Chapter 17

**This Chapter contains strong scenes of self harm. Please read at your own risk.**

Dylan POV.

I didn't have it in me to fight back, so I just let him carry me, my naked body flopped over his biceps as he began walking indoors.

Servants and maids scurried passed us many times, non of them even daring to look at me or the king. He made his way up every single flight of stairs while carrying me effortlessly, until finally coming to our rooms. I could feel his gaze on me but I refused to meet it, my head remained facing away from him.

"I require you to stay in my room tonight. Sharing a bed will help the bond grow between us." So much for having an adjustment period. He placed a gentle kiss on top of my head before walking into his room. He carried me through it and to his bathroom where he sat me on the toilet. "We'll need to hose you off before bed though, I can't have you staining my sheets now can I?" I didn't answer, I didn't even acknowledge that I had heard him. He sighed heavily before walking away to run a bath.

I wondered how my mom was coping alone. I had always been the person to protect both her and Freddie from any trouble. I always took both their punishments myself, so they didn't have to. I promised my dad I'd be there, I promised him I would protect them both. Turns out I couldn't even do that. I was a failure.

I hadn't noticed the king lifting me again until my body was engulfed in warm soapy water, my back instantly stung and a wince of pain made its way on to my face.

"Shh, I know it hurts, and I am sorry, I may have gotten a little carried away, but I think you secretly liked it rough didn't you." He chuckled as he picked a loafer up from the side. He gently began to wipe my back, catching the large scratch and puncture marks he had previously made. All the while I just stared straight ahead of me and bunched my knees up to my chest, my arms wrapped around them like a safety blanket. I wanted to be left alone, I wished the world would just suck me up.

"You've gone awfully quiet, my queen." I barely moved a muscle as he continued to clean me off. "You must be exhausted, you have had a rather busy day, and the maids informed me you didn't sleep in your bed last night." Again I didn't answer, my mind was screaming at me to run, to get away from this sadistic man, but my body was too weak. I was too sore and I couldn't bring myself to even look him in the eye after what he did.

"The silent treatment won't do you any good..." again, I made no acknowledgement of him whatsoever. "What are you thinking about?" His tone was beginning to get hard, you could clearly see him progressively getting annoyed with me. When I didn't answer him again he growled and grabbed my shoulders, forcibly turning my body painfully to face him. "ANSWER ME!" The loudness of his voice caused me to curl into myself more, and my head lowered. Before I could even think he had raised his hand in a fist. I tensed quickly and braced myself for impact, but instead his fist came down on the side of the bath and the ceramic smashed causing some of the water to leave the bath tub and crash onto the floor like a tidal wave. "FINE!"

With that he stormed out of the bathroom and left me sitting in the now bloody water. I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding, and loosened up slightly. Before I knew it my eyes were streaming water down my cheeks, my hand slapped over my nose and mouth to keep my noise down, I must have been there for a good 5-10 minutes just crying to myself, I could have stayed there for ever but my peace was cut short.

"Miss Riley!" I heard a panicked voice float into the bathroom before Beta Lewis charged into the room, his shoes splashed in the puddle of water, as he looked down at the color. My head shot up instantly and I tightened my arms around my legs to keep my dignity, although at this point that was long gone. "Miss Riley!" He ran to the little closet and grabbed a large fluffy towel then walked over to me hurriedly.

The second he saw my puffy red eyes and the almost completely red bath water, he stopped. "What happened?" His voice immediately held pity, as he looked at me, that just made me feel worse. I sighed and shook my head, I couldn't bring myself to speak coz I knew my voice would crack. "He's trying, you know?" I couldn't help the scoff that left me as he spoke. I carefully went to stand up but my legs were seriously killing me so instead I fell right out of the tub and onto the floor. A small cry of pain left my mouth before I felt a gentle grip on me, pulling me onto my feet. "Are you ok?" He wrapped the towel around my back and he held my shoulders steady while gazing at my face.

I just nodded my head and hobbled away from him on shaky legs. I was stopped however by his voice again. "Whatever he did, I apologize for it. He doesn't know how to show affection, especially to humans." Ok, now I was mad. Of all the things to say to me, sorry isn't going to cut it.

"That doesn't justify him RAPING me!" I yelled, completely forgetting my place, while turning to face him. I'm done with this entire world. I'm done, I want out.

"He..." Lewis looked completely taken aback by my outburst and even more so at what the king had actually done. "Miss Riley I..."

"Just call me Dylan!" I'm on the verge of being broken in the space of two days the king had managed to crack me, and it was only a matter of time before he breaks me completely.

"Dylan." His voice was nothing but a whisper as he said it. My tired, bloodshot eyes met his, making me see about ten different emotions running through them. "I can't justify what he's done to you, but you are his mate."

