The Usurper's Throne

35

Two days.

For two days, he stood me there, immobilized behind him, trapped. He commanded me to signal when I needed to use the restroom.

He refused to let me go. He brought a bucket.

Hate.

Deep, intense hate.

How could someone do this to someone they loved?

I was humiliated, exhausted, in pain, and honestly wishing for death.

I had thought every though I could. I couldn't sleep standing up without choking myself. I had to stay awake. My brain started to short-circuit.

For the third night, Damien stood up to leave. He turned to me.

"You may speak."

"Damien, please," I whimpered hoarsely. I had to get out. Who know the next time he'll let me speak? The cold stone floor seeped into my feet. The skin around my neck felt like it was rubbed raw. "Let me go. I'll do what you want."

Damien leaned in. His movement were sharper each day, more erratic. He was like a caged animal. And he wasn't the one bolted to the wall. He had washed up and his eye had reduced in size—he was only sporting a black eye. It only let me see the crazy in his eyes more clearly. "You'll mate with me?" he asked, lust burning a hole in me.

"Please. Just let me go." I wanted to sleep so badly. Thoughts of rest were consuming me.

He thought about this for a few moments. I could practically see the gears turning in his head. He whirled on me and drilled me with his dark green eyes. They saw right through me. "I don't believe you."

Panic shot through me. "Damien," I practically whimpered. "Please. Just let me go. How do I prove it to you?"

"I'll mate with you right there on that wall. No escape. No running. You can prove it to me that way." He began to unbuckle his pants and panic flooded my system like ice.

I bit my lip. I could do it. I could do it. I needed to sleep.

I couldn't do it. The thought of him touching me would have killed me. He was a monster.

"No!" I sobbed.

He sighed and quickly buckled his belt again. "That's what I thought. Dove, I'm not a monster. But I need to make you mine. Now. Someone could still steal you away," he reasoned, grabbing me by the ribs and shaking me violently. Frustration built as I struggled for the billionth time against the cold metal locking me in place. Who could steal me away? I couldn't even run away.

"Damien—let me go! I don't want to be with you!" I shouted.

Damien smiled sadly and stopped shaking me. His finger traced down my head and lingered on the mark on my neck. It tingled at his touch. "Yes. Yes, you do. You just can't see it yet. Don't worry. Eventually we will do it right. You want it. I want it."

He began to walk away, trailing the scent of rain and wood behind him. "You know, I could keep you locked into my side, dotingly forever. I had the Alpha's Claim. But I want you to like me. I am giving you the option. Isn't that what you want? The freedom to choose?"

I jerked against my bonds uselessly.

"Ironside will keep you company tonight." I was shivering in the cold. My feet were aching from standing for so long. This would be the third night without sleep. My brain was already slowing down.

"I hate you!" I screamed at his retreating shadow. My body was crying out for sleep, but if I let the pressure off my legs, the collar would choke me. Damien stopped. In the dim light, I saw him turn his head to me. In the shadow of his face, I saw genuine happiness. "You're a sadist!" Tears trailed down my face. "I thought you cared about me! I thought you loved me!" I screamed.