“Fuck, you’re bloody weak, boy,” he growled. “Did your father not teach you anything? No wonder your first instinct was to hide under the house rather than fight.”
Those words cut me deeper than any attack he’d given me. I had been trying to bury the memory of my parents. Especially the last time I’d heard or saw them. My mother’s screams haunted me every night along with the vision of my father’s body torn into pieces. I didn’t know if it was mercy or impatience on Winston’s part as to why he’d spared me the vision of my mum’s fate. Either way, I was grateful I didn’t have to see what had happened to her. I would try to remember her smile and scent of jasmine. My father, it was hard for me to remember anything but his corpse.
“Well, did he?” Winston asked me, and his words brought me back to the present.
I managed to sit up and cradle my ribs as I looked up at him. “He was teaching me how to hunt, Sir.”
Winston sighed. “Should have been teaching you how to fight as well, like I’m doing. You’re ten years old, that’s old enough to be able to kill a man or wolf if you’re skilled. In fact, at your age, you would have the advantage of being underestimated. I will make bloody use of you even if it kills you, boy.”
He walked over to me and scooped me up in his arms. It was the first time he had showed me any compassion after our training sessions. Normally, he’d force me to walk or hobble back to the cottage after, regardless of my condition. I allowed my head to rest on his shoulder as he carried me all the way home and inside to the warmth of a roaring fire. He placed me on large chair in the living room, then walked away only to return some time later with a bowl of hot water and a cloth.
“Remove your clothes, let’s get a look at those wounds,” he said.
I began to take off my shirt, but it hurt when I raised my arm over my head, so he helped me take off all of my clothes. Once naked, he looked me over, his eyes scanning every inch of me, which made me uncomfortable.
“Your bruises will heal soon. That is what separates natural born wolf children from those of humans. You heal faster.” He dipped the cloth in the bowl and wrung out the excess water. He placed the cloth over a large bruise on my rib cage and I felt immediate relief. The cloth smelled medicated, like mint and something else I couldn’t identify.
“Is this medicine, Sir?” I asked as I lay back.
He nodded. “Something that will hasten your healing. I can’t continue to train you if you’re so easily broken.”
He continued to tend to my wounds, wiping the blood away as well. Thankfully, he did not touch me in a way I knew would make him hard between his legs. He only seemed to care about my well-being and I wondered if he was as mean as I had originally thought he was. Maybe he was just trying to scare me?
“Rest now,” he said, then rose, taking the bowl and cloth with him. He returned with a blanket, draping it over me.
I watched him leave the cottage and I turned my attention to the fire crackling in the fireplace. It was almost hypnotic the way the flames danced on the logs. The heat radiating from it warmed and comforted me, relaxing me. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to rest. It was the smell of food cooking that woke me up and also the need to relieve my bladder. I climbed off the sofa and made my way outside to piss on a nearby tree. When I returned to the cottage, Winston was setting the table in the dining room for us. I entered the bedroom I shared with him and put on my gown before returning for supper.
He was already sitting down eating when I joined him at the table. This time, it was venison, roasted and seasoned succulently. My mouth watered at the anticipation of a delicious dinner. One thing Winston could do very well was cook. I had enjoyed every meal he’d prepared for us and this was no exception. My mouth was greasy as I chowed down.
“It’s time you met your pack. We have a meeting tomorrow morning. Now that the war is over, everything is settled. It’s time for our Alpha to assign districts to his Beta Capos and you need to learn who they are,” Winston said, then took a swig of his wine.
I did the same, enjoying the flavor. “Are there a lot of Beta Capos, Sir?” I asked.
“That depends on your understanding of ‘a lot’. I am one of ten.” He paused and pursed his lips. “Well, eight now, but I’m sure that will change soon.”
“My father was a Capo,” I said.
Winston’s eyebrow quirked and he smirked. “Not much of one.”
I stopped eating mid chew at the insult. “It took more than one of you to kill him.”
Winston’s smirk grew into a large smile. “There’s that boldness again.” He laughed and shook his head. “It really didn’t.”
