Capture

Neema could not believe what she had just been subjected to, her body was still trembling from the aftermath and her back was damp with perspiration and what she was sure was more blood from her wound. Tears welled in her eyes as she tried to throw the whole ordeal out of her mind but doing so was impossible, even after she had soaked her skin in a hot bath, scrubbed her skin raw and wrapped herself in clothes she could still smell his scent on her skin. Inside her, his touch still lingered on her body like a phantom. It was everywhere, even the very room she stood in smelt like him. She hated it.

Her body reacted to him in the worst way possible, his scent enticed her and opened her to his touch but she felt revolted at the notion of his skin on hers. She hated his sleazy advances and even when she knew that deep down her body cried for his touch and slickened for him, her heart and mind felt absolutely depleted. She could not understand how a race who claimed their superiority over humans could ever condone rape because essentially that was what it was. Sure she may have cried for it towards the end but she had refused him on numerous occasions beforehand and he had refused to listen.

At least for centuries human beings had and would continue to condemn it. Could these wolves not understand that intimacy was about mental and physical willingness? Not just one or the other, but both.

Thinking on the matter only made Neema aware that these wolves were so much worse than humans could eve be. She had been forced to fight the advances of so many males in the underground village but they had understood the word no, once she had said it there had been no forcing, there had been no other acceptable option. It was either acceptance or rejection, of course there had been the occasional male who had blackmailed a woman into marrying or sleeping with him through the withdrawal of food. Some had even gone so far as rape but there was no human culture that permitted and encouraged it and there never would be. Men who raped a woman were often forced from the compound or banned from hunting which was one of the harshest punishments, a man who could not provide was no man at all.

These wolves though, they encouraged rape as if it was a positive aspect of life, what kind of creatures lived for centuries and had seen the evolution of societies in one lifetime but could still not see that rape was a deplorable act no matter how they tried to package it.

It was wrong and they were insane.

Neema paced the fancy floors of her new prison, the Persian carpets were a distasteful reminder that wolves sat in the lap of luxury while humans barely had enough to eat. What kind of world was this? She longed to return to those dark damp walls of her room at her underground village where she had barely any sustenance to survive and the only light she had seen were the occasional flickering of a faulty light or a live fire. She preferred that morbid life to this one because at least then she’d had her family and her freedom.

Now all she had were her thoughts to keep her company.

Throwing the pillows that were placed on the big fluffy bed, Neema continued her mental tirade on how immoral they were, her feet wearing a new route into the carpet. She was so mad, not just at him but at herself as well, how could she have allowed him to plant his child in her womb when her and her sibling’s future was so uncertain? All this time she had looked down on humans who were with wolves and she had just become one.

She knew she was only as good as her competency to give him children and though her body was in no position to carry a child, not with her malnourishment, she was almost 100 percent sure she was pregnant right now. Wolves like him reeked of virility and knowing her luck she would be that 1 percent of the population that got pregnant instantly.

Back home they her mother and father had taught her siblings everything they knew about the old world and how the new world came to be as it was. She came from a long line of scholars who had made sure that they had passed on any information that they had learnt through the years. Her mother had memorised some of these teachings and had begun reciting them to her and her siblings when hey were little but when they reached the age of 10 their father had taken over.

The knowledge given to her by her father ranged from the understanding of how the old world was geographically set out to some of the chemical elements that polluted their air and most importantly all the information they had on wolf society and biology. As a result, Neema knew full and well that human genetics and wolf genetics though compatible, often took a while to procreate. Alphas however had an uncanny ability of impregnating women on the first go and Neema had the misfortune of going a couple of rounds with one, the scar on her neck was a clear reminder of what her future would be.

She would be stuck rearing one of his demonic children whilst her siblings were shipped off somewhere likely to be raised by a human bashing wolf and her equally cruel mate. She would be trapped with a baby that she loved and resented at the same time and a man she would spend every moment of her life plotting to kill.

What kept Neema mad though was her reaction to him, she hadn’t fought him enough. Sure, she had scratched him a bit and even managed to bite him but she had a feeling that it had only excited him more. He had become wild and rough after she bit him, discarding the fact that he was her first and his eyes had completely dilated, his body seemed to enlarge, the throbbing between her legs was a testimony to just how much bigger he had grown.

