The Alpha Prince’s Bullied Mate

I don't care

Lyriq let out another groan as the black whip in his father's hand struck his back. He had just returned home from school, only to be dragged into the dark room where his father usually punished him. Before he could say anything, he was stripped and pushed against the wall with his hands chained, and the beating began.

"Bastard!" his father, the alpha king, screamed as he landed another whip strike on Lyriq's back. "All you do is bring me shame! How could the school just resume, and you're back to bullying someone again?" He hit him again with the whip.

Lyriq didn't utter a word, nor did he make a sound, as he held back the screams that threatened to escape from his throat. His wolf, Aric, screamed loudly in his head, begging to be freed, to take over so he could fight back. But Lyriq knew that by doing so, he would only make matters worse. Putting up with his father's cruel punishment was the best way he could easily get what he wanted.

For as long as Lyriq remembered, his father had always seen him as a bastard. His mother had died shortly after he was born, and he was left in the care of his father, who hated him at first sight. Shortly after his mother's death, his father brought home a woman and a son, introducing them as Lyriq's half-brother and stepmother.

That was when Lyriq's struggles began.

His father hated him because he believed Lyriq was not his son. Even after a DNA test proved Lyriq was indeed his flesh and blood, the name-calling and hate continued. When the abuse first started, Lyriq's sister Anabelle protected him from their father. But when Anabelle turned fifteen, she fell ill and was in a coma for years. Left with no one to protect him, Lyriq had to suffer the abuse alone, not only from his father but also from his stepmother.

"I told you not to do anything stupid when you resume school, but you bullied someone and tried to kill them with your car!" His father stopped hitting him and dropped the whip on the ground. He beckoned to the guard in the room to unchain Lyriq.

When Lyriq was freed from the chain, he fell to the ground groaning in pain.

"This is why your position as the crown prince is a terrible mistake! It should be Rowan who..."

Lyriq suddenly burst into laughter, cutting his father's nagging short. "What are you waiting for?" he asked as he slowly rose from the ground, and then wiped the blood from his lips. "He is your favorite son, so you are free to make him the heir!"

His father growled at him and raised his hand to hit him again, but he stopped and heaved a deep sigh. "You think that I don't want to make him the crown prince? He is a better son than you, and he..."

Lyriq laughed again."And one day he will rule," he finished the sentence. "I have heard you say that to me for years, and I already know what you're going to say!" He staggered as he stood up, gritting his teeth as the pain from the whip hit him hard. It was no ordinary whip, as his father had added silver to weaken him and delay the healing process. Lyriq wasn't surprised, because he knew that if his father had the chance, he would kill him.

"Don't you feel sorry for all your victims? Those whose lives you have destroyed by bullying!"

Lyriq scoffed as he picked up his school shirt from the ground. He wore it, wincing in pain as the clothes clung to his wounded back. “I don't care about the victims! They deserve it, and..."

His father grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "You godforsaken bastard! I should have killed you when your w***e mother gave birth to you..."

Lyriq smiled at his father. "Then we wouldn't be having this conversation!" He yelled back at his father. "Yes, I bullied those kids because they are nothing, and they all deserve to die!" He laughed like a maniac. "I will kill them all if I have to, because I am the crown prince, and they are just ants for me to step on and..." His father landed a punch on his face.

"Having you grow up this way was a mistake, and I promise you, Lyriq, that I will change the heir position and forsake the old rules where the first son has to rule!"

"Good for you," Lyriq spat out the blood in his mouth from the punch and walked to where his bag was. He picked it up and then headed towards the door, but his father's guard blocked him. "Is there anything else you want me to do for you, Your Highness?" He lowered his head.

His father dismissed the guard with his hand, and the door opened up for Lyriq. But before he stepped out, his father said something that made him stop walking.

"How do you think your sister will feel once she wakes up and sees what you have become? Or when you finally find your mate and..."

