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Chapter 9

The last of the yellow, orange and red leaves made their descent onto the ground. The days got shorter and shorter with the sun poking over the horizon later each day and the cooling temperatures making it harder for Seth to sleep at night. His body was different than that of the dominants, in sharp contrast to the dominants who could withstand the bitterest cold; the subs would feel it down to their bones. Not as much as humans would, but still more than the rest of the shape shifter population.

Seth didn't like the holidays, they just made more evident how pathetic and lonely his life was. At Thanksgiving Edward had cooked an impressive bird, actually more like three birds and that was in addition to all the fixings. His master had been unusually kind bringing him more than his usual share. Seth had been able to eat his fill for the second time in several months.

Since Embry's visit Seth had noticed a small change in his master's attitude towards him. The sex was still brutal and cruel, but at least the beatings had decreased and he didn't starve him anymore. It was a small blessing that Seth welcomed and celebrated. He was somewhat disgusted with himself for thinking fondly of his master. He knew he should hate him, that wolf had been the worst of them all. They all took advantage of him but Jacob went above and beyond to make the sub's life miserable.

At first Seth thought his master was totally demented and prone to rage attacks. As time passed he felt his master had some serious anger management issues and would lash out at the slightest provocation. Seth had been his target so many times that he was surprised when Jacob didn't hit him. After months of serving Jacob as a slave, Seth's perception had changed drastically. He didn't see him as a batshit crazy son of a bitch, well… maybe a little. Mostly he saw him as a disturbed man, even tortured. In a way Jacob Black was more of a slave that Seth was. He was a slave to his past, he was a slave to his desires and he was slave to his anger.

It was the most barren time of the year; the air was crisp and the wind cold and unforgiving. With the exception of a few stubborn leaves, the trees had been stripped of their colorful plumage. Seth could be compared to any of those leaves; he had been stripped of everything, his freedom, his dignity and his faith. But still held on, to what purpose? Not even he knew. It would be so much easier to detach himself from the branch that kept him anchored to the world and allow himself to float up to the heavens. But he couldn't, there was an invisible force that made him hold on even tighter, silently wishing that the wind would stop threatening to rip him of the branch and cast him far, far away.

The sky was a puzzle of shapes and colors that linked perfectly with one another. As the darkness came upon them he mourned the loss of the precious light with its energy, but welcomed the fragile light of the moon with its delicate and mysterious glow. It was Christmas Eve, Seth stood by the window watching the light dusting that covered the grass. He always became very nostalgic on that specific day. He didn't miss his parents; as far as he was concerned they were dead. They died the day they chose money and comfort instead of their own son. He did miss his sister. Leah had been more than a sister; she was his friend and protector since he could remember. When kids would tease and abuse him because of his size she would always come to his defense, beating the crap out of anyone who dared to mess with her baby brother. Seth sighed as the image of his sister's tear streaked face came to mind. She wanted to help, she wanted to do anything in her power to protect him, but she was held back and ordered by their father to stand down and to not interfere. The last memory Seth had of his sister was her screaming to the top of her lungs to be strong, that she would find a way. Unfortunately she never came to his rescue, he was sure that it had not been voluntary. Their father or even their mother probably ordered her to keep her mouth shut and not do anything that could put in jeopardy their ascent into power.

Seth shook his head trying to prevent the memories he had hidden in the back of his brain to come front and center. The week after his first phasing had been a dark and horrific time in his life. He turned his attention back to the room looking for something to do to keep himself busy and avoid thinking, no luck, the room was spotless. He wished he could shut down his brain, he didn't want to remember, it was worse than a horror movie. His life only consisted of pain and agony. He scurried toward his master's office to sneak a little reading. He found a book he was truly enjoying; it was all fantasy, about dragons, heroes and damsels in distress. He loved that type of books; they would ignite his imagination making him dream of becoming a hero and saving the day.

"Jake man, nobody should be alone on Christmas Eve, damn it! Let him join us." Pleaded Quil.

"Leave me alone you idiot, you're killing my buzz." Drunkenly stated Jacob.

