Lyla’s POV

“Strip” He repeated, growling at me this time. I trembled and shivered at the loud and strange sound.

It resonated across the room, making me jumpy and scared. I clenched the hem of my dress tightly, as silent tears rolled down my face.

“Do you want me to repeat myself?” He asked and I began shaking my head furiously.

“No? No, to removing the dress or no to repeating myself”

“No” I just replied silently.

“No? You dare defy me, Bunny” he started walking slowly toward me. I walked away from him as he got nearer until my back hit the wall of the room and I couldn’t run any further.

A murderous look was etched on his face and it wasn’t until he was closer that I saw the scar that ran across his face.

“You dare say no to my request,” He said softly, making me look up at him. Once I did, I saw a hint of amusement on his face.

“You don’t have to remove the dress, keep it on. I just needed to find out how unwillingly you can be under pressure” He said, moving away from me.

He brought out a gun from his pants and pointed it at me suddenly while his right hand banged the wall beside my head, and he caged me with a gun at one side and his hand on the other.

Once the gun touched my head, I shivered and tears again started rolling without control, my mouth was shaking out of the mumbled cry.

I thought he said it was okay!

He suddenly started moving the gun down to my neck, used it to caress my lips as I prayed silently that the trigger should not be pulled.

He stopped at my breast, smiling. Suddenly, he looked me in the eye and I turned, avoiding his gaze. His lips suddenly caressed my cheek before moving dangerously close to my ear.

“Were you trying to protect this? Just asking out of curiosity” He asked, referring to my breast. “Or………” he trailed off as he traced the gun down my body and below he could get right between my stomach, I pushed him off.

“Stop, please” I begged with my eyes closed, becoming uncomfortable with his lunatic actions.

*open your eyes and look at me*

I didn’t know if those were his words or his voice that I keep on hearing in my head but I know I obeyed, I opened my eyes slightly to look at him.

He suddenly touched my eyes with his finger before replacing it with his lips. I shivered at the sudden contact and I felt goosebumps all over my body. It was relaxing yet uncalled for.

Damon moved back, took a big look at me, and commanded, “strip” surprisingly, he walked closer, brought out a towel and turned his back at me, probably waiting for me to strip.

“Why?” I asked, my voice shaky from crying for so long.

“I’m not comfortable with your smell. So, strip, take a fucking shower, put on my shirt and get to bed” he commanded, his back still turned to me.

I stood rooted at a spot, not wanting to move or strip myself of my dress because I didn’t quite understand what the hell that was going on.

“Do you want me to force that cloth off your body just to get you to strip? I’ll fuck you till both of your legs until you can’t walk anymore if you piss me off. So, don’t get me mad at you, Bunny, and don’t make me repeat myself after this. Strip!” He suddenly turned, facing me now.

Embarrassingly, I began stripping. I looked at him pleadingly once I saw he wasn’t going to respect my privacy. He only etched his eyebrow at me and urged me to go on.

“What are you waiting for?” He asked

“For you to turn” I replied.

“When I did that, you didn’t listen” He suddenly strides towards me but before I could move back, he suddenly turned.

“Make it snappy” he growled. I didn’t wait for further talks before I removed my dress and wrapped the towel around myself.

“I’m done” I called out.

He turned to face me and pointed to a door.

“Go in there and take your shower. Meet me out here in five minutes. Don’t you dare try to run through the bathroom window, there are shards of glasses on the floor right outside and I am not promising it won't reach up to your knee once it enters your legs” he said, scaring me off.

As if waiting for another clarification, my feet stayed rooted at the spot. I couldn’t move, I was too scared to take a step past him.

He had already turned his back to me as he was busy unbuttoning his shirt, and when he peeled the shirt off his body, my mouth opened on its own accord.

Apart from the tattoo covering up half of his body, he is almost a god with that well-sculptured chest and well-built arms.

“Waiting for me to turn fifty before going into the shower” His humor came strange to me.

“What?” I asked, my Brain not processing the current situation after seeing the body of a god.

“Into the shower, now!” He yelled at me and I scrambled away into the bathroom. As I ran past him, I saw a word tattooed on his back; Lycan amidst us. I wondered what that meant but decided against it as it was none of my business.

The bathroom happened to be like a place of relief, I sat on the tiled floor, rested my back against the bathtub, and kept on asking myself how I ended up there.