“There were at least five of you who attacked my home,” I shot back.
“There were only four of us, and it took only me to rip your father into two pieces. Even in his full wolf form, he was no match for me. Your pack was young, full of inferior wolves, none over half a thousand years. Hell, your Alpha was only three centuries old. No wolf that young can ever run a pack. Frankly, I’m surprised the dragons bothered to leave your pack alone when they could have easily taken it just like we did.”
“You said you lost a lot of wolves, that means that we were stronger than you admit,” I shouted. I could feel my fury rising as I didn’t appreciate him talking so disrespectfully about my parents and all of our friends.
What came next happened so fast, it left me reeling as I was knocked from the chair to the floor with a powerful backhand. My mouth was filled with blood as one of my teeth rattled around inside. I spit it out along with the blood and looked up at Winston as he glared at me from his sitting position. My jaw ached where he’d backhanded me and I could feel the bruise swelling.
“I may like the boldness in you, Deacon, but I will never tolerate your insolent tongue. You don’t ever raise your voice to me, or your hand,” Winston said, and his tone was so measured in calmness, it sent chills down my spine. There was threat in his tone, one I knew would result in my death if I ever dared to challenge him again.
“I am… I am sorry, Sir,” I apologized. Not because I meant it, but because I wanted to survive.
“Sit down and finish your supper,” Winston ordered.
I climbed back into the chair and finished my meal, even though it was hard for me to chew after having just lost a tooth.
“To answer your question, your pack was weak, but they did outnumber my own. It was the number of wolves versus our strength, that is why we had losses. We overestimated the attack on that night. Like I’ve said, it was four of us who attacked your parents, when only two would have done. So, less wolves were sent out on the second attack, but then more of your pack had combined their forces, causing a retreat. We licked our wounds, then formed a better strategy. The night I left you and returned bloody was the night we sealed our victory. Do you have any idea how old I am?” Winston asked me.
I shook my head. “No, Sir.”
“I am eight hundred and twenty-seven years old. Your father was no match for me and when I spilled my seed inside your mother, she knew what a real wolf felt like, as will you. In fact, I think I will take my pleasure from you tonight. Best break you in,” Winston said as he rose from his chair. Without another word, he grabbed my arm, yanking me from the chair, and dragged me off to the bedroom.
“No, please, I don’t want to!” I screamed, but he ignored me and my struggling.
He kicked open the bedroom door and dragged me over to the bed, tossing me onto the mattress. He was on top of me before I could scramble away, and pinned my arms to the bed. “If you fight me, I will make this hurt. This will not be the last time we do this, Deacon. You are mine and will learn to love my cock. Stop fighting me or you’ll piss me off.”
Well, pissed off is what he’d have to be because I had no intentions of giving in. Even if I lost, I was going to fight.
~*~
My body ached in ways I didn’t think was possible and my throat was raw from screaming. I’d cried myself to sleep the n
ight before after it happened. I throbbed between my legs and it was painful for me to relieve myself. Because I’d put up a fight, Winston refused to give me any medicated balm or even use oil to make it less painful. A lesson he said I had to learn so I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. Riding horseback with him behind me was another torture, and I was holding in my tears as we trotted to the home of our Alpha. All I wanted to do was lay on my stomach to ease my pain, but I couldn’t.
When we’d finally arrived at a large, three-story home with white walls and wood framing, Winston helped me off the horse and I had to struggle to keep up with him as we walked past the other horses and carriages that had been tied outside of the mansion. I knew this place. It was the home of my old Alpha, and I hated that this new one was living in it. We walked inside, and even the furniture was the same as the new Alpha had taken over everything. There were many wolves milling about, and some greeted Winston as he walked through. They only gave me a glance or two, some laughing as if they knew something I didn’t.
“Winston, I see you’ve made a man of the boy,” one wolf said as he winked down at me.
Winston laughed. “A work in progress. The boy is green, but I will shape him into a man. And how is your charge, Richmond?”
