Joining the Pack Ch. 13

Editor's note: this story contains scenes of non-consensual or reluctant sex.

*****

Hello and thank you for reading! We're coming to the climax of this story, I anticipate another couple chapters after this one. I know we've been solidly in the Non-Human category for the last few chapters, but I've selected Non-Consent for this chapter just to be safe. It's not a very pleasant chapter for poor Anahid, so read with caution.

~~

The vampires ran through the dark woods all through the day. They danced nimbly, avoiding any sunlight and Anahid was carried along, trussed up like a pig to slaughter. Thrown over the shoulder of a hulking vampire, her head bounced painfully as she was lost in a haze of confusion and grief.

Ash. Funny Ash. Variya's mate, Varick's father. He was gone. Murdered in the forest because she'd been too stupid and hadn't sensed the trap. Would the pack know something was wrong? How long would it take them to find Ash's body? To find this trail the vampires surely left? Kaev. He would find her. He would kill all of them. He would. He was her mate. He would protect her. Tears streamed down Anahid's face.

After mindless days of running, they finally reached an imposing fortress. A stark citadel nestled in the trees. As they entered, the cheers from the walls Anahid's heart creaked. She was going to die here. A wolf in the den of monsters, of ravenous, twisted creatures. As they spilled into a large courtyard she was finally thrown to the ground. With her lycan pack her nakedness felt the most normal thing in the world. But now, surrounded by enemies, by the cold stares of the vampires, Anahid found herself trying to cover her aching breasts.

"We've captured Kaev's mate," Atalanta crowed as she stepped in front of Anahid. The lovely vampire crouched, catching Anahid's eye. She lowered her voice. "So you're what he's been waiting for all these years?" Atalanta spat in her face to the jeers of the gathered vampires.

Desperately Anahid cast around, for something, anything... Dymion watched her. His dark eyes now looked nothing like their kind father's. They were cold, empty as he stared at her.

The hulking vampire that had carried her through the woods grabbed her hair, lifted her to her knees. The silver collar and cords at her neck seemed to burn with the shame in her cheeks. Trapped within, her wolf howled in impotent rage.

Atalanta now stood over her. Her eyes were slightly manic with satisfaction as she watched Anahid struggled. She laughed. "I suppose you're thinking Kaev will come for you. He will. Of course he'll come for his mate," she spat the last word like it was vile on her tongue. "Do you think he'll want you back after what I have planned?" Atalanta nodded her head at the vampire that held Anahid's hair. He jerked her head back and leaned over her grinding his crotch into her face. Around them the vampires continued to laugh. The hulking vampire suddenly dropped a hand to her breast, grabbed a handful savagely and tugged her to her feet. Anahid struggled, anger now rising to replace her shock. She twisted, biting at the vampire holding her. He released her breast and slammed a fist into her stomach and pain bloomed within her, sucking the breath from her lungs.

Anahid shrieked in terror, bending over to clutch at her stomach, "Please, I'm pregnant!" the words fell from her lips and silenced the gathered vampires. The hand in her hair loosened slightly as a collective silence fell over the courtyard. Anahid stared at the ground, curling into herself to protect her child. Kaev's child.

At last, she slowly lifted her head and found Atalanta's eyes. The blue pierced her, blinding hate rippled beneath the surface of the vampire queen. She stared for a long moment at Anahid then turned on her heel. "Bring her to the dungeon."

~~

Atalanta clenched her fists and felt her nails pierce her palms. Cassian dragged the wolf-bitch behind her to the murmurs of the vampires in the courtyard. Pregnant. The whore was already pregnant. Kaev worked fast. Atalanta's head reeled as she tried to block out the image of Kaev fucking the woman behind her. His flashing gray eyes, the feel of his powerful hands... Cold fury bubbled within her.

She led the way to the dungeon, deep within her fortress. Stepping to the side, Cassian dragged the struggling she-wolf into the cell. He lifted the growling woman and snapped manacles to both her wrists. She hung from the wall, able to stand on only tip-toe though she lifted her chin in defiance, her green eyes glittered even in the dark cell.

"Leave us," Atalanta said to Cassian. Her most brutal enforcer and spy-master dipped his head and left without a word. He knew that tone of voice.

Atalanta stepped into the cell. She felt the rage just below the surface. A familiar friend. But now it bubbled and it took all her strength to hold it down. She debated murdering the she-wolf, drinking the blood of Kaev's mate would be poetic justice. But there was time for that. So. Much. Time. She examined this fated 'mate' of Kaev's. Pretty, in a homely way. Thick, wild bronze hair. Wide green eyes that betrayed the wolf underneath. She was tanned and had the sinewy muscles of a girl used to working in fields. Like her brother.

