Chapter Three

RAYA BANKS

“No! Wait!” I gasped, feeling my hands shoot out to reach for the man a split second before the iron clasp of his royal guards jerked me back, the metal pound of iron clashing on my head and sending me into the darkness at breakneck speed.

The sound of voices drifting from the spaces in the wood door when I came to was almost deafening.

Where was I? I cracked an eye open, fighting the darkness that was pressing down heavily on my eyelids when I caught the tall shadow of a man standing over me, the wolf of his scent so overpowering it couldn’t have been anything but royal blood.

“Y-your majesty,” I rasped, struggling to my knees and managing to look up at the man, the glint of his claws half-hidden in his tunic cuff catching my eye and I gulped reflexively.

“You disappoint me, Banks, I could have taken you as mistress you know? Put you on your good little throne beside mine in the throne room dias. This futile struggling, it is...appalling.” He hissed and I gritted my teeth, a spark of indignance taking root in my spine.

I didn't ask to be his mate! I didn't even want to be here in the first place!

I was content with our little shack by the street end! Until my father betrayed me and sold me off to the man.

And the courtesans I had seen on the dias? Something told me they would be even less welcoming than the wicked Prince.

What to do? What to do?

I inched back until the line of my back slapped against the cool wall as the man stalked forward, the whites of his eyes shining oddly as I felt his gaze take over me, only pausing to look over his shoulder when a loud shout came from the stairs.

“Your Majesty! The King has arrived from the out-city sojourn! Requesting your presence immediately!” A stately-looking court attendant boomed and I watched the line of the man’s jaw tighten.

I let my shoulders fall as he stormed away, only tensing again when he paused at the mouth of the staircase, his eyes seeming to state directly at me even in the darkness.

“Look around Raya Banks, feel at home. Some of the maidens before you died here, the rot of their disobedience etched into the very floor you kneel on. It would not be wise of you to resist me.” Alpha Toph gritted through clenched teeth, and a sliver of fear snapped my spine straight when I thought I saw the curved white canines of his fangs glimmering in the dark before he skulked away.

“Ugh,” I groaned, catching my head in my hand to keep it from falling as hot liquid ricocheted between my ears.

The Prince must have had his guards drag me here.

The smell of moss and stale air clogged my nostrils until I was dragging ragged breaths through my lips.

I gagged, feeling the rustic tang of blood in my mouth as I struggled to my feet, glancing about the dimly lit chamber.

“Saints,” I swore loudly, after squinting and yanking on the white thread that seemed to dangle from the ceiling so that the lights came on and the chains scattered across the room rushed into my vision, I swallowed a frightened yelp, darting up the stone slabs toward the door where the Alpha had passed only to find it locked.

“Of course, it was, Raya you dumb bitch! Just as stupid as your mother!” My father’s cackle in my head made the fork of despair press harder on my lungs as I let out a frustrated cry.

White hot pain seared the back of my head when I pressed my ears to the wooden door, the whoosh of air as I settled lightly on my tiptoes only interested by the voices I could hear. I ran my fingers through my hair lightly, feeling the telltale hump of a bruise already formed there, like the one that was stinging my face from the Alpha Toph’s blow.

“I do not need my brother’s training Father, I’m quite okay with what I can do.” A familiar voice grated and I felt my eyes pop in my head when I realized the sassy drawl belonged to Alpha Toph.

What was he still doing here? How could I escape if the monster kept hanging around?

I raised my hand to bang on the wood before thinking better of it.

I’d heard stories about the King’s kindness, the sharp cut of his stormy eyes, and his fierce swordsmanship in battles that made his enemies quake in their boots.

He had maidens swooning for him at every corner, but I wondered if deep inside, behind the high brick walls of the palace, he was just like Alpha Toph.

“Shit,” I cursed under my breath, turning my back against the wood and squeezing my eyes tight to collect myself.

My heart thudded loud enough in my chest that I feared the duo conversing just outside the doors could hear it.

I needed to leave, to find a way out before the striking Prince with gray eyes found his way back here, and I turned out like the maidens who died here.

The thought put the fear of god in me as I staggered away from the door, glancing wildly at the rows of barrels filled with gunpowder, the dust of it gathering on their rims.

“A vent?” I whispered, my breath catching as my eyes fastened on the latticed grate of the overhead shaft that was way out of my reach.

I eyed the barrels under it, groaning and heaving as tested it before making my way to the great and shimmying it open.

“Lady of grackles,” I prayed, dragging myself on my hands and knees and trying not to imagine the walls closing in around me until I kicked out the rear end, into what looked to be the side of the castle exterior.

“Beg your pardon,” I wheezed hoarsely at the dirty looks I got from the groundskeepers and the maidservants loitering about as I tumbled out and straightened to my feet, before whipping my head around, the fist of panic lodged tightly in my throat.

I dashed across the foyer without thinking, gritting my teeth and straining my legs to pound against the stone entryway as I hurried to cross the iron lattice of the gate before it slammed shut, cutting my dreams of escape with a finality that sucked the hope from me.

“No, it can't be,” I whispered, tears gathering in my eyes before I noticed the beady eyes of the guards stationed at the Keep’s towers had turned to stare curiously at me, suspicion etched in their narrowed brows.

I stumbled back, whirling on the balls of my feet and slamming, chest first, into a tree.

A man tree. I idled a moment when the man did not immediately push me away, realizing from his scent that he was royal blood.

My heart thudded again in my chest, slowly now, as the world ebbed around me.

I let my gaze trail over the diamond-encrusted plate of the man’s armor that poked my nipples to attention, the broad hanger of his shoulders, the downturned pink of his full lips, and the intense look in his almond-shaped eyes.

I was cuddling a man! In broad view of the entire palace!

“Oh that your father could see you now Raya,” I thought to myself with a weak chuckle, before I reached up to run my hands over the quiet man’s smooth face, unable to stop myself.

“Help, help me,” I breathed weakly, sagging against the man’s arms and tilting my head to stare up at the icy blue of his eyes, a sliver of familiarity tingling in my mind before it went blank and the darkness rushed in.