Chapter 5 5. Aira.

My heart rattled against my ribcage, my body growing deathly still as he pressed his body harder to mine, and a gasp tore from my lips, followed by a whimper as terror filled me.

"I asked you a question... " He growled, his voice filled with so much fury, my bladder threatened to fail me. "Where. Are. You. Going!?" He bit out the words, every syllable filled with rage.

"Nowhere, I swear!" My body trembling. "I thought you were asleep so I wanted to leave you alone." I rushed out, but he turned me around, slamming me against the door, my words cut off as pain shot up my spine. His yellow eyes had ringlets of red and horror filled me. He was truly furious.

"Did I ask you to leave?" He snarled, his hot breath against my skin, and cold sweat broke out of my skin. I shook my head vehemently, my eyes prickling with tears. "I. Prefer. Words." He grated out, the low voice having a chilling undertone.

"No, your majesty! You didn't ask me to leave!! I'm sorry. Please let me go, you're hurting me!" I yelled as his claws dug into my skin, drawing blood. He let out a roar, the sound reverberatting through the chambers, his grip on me growing tighter till I winced, tiny shards of pain going up my arms as something warm trickled down.

"You are not allowed to leave my presence until I give the orders. The next time this repeats itself, you will suffer the consequences. Do you understand!?" He raged and I turned my gaze away, trying my hardest to evade his fury, tears filling my eyes.

"Yes, I do. Please, I'm sorry!" I cried, squirming as I prayed he would let me go. He snarled at me once more, before loosening his grip and I crumbled to the ground, sobs racking my throat. The place where he had gripped me was bleeding and every part of my body was aflame with pain. He muttered something I didn't quite catch as he returned to wherever he was seated, and I was all alone once again.

Despite my tears, I glared at him, feeling something bitter bloom in my the deepest corners of my heart. As the night wore on, I would recognize it to be hatred. I couldn't fall asleep anymore, quietly nursing the wounds I had sustained, sniffling softly.

The Lycan king didn't speak, move or do anything for a long time and as uncomfortable as I was sitting there, I didn't dare move, not wanting to incur his wrath once more. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he finally spoke.

"Get out." Came the low command, still tinged with anger. I immediately shot up to my feet and without another word, opened the door and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind me before taking to my heels like the very devils were after me.

I didn't stop till i was far away from the wing, my breath coming out in ragged gaps, a thin sheet of sweat on my forehead. A few werewolf maids were going about their daily duties and they froze when they saw me, their eyes growing wide like saucers.

"You're alive!?" One of them parroted as I dropped to the ground, my body suddenly growing cold as the rush of adrenaline wore off. The maids continue murmuring amongst themselves while one came towards me, offering to help me up. I hesitated at first, but eventually let her. I leaned against her as she helped me to my feet, my heart still hammering jn my chest.

"Hmm.. You did sustain an injury. Were you trying to escape him?" The maid asked and I glanced at her, a confused expression on my face. She was the same one who had answered my question yesterday. I furrowed my brows and her lips twitched.

"Come, let's get that cleaned up." She said, leading me away from the group of maids to her room. We arrived at the maids quarters and she led me to her small yet clean room which she must share with another maid as there was another bed in the room. Leading me to the bed, she walked towards the bedside table and brought out a clean towel and a bottle.

I watched on as she removed the dress, cleaning off the dried blood from the wound I had sustained and I winced st the sting, tears gathering my eyes. "My name is Helen, in case you're wondering." She said, glancing at me.

"My name is Aira." I answered, my voice wobbly. Thinking for a moment, I added, "Is he always like this? This monstrous?" I whispered as she tended to my injury and she chuckled softly.

"We weren't even expecting you to make it out of his chambers alive at all." She said and my brows shot up to my hair.

"W-what?" I stuttered.

"His majesty hasn't entertained visitors or anyone for that matter for heaven knows how long. I've been working in the castle for years and I barely even see him. The fact that he has you around is surprising to all of us." She deadpanned.

"But why is that?"

"I don't know... " She began, trailing off. "Most of us suspect he's grown weary of the world and wants to get off." She said, a forlorn expression on her face and I did my best to hide the disgust I was feeling. "If I may ask, how did you meet him? The Lycan king I know cannot stand humans let alone have one around him." She said and I flushed at the memory.

"I-i snuck into the Lycan's territory." I started and it was Helen's turn to gasp, her eyes growing wide.

"You mean, you climbed the walls?" She asked and I nodded, feeling my cheeks burn with embarrassment.

"I was running away from the soldiers when I bumped into him. He asked me what I was doing here and I said I just wanted to get medicine for my mother. And I mentioned... I would do anything so he said I should be his slave to which I agreed to." I recounted and Helen's mouth fell open.

"You're his slave!!?" Helen asked shocked.

"Yes. Is that surprising?" I asked, befuddled. He was a powerful yet cruel king. Having slaves should not be new to him.

"Very. If he can't stand humans why would he choose to keep you as a slave?! He's never kept a slave before, much less a human one." She said and the confusion in my heart grew. He's never kept a slave? I never knew that. Eventually, I let out an exasperated breath.

"I don't know but now I regret it. He has no use for me and yet he won't let me go." I sniffed, surprised I was still capable of crying even after all I had been through. "I just want to go home to my mother."

Helen had a sad look on her face as I finished recounting my situation to her. "I'm afraid that's impossible now. Unless, he gives you the order to, which he doubt he will, you are not allowed to leave this premises. Attempting that would you mean you dared to unleash his fury and that would not only spell doom to you, but to your kind and by extension to us as well. As docile as His majesty looks right now, he is a fuse waiting to explode." She warned softly, finishing up with her treatment.

Gathering the materials she used, she straightened to her full height. "My advice to you? Lay low so he forgets about you. He probably was just fascinated. You can have a peaceful life here Aira, or you can decide to raise hell by being disobedient. The choice is yours." She said, walking out of the room and leaving me to my thoughts. So many questions, yet I had no answers for them. The bottomline remained the same, I couldn't go home to my mother.

For the first time since I arrived here, I regretted offering to be his slave. Would I be able to get out of here?