Atalanta let a cruel laugh erupt. "Dymion says your name is Anahid."

The girl lifted her chin, a snarl on her lips. Atalanta's heart panged. Yes, she could see why this one was Kaev's mate. Even with her silver collar and manacled hands the wolf shone through. She took another step towards the she-wolf. Close enough now to touch, she set a gentle hand on Anahid's stomach. Their eyes met. And then the fear finally filled Anahid's eyes. Replaced the defiance. Atalanta smiled as she caressed the smooth skin of the lycan's belly.

"You have everything I ever wanted." She dipped her head. "But now you're mine."

She raised a hand, slapped Anahid across the face. Slapped her again, again. She let a hundred years of rage and hurt and disappointment free. She screamed as she beat the woman that had stolen the life that was rightfully hers. But she didn't touch that newly quickened womb. Not yet. There would be time to take THAT from Kaev as well.

~~

Atalanta stepped from the cell to find Dymion standing stiff in the hallway. The sound of Anahid's rasping breaths sat between them. She watched Dymion's eyes flick into the cell. He swallowed, dragged his dark gaze back to her. Did his bloodied, weeping sister spark some remembrance of his human life?

"Do you want a turn? You deserve it for your help," she said softly as she stepped close. She raised a hand to pat his cheek. Giggled as she saw the knuckles were covered in blood. She held his eye, licked the blood from her fingers.

Dymion straightened, set his jaw. "What's the plan now? This lycan king will come looking for her?"

Atalanta chuckled. "Essentially. Really pet, you can have a turn. It's her fault your family is dead. Just don't hurt the child in her womb. That's mine." She slipped past him and continued out of the dungeons. She had to clean up, there was planning to be done.

~~

Anahid shivered. Her wrists burned, were nearly raw from the manacles she hung from. Distantly she heard Atalanta speaking, but the haze of pain she floated in dulled all other senses. Her face throbbed, she tasted blood, felt it trickle down her chin, felt the slashes from Atalanta's claw-like fingers across her face, her chest. her shoulders. Terror gripped at her heart, she wanted more than anything to curl into herself, to clutch her stomach and reassure herself her child was safe. But here in this dark cell...no one was safe.

A shuffling footstep sounded and Anahid raised her weeping eyes. Dymion stood in shadow right inside the cell door. His eyes flicked nervously, looking anywhere but at Anahid. Her brother. Her betrayer.

"Why Dymion?" she croaked out.

She heard him suck in a breath, and finally his eyes met hers. Was that shame there?

"Help me," she tried.

His eyes hardened as he took another step into the cell. Anahid flinched from the coldness of his gaze. "Like you helped us? Mother and father? They were all slaughtered because you ran off with your kind."

"So now you throw in with those that killed them?"

Dymion flinched. "She saved me. Because of you, we were dropped into a war. But Atalanta saw me, spared me. Gave me this great gift." He clenched his fist.

"She killed our parents."

Dymion's face twisted in rage and grief as he slapped her. "MY parents. They were never yours. You're the reason they're dead."

And she could not protest because she knew it was true. In some form. As the tears fell down her cheeks Dymion turned and left the cell, slamming to door shut behind him. Anahid collapsed into herself, letting the tears fall. She cried for herself, for her dead parents, for her brother, for her child.

~~

Kaev stared numbly at Ash's body. Variya held him to her chest and her howling grief shook the trees they stood under. Varick stood dumbly over her, shock made his eyes wide and confused. The rest of the pack, their warriors shifted nervously, their eyes and ears on alert for any sound. Cobb and a few others were still in their wolf forms, they circled the group, sniffing for the vampires' tracks. There were too many, they led out in all directions. It would take days of following the half dozen trails to find the correct one. But Kaev felt it, sharp and insistent in his chest he felt Anahid. He knew what direction she lay in. She was his true north after all. It pulled at him. But though the pain gripped him, he knew because of the pain that she was still alive. He would know, like Variya had, if his mate was dead.

He remembered again the way the black haired she-wolf had suddenly collapsed with a scream of agony. Every lycan knew that sound. The sound when your soul is ripped asunder. And now his right hand, the toughest, most capable, oldest friend he had rocked back and forth, wracked with grief. And it was his fault. All of this. Anahid's family being murdered. Anahid being taken. Ash's death. It was all because of him. Because he'd loved a pretty blond woman five hundred years ago and thought he couldn't live without her. He'd turned her into a vampire. A diluted version of himself.