Lyriq cut him off and turned around to face him with a frown on his face. "Don't preach to me, Father! You don't care about Anabelle or what she's going through, and my mate is not your concern because you failed to protect yours!" He yelled and walked out of the room.

He clenched his fist as he walked down the hallway of the huge mansion of the royal family.

Lyriq hated his position as the crown prince because of the way everyone in school looked up to him like he was some god, and how everyone feared him.

"Son!" A soft voice called from the hallway, and without raising his head, Lyriq already knew who it was. The pretentious Luna Queen and his stepmother, Elegance. "I heard you have returned and was suddenly dragged into the black room by your father. Are you alright?" She asked as she reached his front. "I already told your father to stop hitting you, but he wouldn't listen, and..."

Lyriq didn't remember the last time he had joined the family dinner as he always ate alone in his room.

"When I heard of your arrival, I sent a maid to your room to prepare your bath so you can wash off the blood and sweat. There is..."

"Are you done?" Lyriq asked, and before she could respond, he walked past her and didn't bother to turn back because he knew that she was laughing at him like she usually did. She never truly cared and only pretended to keep up with the good queen attitude.

When he got to his room, he noticed that his bathroom door was open, and the bathtub was already prepared for him. He ripped off his shirt from his body and threw it on the ground. It must have been the hundredth school shirt he ripped off since he had tons of them.

He stripped down and headed into the bathroom.

Lyriq stood in front of the mirror as he stared at the wounds on his back. His fingers trailing the zigzag line on his back. It was swollen and reddish and wasn't healing. The whip mark was not the only thing on his back. There were scars from the previous beating and since they were laced with silver, it was hard to heal permanently and remained on his back a reminder of the abuse he had passed through at the hands of his father.

"When are you going to fight for yourself?" His wolf, Aric, asked him. "If I take over your body, I can stand against him and..."

"Aric, we agreed not to do any of that for Anabelle's sake." Of course, everything he was putting up with was because of his sister. Who knew what they could do to her if he decided to rebel

"Once Anabelle is fine, everything will go back to being normal." He sat down in the bathtub and groaned as the warm water touched his wounded back.

"That's what you said five years ago, and it's still happening," Aric sighed. "I won't say anything else, but if this continues, I will be forced to take over!" Lyriq closed his eyes, heaved a deep sigh, but said nothing. He knew how his wolf wanted to attack his father, but for Anabelle, he had to keep him under control.

"We met our mate today, but you ignored her. Why?" Aric started another conversation, which made Lyriq groan. He had been struggling all day to keep the thought of his mate and the new girl out of his head.

"She seems like a good person, and..."

Lyriq growled. "I don't want to say anything about her. Thinking about her would only strengthen our bond, and that would mean revealing her identity to the world. You know what Elegance or my father would do to her once they find out who she truly is."

Aric growled back at him. "So you're going to pretend not to care and watch how she's getting bullied by everyone."

"It's only the first day, Aric," Lyriq groaned. "If she can't survive that school, what makes you think she'll survive being mated to someone like me?"

"Whatever you say, but she's our mate, and it's our duty to protect her and..." Lyriq cut off the communication between them before Aric could finish.

When he returned to his room, it was almost midnight. He didn't know how long he had been in the bath because he had fallen asleep.

The first thing he noticed in the room was the tray on his table. He walked to the table and stared at the plates covered with food and didn't bother to open them because he wasn't hungry. Beside the plates was a small bottle and a yellow paper attached to it.

"I heard Father hit you again. I'm sorry, take care." Rowan.

Lyriq picked up the bottle and angrily threw it against the wall. It shattered into pieces on the wall and floor of his room. “That pretender,” he yelled and walked over the shards of glass on the ground with a straight face towards his bed. As he lay down, he groaned and turned to the other side thinking about someone.

Rowan.

His half-brother and the one who was responsible for the struggles in his life. If there was one person he hated the most, other than his father, it was Rowan.