It was the same shit every year, his father had considered more than once to either stop celebrating Christmas or prohibiting alcohol, but he couldn't bring himself to do either. Christmas was Sarah's favorite holiday, one that Billy remembered fondly. She would cook for two days only for the food to be gone in fifteen minutes. They would sit in the darkened room with only the flickering lights of the Christmas tree illuminating the room. Jacob would usually fall asleep in her lap but they could never bring themselves to take him to bed. That little boy was their life and they loved him more than life itself. Their evening usually ended with Jacob tucked in bed between his parents only to jump up screaming as soon as the first lights of Christmas morning hit his sweet little face.

Billy observed as Jacob stumbled once more to the bar to pour himself another drink. After Sarah's death they were left with a black hole of despair inside their beings. The only way Jacob was able to handle the holiday was to drink his pain away and fall asleep victim to his drunken stupor. As the years passed the whole pack had become accustomed to his ranting and raving. They didn't enjoy the spectacle every year but couldn't abandon their alpha. The only wolf that stopped coming to the party was Paul and only did so after his daughter was born and he wouldn't dare put her at risk.

"Too bad, can I go get him?" Asked Quil once more.

"Damn it, I said no! He stays in my room; you don't bring a pet to a party." Guffawed the alpha laughing hysterically at his joke.

"You're more of a dog than he is." Spat Quil annoyed with Jacob's intransigence. Yes, Seth was good enough to use as a punching back and whore of choice but was a pet when it came down to doing something somewhat kind for the little guy. As Quil got to know Seth a little better he came to admire his courage and resiliency. He also had selfish reasons for wanting the sub at the party, in a way Seth's presence gave him hope that maybe somewhere his brother was receiving the same consideration.

"Watch it mister, you could just as easy spend the night in the dungeon." Warned Jacob.

"I don't care, I can't stand here with my arms crossed while Seth is alone and hungry in that jail you call a bedroom." Insisted Quil, he needed to back off; his insistence could cost Seth his life if Jacob lost his patience completely and went after the sub.

"You know what? Do whatever you want. I don't care, just don't bring him here." Jacob gave up, Quil was seriously getting on his last nerve acting as a Flaccid Flacco.

Quil felt the satisfaction of his small victory; he turned on his heels with a little smile crawling in his lips. He hurried to the food table where he proceeded to fill a plate with food. Edward tilted his head towards the kitchen making Quil follow him. "Man I thought for sure Jake was going to pound you, if he weren't so drunk he would've for sure. When did you grow balls?"

"You should ask your sister, she used to love licking them." Quil was well aware Edward never had a sister and allowed himself to joke with the usually uptight wolf. Edward never minded being on the receiving end of Quil's jokes seeing that he was the only one who even dared to attempt doing so.

"I still can't believe he is letting you bring Seth some food. Here, I prepared a plate with dessert beforehand hoping to sneak up to his room. It's only cake and cookies but I know he will love it, this is something he never eats." Edward placed the food in a bag and handed it to Quil.

Quill was giddy as he walked upstairs to surprise Seth with his own little celebration. Without knocking he entered the room to find Seth on his knees submitting to whoever entered the room. To the dominants this was a day of celebration, to the subs it was a day like any other, they didn't celebrate anything. "Seth stand up, it's me."

Realizing who it was Seth jumped to his feet but remained on the same spot, not even daring to look up. Even though both Edward and Quil had told him many times he didn't need to act like a submissive with them it was so imbedded in him that he just couldn't do it. The dominant understood Seth's hesitance and taking initiative walked to the table to set the food. The sub shyly approached the table only for his eyes to almost pop out of their sockets at the spread laid before him. His stomach growled loudly and his mouth filled with so much saliva he had to swallow twice as fast so he wouldn't drool.

"Sit, this is for you." Without sitting Seth took a cookie and popped it in his mouth moaning as the flavor of the butter and the sugar took over his mouth. He then grabbed some turkey and after spreading cranberry sauce on it brought it up to his mouth.

