Chapter 2 Cody Pov

“I don’t mind if you look. We are mates after all.” But I swallow hard. I know what the punishment is for looking, for not being obedient and I tense my body, even as we make it towards the stairs that are no doubt leading up to her bedroom. My mate is gorgeous, but I can already sense the anger simmering inside of her and the rage she is trying so hard to control. She pulls me upwards, her grip on me strong, my body following automatically behind her. I have been trained to obey, to do as I’ve been ordered and I can’t help but think that this woman, this beautiful queen, is now my mistress. She heads into a guest room and pulls me in behind her as she walks into the bathroom and starts the taps, water flowing into what I can only assume is the bathtub. She comes padding back out. I stare blankly at her. Does she want me to wash? I surreptitiously sniff myself and then frown. I smell bad. I can’t remember how long I have been trapped inside that cell. It could have been days. Luna Christina took pleasure in starving me, beating me and depriving me of sleep. I see my mate step towards me and I take a step back, causing her to halt in her tracks. “I was just going to help you.” “Maybe we started off in the wrong start. My name is Charisma” she tells me, her voice like music to my ears. “As you may know I am the Lycan Queen and,” she looked at me, her eyes softening “I’ve been looking for you for a long time now.” I want to tell her my name. I want to be able to speak. My jaw works but nothing comes out. She spies a pad of paper on the table and grabs it, handing it to me with a pen, a look of expectation in her eyes as I stare down at it. She wants me to write my name I realize and begin to scribble, the words slightly messy. My name is Cody. She leans over my shoulder and peers down at it. “Cody,” she murmurs as I give a slight nod. “That’s a nice name.” I feel pleased. She listens intently to the water and then quickly disappears back into the bathroom. I hear the taps turn off. The bath must be full. She appears with a towel in her hands. “The bath is ready. I thought you might want to freshen up a bit. My men are out searching for Beta Ronald, I swear he won’t be a threat to you any longer,” she vowed. I want to believe her but she doesn’t know what Beta Ronald is capable of. Of what he and Luna Christina are capable of. I will never be safe, not as long as the two of them are alive. I begin to strip without thinking, causing my mate to make a strangled sound as I look at her in surprise. I’m so used to stripping in front of people that it’s almost like second nature. Her cheeks are flushed as she looks at me, almost raking her gaze over me. “I’ll just wait for you in the bedroom” she squeaks. It confounds me. I’ve never been granted the luxury of privacy before. I’ve always been expected to undress in front of Luna Christina. She walks out of the bathroom, her head bowed low, leaving the towel on the vanity for me. Strange. I can’t get a read on this woman. She seems as if the truly wants to help me but how can you help a slave? I wonder if she knows the things I’ve been forced to do or to endure. The humiliation I’ve been put through at Luna Christina’s hands. If she did…she might find me repulsive and disgusting. She might decide she doesn’t want me, and I would not blame her. She should reject me. It would be the best thing for her. I don’t deserve somebody as powerful as she is. She is a Lycan Queen for crying out loud. I am unworthy of her. She should reject me and get it over as quickly as possible so that the pain isn’t as excruciating as I’ve heard it can be. My thoughts are filled with darkness as I strip off my clothes and then get into the tub. It smells good. Like she’s added some sort of bath powder to it. I sniff appreciatively. It smells like sandalwood which is one of my favorite scents. Speaking of which, my mate smells just as good, like strawberries and cream and just thinking about it makes my mouth salivate. Almost as though she is soft on the inside while being tough on the outside. I like it. I lean back against the tub and relax, listening to the sounds of her footsteps outside. It sounds as though she is pacing. I begin to scrub off the dirt, taking great care with my hair. I don’t know when it will be the next time that I’ll be able to get clean like this. As I scrub away, the dirt fills the water and makes it go dark. My hair goes an even more brilliant blonde/white color, something I despise for it had been attractive to Luna Christina who had commented more than once on how much she liked it, even as she slowly tortured me. I wonder if my mate will find it just as attractive and feel apprehensive. Suddenly the door bursts open, and I panic, sinking into the water and then rising, coughing up water. “I’m so sorry,” she says apologetically as I stare at her, “I just wanted to see if you were alright as it was getting pretty quiet in here…” she trails off and I see something change in her expression. She’s staring at me, unable to take her eyes away. I glance down and then stiffen. The marks. I had forgotten all about them, so used to their appearance. Her eyes begin to change back into the dark black colour with a red ring surrounding it and when she speaks it’s filled with rage. “Did they do this to you? Those marks” she continued, her chest heaving up and down in anger and distress, “they are made of silver, aren’t they? Those bastards” she cursed and then before I can think, I stand up and watch as her cheeks turn a burning red colour. She’s angry. So angry she can barely speak. I had forgotten about the marks, a mistake, because she struggled to hold back her Lycan and all I could do was stare at her mesmerized. Was all this rage, this anger, for me?