C7 I Own You

Zephyr's POV:

Leaning on my office chair, I picked up a book lost in a trance. The room was dimly lit and the window was slightly ajar allowing the cool air to circulate. I pick up the whiff of the unmistakable scent. There it was, lavender mixed with a hint of fear drifting towards the garden.

My pathetic excuse of a wolf howled in excitement at the powerful reek of fear. The urge to dominate and feed on the fear becomes intolerable and there is nothing more on this planet that makes me not want to go out there and tear her limbs apart, watching with gleam as he strips her soul off her body.

My senses heightened, honed over years of sleepless nights, rarely failed me. I couldn't sleep at all because of insomnia, a curse that kept me wandering the house like a restless ghost every night. Insomnia has been my companion since childhood, a remnant of those dark days that changed my entire life.

The sound of her cautious footsteps echoed in my head. She was trying to escape. Again. After warning her she dared cross me knowing the consequences. After all, the blood of that cold-hearted bastard runs in her veins, she is as infuriating and adamant as he was. My jaw clenched at the thought of her father, the man who ruined my life. Seeing her face always brought that familiar surge of anger, a bitter reminder of a past I could never escape. It shaped me into what I am today all I wanted to do was break her. But that would be after she bears me an heir consensually.

I moved silently through the corridors with each step deliberate, every breath controlled. Avoiding her had become a twisted game, one I played to maintain my sanity. She drove me insane because her presence was a constant thorn to me, piercing and making my heart bleed. My mind drifted back to when I was eight, to the days when my pack, the Blue Crimson Pack was attacked. Half of my pack members were killed including my parents and the other half were held captive. Some memories were vague but the pain remained sharp as a newly honed knife. It sliced deep.

We had grown up in a cold cell where we were brutally oppressed by her father who at the time was the leader of the Howler's pack before I wiped him from earth's surface. They tormented us in ways a young mind couldn't comprehend. We were heavily punished for crimes we didn't commit leading to the deaths of a lot of hostages. Each day our numbers decreased from two thousand members to just eleven of us. But through it all, there had been one bright spot. My childhood friend, Julia. We were the only two young people at the time that remained making us closest to one another. She was my rock and I was her anchor. She leaned on me, I embraced her, she was all I had, and vice versa.

Her face was a blur now, lost to time and trauma but her warmth remained a bittersweet comfort. When I was fourteen and she was thirteen, she had promised we would escape together, to build a home, a sacred space where the sun shone and the air was filled with laughter. But on that faithful day, I couldn't remember much and I was left to endure the torment alone.

I never stopped looking for her, even now. The search had become an obsession, a futile quest that gnawed at my soul, and here was this stupid girl who was trying to slip away into the night. I wouldn't allow it. Not after she upholds her part in the contract. Only then would I drive her into insanity she would beg for death which I wouldn't permit so easily. Rather, I would kill her spirit over and over again, driving her into insanity.

From where her scent was oozing from, I knew exactly where she was headed so instead, I used the back door so I would overtake her. She clearly didn't pay attention the day she was brought here. else, she would know how confined she is here. It would take a good 30 minutes before she could locate the first gate of my abode. I made it especially this way, knowing I had lots of nemesis who would do anything to bring me down and before they could get into my estate, I would be well prepared for them swiftly. They must know better than to infiltrate my territory, and my pack because no one crosses me and lives to see the light of the next second. I created a home for people who had no home, who had no hope, most especially rogues and we all became one. We all were one, every member a broken soul as we all are bound by afflicted fate.

I stood in front of her when she bumped into me. Her pale form was barely visible in the moonlight. She froze her eyes wide with fear making my wolf even more restless, happy to feed on her fears and distress. Good! As she should. “I thought I had made myself clear”

I took a step closer, and she backed away stumbling over a root. My anger flared and it took me every bit of self-restraint I had not to knock her over. I grabbed her arm in a tight grip and I heard her flinch in pain and I decided to ignore if it hurt her or not. She needed to be taught a lesson. I drag her back towards the house.

“Think you can run?” I snarled, my voice dripping with the sheer hatred I have for her. “You don't get to leave. Not yet”. She whimpered” I am not a very patient man Amber and yet you keep testing me.”

Looking at her in pain fueled something in me and instead of going into the house I decided to change my mind to teach her a valuable lesson. I dragged her to the punishment chamber where I tortured wrongdoers and traitors. I needed her to see, and know how lenient I have been with her whiny self.

