. Apostasy . A Luna's Struggle

Mature 16+ content - suggested rape, violence, forced bondage

Anulla sat curled in the back of the long black car, a vintage model that ran on petrol instead of power cells charged by wind or water turbines. She tried to be as still and silent as possible. Her tears held as tightly as her heart. Cathy, Brenna, and Luna Mira would say prayers for her son and Mother Cassie, who died protecting her.

“Our son,” the Monarch said out loud.

“What?” she whispered.

“He was our son, my son. And you let him die.” He growled.

Courage bloomed from a mother’s anger and she screamed at him, “Your Beta tried to kidnap me. Your Beta threaten to rape me while I was still pregnant. Your Beta shoved me down a flight of stairs. Your Beta kicked me over and over. Your Beta killed OUR son, not me. And because he’s YOUR Beta, it is the same as if YOU did it yourself, Monarch. YOU MURDERED YOUR... acchhh.... sss... sonnn.”

His iron grip choked off her words, but she didn’t flinch or whimper, her pale blue eyes were defiant. He loosened his grip as her lips started to turn blue.

“Don’t stop,” she wheezed, “I’m already dead.”

“Oh no, Anulla. You are very much alive, and you have so much to give me.”

“I have nothing left for you, Monarch. ” She spat his title with such vehemence it actually surprised him. He didn’t think a female was capable of such strong hatred. Then he realized, she had never once called him his name and he very much wanted to hear his name in her voice. Her defiance excited him.

“You have me, mate, so you should call me by my name, Anulla.” She shuddered slightly when he said her name and he could feel her cursing the bond. What she said next caught him off-guard.

“I don’t know your name and I don’t want to. I hate you.”

He held her by the throat their faces mere inches apart. “Orion, Balthazar Orion. Now say it.”

She ground her teeth together, refusing. He reached up with a claw and traced the flume above her lips. “Say it, kitten.” He had never felt so aroused by a female’s refusal to obey.

“No, Monarch,” she hissed, her eyes shining with hatred. She didn’t care if he beat her or sliced her with his claws, she wanted to die. He smirked as he reached down and undid his pant. Her fear surfaced at the slow sound of his zipper. He savored it, ever so slowly he forced her to lay back while his claw very deliberately slit her dress down the front. He would break her slowly, until she screamed his name. Pushing the fabric aside, he admired the ripe fullness of her body. She was his mate, his female, his property, to do with whatever he wished.

He bit the mound of her breast hard enough to draw blood. Her breath hissed through her teeth, but she didn’t whimper. He smiled and whispered against her skin, “Say my name, kitten.”

She swung to slap him, but he caught both her hands in one of his and pressed them into the slight gap between her breasts.

“Say...it...” He bit her again and she almost whimpered, but instead she looked him in the eye.

“No, Monarch.”

Tears of pain filled her eyes as he took her, but she ground her teeth and didn’t cry out. She refused to give him the satisfaction.

-^^^^-

Hours later, she was bloody and bruised when they arrived at the lakeside castle he called home. The Monarch climbed out feeling refreshed and strong for the first time in almost a year. No longer than that, he thought, he felt better than he ever had in his life. He reached in and dragged her naked body out by her golden hair, throwing her at the feet of an older wolf, his seneschal Matthias. “Clean her up, give her a red collar. Her punishment is to be whipped, a lash for every month she was gone and put in the stocks. A week for every month. Eight long months.”

“But sire, she’s your Luna,” the older wolf gasped. He looked horrified. “It isn’t proper that other males should touch her.”

He looked down at the old wolf with mild amusement, “She ran away, and still owes the kingdom the rest of her years of service. She will be punished, but you are right, she is to be Luna and has to be held accountable. Her mother lied about her age for two years, lash her twice every week she is in the stocks.”

He leaned down and lifted her face toward him, “Say my name, kitten and I may change my mind.”

“May the Moon’s hounds take you, Monarch.” She forced the words out of her bruised, split lips.

He smirked, running his thumb gently across her mouth, he showed her the blood before he licked it off. “Someday, kitten.” He stood up, “Wash her out and bring her to my pleasure room when she is done with her day’s duty.”

“But sire, forgive me, what... what about her hours of rest? The Laws...”

“I am the Monarch, do not defy me. Now wash the whore, collar her, lash her, and put her out for the pleasure of my warriors as is the duty of every female in the kingdom.” He roared before turning to stomp into the castle.

-^^^^-

Tears fell as the whip tasted her skin, but she made no sound. Anulla stood silently as she was doused in freezing water and collared, she would not cry. A healer rubbed a numbing gel on her lashes and with a quick glance to see no one was paying attention, she smeared it between her legs, inside her, and on her bruised lips and face.

The seneschal led her to the stocks with almost a gentlemanly manner. Giving her a small vial, “Please Luna, drink this before you are confined.” It was a pungent, dry liquid and it burned when she swallowed.

“What is it?” she coughed.

“Something to dull your pain and time here.” He assured her.

Her head was already feeling fuzzy, as she leaned over the pommel in rested her neck and wrist in their places. He barely finished tying her hair up when the first warrior came up, one of the Monarch’s Betas.

He began to paw at her, “So this is our lovely Luna.”

The seneschal knocked him away with a growl, “You may screw her because it is her time of service, but do not disrespect your Luna with your filthy groping, and none are to touch her mouth.”