Kaev cleared his throat, pulled his eyes from Variya. They needed to go. He motioned to Cobb and the large wolf padded over to him. "Send a scout after each of the trails. But I'll take the fastest with me. I can smell her."

Cobb dipped his giant, wolf's head and slipped away, back into the trees.

"Varick." The younger man's head jerked up, his eyes were hazy but he blinked and tried to pull himself together. "Are you coming?"

Before he could speak, Variya snarled. She looked up at Kaev, her eyes were raw, terrible in their grief. "I'm coming."

"You're sure?" he asked.

Variya set her jaw, her eyes turned hard as she carefully lay Ash back down on the forest floor. "I'm coming." She stood. She placed a hand on Varick's arm, pulled his eyes to hers. "Take your father home."

Varick lifted his head, held his mother's eyes and gave her a sharp nod. "Kill her," he whispered.

Kaev turned from the sad scene and let his wolf erupt from him. He smelled Anahid in the air, sensed her thrumming heart in the distance. He'd searched for her for years. He would find her again.

~~

Anahid hung in her cell. The night turned cold and blood dried on her swollen face. She tried to feel for her wolf. For comfort. For strength. But that wild part of her self was held down, so deep she could barely feel her anymore. The silver burned into her skin, left her shaking and nauseated with pain. Eventually she again heard footsteps. Atalanta appeared in the doorway and Anahid was ashamed at the fear that gripped her heart.

The hulking vampire, his pale hair cut short and face scarred unlocked the cell and swung the door open. The two pale vampires entered and Anahid weakly struggled, knowing it would do no good, but unwilling to give up so easily either. She froze though as a third person entered the cell, hunched and flinching behind Atalanta. An older woman, her hair dark and matted. Her eyes dull green in the dark cell. A silver collar around her neck.

Anahid's eyes went wide as she took in the other woman. Who was she? Surely a lycan for the silver she wore. Anahid flicked her eyes to the cruelly smiling Atalanta. "Tend to her please, Serenity," the vampiress said lightly as she stepped to the side. Her cool blue eyes watched Anahid.

The older woman shambled closer, carrying a bucket of water. She paused in front of Anahid, avoided her eyes as she dipped a rag into the bucket and moved it to Anahid's cheek. The cool water stung and relieved in equal parts and Anahid found herself hissing as the woman worked. She kept her eyes down, though her hands were gentle.

"So how is Kaev?" Atalanta asked.

Anahid met her stare in defiance, didn't respond.

"I imagine his cock is better than ever. That tongue of his though...the things he can do with that tongue. I miss the taste of it."

Anahid's cheeks flushed and she looked away.

"Does he still like his cock sucked in front of the others?" she laughed. "Lycans, everything is shared. I can't tell you how many warm nights I spent around their fire with Kaev's cock pummeling my mouth." Anahid heard a hiss and reluctantly glanced up to Atalanta. The vampiress was slipping the pants from the large blonde vampire. His cock sprung free, heavy and glistening in the dark cell. "I picked Cassian here because he was the closest to Kaev I could find. I think he's actually slightly taller. The angle is JUST a bit different."

Atalanta stepped into the middle of the cell, pulled the large vampire with her, positioned him directly in front of Anahid. The woman tending to her face stepped away, shrunk into a corner of the cell.

Atalanta replaced her in front of Anahid. She ran a soft hand along her cheek. Down her neck, to her collarbone. Down, down, down to rest only a moment on her belly. Finally she came to Anahid's mound. Her fingers brushed at the hair and Anahid tried to jerk away but then a massive hand was grabbing at her legs, holding her steady. Atalanta still stood between Anahid and the large vampire. She pressed into her, moved her hands to Anahid's hips.

"Has Kaev invited anyone else into your bed? He liked that as well. There was a wolf...Besqa I think her name was. Oh the things we three would do together." Behind Atalanta, Cassian released Anahid's legs and instead wrapped an arm around Atalanta. He dropped his head and began to nuzzle and kiss along her neck. Atalanta arched, grinding into Anahid.

Anahid again tried to jerk away but the vampire's hands were like iron on her hips, holding her still. And then she felt the slickness of Atalanta's arousal on her mound. The other woman moved her hips against Anahid and stared her in the eye. "If you close your eyes, you can almost believe it's Kaev," she whispered and then leaned in.

