Next, he pulled me down and took me inside one of the tents.
“Sit down,” he commanded in his gruff, baritone voice and I did, wrapping my arms around my drawn-up legs. He removed several layers of the fur pelts from his shoulders, draping one over my shoulders, which I was grateful for. He sat down across from me, his blue eyes studying me. He reached for his satchel and pulled several pieces of meat from it and offered them to me. “Are you hungry?”
“No,” I said and his eyes hardened.
“Speak to me with some bloody respect, boy,” he growled.
“No… Sir,” I repeated.
“That’s better. The next time you forget yourself, I will backhand you to jar your memory, are we clear?”
I nodded. “Yes, Sir,” I said, my voice barely a whisper.
“Speak up!” he barked.
I jumped. “Yes, Sir?” I said loudly as more tears rolled down my face.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, stop crying. Be a man. If you don’t, I’ll give you something to cry about,” he warned.
You already did, I thought, but dared not say. Instead, I swallowed my sorrow and wiped my eyes, because I was more terrified of whatever his threat held.
“I’m sure you’re hungry. After purging as you did, I’m sure there isn’t anything left in your stomach. You will eat,” he said, then reached over, tossing the meat onto my lap.
“What… what are you going to do to me, Sir?” I managed to find the courage to ask after several minutes of silence had passed between us. I picked up a piece of meat and began to nibble on it.
He looked at me, his blue eyes cold and calculating. “I’m going to raise you, boy. Make you into a man and wolf. I will harden you so the next time you pull a knife on someone, you’ll know how to use it and won’t ever piss your pants in fear again.”
My heart ached at the memory of me standing before the wolves, helpless as I held the knife in my hand, unable to move as I’d been frozen by fear. Again, I felt shame and lowered my head.
“I knew you were under the floorboards. I could smell your fear, pungent and pure. No doubt, your mother’s doing, to hide you.” He ate more of the meat he’d shared with me, chewing loudly. “You impressed me when you came out on your own, all full of bravado.”
“I just… just wanted to save my mum, Sir,” I said.
He laughed, and it was cruel in tone. “How did that go?”
“What… what if I don’t want to be here, Sir?” I asked, ignoring his taunt even though it stung me to my core. Because in all honesty, it hadn’t gone well at all.
He snorted as he chewed. “What’s your name?”
“De—Deacon, Sir. What is yours?” I asked.
“Sir, and that is how you will always address me.” He leaned back a little, then smirked. “As for whether or not you want to be here, you have no choice. Be grateful that our Alpha gave command to take natural-born children twelve years and younger, or you would have died alongside your parents. As a human, you will never survive on your own. Not even a year before you would have died of starvation or plague, have been killed, or taken by some brothel or slavers.” He reached over and snatched another chunk of venison he’d taken from my home and tossed a piece to me. “This pack and I are your best chance of survival. Now, keep eating.”
As I picked up the piece of meat and placed it to my lips, I wondered if I’d ever smell the scent of Jasmine again.
CHAPTER TWO
A Cold Night
“Come over here, boy, time for bed,” the wolf said, patting the empty space in front of him where he expected me to lay on the fur of a bear.
I remembered his words to me, how he would teach me how to pleasure a man, and I didn’t want to learn such things. I shook my head and the expression on his face turned to anger. The furrowing of his brow made me shiver in fear of what he’d do to me next.
“Are you disobeying me, boy?” he asked, his tone deep and full of authority.
“I… I want to lay here, please, Sir,” I said, patting the blanket I’d been sitting on since he had brought me to his tent.
“It will get colder through the night, and I won’t have you dying from the chill because you’re too scared to