Chapter 4
DPOV
She seemed as shocked to see me as I was to see her. We took a moment to take each other in. I could see most of her wounds were healed. Her hair was hanging off her shoulder in soft waves. Her skin was still darker than mine, I could see it clearly now that she wasn't covered in dirt. She had on minimal make-up that only enhanced her natural beauty and she was wearing a light night-gown that left little to the imagination. I saw she had pulled up my blanket as far as she could, trying to protect her modesty.
But the frightened look in her eyes and the fact she was chained to my bed with one arm, prevented me from truly appreciating her beauty.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
She looked at me confused. "You requested me?"
I groaned. My men did this from time to time. They would 'treat' me after a battle or they told me I needed to get laid because I was being insufferable. I wondered which had prompted this latest 'gift'.
"Do you know who brought you in?"
She shook her head. "They only said you would want first dibs."
I pinched the bridge of my nose.
Most concubines that are sent to my room by my men are eager to perform their duties. I can see the hope in their eyes and their blatant lust. They are sorely disappointed when I tell them I have no intention of sleeping with them. I keep them for a night or however long my men have requested them and send them back to Madame Kirova with the same story.
'Tell everyone I was fine but a bit serious.' It was the run in the middle sort of description that wouldn't attract too much attention.
I never let my men know I didn't enjoy their gifts. Some pretenses have purpose. I didn't need anybody to know that my past still bothered me.
The first that had come through my door was a little different though. I had been twenty two and just made General. Some of my men had celebrated and gotten me a concubine. She had been scared when she came to my quarters. I understood the emotion. None of the girls had known what to expect from me. The older generation would have known, but most of them had probably been rotated out. But taking my lineage into account she expected the worst.
If I had had any intention of sleeping with her, it would have been squashed there and then.
My wolf jumped on the bed and startled Rose. He walked a few rounds before settling on her feet. She looked down at the white fluff ball that was already half asleep. She hesitated only for a moment before touching his fur with her free hand. She petted him- nobody had ever pet him, then again he had never laid on someone's feet like that. Luckily I had a big bed.
The feeling of her hands on his fur sent shivers down my spine and I had to actively block out the sensations.
I was too tired to be dealing with this.
I walked over to my side of the bed and retrieved the key to her chains. They tend to do this if the concubine was new. This way she couldn't run away. I leaned over and released her arm. She thanked me and was rubbing her hand.
I walked towards the dresser and pulled out a large shirt and I threw it to her. Then I sat down in the chair opposite the bed, just staring at her. She gratefully took my shirt and put it on.
She was biting her lip, she clearly didn't know what to do, and honestly neither did I. Did I mention I was too tired to be dealing with this?
"Did they manage to tell you how long they requested you on my behalf."
She wasn't facing me. "A couple of days, Madame Kirova said I needed to be ...broken in."
Damn, A few days meant she would still be here when the full moon hit. Even I wasn't impervious to the effects of the full moon. As an Alpha the pull to the moon's effects were even bigger. You either ran, fought or fucked during the full moon. I usually did the first, but with her here, that might change.
"I am tired and I am going to sleep. There are books in the library if you want."
She looked rather confused. "So you aren't going to… you know."
I chuckled, but there was no humor in it. "I don't sleep with girls that are terrified."
She could hide it all she wanted, she was putting on a brave face, but she was terrified. She had been fearless in battle, but here she was vulnerable. She was so unsure as to what I would do, and what was expected of her. I had no doubt in my mind she was a virgin. Which is why Kirova probably gave me more time to properly 'break her in' as she had called it. She might not fear me, which I was grateful for, but she was afraid of what was to come next. Although when I said that her brows furrowed and a layer of anger was placed over her fear.
"I am not terrified."
I rolled my eyes. "That might be more convincing if your voice didn't break or you weren't shaking." or you weren't calling sex 'you know'.
She actually pouted and this time I chuckled with humor.
I walked back to the bed and slipped in my side of the bed.