“Willful, stupid, and also a work in progress,” the wolf replied.
Both laughed, then walked off together in conversation. I followed behind Winston, because I knew better than to not do so. We were there at least an hour before the meeting was gathered in the backyard, where I looked out to see hundreds and hundreds of wolves present. I didn’t know exactly how many, though. I never knew how many wolves made up my old pack, but if Winston said they outnumbered this one, it was larger than I could have imagined. Still, the numbers hadn’t helped them in the end.
I listened as the wolf I’d recognized as the Alpha addressed his pack. During the meeting, I learned the Alpha’s name was Connor MacGregor, that he had eight Beta Capos after the battle, and would promote two Capos to Beta Capos by the end of the meeting. So, I got to witness that ceremony when the two wolves who’d been selected swore their oath to him and licked the blood from his wrist. One of them was named Graham, and I wondered if he was the same Graham who had raped and murdered my mother? A question to be answered another day. The Alpha then assigned districts to his Beta Capos and my new guardian, Winston, was assigned district ten, which was where we were living. That made it easier for Winston to patrol. There were shops and restaurants in district ten, and it would keep Winston busy as all the wolves in the pack had to make money for the Alpha as well as themselves.
Also, they were to gather humans of influence to be converted to strengthen the pack financially as well as in numbers. Parliament politicians, wealthy merchants, and socialites alike were among the first choice, then moving down to the working man, commoners that could bring a skillset to the pack like blacksmiths. The plan was laid out before the pack and when we were finally dismissed, I had a basic understanding of what pack politics looked like. We returned home, where I was allowed to finally rest while Winston hunted for our supper. I laid there under the blankets, wishing I could turn back the hands of time to when my mother’s loving arms could comfort me when I was this afraid. Those days, sadly, were over.
CHAPTER FOUR
Person of Note and Quality
Five years had passed since I had been taken in by the new London pack. Five years of me training under the tutelage of Winston. Every broken bone, cut, and bruise a testament to my will to survive, to be the best I could be. Five years of me learning how to hunt alongside Winston in both his human and wolf form, because it was important, I knew how to do both. And finally, five years of me sharing his bed as a wife would share her husband’s bed, and me hating every minute he was inside of me.
I was much taller now, my shoulders broader as my muscles were well-formed under my skin, which was pleasing to Winston for several reasons. He was leaning against the tree now, watching me as I chopped wood for the fireplace. According to Winston, I was a man now. He said boys my age were old enough to go off to war, to fight and die for glory, just as much as any man twice my age. Even the hair that was sprouting on my chest, under my arms, and along my chin brought him delight. As if he were responsible for me becoming a man. Maybe he was. Still, I owed him much, but I hated him to the core of my soul. An emotion I kept buried, because to reveal it would surely be the end of my life. Something I’d fought too hard to keep.
“That should be enough wood for now, Deacon. Bring it inside,” Winston said, then he walked into the cottage, leaving me to haul the wood in by myself.
After three trips, I’d managed to bring it all in and place it into the storage area where we kept the logs. A bin for the coal was beside it, and that we used mostly for cooking. My stomach was growling, and thank goodness a meal was being prepped. Winston removed the goose from the fire and brought it over to the table where bread and cheese were already waiting. Plates were made and I dug in, eating half of the goose to Winston’s surprise.
“My, you were hungry. It’s good that you have such an appetite. Means you’re growing stronger,” he said, then reached over, running his hand along my shoulder and down the length of my arm. It lingered at my wrist before he pulled back and continued to eat his food. “It’s time that you completed a mission for your pack.”
I looked up at him. “A mission, Sir? What kind?” My voice was deeper now, having gone through the embarrassment that was puberty. I liked the way it sounded in my ears; masculine, not weak.
“The son of a very wealthy man. You are to befriend the boy, he’s around your age, two years older, I think. This boy, Elias, has been targeted by our Alpha, but is too young to be bitten. Also, our Alpha doesn’t want him taken from his home, but to be influenced by our pack and the offer of the power we can give him,” Winston said.