"Seth, why don't you sit? Get comfortable." The sub looked uneasy and stopped eating to look in the direction of the door. He was never one to speak too much since he was rarely allowed to do it. Quil understood the reason for Seth discomfort. He was not permitted to sit on any piece of furniture and knew that if his master walked in the room and saw him doing so it would be hell to pay.

"Don't worry I locked the door, anyway your master is making love to a bottle of whisky and will not come up here for hours."

"I don't want to risk it; you could get in trouble, that is, if you aren't already by bringing me all this food." Quil had to add to the list of Seth's characteristics selfless. He was not worried of the possibility of being seriously hurt if caught breaking the rules, he was concerned about Quil's well-being.

"I won't make you do anything you don't want to do; you get plenty of that already. Let's sit on your usual spot, I already ate but Ed packed desserts for both of us." Quil grabbed the plate with the cookies while Seth carried the food to his usual spot beside his chain. The heavy chain made a clinging sound as it was pushed aside by Seth, its sound making Quil flinch. "God I hate that thing" sighed the dominant.

Seth didn't waste even one second digging in as soon as they sat. He ate hurriedly; like he feared that if he didn't hurry somebody would take the food away from him. "Bro slow down, you're gonna choke" Quil found the whole situation sadly amusing, he was aware that more than once his food had been taken away from him.

"I'm sorry sir, I'm just very hungry. My master gave me breakfast but he wasn't here for lunch, I tried to get to the kitchen but saw James and Felix and backtracked before they could catch my scent." Explained Seth looking at Quil apologetically.

"No need to apologize Seth, I know what goes on in this room. You're skin and bones, that doesn't come from eating a balanced diet." Quil could feel the anger boiling just beneath his skin and fought to keep it in.

"My master is not starving me anymore Quil, I've always been thin, skinny even. I'm gaining weight slowly now that he feeds me better." The dominant turned on his spot to look directly at Seth's face looking for any sign of deceit or a sarcastic smirk. But nothing, his face was peaceful with even his pink lips turned slightly upwards.

"For real Seth?" Seth's smile turned into a toothy grin as he nodded yes.

"But how? He has never done anything even remotely similar with any of his previous subs." The sub just shrugged his shoulders and continued eating.

After Seth had his fill he stood to wash the plate and set it on the table. Quil's eyes followed him as he moved around the room until he came back to sit beside him. Acting on instinct Quil pulled him towards him; Seth tensed for a moment before relaxing on the dominant's arms. He needed to trust him; Quil never gave him any reason to feel threatened. "Quil why are you so nice to me?"

Trying to avoid answering Quil responded with another question. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you're a dominant; to you, submissives are worth less than the dirt that gets stuck to your shoes." Stated Seth matter or fact, it was not a recrimination it was just a simple truth.

"I might be a dominant but I'm not a dick. Anyway I have my reasons." Quil paused making Seth look at him inquisitively. The sub's eyes were burning onto his face trying to read his facial expression. "I have a twin brother who I adore. He is a sub like you." Seth's brows furrowed as he became teary eyed. Even under his every day circumstances his heart swell with compassion towards Quil's brother who he would never meet.

He understood now the reasons behind Quil's strange behavior. Fate had a weird way of messing up people's lives. He couldn't fathom the idea of a pair of twins being so different? Turning once more to look at Quil he saw how his head hung low and heard a shuddering breath passing his lips. Seth knelt to be able to reach Quil easier, placing his arms around him he held on tight comforting him. The dominant allowed himself to cry for his brother, something nobody saw him do anymore, but with Seth he felt comfortable. He knew the puppy wouldn't judge or make fun of him.

They sat together for several hours, their bodies impossibly close and their fingers intertwined. The two men chatted until well past midnight, never running out of conversation subjects and each statement blending perfectly with the next. The sound of voices coming from the hallway alerted them to the fact several men were reaching the room. Seth could easily recognize his master's voice, even though he was slurring his words. Quil stood up to unlock the door just in time before the small group of men got there.

Quil moved aside to allow Edward and Harry to walk past him, they held up Jake who had his long arms over their shoulders and dragged his feet. Billy entered the room behind the group, looking upset and feeling disappointed at his only son's fall down a twisted path. This was a song and dance they knew by heart; it was the same shit year after year.

