Winter's Knight

Chapter Five: Rebellion and Revelations

TRIGGER WARNING" THIS CHAPTER MENTIONS RAPE

I laid out on the beach in front of our manor enjoying the sun as Leo laid next to me. My tail thumped in the sand and I looked at him. "Why are you staring at me again?" I asked while swatting gently at his face. He smiled and looked out over the water. "What do you think about kids?" I sat up and tucked my tail underneath me. The bells on my bikini jingled as I moved. "I want them, but with Rio trying to get me back and your ex fiancé skulking around, it's not safe to have them just yet." I said with a mournful tone. "As long as you want them. Family is very important to me." I smiled. "Your such a sensitive male." "I only became that way having you around. If you had met me sooner, you would've seen I was course and cruel." His phone rang and he answered with a scowl. "You better have a good f*****g reason to call me right now." He looked at me with an angry expression and headed down the beach. When he came back, he pulled me up. "Natalia's family has declared war on my family until I agree to marry her." "Do they know that we're married." I asked worried. "Yes." He pulled me into the house and laid us on the bed. "I just want to enjoy some peace and quiet with you." He pulled me close to his chest. "We're going to have another sit down with them when we get back." I rolled my eyes and sighed dramatically. That female was getting on my last nerve. "I'm staying in panther form." He chuckled softly and nuzzled his face into my neck. "That's fine by me." We enjoyed our honeymoon to the fullest but knew we needed to be prepared for what awaited us. When we returned our servants greeted us joyfully. "Did you enjoy your vacation my lady? What about you my lord?" I smiled and nodded while he waved them away. "Any calls or visitors?" That got them. The faces of two of them shifted to unease. "What?" Sherrie, the youngest, smoothed her apron and averted her gaze. "A mister Rio keeps calling. He demands my lady return or..." We both growled. "Or what?" "Or he will kill Spring." My blood ran cold at the mention of my little sister's name. The baby my mom had managed to hide, with my help. I roared and launched my fist through the wall. My panther demanded to be let loose and to tear the males throat out. "Wait a minute, who's Spring." Leo asked confused and rightfully so. "My little sister." "So she's Spring and your Winter?" He asked. "My mom was an elf remember?" He nodded his head in agreement. "I just don't know how he found out about her." I paced and bit my bottom lip. "We'll worry about that later." He sighed and grabbed the keys to my Corvette. "Let's go." "We're about to go get her aren't we?" "Yup." We made our way to the garage and got in, heading for the outskirts of the city. I grabbed my phone and made the one call I never wanted to make. "My my my, I never thought I'd get the call." "Move her to a safe spot. We're coming to get her." "Will do boss." "Don't f**k with me right now Cyrunia. Rio knows about her and he's coming for her." The phone went silent and I heard a low growl. "He'll never get her. Don't worry Winter. I'll kill anyone who tries to touch her." I hung up the phone and bit my lip. He wasn't going to let up. It wasn't enough that he let mom be killed but now he was going to kill Spring. Bastard. We finally arrived at the house and I barreled through the front door. But when I did, my vision went black and I collapsed. All I could hear was the sound of a weird sounding shriek followed by a lions roar. Leo. After that, I heard nothing. Hours later, I slowly woke with a heavy feeling. I went to rub my eyes when the sound of metal on concrete sounded in my ears. A sound I knew all too well. My eyes shot open and I realized I was in a windowless basement in the middle of the floor with my legs spread and chained as well as my arms. I panicked and jerked at my chains. "So much for your little rebellion." Rio scoffed as he entered the room. "Rio you son of a b***h!" A hard slap came next. I laughed and spat. "Do your worst. Centaurs, Minotaurs, bring it on." He grit his teeth and scowled. "What did he do to you. He's ruined you. You'll have to be completely reconditioned." I laid back and spread my self wide. "Like I said. Bring it on. I'll show them what a panther in heat is capable of." I said hatefully. "This isn't you Winter! Listen to yourself. All you have to do is be my sweet little girl again." I laughed again. "Oh dear father. I was never your sweet little girl. The day you watched your own mate be r***d to death for hiding your children was the day you were no