Neema wished that she had given her virtue to Victus, at least he would have been gentle with her. Maybe Victus wouldn’t have made her feel like her mate did but at least it would have been her choice and in the privacy of their rooms. Plus, she had a soft spot for Victus that transcended the mate bond, anybody who showed her siblings the love and patience of a parent was worth more to her than any bond, especially as it seemed to be one sided, with her mate feeling it more than she did. She felt an irrevocable pull towards him but if she had not been forced to be with him, Neema would have easily been able to ignore him. What a weak bond, marriages in the human world seemed to mean more these days. Humans who married never separated, mainly because the women could not escape but also because they were reluctant to.

Neema would leave him in a heartbeat if only she knew where her siblings were. If this supposed mate of hers wanted to keep her it was in his best interest to return them, the longer he kept them from her the more her resentment grew. It would continue to fester until it grew into an infectious wound that could not be healed a pus and bloody wound in need of amputation. She would cut him off within the blink of an eye. He could prevent this though if he just brought her siblings and told her where the young girl was, she could not forget the young girl. Was it really to much to ask to see their little faces and to know that they were okay, it was the least he could do after violently humiliating her.

“Neema, why do you act this way? Did I not make it good for you little mate?” Khan questioned from the door way, his presence caused the air to crackle with pent up passion and her shoulders to rise in frustration.

“Enjoy it?” She screeched “how could I have enjoyed it when I didn’t even want to be mated to you in the first place! You took my bloody innocence in front of a crowd of beats! My siblings are missing and now I’m probably pregnant with an unwanted baby”

Her tirade had started off strong but towards the end her voice had become a strangled mess, tears were trailing across her chin as she sniffled with hurt.

“I don’t even know your name” she wept. The realisation that her and her family belonged to a man who she didn’t even know, a man who was not even really a man, a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Heaving a deep sigh Khan stepped into the room and brought the crying woman to his chest, her body was tense in his arms but she did not fight. He was sure the mating must have take a lot of energy out of her because he knew his mate would be clawing at his skin otherwise. Since the moment he saw her in line that was all she had done, fought her way through the sentinels, fought her way out of the hospital bed and fought him and his claims. She had fire, fire that would give him great pleasure to tame.

Looking at the dangling chandelier on the ceiling Khan tried to comfort his mate, he understood perfectly how she was feeling. She was not the only one who was initially reluctant to be mated, on the rare occasions that he had thought about his future mate Khan had imagined her to be a wolf.

A few of his kind had enough human genetics in their blood to hold the wolf form and mate with full blooded alphas like him. They were only a small percentage stronger than a human due to the dilution of their genetics and they did not hold any political importance, but he had hoped he would be mated to one of his kind. A she wolf who was part of the new world, one who not only understood the legacy he was born into but appreciated his contribution to the creation of this modern world, a beautiful she-wolf who would be submissive to his will and crave his touch.

He had never been averse to a human but he had never wanted a human who dwindled in the sewers like rats. A human who had accepted their role in wolf society was just as important as any wolf, their commitment to their pack was what made the creation of the new generation, in fact his grandmother had been one of those humans. She had lived in a little house in his great grandfather’s compound and when his grandfather had found her she had jumped at the opportunity at being one of the first human females to breed into the Manasseh blood line. She was a humble human and when she died during child birth his grandfather had refused to take another mate.

Such bonds were admirable, they truly transcended past the bonds of time and were what all wolves hoped for. Khan was not as fortunate as his grandfather, he was instead cursed with a resilient human who was half dead and had up more walls than the ones surrounding this compound. An angry and bitter human for a mate, surely she could see that she was not his ideal mate but either way they were in this situation together now and she would be the mother of his children. Though he didn’t particularly like her, he would rather be killed then to give up his mate, no matter how hard they fought it she was a part of him now and any child she bore him would only strengthen that bond. As much as her fight annoyed him he couldn’t help but praise her strong will, even going so far as to hope his children were as strong as her.