Jacob lifted his head and looked around his room but his eyes were red and he was even a little crossed eyed. "Hey thwere he ish…" slurred Jacob staring in Seth's directions, looking like he couldn't focus on one point. "Hesh my pwety puppy… daddy I like him a lot lot lot"

Seth was steadfast as he knelt on the floor; he had sunk to his knees the instant the group walked in. He had a really bad feeling about this. If his master had poor control over his actions when he was sober God only knew what he would do to him now. Even without looking at the dominants in the room he knew what was going on, he felt the tension in the air. He could imagine the worried look on Billy's face, the pity on Quil's, the anger in Edward's and the annoyance on Harry's.

Jacob stumbled forward but luckily he was right beside the bed and fell face first onto his soft pillows, turning to his side to face Seth. "Puppy, come to bed… I need you..." He pleaded.

Seth stood up walking towards his master bed; the group followed his movement until he started removing his clothes. "Keep your clothes on; he will be asleep in a minute." Said Billy curtly, even though his words were snappy his heart was full of sorrow.

Just as his father predicted in less than a minute Jacob's loud snores made evident that he was out like a light. Seth was still on the same spot, realizing that his master would be out for at least a few hours he decided to make the best of it and walked back to his chain to call it a night.

"Nothing to see here, let's go." Said Billy as he shushed out the other wolves. Harry left immediately but Edward and Quil lingered.

"Billy, when he wakes up he is going to hurt him." Quil's voice was laced with concern as he talked in Seth's regard.

"Probably..." Billy's expression was tense and tortured. He didn't like to be confronted with his son reality. Jacob had turned into an animal right in front of his eyes and he was impotent to do anything about it. He could always give Jacob alpha orders to make him behave but it was a very thin line between being fair to the subs and taking away his son's freedom to make decisions. As expected, the rope would always strain to the breaking point on its thinnest part and that was the subs.

"Please Billy let me take him to my room, for goodness sake it's Christmas can we give him at least one night of peace?"

"Jake will be pissed when he gets up and doesn't find him here." Stated Billy

"With all due respect, I don't care. Do you want your son's hands to be stained with even more blood than they already are?"

"You don't understand Quil, for reasons beyond my understanding my son seems to be… how may I put this? Intrigued with this little dog. If he gets mad and takes off looking for him he will not respect any boundaries, if you get in his way he will get you out of the way by any means necessary." Explained Billy deadly serious. "I can order him to stand down until the cows come home but if he is determined he will find a way to defy the alpha order, he has done it before. Anyway if he gets out of control, and that is very likely to happen, and goes on one of his rampages he can only be stopped by an alpha."

"You're right, but I cannot just stand here and do nothing." Quil turned to look at Edward who was growing increasingly uncomfortable with the conversation. "Please Ed, just this once." Pleaded Quil.

"You know very well I gave my position as alpha years ago, I don't even know if I still have it in me." Edwards's eyes were glazed over with the painful memories that ran through his mind.

"Edward please do it for Seth." Edward turned to look at Seth and back to Quil.

"Ok…" He sigued.

"Seth come before I changed my mind." The submissive quietly followed Edward out of the room and walked with him in the direction of his room.

Once inside Edward's room Seth took in his surroundings. The room was much smaller than his master's; it consisted of a queen size bed, a dresser, a desk and a bathroom. "Damn it, every year is the same crap, I'm so fucking tired. Since they are making me do this I'll do it my own way, fuck the rules. Seth get on the bed." Ordered Edward before disappearing through the bathroom door.

Edward's words made Seth feel like his world came crashing down. What was the point of continue living if with every twist and turn the heavy steps of certain doom would follow him. He felt like he had been hit in the chest, pushing all the air out of him and leaving him gasping like a fish out of the water. He was positive Quil and Edward were good men and that was probably still true. Unfortunately Edward was still a dominant and like many of them a slave to his needs and desires. As the submissive took off his clothes placing them on the floor beside the bed he prayed that at least Ed would be gentler, he doubted it, but hope is the last thing that a person should lose.

