#13 The Dragon King and his Werewolf Princess
Chapter 3 River

I had no idea how many days I’d been stuck here in this dark, damp hole bound by silver chains, starved and dehydrated. Was it even days? Or was it weeks? Months? I have no idea.

“Days, I think. Any longer and I would be completely unconscious.” Lavender mumbled, her voice barely above a whisper.

I wasn’t even strong enough to respond. Adjusting myself on the concrete floor, I hissed at the pain caused by the silver rubbing against my ankles and wrists. I was sitting on my knees, my ankles cuffed by a silver chain that was attached to a ring on the ground. My wrists were bound behind me, attached to the same chain, my arms painfully twisted behind my back. My shoulders were burning, my fingers long since numbed from the odd angle.

I heard the familiar footsteps of the guards outside my cell. They came only twice a day, at least, I assumed it was twice a day. They never kept to a schedule, a tactic to disorinted me, I guessed. He jiggled the keys and then the cell door creaked open. He had a bowl of water on a stick that was long enough to reach me without the man having to fully enter the cell. He put the bowl in my face and I was forced to lap up the few drops of water inside, just enough to keep me alive, but not enough to satisfy the painful thirst.

My stomach twisted painfully, having been denied any sort of food since I was forcefully dropped into this hellscape. The water did nothing but remind my stomach how empty it was.

I lapped up the water as quickly as I could, knowing the man would yank it away any second. As if reading my mind, the cold metal bowl was ripped from my mouth, sharply knocking against my chin and slicing open my already raw skin.

“Filthy menace.” The man scoffed.

“I’m only filthy because of you.” Lavender scoffed.

I wasn’t strong enough to lift my head and glare at the man, so I kept my eyes slanted down and glared at the floor instead. I glanced over my body. I was naked, which was an added bonus to my already miserable situation. The first day or two I was here, the men ripped what was left of my clothing to shreds and inspected my body, repeatedly. They kept asking me where my mark was and I kept telling them I was unmated, but that didn’t seem to be the answer that they wanted.

I guess I should consider myself lucky that only their eyes and dirty hands touched me in exploration. I thought the they would want something more out of my naked, vulnerable form, but they didn’t even seem interested. These men were ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. They were more handsome, taller, stronger, and more built than any other man, human, werewolf, vampire, or fae I’ve seen.

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“They aren’t any of those.” Lavender said,

“What else could they be?” I weakly asked.

“I don’t know, but none of those.” Lavender mumbled before slipping back into a coma.

“Let me see her.” A gruff voice echoed through the jail.

“Yes, High Captain.” Someone replied.

Footsteps stalked towards my cell again and then a new face was peeking through the bars of the cell door.

“She’s it? She escaped twice? She’s nothing.” The man scoffed.

“Well, she looked like more five days ago, before she was starved.” The jail guard shrugged casually.

“Still, starvation didn’t change her height. She’s so tiny.” The man exude formality, not like my brothers, the princes, more like their future Betas or Gammas.

“Who you calling tiny?” Lavender sounded offended.

“Compared to these giants? We are tiny, Lav.” I whispered.

Lavender huffed and sank back in my head.

“The King wants to see her, tonight.” The man said,

“Yes, High Captain.” The guard nodded stiffly.

“The King, lucky us.” I said, but Lavender didn’t respond.

“You hear that, mutt? The King is finally coming to deal out your punishment. I suggest you loosen your tongue or lose it all together.” The guard sneered after the man he called the High Captain left the jail.

I didn’t so much as bat an eye at him. What else did I have to lose at this point? I don’t know who these lunatics were, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to give them my name and let them know that they have the werewolf princess in their custody. No matter how bad things got for me, I would never jeopardize the royal family like that.

I rested my chin against my chest, my head too heavy to hold up any longer, and felt my eyes droop shut. I was exhausted, but this position didn’t exactly lead to the most restful beauty sleep. Still, I must’ve caught a few hours of sleep, because the next thing I knew someone was kicking my cell door and screaming at me to wake up, that the King was coming.

