Smoke and Mirrors {Completed}

Chapter Nine: Disgraced King

Damien Black

Frustration was all I could feel. No one had ever lasted this long in my torture chamber without at least letting out a whimper or scream, this girl did neither, the only sound I could get from her were scoffs or the occasional curse.

Her eyes bothered me the most, they said that the eyes were the window to your soul and that your eyes would betray any emotion you tried to hide. Most people who had the honour of being personally tortured by me showed me that statement was true. Most of them at least for the first few days tried to put up a brave front but their eyes showed me just how afraid they were. This girl's eyes told a different story, the only thing they showed were contempt, disgust, and defiance towards me, there was not a single drop of fear at all.

Every day I tried to find new ways to break her, the first few days I started out simple, with a silver knife I carved her skin and flesh, most people would have let out screams of pain and agony, begging me to stop but she did not, in fact she goaded me to carve deeper. The whip I used on her in the beginning was meant to break bones as well as skin, this usually produced screams from even the most battle-hardened wolves, but all it produced from her was silence.

"Is that all you got? What kind of an Alpha are you?"

Those were the only full sentences I got from her.

I suppose that I should treat her better like what my mother made me promise her.

"Damien, promise me that when you finally find your mate, you love her and cherish her. Remember, you are not your father, just because his blood runs through your veins, it does not mean you are doomed to be like him."

I might have made good on my promise to her if my mother had not left me one night and ran away, leaving my sister and me at our father's mercy. The love I had for my mother soon turned to hate, over the next few years I started to realize that my father spoke nothing but the truth. Mates were nothing but an inconvenience. They trap you and limit your freedom.

That girl was proof of it, she invaded my dreams nightly and consumed my thoughts, even when I was with other women I could only think of her. I was not going to lie, she was beautiful with her smooth copper skin and dark eyes that were framed with thick lashes. I as her mate should be proud of her beauty but in the end, she was nothing but a weakness to me.

Her beauty was nothing but a mask. Like a serpent hiding behind a beautiful flower, waiting for a gullible person to foolishly be entranced by its beauty and reach a hand towards it, that is when she will strike and watch as her poison slowly courses through his veins before it consumes him. Like it did me when all I could see was how beautiful the flower was.

I tried to busy myself with other affairs, but she kept creeping into my mind. I was currently busy with one of those affairs when one of my guards stepped into my study.

"Sir, you should come and take a look at what our scouts have found."

I cursed as I rose from my chair, the girl below me whined as my lips stopped their work.

"Damien, you will visit me tonight, right?"

Her soft voice filled with uncertainty as she threw me a nervous smile, arms wrapped around herself.

"Of course I will Karmen, I am yours forever, remember?"

Karmen smiled at me softly, her eyes filled with relief at my words before placing a kiss on my lips.

The look of disgust on my guard's face was evident as she walked past him, but he quickly masked it before gesturing at me to leave with him.

We walked down the steps of the castle, the walls of the staircase slowly disappearing with a thick layer of grime as we ventured deep into the castle. Stopping as we reached one of my favourite places in this accursed place.