Seth knelt on the bed to wait for the dominant. Edward stopped dead on his tracks, his face expressing major confusion. "Spirits Seth what the hell are you doing?!"

"Sir you told me to get on the bed." Whispered Seth sad and unsure of how to proceed.

"I did, but why did you take off your clothes?" Seth remained silent; he didn't know what to say. If Edward was not planning to fuck him he didn't want to put the thought in his mind.

Realization hit Edward like a ton of bricks; of course Seth would think he was telling him to get on the bed so he could take him. The only instance when a submissive was welcomed on the bed of a dominant was to have sex. He walked around the bed and picking up Seth's clothes handed them to him. "Seth get dressed, you know I would never touch you."

After getting dressed Seth stood beside the bed alert and ready to obey. Edward locked the door and climbed on the bed, he sat with his back resting on the headboard and patted the space beside him. His sincere but minute smile showed Seth what he wanted and he climbed on the bed sitting beside the dominant.

"Seth I want you to understand something, I can only speak for Quil and myself. We will never hurt you in any way. We do not agree with the way the subs are treated, actually we feel disgusted with the whole system. But we are a minority, there is a movement, you can call us abolitionists, but it's only beginning and it's still very small. People are very afraid of the council and of powerful men like Jacob. Until you can be freed we'll try to protect you, we may not always succeed but please know we are doing everything we can and more importantly we will never add to your misfortune." Edward's kind words warmed up Seth's soul. There were people out there that cared about submissives. People who were willing to defy the norms and give peace and dignity to one as himself. He should stop doubting Ed's and Quil's intentions, they had many chances and never even looked at him funny. Seth was lost in his thoughts until he felt Edward's warm hand against his face, he was wiping away the tears that started falling from his eyes the minute he realized the meaning of Ed's words.

Freedom was an ideal that Seth was convinced was not for him. Sometimes he even felt he had been born to be a slave, it was illogical since there was no way to know until he phased for the first time but usually there is not much logic in emotions. For the first time in fifteen years he allowed himself to dream about being free, of being able to roam the forest running and frolic around to his delight. In an impulse Seth launched himself towards Edward and placing his arms around him held on for dear life. Edward pulled him to his lap where Seth cried quietly with his face hidden on the juncture of the neck and the shoulder.

"Shhh calm down, it'll be ok little one." Cooed Edward as he rocked Seth gently in his arms.

After a few minutes Seth calmed down enough to be able to speak. "Sir what makes you so different from the other wolves? Quil told me his reasons but I'm curious about yours. Also, why did Mr. Black call you an alpha?"

"Quil told you his reasons?" Questioned Edward to which Seth nodded. "That's very surprising; he usually doesn't tell people until he's known them for a long time. Actually, I shouldn't be surprised, you have angel or maybe you're an angel. Whatever the reason you seem to have an effect on people. That's really hard to explain."

"The reason is because I've seen too much cruelty and sadness in my lifetime. I refuse to take part of this nonsense." Answered Edward sincerely. "About me being an alpha that's a little bit of a longer story but in summary I was indeed an alpha, Billy seems to think I still am. I had a pack of seven wolves myself included. An error in judgment made me walk them into an ambush where I lost every single one of my wolves, including my mate." Seth's deep frown was a reflection of how troubled he felt because of Edward's words.

"His name was Benjamin; we had been together since before the pandemic. We went through so much; our families disowned us when they learned of our sexual orientation. We were even homeless for a while; depending on the kindness of others for food and shelter. We spent many days cold and went to bed hungry more times that I care to remember. Now that I think about it maybe that's why I sympathize with the submissives. I know how it feels to be hungry, rejected and be looked down because of something that is beyond my control. When we phased we had no idea of what was going on, we were looking through some trashcans trying to find something edible. A group of thugs intercepted us and decided to have some fun with a couple of fags. They started beating us up and calling us all sort of names." Edward paused for a minute to gather his thoughts on the events of that night.