Screams of anguish echoed through the walls from tortured wolves, the flickering of torchlight cast eerie shadows on the stone walls. The air was thick with a stench of dampness and decay. I drew in a sharp breath, the metallic tang of blood mingled with the cold, musty air. I could see her scrunch her nose in disgust.

Passing by a cell where the guard whipped a traitor, she trembled and started hyperventilating. She stood rooted to the place with her eyes brimmed with tears. Without wasting any time I tugged her forward.

The stone floor was slick, water from unseen sources seeping through cracks. The deeper we ventured, the louder the sound of agony became. Tortured howls of captives inflicted with pain reverberated through the entire place.

I sensed her desperate wish to turn and flee, but that only made me tighten my grip on her arm. “Keep moving,” I commanded harshly. She hissed in pain but complied, her movements hypnotic, driven by the fear of what would happen if she resisted.

Finally, we stood before the cell that was in the nicest shape. And the entire row is where I kept female captives, easing their punishment. I reached out and my fingers brushed the rough, cold cell door. I paused for a moment, my mind flashing with memories of the day when I was imprisoned.

I pushed the door with a grunt. Inside it, the darkness was thick, it seemed almost alive. Eager to eat one alive. I pushed her in, the oppressive atmosphere closing around us like a cloth. The floor was stained, the dark patches on it telling stories of past punishments.

I jerked her towards a corner where chains were dangling from the ceiling, their iron links rusted and stained. A single torch flickered weakly from afar, casting a dim light on the cell. The cell was tiny and its compactness added to a sense of suffocation.

“This is your atonement you will stay here until you understand the gravity of your actions”

She tried to speak, her voice a broken whisper to protest, but I cut her off with a sharp glare. There was no room for negotiation, no space for any ounce of mercy. I could not afford to be weak, not here, not now.

The chains clinked as I secured her wrists, she shook violently and her breaths came out in ragged gasps. For a moment, our eyes met, and I saw the defeat in them. A mirror of the terror I once had in the Howler's pack captivity. But I shoved the memory aside, hardening my heart and making me well aware that his corrupted blood ran through her veins.

I stepped out and watched as she slumped. Her eyes fluttered closed. The light danced over her pale face, showing the traces of her tears.

I lingered for a moment, my eyes tracing her form, before I walked out, the sounds of the tortured wolves receding behind me. Each step felt heavier than the last for a reason and surprisingly, Luca was calm. The punishment chamber was a necessary tool to maintain order.

I made it to my bedroom and her overpowering scent invaded every corner of the room. It was like the room always belonged to her. Her presence touched everywhere. From the day I set my eyes on her, I knew something was off about her. She lacked the familiar presence of a wolf companion that others bore. It was as if she existed in isolation.

The fact that she hails from a strong lineage of Lycans, I was dumbfounded to know she didn't possess a wolf and I needed to know the answers to why. I needed to know if there was something wrong with her or if it could potentially affect my heir.

And with time I observed her, I couldn't shake off the feeling that there was more beneath the surface than what meets the eye. I am very observant and her body language spoke volumes. There was a constant wariness in her eyes, a slight flinch at sudden movements, and her timid behavior made me question if truly she was her father's daughter.

I could see she was warming up to Xander and it pissed me off. He was supposed to have my back but that son of a bitch is befriending the heir of my worse enemy. I don't know how she bewitched him or what drew him to her but I could visibly the likeliness he has for her and I loathe every bit of it because he doesn't warm up to people easily. She doesn't deserve kindness or softness she should atone for her father's crimes.

I smiled as I reminisced opening my eyes only to see a pair of kind, green eyes gazing back at me filled with compassion. He was the one that saved my ass the day I escaped. Xander wasn't just a brother in name, he was a steadfast companion. We built this empire side by side just the two of us. He is my little brother and I would do anything on this earth to protect him. We were forced to be grown men in little bodies from a tender age. We fought and learned to survive all by ourselves.

I plopped on the bed, the weight of the day finally catching up to me. The patter of rain against the windowpane and the rumbling of thunder provided a sense of comfort to me. I love the clashes of thunder knowing it mirrors my soul, I am not alone in this raging journey. Despite the comfort of the stormy night, my mind refused to settle.

Thoughts of her intruded relentlessly. She had been on my mind more than usual lately and I convinced myself it was because I wanted to confirm some answers.

The rain continues to drum against the glass creating a rhythm. I haven't forgotten John's betrayal and when I have my answers, I will end him for crossing me. I was busy handling more pressing matters but now I have more than enough time to spare.

I closed my eyes unable to fall asleep like always but tonight, it wasn't the thought of my trauma and my Julia that filled my head, but rather Amber and why the fuck I am concerning myself with her.