Royal's Belonging

Magic Iron

Nicholai POV

         I was curious to see how she reacted when she learned more about us. Specifically our lifestyle choices. I know that some are appalled or disdainful towards b**m and all it entails, but that is only because they do not fully understand it. I can only hope that our little Anna will learn to trust us and accept the lifestyle she has been brought into.

         I stayed still against the wall as we all explained briefly about our powers and personal lifestyles tastes. I could see the fear on her face when I told her of my preferences. I didn’t want her to be too afraid, so I peeked into her head to see what she was thinking.

         She was remembering what her life as a slave was like and terrified of what I meant. She thought I was going to treat her how she used to be treated. Beaten, starved, and punished simply for existing. I retreated from her mind quickly, afraid my anger would start to show. I may be a cold hearted d**k, but she was mine. I would never hurt her for doing nothing wrong.

         I was brought out of my thoughts when I realized Alexei was trying to see how she felt about all we had told her.

         “Uhm.. It sounds ok? I don’t really like the whole slave thing, you know my past and what it was like for me as a slave…” She trailed nervously. I watched as she glanced at me trying to judge if I was upset or offended by what she had just admitted. If anything I was proud of her telling us that.

         Without thinking, I walked over and knelt before her. She was staring at her lap again so I carefully reached out and held her cheeks in my palms.

         “Kitten, it won’t be like that. Yes, you will be disciplined and or punished but only after a warning and you will always have aftercare. I will bath you, treat any wound, snuggle with you. I will make sure you are ok. I will earn and keep your trust. I am a hard and sometimes cruel master, but you are mine, ours, we will take care of you and keep you safe. I know this is scary, and it will be nearly impossible to fully gain your trust, but we will however we need to go about earning it. You are ours and we are yours.”

         I could see the tears gathering in her eyes as she remained frozen in place. She suddenly threw herself in my arms and I barley caught myself from falling backwards. She fisted her hands in my shirt as she began crying. I became worried that I said something wrong so once again I looked in her head.

         Is this real? Will they really care for me? I want to trust them but I am so so scared to. What if I mess up? What if I am not good enough or they find someone better than me? Will being Nicholai’s slave really be different? What if I hate it, or like it? Uhg, my head hurts and I’m so scared and confused….”

         I pulled out of her mind, reassured that she was simply trying to process everything and nothing was overtly wrong to cause her to cry. With her still firmly cradled to my chest, I shifted us so that I was sitting on the couch facing my brothers.

         We sat there silently as our little one’s crying slowly faded. I glanced down to see that she was sound asleep, cuddled into my chest and neck. I couldn’t help my smile at how adorable and precious she was completely relaxed in my arms.

         “Wow,” Dom said staring at us. “I have never heard you talk like that before. I’m kinda shocked you said that to her.”

         “She was going to panic,” I responded nonchalantly. “She was spiraling into what her past was like. I may not completely trust or love her yet but I feel the need to protect her, same as you guys. I am not bonded to her, but I want her nonetheless.”

         “Do you realize how hard it is gonna be to gain and keep her trust?” Alexei pointed out, “Especially with how, temperamental, you can sometimes be. She is going to annoy and anger you, she will disappoint you and mess up. Every time you react negatively, she will panic and you’ll have to start again with earning her trust.”

         “I guess I will simply have to make her depend on us,” I smirked back. “We will bring her to her knees, make her break, sob, panic, and want to die. We will piece her back together and prove we won’t be leaving anytime soon. It will be horrible, hurt all of us, but what if she never comes to depend on us? Our enemies will use her against us if she doesn’t listen to us when the time comes. She may not like or trust us personally, but she will learn to depend and listen to us. It could save her life in the future. I know it will help when she eventually has to be turned and learn to exist as one of us.”

         I could see them all mind link each other, and I gave them the privacy to do so even though I could simply let myself into the conversation. They continued in silence for several minutes before looking back at me and Anastasia.

         “It is agreed,” Alec sighed. “As much as we might not like it, you’re right. We need to have a clean slate to bond with her and she simply can not do so as she is. For her safety we need to mark and mate her so she can be turned. We will never be able to safely turn her if she can’t depend on and listen to what we tell her. Until then, only our most trusted friends and guards can know about her.”

         I smirked in triumph before standing with little Anna.

         “I see no reason to wait.” With that I headed toward our dungeon, not the one with all of the royal prisoners, but our private one that we reserve for our personal matters. When I reached the cells, I set her on the cold, concrete floor and reached for the chain embedded in the wall.

         Now, being vampires, of course it isn’t a regular chain, the iron was enchanted by witches to burn a vampires skin and be completely unbreakable. Now, it didn’t burn enough to maim or permanently mark a vampire, but enough to be painful at every movement. With Anna being human, it would simply add to the discomfort but not actually hurt her.

         That is why I was startled at her pained cry as I fastened the collar around her neck. I assumed it was a cry of fear and confusion rather than pain. I placed my hands on either side of her face and focused my powers. I could slowly feel her senses of sight and sound being blocked. It broke me to have to hear her cries of fear, but this was for her good. Without the ability to see, hear, or move more than a few feet she is forced to depend on us for sustenance.

         “You will remain here,” I said into her mind coldly. “You will depend on us, respect us, fear our wrath, and learn to trust us completely before you will be released. If this doesn’t break you, we will find some other way to bring you to your knees. To force you to depend on and trust us completely.”

         I turned and exited the dungeons before she could even respond. I heard her sobs as I finally exited the dungeon. I met my brothers in the same positions they were in when I left.

         “She is already terrified,” I consoled. “This is not forever, it should take hardly any time at all. We will soon have her back in our arms. I doubt it will take long before she is ready to listen to what we say and depend on us. After that we will figure out the trust issues.”