“Stop your worry, your siblings are safe inside the nursery. You may visit them as often as you please but they are to remain there until you are halfway through your pregnancy. I will not risk my pups wellbeing ” soothed Khan.

His hands ran along her back as he nuzzled her neck, he hated his reaction to her but at the same time he craved it.

“I know this is not ideal but this is our reality now” he finalised.

“Wait, wait” Neema mumbled abruptly pushing away from his shoulder. “Did I hear you right? Did you say I “may visit my siblings”? When did I ask for your permission! If you expect me to carry your pup then you had better bloody move them into an adjoining room” she bellowed, her arms flailing around her in her anger.

She was shocked that he would even try to stop her from seeing them, she couldn’t believe it, what kind of person isolated two children from the only family they had left? She was perfectly capable of taking care of the two and still taking care of her body. He had no reason to separate them unless he was trying to enforce his control over her.

“I may visit them he said, they must stay there he said. As if I would listen” she mumbled under her breath.

At his words her pacing had started up again, she had gone from tired and compliant to absolutely livid in 2 seconds flat. The wolf had to be demented if he thought she would listen to a word he said, especially when it was regarding her siblings. A Long string of curse words tumbling from her mouth as she shot glares at him over her shoulder.

Gripping her shoulder mid stride Khan dragged Neema around to face him.

“My name is Khan Manasseh and I am a descendant of the first fathers of the Wolfen brethren, Alpha of the North and I will not have some lowly human defy my words. I understand that you do not understand this world, but here in this region my word is law. So you listen to me when I say that if you wish to ever see your siblings you will treat me and your body accordingly. If not, I will not hesitate to lock you in this room, do not challenge me Neema, I will be pleasant no longer.” Khan huffed out.

He did not want to make an enemy out of his mate but if she continued to provoke him he would have to show her how feral he really could be. Humans often forgot that the wolf and the man were not separate identities. Everything he did was as one. The wolf was him and he was the wolf, one mind but two forms. He knew it was hard for them to comprehend, maybe if she understood she wouldn’t treat him like a mortal. If she understood she would not provoke him like this and would practice more caution. Even now he had the urge to pin her to the wall and force her to submit. He had already demonstrated to her once that he had no reserve to force into submission, he did not shroud from violence. If she continued the small control he held would dissipate, then she would see the real him.

This was why Khan wanted a female wolf, she would know to be submissive in his presence and she would never challenge his commands or wish to strike him. Khan acknowledged though that no she wolf would ever dare to bite him and he quite liked that Neema did.

His mate was wrong for him, but he found that he had already grown attached to her wilful ways, she needed to be tamed but with a few lessons she would soon understand her place. It would not be beside him until she learnt to respect the hierarchy.

“Just get in the bed I am tired and do not have the energy for this” Khan growled out. The hold on his patience was gradually disappearing, anymore and he would surely strangle her, the demented female wasn’t being violent yet but she was wearing a hole into his brand new carpet. All her pacing was driving him mad.

At his words her head shot up her mouth opening as if to rebuke him.

“Do not argue with me woman it is late and my control is about to snap”. His words were clearly full of conviction because Neema closed her mouth and climbed into the bed. Rolling to her side she studied the maroon walls of Khan’s room, the furnishing was very lavish with heavy drapes and customised furniture. She supposed it wasn’t such a bad looking prison, but the pretty walls didn’t deduct from the fact that it was one.

She did not want to lay next to him but she found that she was way too tired to actually put up a fight. The day had been long and emotionally exhausting, she just wanted to sleep so she could put her plan into motion the next day.

Khan climbed into the bed with her, dragging her body towards his bare chest. He swept her hair to one side as his hands slid over waist and around her chest. Pulling her body further into his he gritted his teeth at the heat flowing through his body at her nearness. Nuzzling her neck and licking her mark for reassurance, khan released a sigh as his body relaxed a he began to drift to sleep.

“Tomorrow my siblings are moving next door” She mumbled into his arm before he drifted to sleep.

A smile rose on his face as his eyes shuttered, of course the little witch had to have the last word, it was just so her.