Chapter 5: let me go

Kai paced the floors of his room, running his hands through his hair. The feeling of restlessness in his body was further amplified by his wolf silently judging him. As much as he wanted to ignore it, the mate bond was sparking a fiery pain in his chest for hurting his mate.

"You don't get to judge me!" He roared.

His wolf kept quiet, not saying anything. But he could feel the silent judgment it shot at him.

Kai refuses to believe that that girl wasn't like her father. She looked exactly like the man. She has his blood in her veins. The apple didn't always fall far from the tree.

Yet he couldn't deny the stinging pain in his chest. He never believed in the mating bond or fated mates. He never wanted one in the first place, much less now his fated mate was the daughter of his mortal enemy.

Kai paced the floors restlessly, his heart thumping in his chest. It hadn't even been ten minutes he got back from the dungeon, and all he wanted to do was to go back and pull her out of it.

"I'm not doing that." He said out loud shaking his head wildly. "She deserves to suffer."

The silent judging look he got from his wolf was getting seriously annoying.

Kai found himself heading out of his room and making a beeline for the dungeons. He would just check, check and see that she was still breathing and not yet dead. He didn't want her dead yet anyway, he still had so much in-store for her.

As Kai approached the dungeon, he could hear the sounds of beating. He rolled his eyes, wondering who had been so unlucky to incur the wrath of the guards. He got closer to Karen's cell, and suddenly his wolf became on edge, growling in anger.

She was the one who had been unlucky enough to incur the wrath. Kai felt an anger fill him inside as he saw the scene in front of him.

She was laid out on the floor, bloodied up and lifeless. Three guards rained blows on her, laughing and mocking her as they did.

His wolf went on a rampage inside him. Kai felt the sudden violent urge to tear those men apart. He quickly calmed himself down, reminding himself just who this girl was.

"Damn mating bond." He hissed under his breath in disgust.

The guards stopped and went on their knees. "Alpha," They said in unison.

"Who gave you the order to touch that girl?" Kai asked, his imposing alpha aura rolling off his body in waves. The guards quivered in fear, lowering their heads to avoid looking at him.

"We..." One of them started to say.

"Silence!" Kai roared, glaring at the guards. "I simply told you to watch her! What if you kill her before I'm done with her?! How will you atone for that?!"

"We're sorry, alpha,"

Kai sighed and rubbed his temples. He mind linked with his beta, Nicolas. 'Come down to the dungeon's immediately.'

'Yes alpha.' Nicolas replied instantly.

A minute later Nicolas appeared in the dungeons. He looked at Kai, then he surveyed the dungeon. He picked up the girl without words. Her arm fell limply, if not for his honed hearing, Kai would have thought she was dead. Nicolas headed out of the dungeons. Kai turned and looked at the guards who still had their heads bowed. His wolf threatened to be set free and destroy them.

Kai decided he had to do something. About their clear breech of power, and about the stupid mating bond.

He turned and left without words.

'Alpha,' Nicolas spoke through the mind link. 'Shall I send for a healer?'

'Yes.' Kia said after moments of thought. He arrived at the room where Karen was laid, unconscious and barely breathing. The room was plain and simple, with just a bed and a desk. And on the bed was Karen's lifeless form. Her face was mostly untouched, but her torn gown was bloodstained.

Nicolas returned with a healer, a middle aged woman. The healer bowed and acknowledged her alpha. She wordlessly went over to Karen and began examining her wounds.

'Are you happy now?! Do you see the state our mate is in because of you?!' Kai heard the deep voice of his wolf thunder. His wolf rarely ever spoke, opting to communicate with his eyes.

'She is not our mate.' Kai snapped back. 'You need to control yourself.'

'Control?' His wolf said. 'When it comes to our mate, you think control exists? How can you stand by and just watch her suffer at the hands of those low lives?'

'Im still going to have my revenge on her.' Kai said with a note of finality. 'This is nothing compared to what is coming to her. You had better started healing.'

His wolf glared at him. 'Do not hurt our mate anymore.'

Kai chose to ignore him. He had to get rid of this pesky bond, and fast.