My body trembled as the first bout of tears started, I was confused, angry, and frustrated. How did I end up in the house of a man who looks so much like my Damon but not him? Where am I?

My brother, Henry would have gone through so much trouble by now. The old man had mentioned that I was an unexpected Abduction, confusing me. Once I remembered Pearl, My heart cried for her.

Not realizing a presence in the bathroom, I was suddenly lifted up from the floor. I screamed at the sudden intrusion and tried fighting off but Damon was too strong to be fought off.

He suddenly dropped me in the bathtub, and turned on the shower, still holding my hand tightly. He took the bath gel and a soft sponge, poured a little bath gel into the sponge, and began washing me.

With a towel still wrapped around my body.

“I can do it by myself” I was exhausted and angry.

“Like I asked you to talk! Listen and listen well, Bunny. When I tell you to do something and you do not follow my instruction to precision, there’ll be consequences and if I do not tell you to talk and you do, I’ll put a bullet straight in your head and watch life escape you. Do you understand me?”

*i would never put a bullet through your head, not now, not ever*

I replied through the water running down my body, despite the other sentence that I heard “Yes”

He walked out of the bathroom, leaving me alone in there.

Once I was done, I walked out of the bathroom with the towel wrapped around me. As I walked out, he was right outside the door. Before I could walk past him, he pulled me back and buried his face in my neck.

“Now you smell better” he replied before walking into the bathroom to take a shower.

I sat down on the bed and held on to my torn dress, waiting for a miracle to happen and probably stitch itself back.

When he walked out, he threw a shirt at me and without questions or words, I knew I had to put it on.

“Get into bed” he commanded

“Why?” I questioned, scared of what could happen if I got into the bed like he had said.

He laughed hysterically, “I do not know how to take a woman by force. If I’ll be fucking you at all, you’ll be the one who begged for it. Now get into the bed with your little ass and tight pussy before you get me mad” He demanded and I quickly jumped into bed, crawling to the farthest corner.

Switching off the light, I felt his weight on the other side of the bed, and before a few seconds, he was breathing heavily.

During the night, I heard wolves howling and I became jumpy as the last one sounded right outside the window. Through the rest of the night, my eyes were wide open, hoping for a miracle to happen or maybe for something to capture and kill me.

But none of it happened and I didn’t have a choice but to sleep a little bit waiting for what will happen the next day

I watched as the tiny, shy girl walked into our apartment, a red rose in her hand. She was looking at the ground even though her mother was holding her hand as she walked in.

“Mary,” the woman exclaimed upon seeing my mother. My mother rushed out of the kitchen and went on to hug the woman before looking down at the pretty girl that was busy hiding behind her mother.

“What’s your name, pretty child?” My mother asked.

The girl slowly walked out from her mother’s behind and opened her mouth to tell my mother her name.

“That’s such a pretty name, darling. Come here and meet my son” My mother, oblivious that I had stopped playing the video game and was already enchanted with the beautiful princess who just walked in, came towards the sofa I was sitting on.

“This is my son, Damon. He’s a nice boy just like you. You can play with him while I talk to your mother, okay baby?” She smiled and nodded at my mother, revealing her pretty dimples.

“If you need anything, I’ll be right there,” her mother told us and followed my mother back to the kitchen.

“Would you like to play?” I asked and she shook her head, meaning she wasn’t interested in my game.

“Why?” I asked, blinking at her.

I might have been seven but I wouldn’t lie that I like this girl very much. She was pretty and the color of her eyes is the same as my favorite color; emerald green.

“I don’t know how to play” she replied with her melodious voice that sounded like a song to my ears.

“Can I teach you?” I asked and she looked at me strangely.

“You’re not a teacher” she replied, almost making me laugh.

“I’m a big boy. My mother told me I was old enough to take care of myself when I turned seven last month. So that means I can teach you how to play too. How old are you?”

“Five” She replied, showing me her five fingers.

“Okay, Princess. Can I teach you now? The game is called rocket league” I asked, already getting impatient.

“Princess,” she said and sat right beside me, a sign that she was ready to be taught.

“Yes, Princess. You look just like a Princess to me and I’ll call you that every day” I informed her, making her smile at me.