"Ben got increasingly angrier and decided to fight back. They left me and concentrated on him, they were going to kill him. I was scared for his life and something snapped inside me. I felt as my body started changing shape and before I could even think about what was happening I had my teeth latched on the neck of one of them; then the other and so on until everything that was left was a collection of body parts on the floor. When Benjamin saw me he was so afraid that he phased too. He was such a beautiful wolf, his fur was silver and shiny, he was magnificent, absolutely breathtaking." Edward paused lost in the memory of seeing his mate in his wolf form for the first time.

"We lived as wolves for two months, neither one of us could figure out how to change back to human. That was until we walked into a forest in Washington, it was patrolled by a pack from a reservation in a place called La Push. They took us under their wing and taught us everything we needed to know about our heritage and even how to turn human again. We both moved in with Billy and his wife Sarah, Jacob was just a kid but already showed signs of the alpha within him. After the pandemic Billy organized the army and I got my own pack with Benjamin as my beta."

"We received some information about a pack trying to infiltrate our lines. Jacob and I led our packs to the point intelligence had informed us they were hiding. Unfortunately everything had been a ruse to flush us out and we were faced with twice the number of wolves from the enemy side. We didn't stand a chance; I saw how Benjamin was torn to pieces by those bastards. I had nothing to live for but was too thirsty for revenge to give up, hate kept me going. At the end I carried one wolf from Jacob's pack to safety but couldn't help Jacob who had been captured and was being taken away."

"After Jake was rescued we gathered the remains of our pack brothers and laid them to rest. The day I buried the mangled body of my husband I gave up my position as alpha and swore never to fight again. Billy asked me to remain by his side since he considered me family and I accepted to work for him as a cook."

"Well, there you have it, that's my sob story."

"Edward I'm sorry you lost Benjamin." Seth's compassion knew no bounds; here he was, a man that went for a ride through hell every day and still found it in his heart to comfort a friend. Edward held him tight until his body became limp and his light snores were the only sound in the room. He placed Seth comfortably on the bed, his head on a pillow and a blanket covering his body. It had been years since Seth slept in a bed.

"Good night Seth and Merry Christmas." Whispered Edward.

Edward was up before dawn and shook Seth awake. He was used to getting up very early and even though it was a holiday he still did. Seth was initially startled when he found himself on a bed. Ed's kind face didn't escape him and put his mind at ease.

"Good morning sir, slept well?" Asked Seth politely.

"Yes Seth, It's been so long since I slept with anyone, I was afraid I wouldn't sleep but it was quite the contrary, slept like a baby. Most people are still sleeping, we don't do Christmas presents since that was mostly materialistic and there is nothing out there any of us really desires. The only exception is Paul; he spends months looking for gifts for Sophia. That little girl has her papa wrapped around her little finger."

"It must be nice to be a daddy" Said Seth with sadness and longing in his voice.

"You want to be a dad someday Seth?"

"It's one of my dreams but I know it will never happen. It's ok, I made peace with the fact I'll never have a family." Edward's eyes spoke of the understanding he felt for the little dog in front of him. Just like him Edward was resigned to spending the rest of his days alone. Wolves mate for life and his mate was gone forever. He lived a life that would make Benjamin proud of him and waited for the moment when he could join him.

The atmosphere in the room turned to one of sadness and Edward couldn't allow himself to succumb to depression, he struggled with it for too long and didn't want to go down that road again. "Seth you have to shower and get ready, Jacob will be upset that you were taken from him." Seth's body became stiff and tense, he knew today wouldn't be a good day. "Go shower I'll try to find you a clean shirt."

After showering Seth walked in the room dressed only in the old pants he had been wearing the night before. Edward handed him an old long sleeve shirt with grease stains on the front. Seth looked at it in awe and almost ceremoniously thanked Edward.

"Seth it's no big deal, it's just an old shirt."

The submissive looked from his shirt to Edward tears of joy filling his eyes and overflowing down his cheeks. "You see sir; I haven't received a Christmas present in fifteen years… thank you." He dove to Edward's arms while repeating thank you again and again. The dominant cradled him in his arms allowing himself to cry with the sub.

