Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Lisa

Without care for the people in the room, I rushed towards Mark's unconscious body and lifted him into my arms. Tears gathered around my eyes as I inspected his wounded body. He was still alive, but wasn't doing very good. His body was already cold to the touch, and death would become inevitable if he didn't get medical attention soon.

"What did you do? What did you do to him?!" I questioned roughly as my tears began to drop.

"The guards found him trying to sneak into the castle. And when he was caught he had the audacity to fight back and soil the name of the Alpha. Normally I would have beheaded him by now, but since he's a friend of yours, it wouldn't be fair to execute him without letting you say your goodbyes." Klaus answered coldly, his voice empty and hollow as he spoke. It was more than clear that he meant every word he said, and he was ready to kill Mark the very moment I let go of him.

"Please don't hurt him, he's the only one I have left." I pleaded, and only then did Klaus motion for the guards around to take their leave. He turned towards Damon, and in the next second the man was also out of the dining room. Now it was just the two of us and Mark's unconscious body, and I was immediately engulfed by fear at that realization.

"Don't you think it's disrespectful for you to act this way for another man? And in the presence of my subjects as well?" Klaus questioned me with his usual cold demeanor. He was angry, and it wasn't because Mark had tried to sneak into the castle, but because I was treating an almost dead man with more care than I've ever shown him. It wasn't that Klaus craved my compassion, he simply wanted to own me and everything about me.

I didn't respond, and my silence only fueled his undying rage.

"I'm going to execute him, and you're going to watch. Perhaps you'd come to learn that he's not your mate, and you shouldn't concern yourself with him anymore." He threatened before rising from where he sat. His cold, intimidating aura flooded the room, and with each step he took, I could feel my fears growing even bigger.

"Hand him over!" Klaus demanded, but I continued to cling onto Mark's body defensively. He reached out to pull me away, but I fought back incessantly, my teeth and nails clawing fruitlessly at his tough, yet silky skin.

"Don't touch him! Don't you dare touch him!" I screamed, but Klaus remained ignorant to my words. He held me aside, and with his second hand pulled Mark's body towards the door.

"Stop please..." I finally broke down. My tears worsened, and I was done on my knees with my hands glued together in a pleading pose. "I'll do anything you want, please don't kill him."

Klaus paused the moment I said those words, and only then did I realize the game I was playing. I was basically offering up my freedom to him, and now he could do anything he wanted to me.

Slowly, his eyes turned towards me, and gently, he allowed Mark's body to slip through his grasp. I didn't move even though every fiber of my body urged me to run forward and embrace Mark a second time. However, this time, I managed to keep my emotions in check. The last thing I wanted to do at the moment was to give Mark any more worth, if Klaus perceived him as a competition in any way, he was definitely going to have Mark killed.

"First of all, I want you to act more like royalty, you're no longer a lowly brat from the streets." Klaus remarked as he stared at me with visible disgust. "We don't roll on the floor, nor do we let our emotions spill in public." He tutored, but I wasn't exactly paying attention. All I could think about was Mark, and how to get him medical attention as soon as possible. I could hear his heartbeat receding by the second, but there was really nothing I could do.

"I..m sorry," I squeezed out in a whisper. Klaus crouched to meet my eyes, and slowly his thumb found its way to my face. Gently, he caressed my cheeks while he steadily wiped my tears away as well.

"It's enough, don't cry anymore, he's going to be fine."

My face brightened reflexively to those words, but he didn't pick offense in my display of affection towards Mark this time. He merely turned towards the door, snapped his fingers and ushered two guards in. The two of them lifted Mark from the cold floor, and without another word took him away from the room.

"Where are you taking him?" I inquired in a concerned tone, but the guards were already far gone, they couldn't possibly hear my shallow voice.

"The infirmary, his wounds are serious, the guards might have gone a bit too far with the beatings." Klaus commented before helping me up to my feet. He was being extra nice today, and I knew it wasn't just because I had completely offered myself to him for Mark's sake, this was definitely something else.

"You must be famished, let's eat." He offered before gesturing that I sit. Taking hold of the ladle, he served me the best chicken stew I'd ever tasted. I despised Klaus, but I had nothing against his food. I ate slowly with my mind constantly shifting from the dining room to Mark. Was he really being taken to the infirmary? Or had Klaus ordered for his secret execution? I couldn't get those thoughts out of my head.

"You want to see him don't you?" Klaus spoke and I nearly choked on my stew. He had read my mind, and I had no idea how to feel or react at the moment.

"Deny it!" My wolf screamed in my head. Klaus was her mate, but she too had developed emotional attachments towards Mark after spending decades with him.

"Uh..I was just wondering—"

"I'll take you to him." Klaus interjected silkily, and my erratically beating heart finally slowed down a little. "If you want to see him, I'll take you to him. I don't care about that. He can be your friend Lisa, I don't care, but promise one thing, Mark must never be your lover."