The healer turned to Kai. "Alpha," She called quietly.

"Yes?" Kai replied,

"I need to examine her entire body. If you would like to stay by her side and...."

"No." Kai said, already turning to leave. "Let's go Nicolas."

"Yes alpha." Nicolas said and followed him out.

Outside the room, Kai didn't miss how Nicolas was looking at him.

"Spit it out." He snapped.

Nicolas raised a dark brow. "Did you order them to beat her up?"

"No." Kai said. "And for that they will pay."

"What should I do?"

Kai turned and looked at Nicolas. Both of them grew up together, suffering the same fate at Karen's father's hand. Both lost their families and were tortured for years. Neither of them spoke about it anymore, but Kai thought to himself that Nicolas didn't bear the animosity towards Karen as he had expected. Now Nicolas was his beta, and they weren't as close as they used to be.

"Have some warriors take care of them." Kai said.

'That's much better.' His wolf said with a pleased tone.

Nicolas nodded. "Yes, alpha."

Kai waited outside the room. Nicolas left to execute the command. Kai could hear sounds of chanting from inside the room. Barely two minutes later the healer emerged from the room.

"She heals weird, alpha." The healer said.

"What do you mean weird?" Kai asked.

"I think you should come and see for yourself."

Kai went inside the room. The healer gestured towards Karen's body. She had covered most of her with the bed sheets. Kai's eyes widened. With the amount of blood he saw on her clothes, he had expected her body to be covered with nasty cuts. Bruises littered her skin, but there was no cuts and no blood.

"How is this possible?" Kai asked.

"I'm not entirely sure." The healer replied. "It seems her body healed the major injuries and left the minor bruises. She had several broken ribs, and her arm was also broken. It's fixed on its own."

"Even at that, this healing speed is fast...faster than...." Kai cut himself off. He was about to say faster than mine. But that was impossible. She was a weak wolf, how did she have such fast healing speed?

"Either way, she is still in a lot of pain. It may take a while before she wakes up. I'll come by and check on her regularly."

Kia stared at the girl asleep. Her breathing had improved and her heart wasn't beating like it would stop anytime soon. His eyes hardened. Of course, what had he expected from the daughter of a monster. He turned and left the room, a certain feeling of distress settling in his chest.

****

The first thing Karen registered was the softness. It felt like she was lying on clouds, and not the cold grainy floors of the dungeon. She opened her eyes, blinking to clear the fog out of her vision. Her eyes focused on a ceiling that wasn't the dungeon ceiling. She sat up, feeling a soft mattress on her back.

Looking around her, she was met with the sight of an unfamiliar room and not the dark damn dungeon she had last seen before she passed out.

The lack of pain in her body made her realize that something was off. She looked down at her body, she was clothed in a loose nightdress. She hugged herself slowly, feeling for any injuries. She felt none.

She clearly remembered how the guards kicked her ribs and kept kicking her till she passed out. Of course only Kai would have ordered such a thing, and she wasn't surprised.

Karen sighed heavily, sadness settling in her stomach. Tears started to fill her eyes, threatening to spill. The door to the room opened made her wipe her eyes furiously. She looked up to see Kai holding a tray of what looked like medicine. Karen felt her heart skip a beat.

He set the tray down on the bed. "Your medicine." He said simply.

"I don't need it." Karen said quietly.

"You should appreciate my kindness. You don't know how long it'll last "

Karen laughed. "I don't need your kindness."

She didn't miss how his jaw tensed and his eyes flashed silver. "How dare you?" Kai spat, anger radiating off of him.

"You think this will make any difference?" Karen said, meeting his eyes fearlessly. "I don't need your acts of kindness if you are the very source of my pain."

"Pain, you haven't even seen any pain at all. I haven't even begun with you."

Karen laughed. "Go on then. Kill me. I don't care."

Kai looked shocked and taken aback.

"If you won't do that, then fine. I will accept your rejection and break the mating bond, spare us both the pain."

Kai's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You wouldn't dare."

"I, Karen Winterblood, accept your...." She didn't get to finish. Because before she knew it, he clamped a hand shut over her mouth and pushed her into the bed, his body towering over hers.