“Why not just bite his father, Sir?” I asked.
Winston snorted as he sucked the meat off the bone. “Because his bloody father is as old as dirt. His days are numbered and Elias is his only heir.”
“But if he were made werewolf, would his age matter, Sir?”
“It would. Yes, it is true that a human will become stronger once turned, but base stock does matter. A decrepit or sick human with brittle bones is bad stock. They would never survive the transition from human to wolf. It is a waste of an Alpha bite. His son, however, will inherit his Father’s wealth and position of power. He will be turned once he reaches the age of twenty, but until then, we want him to develop a loyalty to our pack. It will make his transition easier and get us what we want out of him at the same time.”
I understood what was being asked of me. “Sir, how will I meet with Elias?” I asked.
“Well, part of the mission is to see how resourceful you are, Deacon. I will give you his full name and home location. It will be up to you to see how you infiltrate his life and befriend him.”
“When do I go, Sir?”
“Tomorrow morning, you may start. If you don’t return, send me word so that I may know your status. You are to keep in touch with me. I will expect reports,” Winston said.
I nodded. This was a test. They wanted to see how loyal I was to the pack. I knew why I was being tested, too, as I had made a grave mistake two months ago. I had been summoned to the pack Alpha, so he might get to know me better. It wasn’t often the Alpha concerned himself with the children he’d taken in after his attack on my old pack. Since I had been taken in by one of his Beta Capos, he wanted to see just how I was coming along. I was challenged to a combat match between me and another natural born wolf that was a year older than I was. I had won the fight and my reward was a meal and night with the Alpha. Something I didn’t want. I knew better than to refuse either, and at least when he rutted against me, it wasn’t as unpleasant as it was when Winston did it. I did feel some tiny measure of pleasure, but not enough to have my completion.
Perhaps it was that moment of pleasure that g
ave me the foolish idea to ask the Alpha to remove me from Winston’s home and take me in. When he asked me why, I was dumb enough to beg him to force Winston to stop violating me. I told him that I didn’t like it, to which he said that I looked like I enjoyed it well enough when he did it.
“I saw the pleasure in your expression when my cock rubbed you the right way, Deacon. Besides, Winston outranks you. He is your superior and if he wants to fuck you raw, it is his right. That is how packs work. You’re an omega, Deacon, and don’t have the right to refuse any wolf. I will not hear of you complaining about my wolves ever again, are we in accord?” he had asked me.
I knew then that I had fucked up. I nodded. “Yes, Alpha.”
“Good. Now, you will return to Winston tomorrow morning and I should hear word of you on your knees, sucking his cock to thank him for all that he has done for you. Your fighting prowess is mightily impressive, a gift, and one you should be grateful for,” my Alpha said.
Again, I nodded. “I am, Alpha.”
“For now, you will sleep in the room with James, as the weakness you just displayed has sickened me. Get out.”
I slinked out of his bed, feeling the lowest I’d felt in a long time. I had been so scared to reach out for help and the first time I tried, I had been slapped back by a verbal barrage of insults. I would find no mercy in our Alpha or anyone else. That night, I slept with James on the bed and cursed myself for my boldness. For once again, it had backfired on me.
That was two months ago and why I knew I had this mission now. I could feel Winston watching me as I ate the rest of my cheese and bread. No doubt, the Alpha had told him of my plight, even though he never mentioned it to me. Things had changed since my folly, as he was upon me even more than before and often times, his cock was shoved down my throat until I’d gagged and even vomited. It was as if he was punishing me with something that was supposed to give me pleasure, but didn’t. It hurt, every time. I prayed to just be free of Winston… to be able to sleep in peace. Perhaps, I was looking at this mission in the wrong way. If it took me from Winston, then I should look at it as a reprieve. A test, no doubt, but one I could bend to my benefit. Maybe this was the Alpha’s way of granting my wish, but at the same time, saving face. Growing up, I began to learn not everything was as it seemed, and one had to be clever in order to get their goals met.
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