Fangs and Skin
973 Words
Luca
"What, too stunned to speak?" My dad asked, giving a big belly laugh.
Rhiannon pursed her perfect lips. "Kind of disappointed, actually. You're not the first freak to want to mark me for the throne."
I snapped my eyes back to my dad. Of course. I was an i***t for not seeing it sooner. He wanted the throne. Rhiannon was the sole heir. Her mate would ascend the throne. Her mate would be the next Alpha King. That was the law. My dad thought that by forcing her--and impregnating her for good measure--
Goddess, what a jackass. Alaric snarled. You must stop him!
Not only would my dad make the worst Alpha King in history, but the thought of him touching Rhiannon made my skin crawl.
She is ours! Alaric added, and I could feel him bowing up and wanting to front. I had to force him back down. This wasn't the time.
Time was no longer on my side.
Rhiannon's comment had made my father angry.
His black eyes glinted steel. "I assure you, you little b***h, that I will be the one to succeed."
Rhiannon shrugged. "Think what you want. But you can't take the throne by marking me."
My dad leaned back in his chair, chuckling again. "That's exactly how to take the throne, or have you forgotten the law?"
"I haven't forgotten anything." Rhiannon was doing a remarkable job at remaining calm. I was starting to admire her, even if her defiance was going to get both of us killed. "In fact, I clearly remember the day my parents enlisted the help of a faerie queen to ensure no one could mark me by force."
My dad snarled, rising to his feet again. "You're bluffing."
Rhiannon shrugged again, and that was the last straw for my dad.
He lunged at her, his wolf's orange eyes flashing as his fangs elongated.
Get to her, Alaric demanded, but I wasn't fast enough. I had barely taken a step forward before my dad sank his teeth into my mates neck.
~o0o~
Rhiannon
I knew Bane couldn't mark me, but I didn't know his attempt would f*****g hurt.
His teeth latched onto my neck and he lapped at my blood, drinking some and then healing the wound. He pulled back, triumphant, only for his smile to fade as he saw the mark on my skin slowly vanish.
He was holding me tight against him and there was no way I could fight him off, so he tried again, biting deeper--which, like ow--but again as soon as he pulled back the mark disappeared completely.
His hand, claws half extended, wrapped around my throat. "What is the meaning of this?" he growled, but I couldn't answer him. Black and blue spots swirled like fireworks in my vision as I slowly stopped getting oxygen to my brain. He just kept squeezing tighter. My lungs were burning, my throat felt crushed, my hearing dampened.
"Father," my mate finally spoke up, just as I was on the edge of consciousness. "She can't answer you if she can't breathe." He said it wryly, almost like it was a joke, and I felt more fury burn in me towards him than I'd yet to feel towards his father.
My mate was supposed to protect me, help me, build a life with me and also, importantly, be a f*****g king. How could the goddess want that man as the next Alpha King? He just made a dry joke as his father squeezed the life out of me.
Alpha Bane, seeing the reason in his son's words, I guess, threw me to the floor and sent a kick to my ribs for good measure. I hoped my bastard mate felt pain from that one too.
"Spit it out, b***h!" Alpha Bane sent another errant kick my way. "What's happening?"
I coughed and slowly sat up before answering. He may be more physically powerful but if he wants information out of me, I'm going to make him wait for it. It was pretty much the only advantage I had.
"As I said," I glared up at him. "My parents knew people would want to mark me by force so they made a deal with a faerie queen. No one can mark me until my official wedding ceremony in front of the faerie queen who cast the spell. Any other mark, whether I want it or not, will not stick to me." I glanced from him to my mate. "So neither of you get any ideas."
Bane didn't seem to notice that I'd addressed his son as well. His son noticed though, and I thought I saw his wolf in his eyes briefly. I wondered if his wolf was as much of a jackass as he was.
"This changes nothing," Bane snarled. "You will agree to marry me. I'll drag you to that wretched faerie queen and make her marry us. In the meantime," his snarl turned to a smirk, "You can have my pups. The throne will need an heir after me, after all."
I swallowed, trying to remain in control. I had no defense against impregnation. No defense against what he wanted. I could ensure he was never Alpha King, but I couldn't ensure my own safety, not in a place like this.
I felt Keia try to reach out to me, something about my mate. I was happy to sense her again, but I didn't care one iota about my mate. I'd have to get out of here myself because clearly he wanted to wait too long to "save me."
He was probably just teasing me when he said he would save me. A cruel joke on his pathetic captive mate. Fury welled in me again.
I was going to save my own damn self, screw him!
- Writer
