The Princess' Mark

CHAPTER TWO: No Safety, Only Suspicion

I was trapped again.

Not in Luca’s grasp. But this was no different.

My throat was dry, my wrists and ankles bound like a common prisoner. There was blood matted on my face with bruises. I knew I had only been here for a day at most, but it already felt as if I had been here an entire lifetime.

My body hung. The only thing keeping me upright was the chains that were attached to the wall. The weight of the chains dug into my skin, a cruel reminder that I wasn’t safe here either.

“Kill me already,” I yelled with the last bit of strength I had. “I am tired of living like this.”

Footsteps echoed down the hallway before my door creaked open again.

A guy with silver hair entered the room. His face held no emotions but when his eyes landed on me, his face fell.

“Damn, you look terrible,” he said in a playful tone.

I merely managed a smile at him.

“Tell me about it.”

He walked over and untied me, gently holding me as he lowered me down to the ground. He pulled out a handkerchief and began wiping away the blood from my face.

“Sorry about this,” he said softly. “I don’t think you are a threat that needs to be treated like a prisoner.”

“Thanks,” I breathed, not having enough strength to move away from him.

“Quinn,” he added.”

I looked at his hazel eyes, which were brimming with sadness. He was strong, that was for sure, and he seemed like someone who was just as important as the Alpha.

“Kyla.”

Quinn beamed, “Nice to meet you Kyla.”

“I wish I could say the same.”

Quinn laughed, a whole belly laugh which made me smile, actually smile for the first time in a long while.

“Well Kyla, Rome will be here again for answers, and please just tell him what he wants to know,” he said.

“Who is Rome?”

Quinn rolled his eyes, “Sorry, I mean the Alpha. I forgot that not everyone knows him on a personal level like I do.”

“Oh.”

“Tell him what he wants to know, and he will let you go,” Quinn added. “He isn’t such a bad guy, you know, he does what he does for the pack.”

“I know.”

I tried to push myself to sit on my own but failed miserably. Quinn held me and moved me to the wall.

“Relax baby girl, I got you,” he winked.

It did something to me, but I brushed it off. I wasn’t sure what game he was playing. Was he doing all this just to get me to tell him the truth or was he being genuine? I had no idea and had no plans of finding out.

Quinn opened his mouth to say something when the door swung open and the Alpha— Rome entered.

The room fell silent as Rome’s eyes landed on me and Quinn, who were leaning against the wall, our shoulders touching.

“Leave,” Rome barked, his eyes narrowed into thin slits.

Quinn shrugged, “No can do, man. I don’t want you doing anything stupid, so I’ll be here for the entire time,” he threw him a knowing look but didn’t move.

Rome growled, low, but it was loud enough to get the message heard. But Quinn still didn’t move.

“I said I am not going anywhere, you can try all you want, but I am staying right here with Kyla.”

Confusion flashed across Rome’s face. “Who the hell is Kyla?”

Quinn beamed, “Oh shoot, she didn’t tell you her name? I guess that tells you everything that you need to know, doesn’t it?” he said, a smug smile toying on his lips.

“f*****g hell is going on here?”

I swallowed, “I will answer your questions as best as I can,” I said, making them both acknowledge me as their eyes turned to me.

“I promise.”

“You had better because I want to know everything about Luca and Nightclaw,” Rome boomed.

Quinn held my hand and squeezed it in a reassuring way, letting me know he was there for me.

I nodded, finally coming to terms that I was going to tell Rome everything I knew about Luca, everything that could get him off my back and make Luca leave me alone.

“I was Luca’s prisoner for what felt like most of my life,” I began, pushing away the tears that formed and the lump that was now in my throat. “At first he was very nice to me, and we actually dated for a while until our parents died. He changed. At first, I thought it was only because he now had to step into the role of being Alpha, but he started treating me differently after his 18th birthday.”

Rome was silent, listening and watching me at the time. I looked away from him and stared at the wall in front of me, remembering how everything had changed.

“I was practically his prisoner. I wasn’t allowed to leave his house or go anywhere without someone following me. Heck, I couldn’t even go to the library without someone shadowing me and, to make it worse, he started seeing someone else but wouldn’t break up with me.”

I felt the tears rolling down my face, but I didn’t have the strength to wipe them away. I let them flow.

“I would sometimes find myself hearing his thoughts and thinking I was going crazy or something, but then I found myself hearing more thoughts when I turned 18, and it was so much to bear. "I wasn’t sure whether I could trust Luca with such information or whether I should just keep it to myself, so I did what any 18-year-old girl would do: I kept it to myself.”

Quinn squeezed my hand a little tighter, reminding me that I wasn’t alone.

“Do we really want her to keep going?” Quinn turned to Rome, shooting a look.

Rome sighed, “I want to know more, to know whether she needs our protection or simply trying to get my sympathy so she can go back and tell Luca everything about us,” he said.

For the first time since I met him, his voice sounded unsure.

“Clearly she needs our protection, or was I the only one listening to what she was saying?” Quinn threw his hands up in exasperation. “You can’t be that cold-hearted.”

Rome ran his fingers through his hair.

“I need to think about it,” was all he said before he slipped out of the door quietly, leaving nothing more than just a scent behind.

Quinn got up and dusted himself. “Let me talk to him and see if we can offer you some sanctuary for the time being whilst we sort some things out,” he shot me a sad look. “I’ll be back to check on you later.”