The Delta's Daughter Chapter 216

14 YEARS AGO

HUNJI

I woke with a start. My body was heavy like it had been crushed by a boulder. I rubbed my eyes and then my temples, trying to piece together what had happened to me. I reached out for my wolf, but he was quiet and nowhere to be found in my head.

“Good you are awake.” I glanced around looking for the owner of the voice and found my father seated in a lounge chair, the shadows of the night hiding him. He leans forward bracing his arms on his knees and resting his chin on his knuckles. His dark hair catches the moonlight making it look almost blue.

It dawns on me that I am in my room. I hadn’t left for Ishmel yet. And I hadn’t seen Divya yet, it was all a horrible bad dream.

“I had the worst dream, ever.” I groan, laying back still trying to gather my wits. “What are you doing here father?” I ask him. It’s not like him to be in here, especially not this late at night. It was a strange occurrence and had me feeling a little on edge.

“It was no dream Kian,” He starts, and I furrow my brows at him “You were brought back here three days ago. That is how long you have been unconscious.”

“What?” I ask in disbelief sitting up again.

“Your brother has claimed Divya as his first mistress. She will bare his children…”

“No! No!” I shout and clamber out of my bed “She is my mate! I have marked her! He cannot touch her!” My heart rate accelerates - my wolf simmering on the surface holding just as much rage as I am trying to hold back, realizing it was not a dream, I did find my mate fucking my brother.

“SILENCE!” He shouts and both my wolf and I tremble under his command “You stupid boy! You will listen to me!” He says, still angry but not as loud. “If it were just your brother demanding this, I could deny him. As it stands it is your mate who has made a claim that you forced your mark on her. She has appealed to the courts that as she has not marked you, she would like to be released from the bond so she can be with Farid.”

I open my mouth to protest but the irate look in his eye has me shutting it again.

“This is why we don’t mark our mates. Especially power-hungry tramps like her!” My wolf growls at my father’s use of words to describe my mate and I have to remind him that our father is not wrong. She did spread her legs for our brother and apparently, she did it willingly. “Do you know what this means Kian? It means you will have to go through a formal rejection and the bond will not be broken for another full cycle of the moon!” He scowls his anger still rampant.

I have brought both your brother and his whore back here. Divya will be watched by your sisters, goddess knows if they keep fucking each other while you are still tied to her, you will die! We have rules for a reason. Those rules keep future kings safe!”

“But I am not a future king, am I? That seat belongs to Rostam! And my mate belongs to me! She is my mate father, and I love her! Farid has bewitched her somehow…”

“Did you not listen to a goddamn thing I just said, Kian? Your. Mate. Doesn’t. want. You. It was she who requested the rejection, it was she who said she wanted to be Farid’s mistress. And the laws say she can be claimed by a prince at any time. If already claimed, the concubine in question gets to make a choice of who claims her. It’s either that or you fight your brother to the death, I will not have my sons make a mockery of my throne.” His jaw tensed and his nostrils flared. “Your mother would be ashamed of you!” he spat.

The anger boiled inside of me and rose to the surface like molten lava “Don’t you dare speak about her like that! If she were ashamed of anyone it would be you – her true mate! How many mistresses do you have, you unfaithful bastard!” I roared at him.

A gush of air left my body, my father slammed me against the wall his hand coiling tightly around my neck, cutting off my air. “Shut. Your. Mouth. You know nothing. I loved your mother and never touched another woman after we met until she died, and she was murdered because you were born. You are the ungrateful bastard.” He let go, my body sliding down and slumping to the wall.

“Man the fuck up!” He cursed slamming the door when he exited my room. The tears fell from my eyes, and I sobbed like a child. His words replay in my head - 'she doesn’t want you' – over and over.

For the next few days, I kept to myself, hardly leaving my room, until it was time to face the court and officially reject my bond with Divya. I knew deep down that my father’s words weren’t a lie, still, I refused to believe Divya didn’t love me. My wolf had been hiding in the recces of my mind, his shame and heartbreak were too much to face, and his absence left me weak.

The moment I walked into the hall of courts I could sense her - The sweet smell of Daylilies assaulted my nose. My eyes searched out for her and when they landed on her, she was staring straight at me. Ruda stirred and perked up at the attention his mate had granted us. It was short-lived when I noticed her hand was linked with Farid’s. A coy and twisted smirk formed on his face, and he bent down placing a kiss on my mate’s neck, right where my mark lay. A tight tug of heat soared beneath my skin with his action. The whole time his eyes settled into a devious glint as they met mine. I flicked my gaze to Divya’s and all I saw was a cruel and cold emotion aimed right at me.

I begged her with my eyes not to do this, but she kept her cold glare and her lip turned up in a snarl. What had I done to her for her to hate me? Better question yet what had my brother done to turn her against me?

