Chapter 4 The night visitor
Jeremy's POV
I couldn't sleep after everything that happened. It was indeed a crazy day.
Before I could control myself, I was walking around the dungeon.
That's when I heard her voice.
"Fuck!"
My legs moved fast.
The cell door was wide open, I just rushed in.
Inside... a hooded person stood over her with a knife raised high.
"NO!"
I grabbed the person from behind, pushed her hard against the wall. The knife fell to the floor. and I quickly fling the hood to the back.
My blood went cold.
"Mother?!"
My mother's face was twisted with anger. "Let me go, Jeremy!"
"What are you doing?"
"What you should have done! Killing the bitch who tried to murder my son!"
I could hear the assassin breathing hard behind us.
" Mom No.Not like this. Not by your hand."
"Then by whose? Yours? You can't even kill her!"
"Mother, please..."
"She's your mate, isn't she?" My mother stopped fighting. Her voice dropped low. "That's why you can't do it."
I didn't answer.
"Jeremy." She looked me in the eyes. "She's the enemy. The mate bond is the moon goddess testing you. Will you choose duty or will you choose her?"
"I choose duty, Mom. I choose family. Always."
"Then let me end this."
"NO. Mom, please listen to me."
I dragged her out of the cell. Locked it. The key shook in my hand.
Zoe's eyes followed us. She looked so small and so scared.
Something twisted in my chest.
I pushed it down.
I took my mother to her room.
"Mom, sit."
"Don't you dare command me..."
"Please!"
She sat. But fire still burned in her eyes.
"You're making a mistake."
"I know what I'm doing, Mom."
"Do you? You're letting that mate bond make you weak!"
"I rejected her!"
"And she didn't accept!" My mother moved closer. "The bond is still there! Every day she breathes, it gets stronger. It'll make you care for her."
"That won't happen."
"It's already happening! You just stopped me from killing your sister's attacker!"
"I stopped you because I have a plan. I need her alive."
"Why?"
"Because..." I ran my hands through my hair. "Because she's the only cure for my curse. The only woman who's ever made it work."
Silence.
My mother's hand touched my shoulder. Softer now with different expression.
"Oh, Jeremy... my poor boy."
"Once I find another woman, I'll kill her myself. But until then, I need her breathing."
"And what if you never find another woman?"
"Then I'll live with the curse. But I won't keep her alive forever, Mother. I promise...Starting tomorrow, she becomes a slave. The lowest rank. Other slaves will boss her around. Make her work until she breaks."
"And?"
"And at night... she comes to my room."
"You'll use her?."
"Yes. For the curse. Nothing more."
"Jeremy, being that close to her every night... the bond will..."
"I can handle it."
"Can you? Can you really use your mate and not feel anything?"
"She's not my mate. I rejected her."
"She didn't accept. That means..."
"I know what it means! But I don't have a choice."
My mother was quiet for a long time.
"Fine. Keep her alive. Use her. But Jeremy..." She grabbed my chin. "The second you feel yourself getting soft toward her, you end it. You kill her. Promise me."
"I promise."
She let go. "Good."
I left her room but didn't go back to the dungeon.
I couldn't face her again tonight.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow her real punishment starts.
Morning came too fast.
I stood on the balcony watching on the yard below.
They'd brought her out and hour ago. They'd given her the gray slave dress.
Now she was on her hands and knees scrubbing stones.
"Move faster, assassin!" A female slave kicked her bucket. Water spilled.
She didn't complain. Just started over.
Another slave stepped on her hand.
She gasped but didn't cry out.
"Clumsy bitch!"
She pulled her hand back. It was bleeding.
My wolf groaned inside me. But I shut it up.
She deserves it.
That night, a guard brought her to my room.
She stood by the door. Head down. The gray dress hung on her small body.
Her whole body was shaking.
"Come here."
She didn't answer.
"I said come here."
She took small step but stopped in the middle of the room.
I walked around her slowly.
"You worked hard today."
She said nothing.
"Look at me when I speak to you."
She lifted her eyes. They were empty.
Something in my chest got tight.
I pushed it away.
"Take off the dress."
Her eyes went wide. "What?"
"You heard me. Take... it... off."
"Please..." Her voice broke. "Please don't..."
"You have two options. Take it off yourself, or I rip it off."
Tears started falling, but she didn't move.
I took another step.
She jumped back scared.
"Last chance, assassin."
Her hands went to the dress. Shaking badly.
Slowly... she pulled it over her head.
She stood naked. Trying to cover herself.
For few seconds, I stood and assess her body. She has nice curves but it also looked like a map of pain. Bruises. Burns. Scars. Bleeding hands.
I walked to the door and opened it.
"Maria!"
She appeared. "Yes, Alpha?"
"Take her to the royal bathroom, clean her and bring her back to me."
Maria took her arm gently and led her out.
I sat on my bed. Put my head in my hands.
What am I doing? I asked myself.
But I knew.
Breaking her... using her and making her pay.
Maria brought her back an hour later.
Clean. Hair washed. Smelling like lavender. Wearing a thin silk robe.
I almost said beautiful.
But I crushed that thought.
"Come here."
She climbed onto the bed slowly.
I pulled her toward me. The mate bond hummed.
I could feel my body. The curse lifted.
"If you want to live," I whispered, "you'll do exactly what I say. Understand?"
She nodded.
"Good girl."
I was rough. On purpose. She needed to understand this was punishment.
She cried the whole time. Silent tears.
But I didn't stop.
When it was over, she curled away from me. Shaking.
I could tell it was her first time from the scream and blood stain.
"Get dressed."
She pulled the robe on with shaking hands.
I rang the bell beside my bed and a guard enter.
"Take her back to her cell." I said and looked away until I heard the door shut.
My body felt good. The curse was gone, at least for tonight.
But something else felt wrong.
Very wrong.
The look in her eyes. The tears. The way she curled away like a hurt animal.
I pushed the thoughts away.
__________
Three weeks passed.
Every day she worked. Scrubbed. Cleaned. Served.
Every night she came to my room.
She got thinner. Weaker. More empty.
But she never complained. Never begged.
Just... survived.
I watched her from my balcony one afternoon.
She was hanging laundry. Moving slow. So tired.
Then I saw the worst nightmare behind her.
"Oh my goodness!"
If she doesn't die today, the Goddess must really love her.