Affliction - Book One - Man x Man

Chapter 4

 Displeased by something, Alpha tips his gaze to the bath suspiciously. 

I roll my eyes at the hesitance, "It's water. I know you slaves rarely bathe, but there it is. Just get in."

 I opt to leave, startled as he grasps my wrist. I flinch away, trying to wrench free from the iron grip. "You could use your words! What gives you the right to grab me?" I snap, watching this animalistic man in bewilderment. Cold flashes to my hand, but I'm already beyond exhausted from carrying the buckets. 

Nothing goes unnoticed. I'd need to be more careful if I didn't want him to realize just how stunted I was.

"Did you never learn manners in this ivory tower?" He retorts. "Have you truly so little sense about what has happened here? What the stakes are for such atrocious behavior? I could gut you where you stand and yet you dare to look at me as if I am the one who should be afraid?"

 I wince as I struggle against his grasp, feeling his fingers bruising my skin. The truth was, I didn't care what happened to me; my obedience was the only part of the deal I'd negotiated, and I didn't promise to smile while I did it. "I'm trying-"

 Alpha belts out a sharp laugh, making me flinch. "Trying!" He snorts, "Did your family allow the lycan's you cursed to 'try' slavery? Did you allow your servants to try their trades? You have been conquered, less I display the consequences once more-"

"No!" I shout, sucking in a sharp breath as he glowers at me. "Please.. I am trying."

"It's not good enough. Your effort is not good enough." Looking over me, he releases me with a shove, pushing me back towards the tub. "Prove it, bathe me. Perhaps then I might believe you understand your new role."

My stomach twists in knots, and I take a quick step back, nearly slipping into the basin. "I think you are up to the task. It is quite simple. I trust you'll figure it out," I respond, and his expression clouds with the look of that of a predator. 

The thought of my instructors giving me tasks for which I could pay them for their 'tutoring' thickens my throat. My heart gallops in my chest, my pulse pounding as I feel the panic of what might happen to me in my deceased father's bathroom. Yet, looking at this man who was the picture of a masculine barbarian, I can't help but feel there is little about him that suggests I would be his preference. 

His face is tame, his eyes unseeing in that there is no interest in what lies under my clothes. He wished to humiliate me and that I could endure.

This vile creature wished to reduce me to the lowest form.

 "Undress then!" I command, gesturing to his clothes. The low rumble from his chest makes me flinch, I swallow back the fear.

"Is that any way to speak to your Alpha?" His tone is patient and yet restrained. He looks at me as if I am dense—an uneducated youth of a great Lord. "When I was a slave, I was forced to undress my masters, shameful job as it was... now, let's see you play the part. I wish to be bothered by this as little as possible so hurry up." 

I allow my eyes to travel down his form. He is a mess, his clothes and skin covered in dried blood and grit, the smell of masculinity, and the woods emanating from him. It offended my nose and my eyes all in one, yet I knew it was what he was hoping for. I wouldn't crack, not now. 

"As you wish, Alpha." I try not to sound sarcastic as I throw in a half-hearted bow. My long fingers look ghostly against his dark colors, and the stiff material of his garments is rough to the touch. I unbutton his vest, pulling it off of him. 

The leather is worn and aged. It is a handmade garment with crude stitching that offers little protection for the large form it conceals. I fold it and set it aside, ignoring the patience with which he regards me. As I approach, I gesture for him to put his arms up and pull his stained shirt over his head, only to gasp at the sight of him.