"You want me to leave your bed?" She asked looking around looking for something for her to sleep on. There wasn't anything. When I had concubines here, they were her for one night and I usually just stayed in my library reading. But I was too tired and I just wanted to sleep in my own bed. The bed was big enough. We could each sleep side-ways and not touch each other.
"No, you can stay." I motioned towards my wolf who was still on her feet and yawning. He had her pinned.
"Right."
"Sleep well, Rose." I turned away from her and settled into my pillow. "Goodnight General."
I tried not to feel her slowly petting my wolf while she drifted off to sleep. When her hands finally stilled on his fur, I was also able to get some much needed rest.
RPOV
This bed was giving my bed in the concubine garden a run for its money. It was soft and warm and so big. This must have been the best night's sleep I had had in a very long while. I did blame it on the bed and not the two warm bodies pressed against me.
One was curled up on my side, between my back and knees and he exuded warmth. His fur coat is so thick I think he would still be warm in the arctic. The other body may not have a thick fur coat, but his skin felt warm too. His chest was exposed and the blanket was at his hips. He didn't seem to be cold in the least, while I was usually cold even with three blankets on top, I wasn't now even if the same blanket that was covering half of him was also only covering half of me.
Despite the sheer size of the bed, the three of us were occupying a very small area. I was pressed against the human form of the General facing him. I was snuggled up to his chest and his head was on top of mine. His arms were protectively around my waist.
I couldn't move even if I wanted to. I started to wiggle a little bit, trying to move an arm, but the General just pulled me closer. I nearly giggled. I looked up at him. He was still fast asleep. He looked exhausted yesterday. He had wanted to argue, I could tell. He had wanted to send me away but he was just too exhausted to fight. I wasn't particularly looking forward to him waking up.
I didn't know what I would prefer. Him actually sleeping with me, or being in his room for a couple of days before I was sent back.
I had been surprised when he walked in. I hadn't known whose room I had been taken to. When I saw it was him, I was pleasantly surprised. But then he had refused to sleep with me and I didn't really know how to feel about that.
One the one hand I wasn't particularly in a hurry to fulfill my part of the contract. He might be hot and sweet, but this was a big deal. It did make me feel better that he hadn't actually slept with that concubine girl and some others across the years, but that also meant, he wasn't really interested in me and any fantasy I had of him being my exclusive suiter went out the window. I would still be a concubine and someone soon will make sure I did lose my virginity. Was it so wrong of me that I wanted it to be someone I trusted.
I opened my eyes in shock. Did I just think I trusted him? That would be a first. I trusted Lissa but that was about it. As a slave you couldn't trust anyone, because you weren't considered human. You were considered property, not just by the slave master, but by each other too. It was about survival. If one slave could get a better position or in the good graces of the slave master they would take it.
But the General had protected me, he had made sure I got to a doctor. And he hadn't molested me in my sleep. Maybe I didn't trust him, per se, but I did know he wouldn't hurt me. I had no doubt he was a good man.
His wolf stirred first. He uncurled and stretched out. God, the animal was bigger than me when he did that. I could have used him as my only blanket.
His owner opened his eyes too. I looked up a bit trying to catch his expression. Still half asleep he snuggled my hair a bit, he seemed to be smelling it, or maybe he was feeling what it felt like against his skin.
Then his eyes darted open. He took in our position.
"What are you doing?" He sounded a bit accusatory.
I just rolled my eyes. I motioned with my eyes to his arms and then at the wolf.
"I am sort of trapped."
As if on cue his wolf jumped off of the bed and he pulled away and moved to his side of the bed and sat on the end.
"Right."
I sat up and pulled the blankets towards me. He ran his hands through his hair. He didn't seem to know what to do. His wolf sat motionless on the bed. He seemed to be on edge.
I was feeling it too. So close to the full moon every emotion I had was amplified. I wasn't looking forward to this one. I would still be in his room. The full moons have been affecting me more and more. I knew it was my wolf trying to break out, but I couldn't let her.
