tone.
There was a pit growing in my stomach as I realized my friends were also enduring the harsh, sudden change. Though, Raven was a little right, regarding Autumn and Emerald's Princes. We seemed to be the only two left with the rotten apples of the family.
I suddenly cringe and shake my head, "I wouldn't say better."
*
After talking and eating some of the fruits that we weren't exactly supposed to, we go back inside by the time the sun starts to set and as soon I set foot back in the kitchen, I slam the basket down on the counter and glare at all four Princes who were most likely waiting for us all to finish. The thought of them just sitting on their asses while we worked in the hot sun all day agitated me even more.
They slowly look up from eating, their brows raised, and arms crossed as if they were actually interested in what I was about to say. My throat grows surprisingly dry in that very moment and my legs felt weak, but I straightened up and huffed out. "We're finished, may we go now?" I made sure to say it as confidently and rudely as possible, knowing if I were to be cooped up in the palace with the people responsible for my family's deaths, I might as well die as well and join them.
Clint was the first to react, his eyes boring into me from across the counter. A growl leaving him, "You should teach your little slave some manners."
Feeling exhausted and irritated, I became pretty ballsy and rolled my eyes. I was done with this. It's been only a few days and I was ready to lose it. "Maybe if you guys weren't such assholes! Maybe we'd pay a little more respect!" This time I was the one to raise my voice and glare back, my body leaning forward as I stood on my tiptoes to appear less puny on the other side of the counter, my retort directed instantly towards Clint. The angriest one of the squads. Not the brightest idea, I'd admit.
Clint wasn't wasting any time in responding, he instinctively slammed his fists down on the table and stood angrily, his nostrils flaring as he glared straight at me. River swiftly stood up as well and growled something to Clint in warning. This simple whisper was enough to make Clint storm out of the room and cause the other brothers to stare silently. Blue-eyes was definitely not liking one bit of my new attitude either and grasped my chain, yanking me harshly out of the room and down the hall.
"You should know better not to test a dire wolf, little Dove." He snarled lowly once we were out of the kitchen and in the safety of a long, dark corridor. With one movement, he pressed me harshly against the wall and glowered down at me, his blue eyes turning navy.
Sucking in a breath, I peer up at him, trying not to show any fear before responding. "Excuse me for speaking the truth, Prince River."
He narrowed his eyes and lowered his head down, growing uncomfortably closer to my face.
"Never disrespect me or my brothers again. This is my one and only warning. I have to say you're getting pretty brave. You need some discipline...As your punishment you have to kiss me." He whispered into my ear, probably hoping to get me flustered again. But this time I was in no mood for games or being toyed with. 'The tables will be turned, Prince.'
I looked up without thinking and tiptoed, leaning closer to him, gently I pressed my lips against his.
Oh god what did I just do?!