I groaned and blinked against my blurry vision. I felt my head sway and a wave of nausea shot goosebumps over my skin. I gagged, but my stomach was empty so nothing came up. My hair fell over my face and I shook it out of the way, leaving a few strands stuck to my sweaty forehead. I swallowed, but there was no saliva left in my mouth to help lubricate my dry throat.

I couldn’t lift my head, so only my eyes rose to look out the front of the cell, curious to see this so-called King.

Out of the darkness, came a man taller than all the others. If I had to guess, he hovered well over seven feet tall. His hair was as black as the void surrounding him, cascading over his shoulders in thick waves; his eyes piercing pools of ice blue. His cheekbones were etched into his face, his jawline so strong it could cut glass, and his chin pointed out stubbornly. His biceps strained against the sleeves of his black shirt which clung so tightly to his body that I could count his abs.

If pompous jackass didn’t leak from every single one of his pores, I might actually be checking him out.

Our eyes locked and he froze. His muscles flexed under his shirt and his cheek twitched under his left eye. The motion of his massive hands curling into fists caught my attention, and my eyes shifted downwards. His knuckles were white from the strain. His feet shuffled forward until they were toe to toe with the cell door.

“Release. Her.” The man’s voice made me tremble right down to my core.

“Sire?” The guard’s voice was shaking just like my entire body.

There was a shuffle and then a gurgling sound.

“Release. Her.” The man’s voice was cold, detached, venomous.

I glanced up and saw that he had his hand wrapped around the guard’s throat and he was dangling from the ground. The dark man opened his hand and the guard fell to the ground, scrambling to his feet so he could unlock the cell.

“If you so much as glance at her, I will relieve you of your eyeballs, do you understand?” The dark man’s voice shook the entire building.

“Y…yes, your highness.” The guard stuttered.

To the guards credit, his eyes were actually closed as he struggled to undo the chains that bound my ankles and wrists.

“Get out.” The dark man ordered and the guard practically ran from the cell.

I couldn’t bring myself to look up at the man. Every inch of me was trembling, fear burning deep in the pit of my stomach. A few seconds later, softer footsteps fumbled into the cell.

“Calix?” A female voice asked curiously.

“Take her to my chambers, immediately, and send for the doctor. Make sure no one else sees her in this…condition.” The dark man’s voice softened a bit, but was still cold and disconnected.

“Who is she?”

“Just do it, Vix!” The man raised his voice for the first time and then I watched as his feet turned and vanished.

“Hello, I’m Vix, the Captain to the King. I’m going to put a blanket around you, alright?” Her voice came closer.

I didn’t move a single muscle. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. Once the chains were removed, I collapsed to the floor, but my muscles were too stiff and sore to relieve themselves from the position they’ve been stuck in. My shoulders were still painfully arched behind my back, my legs bent under my bottom.

“Okay,” The woman, Vix, sighed and then I felt a thick fabric lay over my shoulders, “Can you move?” Vix asked.

I glanced up at her and just blinked.

“I guess not. Can I help you?” Vix asked and still, I stared, “Okay, I’m going to help you because Calix will kill me if I don’t get you out of here.”

Vix put her arms around me and I opened my mouth in a silent scream, tears streaming down my face. Vix sighed and scooped me up in a single motion, cradling me like a baby. She was as tall, broad, and beautiful as the men around here so I wasn’t at all surprised when she could carry me without difficulty. Even before being starved, I wasn’t much of a werewolf, even a royal one. I was barely five foot, three inches and 120 pounds, and half of that was my hair.

Vix carried me through the long concrete hallway and out the double doors. I blinked rapidly against the sunlight and looked behind us. We were moving away from a large tower-like building made of dark gray stone. I rolled my head to the side and looked ahead of us. Vix was walking down a cobblestone pathway and towards a castle, one that made ours look like a dollhouse. The sunlight was becoming too much for my weak eyes and the motion of being carried was jostling my sore body.

I felt darkness consuming me and I let it, closing my eyes against whatever was coming next.

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