The formal rejection was painful, but it didn’t hurt as much as watching my brother drive his cock into my mate and it didn’t hurt as much as hearing her call out his name while she climaxed.

In twenty-eight days, the bond would be fully broken. As if it never happened. My mark would fade, and she would officially become the first mistress to my brother.

On the sixth day after our rejections, I had fallen into some type of normalcy. I was training with a new batch of Elite soldiers, going through the motions. My heart was not in it though, and my wolf was still in denial. I formed the new recruits into two lines and had just finished giving them instructions when my skin began to heat up rapidly. Then came the pain. I doubled over clutching my chest trying to breathe through the feeling of a hot poker pushing out from my lungs and heart.

‘Mate is hurting us’ Ruda whimpered in my head.

I cried out in agony when the searing smarting became too much and dropped to the floor on all fours. I could feel Ruda going crazy wanting out. My gums tingled and my hands began to sprout hair. I pushed back as hard as I could to keep him at bay, but his claws came out and before I knew it, they were dug deep into my chest, clawing at the invisible pain.

I was acutely aware of the shouting and screams coming from my men. Their hands grabbed at me pinning me down in an effort to stop me from killing myself.

Luckily, I recovered fast and was only out for two days this time. When I woke, I found Rostam and my sister by my side. My sister, Sonia, had been crying and lines of worry marred Rustam’s face.

The door opened and Rostam’s mother came in with a bowl, towels, and what smelled like a medicinal compound.  Ever since our mother had died, Madame Lucy, Rostam’s mother had taken care of us. Watched out for us as we grew up and became the mother we had lost.

“How are you feeling Kian?” She asked sadly.

“Like shit” I confessed, and she gave me a pitying look.

She pressed the medicinal compound to my wounds after cleaning them, which weren’t healing as normal wounds would. It took a few days for me to get back on my feet. Rostam and Sonia along with Madam Lucy appealed to my father to have Farid and Divya separated. I thought he already had - apparently, he did a shit job of keeping his son safe from their fucking around. The claw marks on my chest were proof that he had failed.

A week went by with no incident. As a precautionary measure, guards were stationed outside my door and were to stay there until the remainder of the 28 days had passed and I would be free of this infliction.

Every day their sordid affair played on my mind, and the intimate position I found them in the first time, was a memory that would just not leave my mind. Haunting me every night and even during the day. I hadn’t seen them, nor did I want to. They have put me through hell and couldn’t wait until I was free; until my mark was free of Divya.

It did happen again. Only two nights later. I woke in a cold sweat and again the agonizing burn swept through my body – an uncontrolled inferno searing through my bones, grasping my muscles, and igniting every single nerve ending in my body. Ruda howled as the pain reached my soul and my claws came out scrambling to release the pressure that engulfed my heart and chest.

The guards pinned me to my bed, strapping down my arms and legs. “You have to stop them father before he kills himself!” I heard Rostam plead, his voice rash and desperate, sounding far away like an echo carried by a night in the breeze.

My mind cloudy and sight hazy, I gasped for air trying to control and regulate the thumping of my heart.

“I don’t know where they are!” I could hear the hurt in my father’s voice, and it was the last thing I remember before falling into a black abyss.

When I woke, I was still strapped down. My body was naked on top of the sheets. I looked down and saw the bed covered in blood, my chest wrapped in bandages, but crimson liquid seeped through them from the source of my injuries.

“Shit, how long this time?” I asked my brother once I spotted him in the corner.

“A few hours,” He replied throwing the blanket off him and standing from the chair.

I looked towards my window, only now seeing the sliver of light peeking through. “Don’t open them” I said when Rostam went to pull the curtains back.

“Alright,” he said and came to sit on the bed next to me. “I will have a maid come in and change the bedding” I watched him as his face mangled into a look of hurt when he cast his eyes across my bed and landed on me. “Father has the whole palace looking for them…” He began but was cut short when I cried out.

“Kian!” He exclaimed worriedly.

I couldn’t answer him though because it had started again. They were fucking again. “I’m going to kill them!” I shout out between gritted teeth as wave after wave of agonizing and soul-sucking pain claimed me.

Ruda began to thrash in my head, his growls becoming louder and rumbling out of my chest. He would not be held down. He had had enough – There was no holding back my wolf this time.

‘It’s us or them! Make a decision human!’ He roared in my head.

‘US!” I replied without hesitation. My wolf’s claws extended, and his canines elongated, I felt a rush of energy that superseded the terrorizing invisible flames that licked at me. My arms strained against the restraints, and the sound of them breaking echoed through my ears.

Ruda was in control and as soon he had broken free, my body leaped from the bed flinging the door to my room open. My nose lifted and he scented the air catching the undeniable scent of his mate and took off down the hall like a bat out of hell - full of fury and revenge.

The scent led us to a room on the top floor, a room where servants would usually reside. Without hesitation, my foot met the door and a loud, shattering growl from Ruda shook the room. Farid was on top of Divya, pumping into her. His head cocked at the intrusion and he, the fucker, had the audacity to smirk.