He was walking towards his dresser and pulled out a shirt and some leathers. What were the odds he had some in my size in there.
"I'll have someone bring some food and draw a bath for you. Anything you want in particular?"
I shook my head. He walked outside for a moment and soon there were two people coming in with plates of food and hot water for the bath.
I knew they were slaves, but they didn't have shackles on them, they also didn't look malnourished or broken. Their garbs were plain but clean. The one carrying the food placed the plates on the table while the other tried to stay out of sight while filling the tub. They were used to working without being seen.
He motioned me towards the food and I didn't have to be told twice. I got up from the bed. I looked down at myself to see if I was presentable. The dress I had been left in his bed in had a deep cleavage dipping towards my belly button and it left my arms bare, but it was pretty long on the bottom and the smooth silk wasn't see through. The top of the night-gown was covered with the shirt he had given me, so I was pretty covered and I could move around without worrying if I would flash him with anything.
I sat down in a chair opposite him and I didn't waste time eating. That is one thing you learn from being a slave, you eat when you can.
I was on my fourth bite when I noticed he looked at me funny.
"Uhuh, don't look at me like that."
He smiled. "Like what?"
"Like now that I am a concubine I have to watch what I eat to keep my desirable figure."
He laughed. "I wasn't thinking that at all, in fact you could use a bit more meat on your bones, but you look a lot better than when I brought you in."
His face darkened a bit when he thought about the state I was brought in.
"I know this isn't perfect, but at least you won't be beaten anymore. I saw the scars, Rose, your master was cruel."
I swallowed a bite and ran my hands through my hair. I can't get over how soft my hair was now. Lissa always had such a hard time entangling my hair at the end of the day, now they just flowed down my back in soft waves. Then again, I don't really have the activity level I did when I was a house slave.
"Yes he was, He was a sadistic son of a bitch that enjoyed hurting and humiliating me."
He took a bite himself. "You were so strong in that field. Whatever he did, you never broke. You never let him. It will be the same here."
"Yeah, this prison is fancier and with nicer bed linens and better food. Too bad not all suitors will have your 'I don't sleep with girls that are terrified' attitude " I said bitterly. I knew it wasn't fair. He was the one who saved me afterall. And in a lot of ways I was better off. This was how the world worked. What I wanted was to be free, and that would never happen. He had elevated me to the best status I could hope for.
His eyes penetrated mine. He knew my statement about the other suitors was true and it seemed to cause him physical pain. I could practically see his demons in his eyes. His hands were strained at his sides. His body was vibrating. He looked completely different from the cool and controlled General I had met in the rose garden. My statement had triggered something and I knew it had little to do with me.
His power seemed to ooze out of him. I had a hard time sitting still, the pressure in the room increased. He was unleashing some of his alpha energy, but I don't think he noticed. He was in his own head. His power pulsed before it faded out again. Whatever demons had come to the surface, he had tucked them away again.
"Why didn't you run?" He wanted to know why I hadn't run from my previous master, because why would I ever run away from this, right?
"I wanted to run away so many times. I had a lot of exit strategies, and a lot of fantasies about killing that bastard. I think if I could just get close enough, I could have too. Maybe not when he was awake, but dead is dead."
He laughed. It was a good sound. "You probably could have, you have some mad skill. A little unrefined, but effective."
I threw a grape at him which he caught without looking at it, he placed it in his mouth with a huge grin on his face. I couldn't help but smile back. "Watch who you are calling unrefined."
"You attacked one of my soldiers with a kitchen knife." He raised his eyebrow as if that statement proved his point without a shadow of a doubt.
I shrugged. "You are just pissed that your man couldn't handle a little old slave girl."
His eyes locked with mine. "You aren't just any girl." The way he said it sent chills down my spine. I know he meant that not many slave girls could have taken down three soldiers, but it felt like he had meant so much more.
Snap out of it Rose, this isn't some fairy tail where the handsome prince will save you.
