Begging for survival

Chapter 7 - Natalia

warning , the following might be triggering to some, please be careful.

Max POV

“There is more to that story that only he and I know… but I guess it’s time for someone else to know too, I mean you are as good as a best friend to me, maybe even my only friend considering that you killed my so called friends, so maybe I should tell you” she says dry chuckling.

Okay, I might have killed her friends but they were helping Louis attack and mark Alexandria, even she turned on them.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want, I consider you one of my best friends too, and I’ll support you no matter what” I say looking in her eyes, she needs to know that I mean it.

“I know Max, you are a good guy, I want to tell you so you could help me figure out this s**t I’m in” she says with a sad smile.

“Okay, I’m listening whenever you are ready” i say with a warm smile.

“When I was 13, there was that boy, the beta’s son, he had a crush on me and to be honest I kinda liked him too, I mean he was that 16 years old hot guy who is going to be the next beta of the pack and of all the girls his age, he liked me… I was so stupid” she says shaking her head and looking to the ground.

“No, you were a kid” I say firmly.

“I guess, i mean i looked older than my age, bloomed early like they say…anyway, after a while his crush turned to obsession, he started following me everywhere, he would actually show up in front of my bedroom window late at night to make sure I didn’t sneak out or whatever, he started to creep me out and when I tried to pull back or have some space that’s when the beating started … first, he would harshly grab my arms or slam me against the wall which turned to the occasional slapping… then came the punches and the kicks and that lasted for a year” she says looking into the distance.

“How didn’t anyone notice?” I wonder.

“LJ was careful not to hit my face, it was my only good quality according to him, and I just wore cloth that hides whatever part of me he injured” she says emotionlessly.

“What about your friends or your dad? he must have noticed something was off” i ask not understanding how this went unnoticed.

“I was a loner, didn't have friends really, the perfect prey i guess, and after my mother died when I was a kid, my father was just lost, he didn’t really notice anything around him but the absence of his mate… nobody really noticed me except…Derek” she says and I can hear the crack in her voice as she tries to continue,

“One day at lunch Derek approached me, it was one of the rare occasions I was allowed to be alone because LJ’s father needed him to do something, Derek said that he has been watching me for a while and that he noticed that something was wrong, I acted the same way his mother acted around his father and if I needed help I should tell him”...

“And did you?” I say as I try to get closer to her, I want to hug her, comfort her and I want to kick LJ’s ass.

“No, I was too scared…Derek was still young, only 14 while LJ was 17 by then, he would become the beta of the pack before Derek becomes the alpha and can actually do something about LJ, or so I thought” she says wiping a tear that escaped her eyes.

“What happened next?” I encourage her to continue, I really hope Derek got that creep away from her.

“Apparently someone from LJ's friends told him that I was talking to Derek, although they were more like a gang more than friends, they followed his every word and was scared of him more that they actually liked him... anyways, I had to be punished according to him, so he dragged me to a secluded area in the woods and beat the s**t out of me, 2 broken ribs and a s**t load of cuts and bruises, he was smart not to break anything major that will send me to the hospital, I still hadn’t shift and I couldn’t rapidly heal, he then tied me to a tree and said ‘see if Derek can save you now you little w***e’ and left me to serve the rest of my punishment by being tied to a tree till the morning” she says whipping her silent tears that she can’t control anymore,

“Derek did find me a few hours later and saved me, he got worried when he didn’t see me at dinner and came searching for me, I begged him not to tell anyone and he didn’t, he helped clean me up and made sure I was safe at my home, he even stayed outside my window all night in case LJ came looking for me” she says with a slight smile remembering what Derek did for her, I guess he was the light in all her darkness, I wish I was there for her too.

“Why didn’t you want anyone to find out?”I was curious.

“No one would believe me anyways” she says looking at the ground again.

“But Derek was the future alpha, they would have believed him”...

“Did you meet alpha Louis, Derek’s father? He would have said that Derek is a liar and send him to the hospital again, it was a known fact that he loved the asshole more than his own sons and Derek just got out of the hospital a couple of months before that, I didn’t want him to get hurt because of me” she says looking at me now, so firm in defending Derek.

“Then what happened with LJ?” I ask Natalia .

“Derek made sure to always be around, that I was never alone, he’d even walk me home, it worked for a while, LJ left me alone for few days but I could feel his gaze on me, burning through me from a far” she says playing nervously with the hem of her shirt.