I could only watch as my wolf was in control and in two short bounding strides, he crossed the room and ripped Farid from his mate. The pain instantly subsided as soon as they lost their connection.

I will never forget the look on Divya’s face as we loomed over her. The fear etched into her features and the guilt in her eyes. But it was too late for her. My hand came up and then down, punching a hole straight through her chest. A gasp of air puffed out from her open mouth when my hand retracted holding her still-beating heart. My wolf gave her one last glance “Bitch” He spat, then turned and hurdled the heart at my brother who sat against the wall he had been thrown into, in shock. His face was as pale as the moon. The heart hit him in the face and still, he was too shocked to even register that his mistress’s heart sat on his lap, his dick covered in her blood. “Fuck her now! You piece of shit!” Ruda growled at him. Then stormed from the room, knocking Rostam’s shoulder as he exited.

*****

“You can run Kian!” It hurt to see my sister hurt – for me. “Please let us get you out of here…” she begged but I just shook my head.

“I will stand trial for my crimes, no matter how much they deserved it. No matter whether it was justified or not.”

“Father’s hands are tied; he is bound to the law just as any of us. He cannot sway the courts!”

“Sonia, stop. I committed the crime. I am guilty of what I have been accused of. Besides what more can be done to me? I killed my own mate, that in itself is a punishment.”

The day I killed Divya the royal guard came for me. Men I had trained and were meant to lead. I didn't put up any resistance when they arrested me. I knelt down, placing my hands behind my back, and let them put the silver cuffs on me.

"I'm sorry my prince," one man said, Ketan a young warrior new to the guard. "We wish we didn't have to do this" the remorse clear in his voice as he hauled me up and walked me down and out of the palace to our cells.

Today I would stand before the courts and receive my sentencing. My crimes were punishable by death.

The courts heard an account of my actions, then they dismissed everyone as they discussed sentencing. An hour later I was brought back into the room.

My father sat front and center, his face stoic and eyes emotionless. It was his duty to pass the sentencing agreed upon.

"Prince Kian Tikaani, your sentencing has been agreed upon." There is a short pause as everybody waited with bated breath "You attacked a crown prince with the intent of harming him. For that you are hereby stripped of your title and rank" murmurs and whispers could be heard.

"For the crime of forcing your mark on a crown prince’s mistress and then murdering your marked mate and her unborn child - You will be sentenced to death by way of punishment." The sounds of surprise and horrified gasps filled the hall.

"Quiet!" My father's voice boomed. “May the gods have mercy on your soul, son.” My father’s voice cracked slightly with his departing words. The guards began to haul me away out of the great hall.

Catching sight of Farid, I couldn’t help my outburst "LIAR!" I screamed at him. "She carried no child!"

"She carried my child!" He yelled back at me, his dirty brown eyes holding a devious and satisfied look. It was then I realized he had planned it all. Right from the very beginning. He had played me like a fine-tuned instrument, and I had fallen right into his hands and fucked up games at the cost of my mate and now - my life.

*****

My heart was broken, and my wolf was weak, we could taste death and were a breath away from knocking on hell’s door. I had murdered my mate and had fallen from the moon goddess’s grace. There would be no hope, no second chances for me.

Our laws allowed the victim to choose our punishment and by way of proxy Farid had the final decision.

I would be stripped and seared, then whipped with silver and wolfsbane until my last breath - publicly.

Strung from the pole in the center court, hundreds of eyes watched as they branded me with iron rods from the hot coals. My cries of agony rang out. No brake was given to me when they cast the first strike of the whip on me, dipped in a mixture of silver and pure wolfsbane each time they struck. I hoped my screams would haunt them all for as long as they walked this realm.

After 30 licks, I lost count. After many more, my knees began to buckle, and my arms pulled at the restraints. For hours I was whipped, from sun-up to sun down, until I became numb to the lashes. My head hung low, my will waning, I was ready for death to claim me - watching the blood run like a river from my body onto the hot dry dirt ground.

I could no longer feel pain. I could no longer cry out. 'goodbye' I said to my wolf whom I believed had already left me.

*****

I thought I was dead when the muted voice reached my ears. My body had died and all that remained was my thoughts, my mind holding on to its last shred of life.

"So close to your end, brother, your will is stronger than I thought. Still, you proved to be the weaker wolf. I didn’t anticipate you killing your mate – just yourself. But this was sooo much better. One prince down, two to go." the voice whispered "if you only had ambition, your mate wouldn't have strayed. She was tight brother; her pussy clenched my clock so hard – I know for a fact she never came like that for you. I win, little brother. " Farid's sardonic voice chuckled in my ear.

"Take him to the desert and let the wilds feast upon his corpse. I want him to know he is being eaten alive when Azrael comes to claim him."