"Damn it Seth you made me cry!" Whined Edward while laughing awkwardly. "C'mon we have to get breakfast ready before a pack of hungry wolves invades the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen Seth took over washing the mountain of dishes from the previous night. In no time the aroma of sausage and eggs began to flow from the skillets, filling the kitchen and making Seth's stomach grumble.

"Seth here is your master's tray, good luck little one." Edward said a silent prayer as Seth sauntered out of the kitchen carrying the heavy tray.

As he came closer and closer to his master's room Seth became increasingly nervous, the anticipation of another day of torture becoming very real. He questioned if the kindness he enjoyed the day before did more damage than good, he felt human, even loved. Now he was going to be face to face with his nightmare. He walked in the room without making any noise in case his master was still sleeping. Of course he was out of luck. Sitting on his usual spot on the dining table was his master.

Jacob face was calm and composed, almost expressionless. His eyes moved slowly towards Seth who immediately lowered his gaze. "About time you got here." His tone was recriminatory, a wounded tone coloring his words.

Seth was puzzled, he was sure his master was talking about the food but a little voice inside him told him Jacob was talking about him. He carefully placed the tray on the table and began arranging the heaping plates of food before his master. Jacob's hand shot out grabbing Seth's wrist painfully. The master stood up towering over the small submissive who was shaking in fear.

Jacob pushed Seth against the table and grabbing his upper arms shook him pugnaciously. "You left me, you fucking left me!" Shrieked Jacob.

Seth could already feel bruises forming under his skin that would perfectly mimic his master's hands. "I woke up at four o'clock this morning and instead of you I saw my father in the room. You're lucky my father ordered me to stay here until dawn. I wanted to go look for you but he gave an order so strong not even I could fight it. Seth you are mine, are you listening?" Said Jacob while tapping Seth on the chest with his index finger. "You are mine; your allegiance is with me, you obey me and more importantly no matter what… you never leave me." Jacob pleaded, his tone dangerously close to one of desperation.

Seth was like a rag doll on his master's arms. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the man in front of him. His master had everything any person could desire, power, money, looks, the list was endless. But still he lacked compassion, companionship, understanding and love. Seth was forced to provide the companionship, he had no other choice. His master's life got out of balance when that small part he had acquired was taken from him.

Jacob observed his submissive as he quivered in his arms. Deep inside he was happy the submissive had been protected from the biggest and meanest monster in that house, him. Still he had been pissed when he woke up to find Seth's spot empty. His heart ached for his little submissive, he wanted his warmth, he desired his body but more importantly he needed his presence.

Licking his lips Jacob observed the perfect curvature of Seth's lips, even the small scar over his upper lip was beautiful. He wanted to kiss him, wait what? No! That was impossible, he never wanted his lips to touch those of any sub; it would be demeaning and humiliating.

Who was he kidding? It wouldn't be demeaning; it would be like kissing an angel. Jacob was well aware that if somebody should be disgusted that was Seth, his master was a vile man with a heart made of barbed wire and no soul. Easing the strong hold he had on the submissive's arms he moved his hand toward Seth's face, a frown appearing on his face when he saw him flinch. Seth watched as his master's tongue ran quickly over his lips. Jacob caressed Seth's lips with the tip of his finger, tracing the shape of his pink lips. Seth's lips felt wonderful, he wondered how they would taste.

Seth observed his master's slightly parted lips making his desire wake up like a loud alarm was blasting in his ear. Jacob kept one hand on his sub's face while moving the other to the nape of his neck, craning his neck slightly backwards to facilitate the access to his lips. Seth could feel a pleasurable tingling originating on his neck and radiating towards his body. Unsure of what to do and trying to gather the courage to accept his destiny, Jacob moved his face from one side to the other. Minute movements as he tried to angle his face perfectly. He leaned forward toward Seth's face, their lips almost touching…

…Until a knock on the door interrupted them.

"What do you want?!" Bellowed Jacob while moving away from Seth.

"Sir your father needs the slave to go help with cleanup." Explained Peter after popping his head in the room.

Jacob turned his face towards his stunned submissive. What did almost happen? Neither of them knew…