IX ■ Deals & Stipulations

"We should kill her now." One of six men shrouded in a black cloak spoke. "Afterall, the Prince is still alive," he reminded the group.

With a shake of his head, another let out a snarl of disgust. "I did not sign up to murder innocent children, Thantos," the other spat.

"Freedom is never free," Thantos shot back. "How else did you expect us to rid ourselves of the throne?"

As the poor child looked up at the men, big fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

"P-- please," the girl stuttered as she continued to tremble. "Please don't kill me."

"Look at her," yet another spoke, this one with pity in his voice. "Her entire village is gone, her parents slaughtered. She'll never survive out there alone. Killing her would be an act of mercy."

"Mark my words," the same man who had adressed Thantos spoke up again. "If we kill her, there will be consequences."

"Then that's the price we'll have to pay! If we don't kill this girl, then we might as well have just remained under the tyranny of the Royals!"

At those words, a sudden uproar erupted among five of the cloaked figures. The sixth one however, kneeled down, studying the ruddy child. The girl was surprised to find that the face looking back at her wasn't that of a man-- but a woman.

"By the Gods," the woman smiled. "Aren't you as pretty as a princess."

The girl stopped crying to look up at the slender woman for a moment. This gauntly face framed by long, stringy black hair would forever by emblazoned in the child's mind. But what she would never understand, is how this woman and the others could murder her entire pack and seem so completely unrepentant.

"Quit fraternizing with the prisoner, Anastasia."

"I'm not," the woman frowned as she stood up from beside the young girl. "But have any of you considered the grave repercussions we may incur if we slaughter this child?"

"Of course!" Thantos replied. "But if we don't want the Royal line to continue, what other choice do we have?" He challenged.

With a nod of her head, Anastasia rounded the circle of men. "As Luna of this pack, I will take full responsibility for this child. We will keep her in the pack dungeon for the time being, and when things settle down, we'll ship her to the Americas."

"That's not a bad idea," another commented. "And she'll be far enough away, Alpha Jackson will never be able to feel her."

"Exactly," Anastasia confirmed. "The Royal lineage will die with the Prince."

With a snap of her long, bony fingers, two of the men grabbed the girl and followed Anastasia deep into the dungeon. The stench of rotting flesh hit the child like a nauseating ton of bricks and as they tossed her into a cell, the poor child gagged as she fought back the urge to vomit.

Though she was young and had never shifted, the cuff of silver they placed around her ankle, seared and sizzled as it made contact with her flesh. A moment later, the heavy metal door was slammed shut and Alexandria was plunged into darkness. With an ear piercing scream, the child pounded against the door-- but it would be many weeks later before the girl saw the light of day again.

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"Alexis! Alexis wake up!"

I thrashed wildly against whoever was holding me. The bastard had actually left me alone in that prison tower. A dank, musty cold had settled into my bones and the darkness had become nearly unbearable.

I was all alone--

Except for the spiders and rats. The rats I could handle, but the spiders? Sweet Gooddess. I was like Ron Weasley when it came to those wretched eight legged creatures. I jerked and tossed about even more just thinking about those little buggers crawling all over me. How long would he leave me here?

"Come back!" My voice sounded weak as I cried out into the darkness. "Please come back!"

"I was gone for less than a minute!" An angry voice suddenly shouted from beside me. "What the hell have you done to her?"

"I didn't do anything," replied whoever had been holding me. The voice sounded familiar, but at the moment, I just couldn't place it.

With a slight shuffle, I could feel someone else take hold of me.

"Alexis, it's ok," the soothing voice instantly calmed my nerves. "Come on and open your eyes."

As they spoke, a heavy arm draped around me, instantly giving off a sense of protection. With the other hand, long, gentle strokes were applied to my head and across my back. I unashamedly snuggled in closer to the warmth radiating off of this person.

"I'm here now," the man continued to coo in my ear. "And I promise I will never lock you away again."

My eyes snapped open, regardless of the glaring lights, and immediately I began trying to wrestle out of Gabriel's grasp.

"Alexis," the King's grip tightened around me in warning. "Alexis stop!"

His heavily muscled arms were so strong, I actually considered letting my wolf out just so I had a fighting chance.

"Alexis please, just give me a moment to explain!"

"Explain what?" I snapped as I continued to try and get free.

In an unexpected moment of weakness, I shoved against Gabriel's chest and actually broke through the barrier of his arms. A second later, I was up on my own two feet while the King now sat on the hospital bed. With as much strength as I could muster, I reeled back and slapped him across the cheek.

"I deserved that," he grunted, adding on a quick nod in agreement. "But if you would just calm down--"

I stopped listening to him as I glanced around the room. A quick scan confirmed I was back in the castle's infirmary, but why?