We began the gaming lessons and I taught her everything that I knew about the game including how to start it and how to play, not caring if she got everything I was saying or if the teaching was too much for her. I just wanted to keep staying beside her, and listen to her talk about her favorite movies, color, and friends.

By the time it was evening, she was ready to leave with her mother. She promised to come back again after that day while I tried to contain my sadness and look forward to seeing her again.

She kept her promise and kept on coming back with or without her mother.

The last day I saw her was on a Friday, a year after our first meeting, she came to our place after coming back from school in her father’s black car usually driven by their driver and we decided to go out to the park. My mother said I needed it, I needed to mingle with friends since I was homeschooled. She told one of her father’s bodyguards to go with us.

My father had forbidden me from going to school, he said it’ll corrupt my mind, and change me from following the family’s legacy. He said it’ll soften me and make me cry like a girl.

I didn’t know what school looked like and I haven’t been to one. I didn’t have any friends other than my beautiful princess and with her, I don’t care about anybody else.

By the time we got to the park, it was evening already. The first thing we saw was a swing. She sat in one and I stood behind her, pushing her the other way, making her giggle and laugh.

She was laughing so hard and I was glad she was happy. I was also glad I was the one that was making her laugh and not someone else.

It got into my head and I began pushing her more than usual. She told me to stop or slow down but I didn’t listen, I thought she liked it, so I continued.

Suddenly, she was thrown off the swing, landing with her face flat on the ground. She cried out in pain and I quickly ran to her side.

“You hurt me, Damon” she cried out.

“I’m sorry princess, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sorry” I held her tiny hands and kept on apologizing.

I had hurt my princess and I’m a monster.

“Why are you crying, Damon? I’m the one who’s hurt not you”

“I’m hurt because you’re hurt, Princess. That’s why I’m crying too”

She cleaned my face with her dirty hands, told me to stop crying, and threw her hands around my neck, hugging me.

“I know you didn’t mean to hurt me, D. It’s okay” I smiled at her and she smiled in return, with tears on her cute face.

“I promise I’ll always protect you, Princess”

“Okay, D” she replied and hugged me back.

I made that promise thinking I’ll always be there right beside her, protecting her, keeping her close, I never knew she was going to leave that same night without a goodbye.

It seems I never kept any of my promises, not to her, not to my mother, and not to myself.

Damon’s POV

I woke up startled, drenched with my own sweat even though the A.C. was on, confused at first but then got angry at myself for having that nightmare again.

Ever since she left, I’d always dreamt about our meeting but never about her leaving. Guess this night was a different night then.

After she left, I cried, whined, and begged just for me to see her again and when my father got tired, he threw me into the dark room for two days, without food or water. I was dying not knowing what I’d done to deserve such a punishment.

Even when he, later on, thought I’d forgotten about her, I didn’t.

A figure came into my sight and when I turned, I realized it was my mate that I’d saved earlier on that was curled up in a corner of the bed like a ball, sleeping soundly like a baby.

I moved closer to her, and removed the hair that was covering her face. She looked so beautiful with her long eyelashes and pouty lips. I thought of how those soft lips would feel against mine. The thought sent signals right to my dick, making me hard all of a sudden.

Calm down, big man! She’s out of limits! For now!

Unlike other werewolves who had the ability to communicate with their wolves, I couldn’t. That was the price I had to pay when I refused to say the oath of allegiance.

I can’t deny the fact that my mate was beautiful and how much her eyes reminded me of that of my princess but I know if she was the same person, her life would be in danger.

Gently I kissed her forehead and her shoulder before standing up to leave the bed, in fear of what would happen if I stayed.

I wanted her, I wanted to mark her and make her mine but I know I should be careful with her, she’s fragile and I know I shouldn’t touch her.

I need a run!

I took one last look at my mate, before walking out of the room, stripped my cloth off my body, walked into my closet, and shifted into the curse that I was.

Lyla’s POV

I opened my eyes slowly as light streamed into the room through the slightly opened window. I closed my eyes back, to try and get a clearer vision.

Who dared open my window during the night? I might end up skinning someone alive today if care is not taken.

“Should I close the window, madam?” The strange voice suddenly got me opening my eyes quickly.

Who is that?

It was when I looked up that the whole memory of what had happened the previous day came rushing back. My senses became alerted when I looked around and took in the surroundings. I was in his room, on his bed, in his shirt but…

Where is he?

