6. You’ll Do As I Command
1126 Words
Ambrose
Three days later, I was in my study reviewing battle reports when Naevia appeared in the doorway. She’d regained some strength, though she still looked pale and fragile in a way that made Ashton restless.
“I have my answer,” she said without preamble.
I didn’t look up from the documents in front of me. “Do you?” I asked, signing the file, before adding it to the pile in the corner.
“I’ll be your slave.” Her voice was steady, and she sounded better than she had when I first found her. “In exchange, you help me destroy Elliot and Diane.”
Now I lifted my eyes. She stood straight-backed despite everything, her chin raised in that proud way I remembered. That pride. I had watched it every day for ten years and dreamed, on my worst nights, of being the one to finally break it.
“Destroy them how?” I asked, leaning back against my seat.
“I want them to suffer first.” Her eyes darkened as she spoke, “I want them to lose everything, just like they made me lose everything. I want them to suffer and waste away painfully. And then, death.”
I remained silent for a few seconds, enjoying the way she squirmed the longer the silence lasted. “Revenge is expensive.” I finally said.
“I know.” She stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. “That’s why I’m willing to pay your price.”
“Are you?” I let my gaze travel over her slowly, “Do you even understand what being my slave means?”
Her hands clenched into fists at her sides, but she didn’t back down. “I understand perfectly. You own me. I obey your orders. I do whatever you command.”
“Every single thing I command?” I probed, my fingers tapping a rhythm against the table.
She hesitated for a moment, before nodding carefully. “Every single thing you command.”
Something about her defiance, even in submission, stirred something in my chest and I hummed, pausing my taping against the table. “The girl who used to mock me with her friends is now standing in my study, offering herself to me. To own, to use, to command.” I couldn’t hide the mockery in my tone even if I tried.
Naevia's lips trembled slightly, but her face remained blank. I almost chuckled at the sight.
I reached out and forcibly tilted her face up with two fingers beneath her chin "Tell me something. When you were pushing me into the mud and laughing, did you ever imagine this?"
The flush on her throat deepened. Her jaw had gone tight enough that I could see the muscle working beneath her skin, the sight of it satisfied something deep inside of me.
“Get on your knees Naevia.”
The color drained from her face. For a moment, I thought she’d refuse, thought that pride of hers would win out. But then, slowly, she lowered herself to her knees on the floor of my study.
I looked at her there for a long moment, and something in my chest settled with a quiet, vicious satisfaction that I had been waiting years to feel.
“I received a letter from Elliot yesterday,” I said, watching her closely. “He surrendered and asked for a meeting. Says he wants to negotiate peace terms.”
Her head snapped up. “He’s lying. Elliot would never surrender. It’s a trap.”
“Of course I know that, but Elliot isn’t capable of building a trap that can stop me. Whatever it is that he has planned, I will win.” I stood, walking around the desk leaning in front of it so that I stood directly above her. “Which is why I’m going to RedMoon in two days to meet with him, I need to be there to see my latest conquest anyway.”
“Take me with you.” The words burst out of her immediately, and she crawled towards me.
“No.” My refusal was instant and Naevia’s face fell.
“Please.” She looked up at me, clasping her hands as if in prayer, the desperation in her eyes was raw, and it satisfied me, but Ashton groaned in annoyance.
“I found you dying a few days ago, and you’re not fully recovered, l’m not dragging you hours of journey back so you can die on me. Because what use will a dead slave be to me?” I asked and she took a sharp breath in.
I’ve fully recovered.” I might have lost my wolf, but I gained something else. Healing abilities.” She stretched out her hands in front of her and the light caught onto her smooth, completely healed arm.
She continued, her voice turning cold “Please I beg you, let me come with you. You’ll find me very useful during this trip. Things are not the way they used to be. I know that pack more than anyone else, including Elliot and that fake bitch.” She was breathing heavily when she finished speaking, and the smirk I gave her must have upset her more because she flushed an even deeper shade of red.
I tsked, pushing off the table to return to my seat. “You’re right. You will be useful to me on this trip. I hear the RedMoon is cold this time of the year, and what a perfect way to use my new slave. If you must come, you’ll do so on my terms. You will remain my slave, regardless of what I say to the public.”
Her jaw tightened, but she nodded. “As long as you’ll keep to your word as you’ve promised.”
I smiled.
***
When we arrived at RedMoon the next afternoon, Alpha Elliot and Luna Diane came out to greet us at the pack house entrance.
Elliot’s face darkened instantly the moment his eyes fell on Naevia beside me, his expression shifting to barely controlled rage and I fought the urge to chuckle at the reaction. “How are you here?” he demanded.
I deliberately pulled Naevia closer to me, my arm sliding around her waist possessively.
Whispers erupted immediately from the small crowd that had gathered to welcome us.
I felt her tense against me, felt the tremor that ran through her body, and I tightened my arm around her, pulling her even closer, then I leaned down and pressed a deliberate kiss just behind her ear.
“She’s my slave,” I said, answering for her. “What business do you have with her?”
- Writer