Anulla closed her eyes, as her body began to rock with the force of him taking her, grateful for the numbing gel and bitter drink, and that there was lubricant required so he wasn’t dry humping her. One after another they came, with only a short break in between until she was sure she was bleeding as their filthy seed mixed with oil ran down her legs. The whole time the seneschal stood by her shoulder, not allowing them to touch more than her waist.

A few hours later, he made them stop, “She has serviced her 12 today, the rest of you will have to come back tomorrow.”

The healer came back and Anulla could feel her gently wiping her body and rinsing it out before applying more of the numbing gel. Then she was covered, as the healer whispered, “I am sorry, my Lady, but you have 4 more hours in the stocks before we can take you inside. Drink this tea, it will help.”

Anulla almost frowned at the taste of catnip and valerian, but soon she fell asleep in spite of her awkward position.

She woke to the sound of a scuffle, the healer was taking her out of the stocks. A large bare-chested wolf in a black hood was holding another by the throat, a second and third lay on the ground either dead or unconscious. The seneschal lectured the gathered males on the rules applying to service females in stocks who were NOT given a death sentence for running away, and the limitation that only twelve a day could take them. He snapped his fingers and the large wolf picked her up and carried her over to the fountain, where she was washed by the healer again before being carried inside. She was grateful, she doubted she could walk. The healer laid her in a soft bed in a very small room and gave her more tea.

Anulla woke to the sound of the seneschal and the Monarch’s voices in heater debate, the old healer shushed her whimper and patted her hair as she passed back into darkness. She dreamed she was dead, this was hell and the Monarch was really the devil she had read about in the old books.

-^^^^-

Orion left Anulla with his seneschal and stopped in his office before he went to his pleasure room, trying to decide what first to do with Anulla. So many things he had seen and done and now he had his mate to do them with. He had to admit sex with his mate was better than any service female he had taken. He looked forward to all the future nights with her after her hours in the stocks. His wolf was going crazy inside his head with each male who screwed their mate, but the silver band he slipped on his wrist kept him from trading skin for fur. He would break her, she would say his name, beg for him to ease her suffering, to give him pleasure. She would regret running away and losing his son. She would suffer for being the weak female she was. As sunset approached he waited for her to be brought to him and was angry when his seneschal came without her.

“My apologies, Monarch Balthazar, but Luna Anulla is bleeding heavily. The healer believes she had a miscarriage only a day or two ago. She requires rest and time to heal.” The old man kept his head down and his neck bared in submission. “Perhaps a few days, before she is returned to the stocks.”

“NO! She is to be punished and perform her time of service. Now bring her to me,” Orion bellowed.

“I apologize, Monarch Balthazar, but the healer had to sedate her, as I said she is bleeding heavily, if her punishment continues she may never be able to carry a pup again or she may die.” He bowed himself lower.

Orion lost his temper as he yelled profanities before storming to the servants’ quarters where she was given a room. Matthias following meekly behind. As soon as he burst into her room, he smelled her blood. Her face was so pale, her skin looked translucent, her normally blushed lips, grayish. The healer bowed to the floor, the old woman terrified of his wrath.

“Heal her now, Odette,” Orion commanded.

“I am sorry, Monarch Balthazar, I have done all I can. Her injuries will take at least a week to heal. She lost a child and is...”

He turned angrily to his seneschal, “Put her back in the stocks tomorrow, she will do her duty.”

“Monarch Balthazar, even you could not be so malevolent. The Luna could die.”

“Do not forget your place, Matthias, You both will be responsible for keeping her alive, if she dies, I will kill your children and only grandchild. Now get out.”

Orion paced for several minutes, fighting with his wolf who was demanding they kill all who touched their mate today before he sat on the edge of her narrow cot. He never understood how anyone could sleep on such a small, hard surface. He brushed the hair away from her bruised face, even dying she was beautiful. Her skin was so smooth and soft. His heart made a strange double beat and it hurt, causing him to move away from her quickly. He paced over and sat down heavily in the small chair the healer had left.

For several hours, he tried to figure out what to do. Nine more weeks. He couldn’t go for a run because his wolf would seek out and kill those who had taken their mate today. He couldn’t take a service girl to his chambers because after the car ride back with her, he knew no one else would ever satisfy him. As he watched her sleep, he cursed the bond, he cursed the dead goddess who made it, and most of all he cursed her, his mate.

:: Spousal or partner rape is a real thing. Just because you are dating, engaged, married (or in this case mated) to someone does not give them the right to touch you, expect sex, or harm you to get sex; oral, vaginal, or anal. Straight or Gay, a partner also does not have the right to demand or force you to have sexual contact with their friends or others. If you are completely comfortable with your choice to do so, it is YOUR choice. If fear or even distrust is present at all, don’t do it. ‘You’ll do it because I say so’, or ‘You’ll do it because I love you’, Or ‘If you don’t do it, you don’t love me’. These are the things predators, male and female, say to their Prey. Do Not Be Prey!

You are a person, worthy of love and respect. Sometimes new things can be thrilling, enticing, erotic, but never should they make you feel dirty, violated, or less of a person. ONLY you know what your body can handle and what it can’t and you ALWAYS have the right to say STOP. Forced sexual contact is an act against the sovereignty of your body and your soul, especially when done by someone who is supposed to love you. Being cajoled or mocked into such acts, is unfair to you and NOT the actions of a loving partner.::