45. Hope
forty-five
Hope
*ROYAN*
S hayan and I have been here for a few days now, and I’m starting to feel nervous. We lack any plan to escape from here, we can barely talk to each other. Penelope has taken a liking to Shayan and has made him her special bodyguard. He is always around her now, and barely moves from her side. It makes talking to each other even more difficult.
Meanwhile, Penelope uses me as an errand boy and for some dirty work. During the day I’m mostly outside, working as a lumberjack or training some of her lower-class men. She doesn’t seem to trust me, but it doesn’t really matter to me because at least she trusts Shayan.
The worst thing though is how she treats Rona. I have seen how she hit her once, almost making me attack her on the spot. Rona stopped me that time, fear evident in her eyes. She later told me that it would be easy for Penelope to kill any of us.
What do you think, Donovan? I link my wolf after I finish dinner and head to my room.
I think we should try to get away from here, he offers. The general can fend for himself, and the witch doesn’t know we are close friends.
Yeah, she thinks we were just working together for a brief period, which would explain why she trusts him so much more.
Let’s keep it that way. He got her trust and is working on it to find out more about her, Donovan says. He is safe, but we need to think about our mate, too.
He is right. The fact that Rona is still here, always at the mercy of this crazy witch, is driving me nuts. I need to find a way to get her to safety. Sometimes she comes back to our room with bruises on her arms. She tries to cover them, but I see them nevertheless.
Today is no different.
“What happened?” I ask her, while taking her arm and twisting it slightly to check on the fresh bruises.
“I’m just not good enough as a witch,” she says while sounding utterly broken.
“I’m sure you are great at what you are doing,” I tell her. “You are still learning. You told me you had no one to teach you when you were a child, so of course it needs some time for you to catch up and be on Penelope’s level.”
“I don’t think I will ever be on her level,” Rona admits. “She is really strong. The strongest I have ever seen.”
“I don’t know much about witchcraft,” I say. “But I know that every witch has her own strengths. And I’m sure you will soon find yours.”
“Do you have these doubts too?” she asks me. “Do you sometimes feel like you suck so much you regret even being here?”
“Sometimes I do,” I admit. “Werewolves are a lot about strength, and while I’m strong, I’m not a great tactician. It’s a skill we need, though. Like my Be-” I pause, realizing I almost gave away that I have a Beta, meaning I would reveal I’m a pack wolf. “-best friend, he is great at all of it.”
“You mean Shay?”
“No, Shay is just an acquaintance,” I lie, feeling horrible for lying to her. I wish I could just tell her everything. I know she will be mad once she realizes I kept so much from her. Hell, she doesn’t even know my full name.
“So, you have a life outside of here?” she asks.
“Well, a bit of a life,” I say evasively. I try to stir our talk back to the original topic. “I think it’s normal to have doubts and fears, but I’m also convinced you are going to grow into an incredible witch.”
“You have so much faith in me,” she whispers.
I look into her beautiful green eyes. “You are my mate,” I say quietly. “To me, no one is more important.”
She reaches out her hand, touching my cheek. “Roy,” she says.
“Royan,” I correct her, not able to keep up the farce any longer. She is my mate, and the least I can do is tell her my actual name. “That’s my full name. I… I’m sorry for not telling you everything about me. With time I will.”
“I understand,” she says quietly. “I can’t tell you everything either yet… because we are here...” She lowers her voice to a whisper. “I’m scared here.”
“Me too,” I admit.
She shifts her position until she sits on my lap, facing me and wrapping her arms around my neck. “You are my light,” she says. “You… you are making this dark place bearable. The only thing in my current life I’m looking forward to is meeting you every night when I return from work.”
I wrap my arms around her middle. “It’s the same for me.”
She takes my head between her palms and tilts it upwards so that I have to look at her. “Royan,” she whispers.
A growl leaves my lips at hearing her use my name for the first time. It’s like a dam inside me bursts, and I can’t hold my feelings back anymore. I put my hand on the back of her head and lead her downwards until our lips meet in a heated kiss. Rona doesn’t stop me. In fact, she happily engages. Her deft fingers start unbuttoning my pajama top while I start to open the lacing of her corset. She always wears those on top of her dresses. It’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s also the most frustrating thing to undress.
Rona laughs against my lips and moves back a bit. “Let me help you,” she whispers, crawling away from me and skillfully starting to loosen the lacing herself. She turns her back to me. “Now loosen it further.”
I do as she instructs. Somehow, this gives me such an intimate and homely vibe. I can’t wait to take her home with me and do this every night. Once loosened, she raises her arms so that I can tug her corset off. She turns her head slightly, tossing me a smirk. Then she gets out of the bed and slowly slips out of her dress, revealing her beautiful breasts to me. I don’t wait for her to undress further, and instead crawl towards her, grab her by her middle, and tug her closer. I attach my lips to one of her nipples while my hands start massaging both her breasts.
“Fuck,” she moans. “Your hands feel so good.”
