Lessons of being a mate

Chapter 7

The sound of heels clicking against the concrete floor woke me from my sleep. I rubbed my eyes a couple of times before I saw a young girl by the bars. Aleshia was talking to her in a hushed tone before I heard the scrap of metal along the floor. The people around me shot up from the seating position and slowly made their way over to Aleshia.

"I tried to get him to postpone the discipline again but he was so against it." The young girl whispered to Aleshia. "I think something happened in one of the camps and..." She sniffed and looked up at me. Aleshia turned to look at me as well and motioned me to come forward.

"Ellaine this is Princess Tatiana. She's been helping us secretly." Tatiana reached through the bars and grabbed my hand. She held it so tightly in hers but not tight enough to be painful.

"The sun will set soon and you will all be dragged into the arena. There you will be disciplined in front of all the alphas and it will be broadcast on the live for all to see." She pulled me closer and whispered lowly in my ear for only me to see "I don't know who you are to my brother but you need to stop him in what will come to the humans." The sound of a door being thrown open made her detach her hand from mine and quickly scurry away.

Three men approached the cell and opened it up.

"Everyone up." The largest one barked. We all pulled ourselves to our feet and followed the men out. I was grabbed by one of the men. "The king has requested you personally." My eyes widened as I watched the rest of the group being led out of one set of doors as I headed towards another.

I met the king outside. He glared at me with his haunting eyes and I had to look away. He quickly grabbed me from the man and forced me to look at him. "You will kneel." I glared back at him this time. "Kneel." He commanded again as his grip went to my shoulder and tightened. I winced and slowly slid to my knees in front of the king.

I glanced up at the crowd. There were many men standing around the stage we were on. All looked equally terrifying as the next. A wooden pole was placed in the middle of them on a concrete slab. I swallowed back the tears that had begun to form. There was a camera crew at the back of the group of people, capturing the whole encounter.

"I have encountered many riots as I crossed over your territories. I was shocked and disgusted by the behavior of the human race. You do not want to live in peace with us. You want us to be beneath you." I go to speak but the king growled at me once more.

"I will show you what will come of those who choose to disrupt the peace." I watched the as they brought Aleshia forward towards the wooden pole. The group all turned to the scene in front of them, leaving her within a large circle of men.

"This is a girl who was caught stealing and trying to kill one of our own warriors. For that she will be disciplined. Twenty lashes of the whip." I watched as the camera swung to Aleshia and a man stepped forward with a leather whip. My mouth fell open as I saw the metal spikes that will surely rip into her delicate skin.

"No please." I begged the king, grabbing onto the bottom of his shirt. He pushed me away, refusing to listen and I looked back towards the crowd. I watched as the first strike hit her back and wince. I grabbed onto his wrist this time forcing him to look at me. "Stop this." I screamed at him but he yanked his wrist away making me fall to the side. I gathered myself as quickly as I could and started to rise slowly to my feet, trying to avoid the king taking notice.

As the whip came down a forth time, I saw the man wielding the weapon slow down in his movements. I made my move then, shoving myself off the stage and towards where Aleshia was. I felt his hand grab for my arm but his fingers only brushed my skin. I threw myself onto her small body, having my back facing the weapon as it came down hard for the sixth time.

The sobbing coming from Aleshia began to grow as I clutched onto her. The stinging pain became more evident to me now as the adrenaline began to slow and I turned my head towards the king. He was standing there in front of his alpha's, staring at me. They all stared for me, not moving an inch until the beast of a man tore his eyes from me and looked back at the weapon holder.

"It seems that this scum here would like to volunteer to take her whippings." My gaze began to blur as tears welled up in them. I looked over Aleshia's head to see the rest of my cell mates standing there, watching me in awe. I glanced over the group as I was dragged off of Aleshia's body as they removed her and then shackled my body back to the pole.

"I want to volunteer for all of their whipping's." I yelled out to him as he began to walk away. He stopped in his tracks before turning his head towards me. "All of them." I repeated. A deep growl erupted from his mouth which I'm sure could be heard by everyone.

"Forty-five lashes. To compensate for others. Take them back to camp zero." He barked out the orders like a command officer and everything happened in slow motion. The second lash of the whip came down more strongly and harshly then the last one. I winced and I could see the king almost wince as well and he watched me from the stage.

Not once did I take my eyes off of him until after he could watch anymore and left the stage. I could even see the alpha's grimacing now and some of them had to look away. I gulped down the pile forming in my throat as I braced myself for another lashing. I rested my head onto the cool wood and waited. It came down hard over a previous wound. No sound left my mouth as it did.

I waited for the next one. I heard the whip slice through the air and I prepared myself again but this time no pain came. I heard a grunt and I looked over my shoulder.

"You will stop this brother." The man yelled. I watch the man snatch the whip away from the man before throwing it on the floor next to me. "She has suffered enough." The man turned towards me. I saw a sliver of blood on his chest and he started to undo my chains.

"You will not touch her." The king growled out as he stood in front of me. As the shackles which were the only things holding me up at this point loosened, I quickly fell to the floor. My breathing came out heavy as I tried to grasp for air against the ground. I tried to lift myself up but failed miserably in front of the king and his followers.

"She needs to see a doctor-" The man with the blonde hair started but was quickly cut off by the deep thundering growl I knew too well by now

"She needs nothing. She wanted those lashes." The beast snapped back

"She did not 'want' anything. She did it for her people." I felt hands on me as I was lifted to my feet. "And I'm sure you would do the same."

"She should see loyalty to her king." My eyes snapped up to him.

"I will never be loyal to you." I spat at his feet. I saw his lips curl up into a snarl but it did not deter me from my speech. "I am not some dog you can command to sit, roll over and play dead. I am a human and I will always stand by my race." I saw his right eye twitch. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the other alpha's watching in anticipation. I could almost hear their thoughts. Will he kill her? Will he drag her through the streets?

But yet he did nothing. He left me in the arms of his brother and strode away towards the thickness of the woods.