Scars

Nikolai's POV

Nikolai was soaked in orange juice and dripping wet. But that wasn't his problem. His major concern was the look on her face when Tyla yelled seventy strokes of the whip. He's not one to shy away from mentoring out punishments to people. After all, she was here as punishment for what her pack did.

But there was something about her that made him want to protect her. Maybe it was the cite freckles dotting her face, or the innocent green eyes looking down dejectedly. He couldn't place why she invoked his need to protect.

Slowly, Nikolai stood up and wiped his face. He heard her gasp behind him as he unfolded his full length. He turned to her and realized he still didn't know her name. The girl who had captured his attention at first glance.

"What are you called?" he asked.

"Raine." She squeaked still looking down. Nikolai wished she would raise her head so he could look into the emeralds she wore as eyes.

"Come with me." He ordered.

Nikolai didn't miss the triumphant smile that stretched across Tyla's face. His gamma itched for violence and loved it whenever the servants were humiliated.

"Next time, you be careful while on the job." Tula sneered.

Nikolai showed no emotions as he walked out even though he was boiling with rage at Tyla's antics. Mostly, he was angry with himself for even caring about a stupid omega.

He took her to the weaponry and shut the door. The thud of the metal made Raine yelp and jump back in fear. Nikolai ignored her and went ahead to finger the weapons on display admiring the fine workmanship that had been invested in them.

He ran his fingers through a horse while and peered at it intently.

"Forgive me, alpha," Raine begged.

Nikolai looked at her briefly and turned away. Next, he took down the whip from its stand and cracked it in the air.

"Take off your clothes," he commanded.

Raine burst into tears but didn't disobey. Slowly, she peeled off layers of clothing from her body. He noticed her movements were strained and that she tended to wince at some points.

Ever since she walked into his territory, he noticed she had some difficulty in her movement which he didn't see during the moon procession. The moment she stepped into the breakfast room with that tray of food on wobbling legs, his heart tugged at him.

He needed to find out what happened to her but didn't know how. Tyla provided him with the perfect opportunity.

Raine's crying subsided to sniffling. She had already resigned herself to her fate of getting whipped but Nikolai had no intentions of doing such a thing. He turned to look down at her, kneeling on the floor in just her underwear. And just as he suspected, lash marks marred her entire body.

He walked around her to inspect the damage. The welts looked angry but not so new. He suspected they could be about a day or two old. His jaw ticked in anger at the welts. Someone dared to touch her before handing her over to him.

"Who?" he demanded harshly.

Rained jumped at the sound of his voice and shook her head. She didn't understand what he was asking.

With his index finger, Nikolai traced one of the marks between her shoulder blades. Raine hissed and shivered on impact. The sound caused a primal need to arise within him.

His will growled and charged at him for control, snapping through the chains holding him down. Nikolai suppressed him as much as he could and willed him to be calm. The world bared his teeth in anger. He didn't like being told what to do.

"Who did this?" Nikolai asked again.

"I was punished for disobedience. It was no one in particular," she answered.

Nikolai suspected that her answer was aimed at protecting those who hurt her. He vaguely wondered if Alpha Tiki did it. The way he shut her down at every angle during the moon procession had been alarming.

"Did Tiki do this?" he questioned.

Raine shook her head strongly.

"No, not him. Please. It was nothing I didn't deserve."

Nikolai was familiar with the way omega wolves were treated. This should have come off as normal to him but somehow, he felt the urge to snap someone's neck for hurting her.

"Lie down." He pointed to a colt on the side of the room near the wall. Raine took two steps towards the colt and fell to the ground. He rushed to her side and picked her up. Deja vu slammed through him.

His mind flashed back to the moment he licked her up after she fell from her carriage. She must be a magnet for bad luck. He mentally chuckled at the thought.

Gently, he lay her down on the colt and constructed her lie on her stomach. He went to the stash of supplies and fished out a salve.

Raine's eyes tracked his every move. He could see the wariness in them and he willed her to relax. He won't hurt her any further than has already been done.

She kept watching him till he knelt next to her and began to apply the salve to her broken skin. Raine closed her eyes at the contact. A lone tear slipped out of her eye.

"Why are you doing this? I thought you were going to who me for embarrassing you?" she enquired meekly.

Nikolai didn't know how to answer. He just shook his head and continued to work on her broken skin. Scars of some old beatings greeted him as he worked.

He got to her neck and that was when his restraint snapped. There, boldly placed for all to see was a bite mark. She had been claimed by another man. His jaw ticked and he ground his teeth in anger.

Murder. His wold screamed murder in his head. They needed to find who hurt and marked her and tear into their neck. His wolf induced an urgency in him. Nikolai tamped him down and gently massaged her skin. He started up a conversation to take his mind off his dark train of thought. Now wasn't the time to unleash his demons.

"You must be hungry. I know you haven't had anything to eat."

"I can manage. It's not a big deal."

Nikolai nodded not knowing what else to say. After some time, he was done working on her entire body.

"Do you feel better?" he asked and almost bit his tongue at his stupidity. Of course, she wouldn't feel better right away. He needed to give it a little more time for the salve to work into her body and alleviate some of her pain.

"Yes," she answered with a kind smile.

He nodded and handed her some rice cakes and clothes. Raine stared at him in bewilderment.

"You can take the rest of the day off. I'll inform the omega head."

Raine was still looking at him shocked when he left her behind in the weaponry. He rushed out to get some air before he does anything stupid like pick her up and fuck her against the wall.

His head must be clouded by her beauty. Normally he didn't feel such things for anyone. He went in search of Gabe, needing to cool off.

His beta was buried deep in a pile of financial work and accounting for the expenses squandered during the expedition.

Nikolai flopped into the best in front of him and signed. Gabe looked up from the ledger he had been working on and pinned Nikolai with a stare.

"What do you want?" Gabe asked with a sigh of his own.

Nikolai swiveled in his chair for some minutes heightening the suspense in the room. Gabe squinted his eyes looking at him expectantly and waiting to hear his answer.

"Someone hurt her before handing her over to me."

Gabe's eyebrows took a nosedive since he didn't understand what Nikolai meant. He pursed his lips in thought for some seconds. Suddenly his face straightened.

"You mean that omega? Before she came here, she belonged to them. They could have done what they wished with her." Gabe explained.

"You think I care about what they do to their wolves over there? Not only did they desecrate her before giving her to me, she has been claimed by another man!"

"What the actual fuck?" Gabe asked.

"I see you finally understand the situation. The night pack has insulted for far too long."

"Let's burn them to the ground. First, they attempt your life, second, they give you an unclean omega as a peace offering. Like it wasn't enough, she had to be one that had already been claimed by another man. What insolence!"

"Put some men together. We are going for a little confrontation." Nikolai smiled sinisterly.