I was scared she would deem my calloused hands as too rough, but seeing how she enjoys it, I use more pressure with one hand, while the other tugs up her skirt, slipping beneath it and wandering up her legs. Rona’s legs tremble slightly. She puts her hands on my shoulders for balance while my hand reaches for her core. She is already so wet for me, her heavenly scent filling the room as I stroke her through her panties before slipping them down her legs. She shakes them off and tosses them across the room, before my hand moves back between her legs. She bucks her hips for more friction, making me smirk against her nipples. I bite into the little bud softly, making her moan.
“You are wearing too many clothes,” she pants.
“Am I?” I tease.
She smirks at me and settles on my lap again, rubbing her core against my groin. I feel my erection growing. Okay, yes, too many clothes. I push her dress up, tugging and securing it around the belt she is wearing and grab her by her ass cheeks. She follows the lead, lifting her hips so that I can push down my pants.
She doesn’t wait for me to undress completely. The moment my dick springs free, she grabs it with her beautiful, delicate hands and strokes it to full hardness.
“I want you inside me,” she whispers.
“Rona,” I groan.
I help her, carefully guiding her downwards until my cock is buried fully inside her, her walls clenching around me tightly. “Royan,” she moans.
I buck my hips forward while one of my hands massages her breasts. The other is still on her ass, squeezing her ass cheek. Rona bends her head down to capture my lips in another heated kiss. I can feel her hand between our bodies, watching how she is circling her clit. I decide to help her, moving one of my hands down and moving my rough thumb over her clit.
A shudder goes through her body. “More,” she whispers, and I happily oblige.
Rona’s movements are getting more desperate. She is moving her hips faster, making me growl at the intensity of our love making. I have been with a few women, but this… nothing compares to the sparks and the pleasure the bond provides me with, and how amazing it is to share this with my mate.
I can’t hold it in any longer, feeling how my orgasm washes over me, making me moan out her name while I pump my seed into her. Rona comes shortly afterwards, her body going limp on top of me. She stays sitting on top of me while we both are coming down.
“That was amazing,” she whispers. “You are so amazing, Royan.”
“You are amazing,” I tell her. “I want nothing more than to mark you.”
“You want to mark me?” she asks.
“Of course. I want you to be forever mine,” I say honestly. “But I don’t want to rush you.”
“I want to carry your mark,” she whispers, making my wolf growl at her words. “I just want us to be away from here first.”
“The moment we are gone,” I promise her, brushing through her dark-brown hair. Her hair color resembles Penelope’s, but Penelope’s is flat and long, while Rona’s is slightly curly and makes her look so soft and beautiful. “Your hair is beautiful,” I say. “Everything about you is beautiful.”
Rona looks a bit flustered. “I’m so plain,” she says.
“Nothing about you is plain.” I brush my hands over her body, finally helping her to get rid of the remainder of her dress. I notice some scars and bruises on her body, a flash of anger hitting me. I will it down, though, not wishing to ruin our moment. “You are beautiful.”
“You too,” she says. “You are beautiful, too.”
I chuckle at how cute she is. Rona and I continue to cuddle and enjoy each other’s warmth before we decide to get cleaned up. Once we retire to bed for real, Rona is asleep almost instantly. She is lying in my arms, her back resting against my chest, while I lay awake for a while, reminiscing about what just happened between us. I’m more than ever set on getting Rona out of here. I need a plan to get away with her and get backup. My wolf is right, Shayan is able to hold his own here. He is already very high up the ranks because Penelope likes him. He might find even more useful intel.
But I don’t want to leave him without backup either. Yet none of us is safe here, and we need to make sure that King Gillean knows where we are.
I sigh tiredly. Such a wonderful night, yet I’m crushed with my worries again. I’m about to allow myself to drift to sleep too when I feel a tremble going through my mate’s body.
“Don’t…” she whispers.
“Rona?” I ask carefully. “Is something wrong?”
“Don’t… leave me,” she continues to mutter.
I sit up. She is dreaming, and it doesn’t seem like a good dream.
“I’m sorry,” she says. “I’m so sorry.”
“Rona,” I say, gently brushing over her arm. She startles slightly, her eyes jumping wide open. She turns to look at me, and then to my surprise turns over to hide her face in my chest. She starts crying, sobbing uncontrollably.
“It’s my fault,” she says between her sobs. “It’s all my fault.”
“It’s okay,” I whisper, rocking her in my arms. “You are safe.”
“No,” she sobs. “I will never be. Penelope has me in her palms. She beats me, she uses me. And I don’t know what to do. You are all that keeps me alive.”
“I’m not going to let you suffer here,” I say with emphasis. “I’m going to get us out of here.”
For a moment, she stops crying. “But how… how do you want to do that? I know we are always playing with the thought of running away, but how….”
“I’m a pack wolf,” I say quietly.
Rona draws back from me, her red-rimmed eyes widening. “What?” she whispers.
“I… I am here to research the cult,” I say, deciding to leave Shayan out of this. In case someone is listening, I don’t want to risk his safety too.
Rona gasps. “Is this for real? Roy… I mean Royan, you aren’t joking?”
I shake my head.
Relief crosses her face, and she snuggles against me again. “There is hope, after all.”