Anahid felt the teeth and tried to jerk away, but Atalanta held her still as she sunk her fangs into Anahid's neck. Anahid screamed and tried to wrench from the two vampires, but then Atalanta was pressed up against her. Their breasts slammed into each other, slick with sweat and Anahid felt only the rough wall at her back as Atalanta began to drink her blood. Atalanta's hands flew to the wall on either side of Anahid and she pressed impossibly closer. Then Anahid realized the vampire behind her was beginning to fuck the vampiress. His face was now only inches from Anahid's as well as he pressed into Atalanta's back and angled her hips up to his cock.

~~

Atalanta was lost in a spiral of heady pleasure. The she-wolf's blood was powerful, delicious. She hadn't tasted something so delicious since...well, since Kaev.

And then Cassian began to fuck her and Atalanta nearly melted. As the powerful vampire thrust into her she could almost believe it was Kaev that again held her. Cassian's hand gripped her hips as he tunneled into her, pressed her even tighter against Anahid. The she-wolf sobbed, having gone limp as Atalanta fed. Yes, they might just fuck the fight right out of her yet.

As Cassian fucked her, she gripped Anahid's neck still with her teeth. Her breasts were slippery, slipping up and down Anahid's own, igniting her arousal, sending her pleasure higher than she thought possible. The sound of the defeated mate of Kaev's only aroused her more. She finally released Anahid's neck, pressed her cheek to the other's woman's as Cassian tunneled into her. His thrusts grew frantic and Anahid clenched her face in pain as the wall no doubt dug into her back with every movement.

She found Anahid's ear, nipped it lightly. "Do you want a turn? Close your eyes, pretend it's Kaev." she whispered. Anahid jerked her head, tried to pull away but Atalanta only laughed. Behind her Cassian's grunting was begin to reach a crescendo as the two women were slammed against each other from the force of his fucking. "I like having a pet lycan. You taste delicious. Do you think Kaev will be my pet? If I promise to let you and your child go?"

She felt in Cassian's gripping fingers and erratic thrusts that it was about time. She suddenly stepped back. Twisted away from Cassian. He grinned and stepped forward. His hand slid to his pulsating member and in only a couple jerks he finally exploded. He sent thick trails of his semen across Anahid's stomach, her breasts and the she-wolf cringed and screwed her eyes shut from the sight. Atalanta laughed and again stepped close to Anahid. She swiped the semen up, smeared it across Anahid's lips. "Not as tasty is it?" she whispered.

~~

After the vampires left, Anahid collapsed. She sobbed at the indignity and utter violation. Atalanta's cruel words ricocheted through her leaving her sick and edging into despair. This was only the beginning. Anahid trembled to imagine what else the crazed woman might have in store. The thought of that dead eyed vampire raping her sent Anahid's head reeling. She would die first. She would force them to kill her before she let that happen. Weakly she pulled at the chains, but they were strong, silver. There was no escape. The bitter taste of the vampire's semen clung to her lips as it dripped down her body.

Suddenly she felt a cool cloth on her mouth. Anahid flipped her eyes open, found the woman still in the cell. She still kept her eyes down, but slowly, tenderly, wiped Anahid's face.

"Are you a lycan?" Anahid whispered.

The woman kept her eyes down as she moved the damp rag to Anahid's belly. She swiped away the semen. Her hands were gentle, careful. Anahid tried to study her face, but the woman kept her head bent. Her hair was so dark and matted Anahid couldn't even tell what color it should be under the dirt.

"Your name is Serenity?" Anahid tried again.

The woman jerked, then slowly shook her head. "It's the name Atalanta gave me."

Her voice was raw, it cracked slightly like she wasn't used to speaking.

"How long have you been here?"

"I don't know anymore. Years, many years," the woman whispered. She glanced to the door of the cell, as if terrified of being overheard. "I shouldn't be speaking to you."

"What else can they do to us?" Anahid spat out.

Serenity finally lifted her eyes, met Anahid's and the dark green turned somber. "More. So much more." With a final swipe of the rag against Anahid's stomach, Serenity turned and left the cell, slamming the door back shut.

~~

Atalanta paced in her room. Her scouts had just reported the wolves were less than a day out. She shivered, hoped she hadn't miscalculated. Kaev, in all his rage-filled glory was so close. She had Anahid though, the heaviest bargaining chip she could imagine. Kaev's mate and unborn child. The lycan king would be putty in her fingers. Still, a chill ran down her spine as she imagined the massive wolf stalking her. Was it anticipation? Fear? Where Kaev was concerned, they felt the same.