"Yeah? Well you could have fooled me." I walked right up to Lewis and stood right in front of him, my hand curled into a fist and I felt pain shoot through it. I forgot I hurt it when I punched the king in the garden. "We were taught that when a mutt finds their mate, that's it. You have someone to love and care for you for life. I always hated that thought, I always hated the idea of having some stupid goddess pick your life's partner, but hey, that's just life now isn't it." My voice was dry, my entire being was threatening to break down but I held my ground.

"Then I saw it, what the bond was doing to people in my class, how much they cared for each other, how they forgot about what this world did to our families. How the bond tore wives from husbands, brothers from sisters, parents from kids." By now tears were falling down my face once more, and I couldn't help but be grateful my mom and Freddie weren't here to see this. "I swore I would never forget what your kind did to mine, I would never bow down to a mutt... and now look at me." I let out a hollow laugh as I hobbled over to the sink, I had a look in the mirror at my face. Makeup was smeared over my skin, Bruising rested over my left eye, my lip was swollen, my eyes were bloodshot and sunken in from the crying and the lack of sleep, and my neck had a large purple bruise around it.

"He's torturing me, he's a sadistic fuck who deserves to rot in the darkest parts of hell! King or no king, mates or not... I hate that man, and I swear I will do whatever it takes to escape from this life." I sniffed and wiped my eyes on the back of my wrist, thinking about what I was planning on doing, I'm so sorry dad. "I will do whatever it takes to get away from him."

"Everything is still fresh in your mind, please just try and get along with him." I shook my head why should I make any effort to get to know a man who gets off on causing pain. "Im not telling you to accept him, I'm just saying try and get to know him." I nodded my head at the beta but I knew I wasn't going to try. I never wanted a mate, it's a destiny worse than death. "Come on, why don't we wash your face, try to get that makeup off so we can see the damage." Again I nodded my head before sitting down on the toilet. He was a little patronizing but I suppose it was nice that he was trying.

I watched him walk around the bathroom to get a clean wash cloth and back again to fill the sink next to me with some warm soapy water. Before bringing the wet cloth up to my face, I frowned and recoiled, letting out a hollow awkward chuckle before going to grab the cloth from him.

"I can do it for fucks sake!" He nodded and handed me the cloth which I immediately began to use, only I couldn't see what I was doing. After a minute of struggling I sighed and held the rag out for him. "Can you help me please?"

"Of course!" He didn't hesitate which I thought was odd. He was very gentle as he began to wipe my face, uncovering all the bruises and all the damage done in the past 2 days. "Jeez!" His eyes were trained on different parts of my face as he exclaimed his shock. I guess I looked worse than I thought.

"Is it that bad?" I chuckled hollowly and looked down at my hands as they fidgeted and played with my fingers.

"You're worse than I was expecting." At least the guy wasn't sugar coating it. He frowned at my face and then met my eyes with a small sympathetic smile... "but you're ok. You know that right? You're ok, you'll be ok." Was he talking about my injuries or my mental state? I nodded my head in defeat and smiled half heartedly.

"Yeah, I'm ok. I have to admit, that makeup lady knows what she's doing." The royal beta nodded before looking at my sorry state.

"You need a good sleep, I know it's easier said than done, but you need to try. Why don't I go and find you some pajamas to wear?" I nodded my head as I stayed sat on the toilet by the sink, I watched him leave and heard his footsteps getting quieter as I let out a long sigh.

I didn't want to stay here another minute. I was never going to sleep properly knowing the king was under the same roof as me, just waiting terrified of what he'd do. So with that thought I stood up and opened the cabinet under the sink and had a look, Until I found something I could use, a large pack of razor blades. I slid one out of the box and looked at it shining in my hand.

With that I took the small blade in my hand, I lined it up to my left wrist, my tears had stopped knowing I would be free from this awful world. Without another thought, I cut through the skin on my forearm and sliced it deep down the wrist that didn't have my brand. Instantly I shouted in pain and my breathing quickened as blood poured out quickly. The pain was greatly welcomed as I knew that for once, I was in control.

I was just about to do the same on my other arm but my hand was grabbed, the blade was forced out of my grasp and a hand clamped down on my deeply wounded arm, my teeth began chattering as coldness swept over me and my eyes closed slowly.

"Shit! What the fuck are you thinking?!" The Royal Beta was trying everything to stop the bleeding. But that was the last thing I wanted.

"No! Let me die... please?" It was a whispered question, I was pleading with him to end my suffering but he shook his head at me in horror. My body suddenly got really heavy and I felt my legs give in. I went tumbling into the man that was stood with me, and my consciousness was fleeting.

"GUARDS!" I felt my body being lifted as the sound around me became muffled. "Stay with me Dylan. Keep your eyes open, you're not going to die from this!" I heard his voice get quieter as my body jostled, clearly he was running with me.

I heard him, but I didn't want to listen. If I wanted to stay awake then I would never have done that in the first place. I let my eyes close and prayed that I would be free from this fucked up world. My head flopped over Lewis's arm, and I allowed myself to completely black out