Inwardly, I hoped he had died during the night in his sleep and his body had been abandoned on the mountain so that vultures and other wild animals could feed on it.

“Master said you should take your bath immediately you wake up” A young lady said. She looked a little bit older than me or probably she was my age.

“What if I don’t want to?” I asked her, while I was still lying on the bed.

“I’ll be punished for it, Madam. So, please stand up and take your bath” I grumbled out loud and cursed my fate for bringing me to a place like this.

“What’s your name?” I asked while standing up.

I picked up a towel that was already placed on the dressing table and started removing my clothes so as to wrap the warm towel around me.

“Grace, madam”

“Can you stop calling me madam? It’s a request, please” I begged

“That was what the master requested that we call you. If not….” I didn’t wait for her to complete it before I did.

“Your master would punish you, right?” She shakes her head while smiling lightly at me.

“No, he’ll get mad and you don’t want to see him get mad” She replied.

I ignored her plea to help me in the bath and locked the door before she could enter after me. I took the bath hurriedly not knowing when the dragon will walk in and breathe fire all over me again.

As I ran the sponge down my body, I suddenly remembered what happened last night in the shower. I moved my hand back to my nipple and pinched it, trying to see if my body would react the same way it did when Damon touched it, but it didn’t.

I quickly cautioned myself, came back to my right senses and took a bath. Once I was done, I walked out of the bathroom.

Grace was no longer in the room when I got out. A pale pink dress was already spread out on the bed with a pair of sandals at the edge of the bed.

After I finished dressing, I left my face void of any makeup, despite the number of makeup kits that were left on the dressing table.

Makeup is the least of my concern right now. I need to find Pearl and know that she’s fine. All I know is about myself but I need to know that Pearl is also safe or even more safe than I am.

“Good morning, my child” The old woman from the other night greeted and smiled at me as I walked down the stairs.

“Good morning ma’am” I replied, trying to be polite.

“Call me Ruth, dear and put the courtesy aside” I nodded. “Come into the kitchen” she instructed and I followed her.

As I stepped into the kitchen, I realized other girls were in there as well and yes, the kitchen is almost three times the size of a regular kitchen. This is almost every Chef’s dream.

When I went to culinary school years ago to become a chef, I dreamed of having to cook in a kitchen like this, but after spending one out of the supposed three years, I got bored and went back to college to study Astronomy.

“Don’t drop your jaws on the floor” The woman joked and I smiled.

“The kitchen is massive. I mean, this is amazing” I told her.

“That's what I said when I first saw it too” Grace added. “If I had been a chef, I would’ve paid everything to work in a place like this”

“Let me introduce you to everyone here,” Ruth said, stopping me from looking around and focusing on everyone. That was when I noticed someone had already joined in.

“This is Fiona, that’s Selene, you already know Grace and of course, that’s our chef, Adam. He has been on a trip and he got back last night” She finished introducing them all.

Fiona and Selene are blondes, the pretty ones you’ll see on the runway in America and not as Maid in kitchens here where I find myself living in a mansion with absolute strangers. These people are tall and beautiful

Grace has long shining black hair and her strength of beauty lies in the black scar that’s on her cheek.

Adam looked like a sexy, hot man on the cover of a playboy magazine. His black eyes were what fascinates me about him. He’s tall, almost 6ft and has a broad shoulder. When he smiled, it was as if the whole world stopped for a minute.

I stopped ogling him when I saw his attention fixated on me. He raised an eyebrow and smirked. That made me come back to my senses and shook hands with them and we continued our conversation about the kitchen.

Adam wasn’t saying anything, so I decided to engage him in the conversation.

“So, from a chef’s perspective, what do you think about this kitchen?”

Ruth was about to say something but I watched the three girls suddenly walking away with fear evident on their faces. Ruth’s eyes widened, as she froze in a spot looking right behind me. I noticed the four of them bowing their heads, almost revealing their neck.

When I turned to look in their direction, I froze myself. I wanted to move but my legs weren't working.

“Did I pay each of you to talk to any stranger I bring into my house?” Damon thundered, shaking me right to my bones.

He suddenly turned to face me, I swallowed hard and started walking away from him, in fear of what he was about to do.