“But it didn’t end there, did it?” I say as a statement more that an actual question.

“No, it didn’t… LJ claimed that Derek did something that I really don’t remember what it was but alpha Louis didn’t need much reason to beat the living hell out of Derek and that exactly what he did, it was all LJ’s plan, to get Derek away so he can get to me and he did” she says looking away.

“He beat you again?” I ask carefully because I have a feeling it's worse.

“I wish… he …he dragged me to that same tree kicking and screaming and tied me up, I waited for the beating to start but instead, he started taking off his cloth, I then knew what was going to happen, I just couldn’t believe it… I started screaming again, tried to get out of the ropes till it started to cut through my skin and he just laughed, he knew no one would hear me and if they did no one will come, no one except Derek and he made sure he is nowhere near” says gripping her shirt even tighter, like she is making sure the shirt stays there, that she is covered as she continue.

“He came closer to me and grabbed my face, ‘you think you can go whoring around with alpha boy when you are mine, I’ll show you who you belong to’ he said and… started to rip my cloth off till there was nothing left, I was bare, all of me... I never been naked in-front of anyone before and I never imagined my first time will be like this… I screamed again, looked around hoping anyone can come and save me, maybe I can still be saved, maybe I’m not that worthless and some will actually come look for me, but no one ever came” she wrapped her arms around herself, and I wanted to wrap my arms around her instead,

“He started touching me in places that I was never touched there before, grabbing and squeezing so painfully… I was screaming while he looked like he enjoyed himself… I’ll never forget the look on his face when I started to beg him to stop, it just excited him more, and that’s when he… when he” she is trying to say it, but the word doesn’t come out.

“Natalia, you don’t have to-” I try to say but she cuts me off.

“NO,no… I need this, I need to let it out, but you have to know… I fought him, I swear I did, I screamed and tried to stop him, I didn’t stop even when I felt the blood from my tied wrists running down my arms or the blood running down my legs, he was just too strong… maybe I should have fought harder”, What, I grab her shoulders, make her look at me and say.

“Of course not, you did fight as much as you could, even If you didn’t fight at all, it was clear that it wasn’t what you wanted, this is not your fault, none of this is your fault Natalia, not from the moment he sat his eyes on you, that is all him and only him, you have to believe that”, and she finally say it, she finally acknowledge that what happened to her was not her doing it was done to her.

“He raped me… he raped me” she says breaking down in tears, I carefully wrap my arms around her and she leans into my chest as she sobs.

“He claimed me as his, like he put it, he was about to mark me too, I felt hopeless, there was no escaping this… and that’s when Derek showed up, with a swollen eye and a broken nose, but that didn’t stop him from ripping LJ of me … I didn’t really know what was happening after that, all I heard is snarls, growls and the sound of bones breaking… Derek then covered me up, untied me and carried me to doctor Mary’s house, she was retired and lived alone, he knew that I didn’t want anyone to know about this too, so she was the right choice, she will keep my secret, she was kind and helped me , I stayed with her for few days until I fully healed...dad thought I was staying with a friend” she says through tears.

“What happened to LJ?” I ask tightening my grip around her.

“He got away from Derek before he could kill him, next day the betas said that he was sent to a special beta training boarding school which was complete bullshit of course, when Derek became alpha they left too, I never saw him again since that day but I always have a feeling that he will come back one day to finish what he started but Derek promised me that day will never come”...

“Well, I promise you too Natalia, if that son of a b***h even thought about coming near you, I’ll shove my silver dagger down his throat before he could take a step in your direction” I promise her and vow to myself that nothing will stop me from doing just that.

“I know you would do that Max, I know you would” she says, her sobs calming a bit now.

“I now understand why you love him that much” I say rubbing her back.

“You know, for a very long time Derek would come by every day to check on me and apologies for being too late to stop LJ like it was his fault, but he is the one who saved me… if LJ got to mark me, it would have been worse, if that’s even possible... maybe he would have gotten carried away and killed me too… if it wasn’t for Derek, LJ would still be a part of my life... Derek is the one who convinced me to be a warrior, he even helped me train at first and was there when I first shifted, he is the only one who noticed me, noticed what was going on, he is my savior, my protector and that’s why I will never stop loving him” .