longer my father." He snapped and began beating me. "You think I wanted to watch that!? You think I didn't want to save her and take you away from here!?" He finally calmed down and pulled himself up. I laid there bleeding and bruised. "Then why beat me? Why beat the child that looks the most like her. Elliana would be so disappointed in you." I purred. The more rilled up he got the more careless he was. I needed to bleed. "You don't say her name." "You still hear her screams don't you father. The look in her eyes as she pleaded with you to stop the attack on her. She hadn't frozen yet. She was still mortal." "SHUT UP!!!!!" He paced the room as I lay there. "He's coming you know. And so is SHE." He stopped and glared at me. "Cyrunia can't find this place. Ever." "Not unless a certain sorceress placed a tracing spell on me that can't be cloaked." His eyes widened in horror at the sudden realization on just how f****d they were. He bolted up stairs and shouted orders at the men and they started panicking. They knew they couldn't kill the girls. They were the only chance they had of getting out alive. But once Leo sees me covered in blood, he'll kill them all. My sweet loving mate. I closed my sore eyes for a few moments when the power cut out and gun shots fired. People were screaming and a few feminine screams followed. "Where the f**k is she!" Oh Cyrunia. That girl loved to make an entrance. Someone pounded their way down the stairs and I could smell it was my husband. "That male is dead. Did he?" He asked in a panic. "No. He would never." "Winter he beat you." "He's my father. Beat me yes, f**k me, no." "Christ." He broke the chains and lifted me into his arms. He carried me upstairs and out of the back door to avoid the bullets. His parents were waiting for us. "This is what that stupid cunt caused. If you ever tell me to marry her again, I'll kill you both. Parents or not." He gently set me in the car and kissed my head. "Natasha is a fine young woman, she would never." His father snorted in protest. "Father look around you! Unless it was you who told that prick where to find her! Is being pureblood so important that you would allow my wife and the mother of your grandchild, My gods damned heir, to be killed by her own father!" He screamed in his fathers face. "Honey please calm down. We just want what's best for you." "By trying to make me marry someone I don't love and hate more than the male who savagely beat my female!?" Both his mother and father looked away ashamed. "We didn't have anything to do with this. And we'll tell their family that if it's a war they want, it's a war they'll get." He seemed satisfied with that answer. "I'm taking her to the family mansion. My manor has been compromised." He huffed out a breathe. We all loaded up the cars and headed towards the family house. Once there, I showered off my blood and look in the mirror. Some minor bruises, but the cuts were gone now. I dressed in a sun dress and headed down the stairs to the living room. Everyone was talking in hushed tones and stopped when I walked in. "What?" Leo smiled and hugged me. "A guest has arrived to see you." I raised an eyebrow and turned to see my sister running full speed at me. "Winter!" "Spring!" We hugged each other tightly and cried. I finally got to hold my baby sister. "They told you about me?" I asked with tears streaming down my face. "Uh huh. They told me I had a big sister who helped momma hide me." I rubbed her cheeks with my thumbs. "Is this my new brother in law?" "Yes, this is Leo Jakoby." She smiled and hugged everyone. Thankfully the next few weeks were uneventful as we stayed with his parents. I taught Spring how to shift and hear the earth around her. I told her about mom and how she was kind and selfless. We even planted some flowers in the garden in her honor. I scolded Leo for telling his parents I was pregnant, which wasn't true. After we told them the truth, they seemed disappointed. "Well hop to it and make me grandchildren." His mother demanded. She was coming around while his father was still warming up to me. He adored Spring though. That was nice. I was just glad things had settled down. Natasha has cut her s**t and was keeping quiet, her family had backed down. They recognized my marriage to Leo and were looking into finding her a suitable husband. I laid in bed the next night gazing at Leo as he held my hand over his chest. I started to think that maybe I wouldn't mind having children right now. I'd discuss it with him in the morning. I drifted off to sleep happy and content to the sound of his heart beating. Tomorrow was a new day and we would start fresh again.