Chapter 10

He began to drag her down the hall and she started to struggle.
"The king said we were going to eat."
He grinned evilly at her as he pushed her into a room.
"You're going to pleasure me before you are allowed to eat."
"But-"
He slapped her so hard that she stumbled back and landed on the bed. He climbed on top of her and started trying to untie her belt.
"Please, please, not like this."
"Shut up, whore. You are mine now. I own you and you will do as I say."
She struggled under him. "Please."
He punched her in the face and her nose made a sickening crunch sound.
'Scream,' her inner voice yelled at her. 'SCREAM! NOW!'
She let her head fall back and let out a high pitched terrorized scream. His hand covered her mouth. He pulled back and ceased fumbling with her chastity belt. He glared down at her.
"If anybody heard you I am going to slit your throat," he threatened.
Before he could move, his eyes got cloudy and he growled. He grabbed her hair and pulled her head back.
"Seems like somebody heard you after all," he hissed. “You will pay for this!”
He forced her back to the dining hall without allowing her to fix her robe. She was thrown on the floor in front of the King's throne. He stood and came down the two stairs to kneel in front of her. He brushed her hair back and growled when he saw her face. He stood up and grabbed the beta around his throat as she fixed her robe.
"You hurt her!," he angrily accused his second in command.
His hand tightened and everyone heard the slight crack his bones made under the King's grip. He clawed at the king’s hand.
"My King, she tried to fight me to prevent me from taking her. I meant no harm, I swear. I just wanted to claim what was mine."
Aiden threw him across the room. Malcolm skidded for a few feet before stopping. Aiden helped Sasha to her feet, before he stepped in front of her. He gestured behind himself at her.
"This stops now! You all think you are in control, but you are not! We will not rape our breeders! Without them we do not survive as a species! You will respect them! You will not force or coerce them into sex. From here on out, they will choose if they are going to sleep with you. Only if they choose to sleep with you, will they stay your breeder. Each pairing will only last a week, before we will rotate by a lottery drawing until all the girls have chosen a man." He walked over to the men with his hand out. "I want the keys. If they wish to sleep with you, they can come to me, day or night for their keys, so I can be assured that it is their choice. I will not tolerate abuse done to them in any way. For every verbal assault that I hear about, you will get lashes. For physical assault, you will get fed arsenic for a week straight. For sexual assault of any type, you will be put to death. Am I understood?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
Aiden looked around at the girls. "After you fulfill your duty to provide us with children, you will be offered to stay here or to go home. We will not terminate your lives."
"Sire, your father-"
"As Breeder Law 14, clause 72 states, 'The presiding king can change the laws as he sees fit to bring the highest level of productivity and sustainability to the clan.' Furthermore, if the women choose to stay, we get another almost dozen or more years of potential offspring. And another thing, after this choice, if you have found your mate amongst these women, don't tell her. If you are not paired with her now, you need to pray to the Goddess that she waits for you, but please remember it is the women's choice now. You must not interfere with another couple." He turned to his beta. "As punishment for disobeying a direct order, you will submit yourself for 30 lashes at dawn."
"Yes, King Aiden."
"Now, ladies, please enjoy your meal and get to know your partners."
He walked back to Sasha and Kalani. He lifted her chin again, before he leaned down and licked her face. His leathery tongue made her melt inside as he meticulously cleaned her face. When he was done, Kalani gasped.
"Aja, your face! It's healed!"
Sasha lowered her head. "Thank you, Your Majesty."
He gently pushed her towards the table where everyone else sat.
"Go eat, Sasha," he ordered.
The way he said name made her body ignite with desire again. She sat stiffly while other women served platter after platter of delectable food. She watched the king curiously. Why would anybody want to kill such a seemingly genuine man? She watched him chat with Kalani, who slowly began to relax and open up. Jealousy filled her and she picked up the glass of wine in front of her. Her hand shook violently and red wine spilled everywhere. She set it back down and lowered her head. What was wrong with her? She had never been jealous of Kalani before. She felt eyes on her and she raised her head. The king was watching her. She looked away, slowly moving her eyes around the room, lingering on the rest of her girls. As dinner started to wind down, King Aiden stood again.
"If I remember correctly, we now have a competition going on for the women. Whoever can guess our species, will be rewarded. You can not ask to go home before you produce three heirs. Nor can you ask for a specific man to sleep with you. Other than that, it is pretty much open. Every girl can ask one question at every rotation until someone figures it out. You each are allowed three guesses before you will not be allowed to participate anymore." He turned to Kalani. "As my partner, ask your first question."
Kalani looked past him at Sasha, who shook her head slightly.
"I do not know what to ask. Can you come back to me?"
"As you wish."
He began to go down the line, answering the girls' questions. Sasha listened intently to all of the answers until he got to her.
"Sasha? Do you want to ask a question?"
"If it is allowed, Your Majesty, may I take my guesses now?"
"If you want to, yes."
"Hippogriff."
"Incorrect."
"Hmm… eagle."
"Incorrect. Are you sure you want to take all three guesses now?"
"Yes. My final guess is… dragon."
He nodded, raising his arm. Crimson scales erupted on his arm and his hand shifted into a paw with four long talons, before he shook his arm and his arm returned to normal.
"Do you know what you want as a reward?"
"Yes."
"What's that?"
"Next rotation, I want to be with you."
He eyed her. "That's a rule. You can't use your reward to sleep with someone."
"Oh, you misunderstood. This is not for sex. This is to learn about your species. What better way is there to do that, than to have a week to ask the leader all of my questions?"
"What if you sleep with the beta?"
"I won't. My no is permanent."
"What if I sleep with your sister?"
"She won't sleep with you."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because when we arrived here, she immediately had eyes for someone else and if there's a possibility to be with him now, I think she would be smart enough to take it."
"Who is it?"
"We are not to interfere, Your Highness."
He chuckled. "Very well. I will honor your request on the stipulation that neither of us stick with our partner."
"Understood. Thank you."
The beta sat next to her, with his thigh pressed against hers. She moved over inch by inch and almost landed herself in Gregory's lap. She flushed.
"I'm so sorry. Please, forgive me."
"It's fine," he said tersely.
Sasha's hand landed on his arm. "Gamma Gregory?"
"Yes?"
She leaned close to him. "Wait for her, okay?," she whispered.
She got up and began to walk out of the hall. She stopped at the end of the table to turn towards the beta.
"Can you, please, take me to our room? I am very tired."
He rolled his eyes, but stood up. He quickly led her down the hall to the room he had attacked her in. She nervously eyed the bed.
"You take the bed," he ground out. "I'll sleep on the couch."
"Thank you."
"You are very beautiful. Please, reconsider your no. Our children would be gorgeous."
She shook her head. "No, thank you though. If you are willing to hit me, then you are willing to hit your kids, too. I don't think any woman should give them to you." She crawled onto the bed and wrapped herself up tightly in the blankets. "Goodnight."
"Whatever," he snapped as he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Sasha rolled herself up snugly in the blankets again after changing out of the lingerie she had arrived in. She couldn't believe her luck. The man of her dreams was here and next week he was all hers as long as Kalani didn't sleep with him. She hoped she understood Sasha's orders to not have sex with him. She sighed, fidgeting with the blanket.
"Aiden," she murmured. "You're making this hard for me. Please, want me as bad as I want you. I just want one time to feel you, before I have to end your life. Give me that, please. I’m begging you."