Royal's Belonging

Revisiting Past

Alexei POV

         This might be harder than we thought. We knew Dom and Day might have to make her slip into little space. We knew Nicholai might have to use his powers and read her memories. I just didn’t expect her to panic so quickly.

         “Little one,” she looks up at me, “What can you tell us? Just say what you can.” She told us that she had been there since she was five, they hurt her, and she never wants to go back. I sigh.

         Nic, can you read her?

         No he replied It’s like there is a wall. She is so terrified and un-trusting that she has me blocked from those memories.

         Day, can you do anything to help? Damien has a unique gift where he can sense and influence one’s emotions. It’s why he is such a good daddy to his littles.

         I am, why do you think she hasn’t fully had a panic attack or ran away yet? Day told us, Like Nic said, she has a block, I can feel her emotions but they’re blurry. Fear, anxiety, terror they all feel the same, I can’t distinguish.

         s**t, drop her. She’s going to hate us, but we need to know so we don’t hurt her. What if she has medical conditions we need to know of? What if she has impulses to self-harm?

         Dominic stands up and goes into his bathroom. We can all see Anna watching his every move trying to figure out what he is doing. When he exits with a full syringe, she freaks out. Before anyone can do anything, she is across the room and huddled up into a corner.

         How did she move that quickly? Much less get out of Damien’s arms? I know he was expecting her to fight and wouldn’t have been holding her loosely. I’m broken out of my thoughts by Anna’s crying and thrashing. Nic is kneeling next to her, trying to keep her still without hurting her.

         I sit on her other side to help hold her. I feel her tense before going limp as Dom pushed the needle into the side of her neck.

         “No, no, please no,” She begs quietly, “Please don’t make me go back. I’d rather die. Please, please you can’t…” She trails off as she keeps shaking and sobbing. I look up as Damien walks over.

         “Let’s get her cleaned up and calmed down.” He suggests, “Then Nic can try her memories again and I can keep her calm.” We all agreed to this when we talked last night so I shifted her into my arms and walked into Dominic’s bathroom.

         Day and I spend some time washing her face and calming her down. We can both sense her slipping into her little headspace from the meds we gave her.

         “She feels calmer,” Day announces as we exit the bathroom, “Still afraid and very confused but not terrified.” I set her down on Dominic’s bed as he walks out with a sweatshirt for her to wear as she was shivering.

         She sits huddled up in a ball, her eyes never stop darting between all of us. We share a glance before Dom sits in front of her.

         “Little one?” He coos gently, “Can you look at me?” She does as asked, “Good girl. I know this is weird and you are confused and scared. I promise we will explain when you’re a big girl again. Right now, I need you to be brave for me. I need you to try to relax and trust us. Can you do that?” She nods a little and Nic takes that as his cue to sit behind her.

         He leans back onto the headboard before pulling Anna to rest on him. He slowly moves her hair so he can rest his hand on the side of her neck and face. He doesn’t have to touch someone to read their minds or memories, but it makes it easier, especially if he is going to project what he sees to all of us.

         I take a deep breath as I feel Nic’s mind reach out to mine. Opening my mind to him, I am plunged into Anna’s memories. It seems she is a small child at this time, probably 5 years as she told us earlier. She is in a small, cold cell, curled up in the corner crying. Over the weeks you can see her become more sickly as she is hardly fed. They would occasionally hit or kick her, sometimes until she was unconscious.

         When she looks about 12 or 13 I see her taken out of the cell. I can feel her fear, but nothing prepared me for what the guards would do to her. They called it training, but it was really torture. They tied her up in different ways and cruelly punished her. They beat her, whipped her, stabbed, cut, hit, and kicked her. They used her for their pleasure, but luckily never took her virginity. They did, however, force her to suck them off and pleasure them orally.

         They laughed as she choked on them and struggled to swallow their nastiness. The abuse, malnourishment, and beating only got worse over the years. I could feel all of her pain, terror, and sorrow. I could feel everything she felt as this happened to her.

         It brought me, Alexei Ivanov, the strongest royal vampire, to my knees. I have no idea how she survived this. I looked up as the memories faded. We were all shocked, Day and Dom had tears on their faces. I was shaking, from what emotion I am unsure, but I was entirely overwhelmed.

         “Sleep angel.” Nic compelled Anna. “I couldn’t get her to calm down and she was having an anxiety attack from the memories and me being in her mind for so long.” He explained to us. It was an odd feeling having him in one’s mind, more so the first time. I can’t imagine how it felt for her, being as this was probably one of the first times she was little, not to mention the memories he pulled out.

         I could see that he was stunned by what he pulled from her head. He was holding her tightly to him and rocking her slightly. I am grateful she is a virgin, but horrified by what she went through. I know we all need to process this, but none of us want to be far from her.

         “Dom, go change into pajamas, Day you change too and grab some for Nic on your way back.” I say as I head out to change as well. As much as I don’t want to leave her, jeans are not comfortable sleepwear. I change into a pair or sweats before debating on a shirt. I usually just sleep in my boxers, but I knew this would make Anna uncomfortable and possibly panic.

         I ducked into her room to grab her blanket before entering Dom’s room to see we were all wearing variations of the same outfit. I smiled as I walked over to the bed where Nic was still cuddling our little mate. He wasn’t very good with emotions and I can tell he is still overwhelmed and figuring out what to feel.

         I know Anna wouldn’t love this, but I gently reached up the back of Dom’s sweatshirt she was wearing to take her bra off. I didn’t want her uncomfortable in her sleep, or to have a nightmare and have the bra put too much pressure on the wounds still healing on her back.

         Nudging Nic to the center of the bed, I laid down beside him and Anna who was still nestled on top of him. Dom and Day laid down on either side of me and Nic. We all slowly drifted off into sleep, content to have our mate in bed with us.