"I brought you here," Gabriel stated as though he knew what I was thinking. "When I--" he paused, his jaw bobbing up and down in uncertainty. "--when I went up to release you, I found you on the floor, convulsing, comatose and foaming at the mouth," he explained. "Alexis, I--"

I watched as he hesitated again, nervously running his hands through his dark locks. I'm not sure how, but I swore I could sense that he was feeling incredibly guilty. Should I have been worried that I had absolutely no recollection of falling unconscious?

"-- I thought you were dead," he explained.

In the crook of my neck, there was a slight sting of irritation. I casually raised my arm to scratch at it when I caught Gabriel's eye. As my fingers brushed against the tender flesh, the King winced as my eyes widened in realization.

"You bastard!" I hissed, my fingers rubbing against the raised skin in disbelief. "I can't-- I can't believe you would do this to me!"

Gabriel refused to meet my gaze before I rushed over to the nearest mirror in the room. Pulling back the white hospital gown, I gasped in shock. Shortly after, tears began to sting in the corners of my eyes.

"You stupid son of a bitch," I cried. "You stupid selfish son of a bitch."

My vision was heavily muddled, but it was easy to see the large red moon that now graced the crevice of my neck and top part of my shoulder. The surprisingly intricate, full moon design, covered the tattoos that had formerly been inked onto me. The fading red stood in contrast against my pale skin. With out a doubt, I was one step closer to being one of them now. I was practically a slave to the moon.

"How could you?" I turned back to the Alpha King, fighting the incredible urge to slap him again. "You had to of known I wouldn't want this."

"And what was I supposed to do, Alexis? Just sit back and let you die?"

His jaw ticked for a moment as we stared at eachother.

"I'll have you know, I also threw away the rest of that ridiculous potion I found in your flask."

"You ass--" I was about to insult him with a new set of choice adjectives I had thought up for him, when he cut me off.

"I had it tested and then cross examined with your DNA. You're allergic to fennel, did you know that?"

My mouth suddenly clamped shut. I wasn't aware of that, and perhaps if I hadn't been feeling so self-righteous at the moment, I might have actually been grateful.

"Well maybe if you hadn't locked me up like your prisoner--" I sniffed, my words trailing off.

I couldn't help but visibly shudder as I remembered the size of those spiders.

"I am truly sorry for that," Gabriel admitted. "And I want you to know, Alexis, you're not a prisoner here."

"Oh really?" I scoffed, my brows knitting together as I glared at the King. "Then you won't mind if I just walk out the front door?"

Gabriel didn't reply, he didn't have to. The furious look he gave was answer enough.

"Then by definition, Your Worshipfulness, that is exactly what I am-- your prisoner!"

His nostrils flared as he stood up from the bed.

"Go ahead," he spat. "Play the victim card if you want. But you haven't exactly made this easy, and you know it!"

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Since the day I brought you here, you've thought of nothing else, but how to get back to that inferior rogue," he growled. "Despite the absolutely absurd lie you project, you are a wolf. Bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh, you were made specifically for me as my mate-- no one else."

"And I'm supposed to believe that, because some ridiculous celestial being, who may or may not even exsist, says so?" I shot back. "I'm sorry," I snickered, placing my hands on my hips, "but I'd rather choose love over someone claiming that we're fated to be together."

Gabriel let out a snort as his arms crossed smugly over his chest.

"Love," he sneered. "What do you know about love? You won't even give me a chance to show you how much I could love you. You've barely been here a month, and every time I turn around you're running away!"

"And as long as I breathe, I swear, I will never stop."

The King paced in front of me, and I could feel through our connection that he was adament there must be a solution. As he turned towards me, a smile grew across his face. There was even a hint of a twinkle in his brilliant blue eyes.

"Two months," he began, holding up two of his fingers. "You give me the rest of December and all of January to show you just how much I could love you, and by February, if you still don't feel the same way about me-- you can go."

"Go?" I repeated the word, making sure we both knew exactly what he meant by that.

"I mean go," he replied. "Leave. I'll formally release you from being my mate."

"You can do that?"

"All I ask, is that you be open to the idea of being in love with me," the King ignored my last question. "Please stop running out on me."

It didn't sound totally unreasonable. Afterall, I'd already served a month of this death sentence, what were two more? Come February, I'd be free to leave and could reunite with my beloved Freddy. Just in time for Valentine's Day.

"Deal."

It seemed a little immature, and certainly not how a Royal might act, but I held out my hand for the King to shake. Taking a step towards me, Gabriel reached for me.

"There is one stipulation." The Royal Alpha suddenly pulled back.

"Of course there is," I snorted with a roll of my eyes.

"You can not run from me again," he warned. "You must stay with me till February, and put aside these foolish attempts at escape. If you don't, I promise --there will be consequences."

He paused, making sure to grab my attention. "And they will be much worse, than being locked away in that prison tower."

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