You don't need any saving. You are strong and independent and all that other women empowerment crap. I have been doing this on my own for a long time and I will continue to do so.
"Where did you learn how to fight like that?"
I took a cup of water from the table as I threw the last piece of meat I had towards his wolf. I knew the wolf didn't technically need to eat, but he had been giving me puppy dog eyes ever since I had picked the piece up. The General gave me a weird look.
"Before I was with Sorokin, I was with a beta slave master. She was nice. She had a soft spot for kids. You were expected to work but I was treated well. As a child this meant I had a lot of free time. Lissa would spend it with her nose in some book. But I would go to the soldiers guarding the compounds. They were usually as bored as I was, so I asked them to teach me some moves. I think I was four when I first started. Once they showed me something, I would spend days practicing and then go back and ask them for another technique. I was twelve when they felt they could gently spar with me. But it wasn't until I engaged your soldiers that I truly had to fight."
He looked me up and down "So that was the first time you killed?"
No it wasn't, but it hadn't really sounded like a question. So I gave him a half truth. "I do what I have to to protect Lissa."
He looked me over and I knew he noticed I hadn't actually answered his question. His eyes narrowed slightly. It wasn't uncommon for a slave to have taken a life. But mostly it meant the victim was another slave. Survival of the fittest and all that.
"How did you end up at Sorokin's pack?"
I was glad he changed the subject. "I was at Mistress Petrov until I was about fifteen. In hindsight that was a really long time. Mistress Petrov was beta to the Vladimir pack. Sorokin hit the Alpha first. He was strong, but Sorokin was stronger, then he took out all the other slave masters that had thrived under the Vladimir pack."
We had seen Vladimirs compound burn in the distance, but by the time we could make preparations it was already too late. I hadn't had to fight then, Mistress Petrov had all the children stashed in the inner courtyard. When Sorokin had reached us the fight was already over and he just hauled us away. My main goal had been to protect Lissa and not to fight with the others. But if I had known then what I know now, maybe I could have protected them, maybe I could have fought and made a difference.
"I had met the Alpha of the Vladimir pack once. He was stern, but he wasn't cruel. And Mistress Petrov was too sweet to be a beta. And yet they were dead and someone like Sorokin had survived and so many people paid the price."
I was gripping my silk dress. That bastard had ripped Lissa away from her parents. He had tortured me when he felt the need to humiliate me. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes. But I refused to let them fall. I wouldn't cry because of him ever again.
I felt the General's hands on mine. I also felt his wolf rub his head against my arm. Both men, or this one man in two different forms, was trying to console me. I blinked a few times.
"I know it is different here. I know slaves will always be slaves, but I don't see the trembling in their hands or any marks on them."
The General's eyes turned dark. Okay so maybe I was wrong about that part. He was still leaning forward but he wasn't looking at me. He was staring off into the distance.
"You said you wanted to run from Sorokin. If you had a chance now to escape, would you?"
I leaned back in the chair and looked at the ceiling. The chandelier hanging above was pretty, it refracted the light into a thousand different colors.
"I could have run from Sorokin. If I had been alone, I would have."
"Your friend."
I just nodded.
"And now you are trapped by her again." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. "That is why you are still here and haven't run away. Because of your friend. She is in a good position for a slave."
It was true even if I would never admit it to Lissa. Now, as a concubine I didn't have shackles. I could get some clothes and some food. I had already mapped several ways out of the garden and I knew that if I could just make it beyond the walls, I would find somewhere where I could be free. But I couldn't do that to Lissa.
He got up from the chair. There were magic tendrils reaching from his body to his wolf as the two beings became one again. He pulled me to my feet.
"I have some business to take care of, but the bath is done. You can bathe and I will have someone bring you some clothing. I will be back shortly."
I hadn't really noticed the slave had stopped bringing in jugs off water. But he was facing them, so he would have seen.
"Thank you General."
He crossed his arms over his chest, a small smile pulling at his lips. "You don't know my first name, do you?"
I laughed. I didn't.
"It's Dimitri."
