The Blind King
Tác giả:© WebNovel
Chương 1: The Shadow Pride
‘Talking to their cat’
~Mind link~
Mikey’s P.O.V. (Michael)
*WHACK*
Dropping down to the ground I hold back a whimper as the metallic taste of blood fills my mouth. Knowing better than to get up I stay down on the ground. Staring at the polished wood floor as the second-in-command of the pride growls at me. Flinching away from his growl makes him chuckle. “What is going on here?”
Hearing the voice I immediately freeze as I know exactly who this is. The voice belonging to the King of the pride. Upon hearing his voice I can’t help, but start to shake like a leaf. “Just a little bit of much needed discipline.”
He hums softly as he walks closer over to me slowly. Crouching down in front of me he roughly grabs me by the chin to make me look at him. Seeing the blood on my lips he frowns slightly as his grip on my chin tightens. It quickly becomes painful to the point that a whimper does escape me. Hearing my whimper he lets go of my jaw. As he stands he glares down at me before suddenly kicking me into the ribs. Letting out a yelp in pain I try to wrap my arms around my chest. As I can tell that I definitely now have at least one broken rib. “Now that is how you discipline. Avoid the fact we don’t want people to start asking questions about this useless runt.”
“Right.”
“Good now, leave us.”
Nodding, he turns around and leaves me alone with our king. Once he is gone King Raphael walks back over to me. Immediately I look away only for me to roughly grab me by my hair. Crying out at the sudden sharp pain as I am forced to look up at him. “Clean yourself up. We are having a party tonight and I want you to be on your best behavior, do you understand?”
“Y-yes…”
Letting out a low growl his grip on my hair tightens making tears fill my eyes. “Yes what?”
“Y-yes m-my K-King…”
This makes a sinister grin spread across his face. “Good boy. Now if you are good tonight I might give you a reward.”
Hearing this my heart freezes when I hear this while my stomach churns. Meeting his eyes for a second I can see the lustful look in his eyes. Which sends shivers up my spine and bile climbs up my throat. “Now get runt.”
As soon as he lets go of my hair I scramble to my feet and rush to what is considered my room. Though it is more like a broom closet than anything. As soon as my door shuts I throw up into a bucket that I head. Once my stomach is completely empty of the very little food I had in it. Wiping my mouth I start to sob softly as I hug myself. ‘Mikey we can’t do this anymore. We need to leave.’
Whimpering, I tremble at the thought of what would happen if we try to flee. ‘But if he catches us he is going to be punished worse than usual. Where would we go? How would we survive? We would become a rogue then.’
‘Compared to what he wants to do to you. Mikey I can’t stand by anymore it has been a year. Tonight is the perfect night to escape. Everyone will be distracted with the party, so there will be less people on patrol. We may become a rogue, but we would be free. We would be away from him. He won’t be able to hurt us anymore.’
Sniffling, I rub my eyes knowing that Chase was right. I had spent most of my life getting beaten and verbally abused by my pride members for being gay or for not being strong like them. But it’s not like I can help that my cat wasn’t built for strength, but for speed. It’s not, so fun being the only were-cat in my pride, who is a cheetah. ‘Alright.’
Grabbling a washcloth I clean myself with what little water I have. Tending to my injuries I dress myself in my least tattered clothes. Before I pack up what little belongings I have into a bag. Tucking it away into a hiding spot that I had I leave my room. For the rest of the day I silently work away trying to stay under the radar.
As the party eventually starts I stay busy in the kitchen, our King looking at me with that sick lustful graze. My stomach turning in knots as he grins before returning back to the party. Waiting an hour or two I peek my head out to see how the party has progressed. Seeing that many are enjoying themselves and drinking heavily. Seeing that a lot of people are already drunk and the rest are quickly getting there I decide it is time to make my escape. Taking a deep breath I sneak some food. Wrapping it carefully in a cloth I tuck it under my shirt as I then hurry off to my room. Grabbing my bag I stuff my food in there before slinging my back over my shoulder. Making sure to not get caught I make my way out of the pride house. Managing to slip out without drawing any attention to myself I hurry into the woods. ‘We need to shift.’
‘What?’
‘It will be easier if we shift, trust me.’
‘Okay.’
Trusting Chase I find a safe spot and strip off my clothes quickly stuffing them into my bag. Shifting into my Cheetah form I wince and whimper in pain as my bones crack and snap as they reshape. It has been years since I shifted as I was forbidden to do so ever since I found out that I was a Cheetah. Once I finish shifting I pant softly as it did take a bit out of me. Grabbing my bag in my mouth I head to a nearby river. Taking a much needed drink I then roll myself in the muddy bank. As much as I hated feeling the squishy mud in my fur I knew I needed to do this to conceal my scent. It will also help hide me from sight as well since my coloring does make me stand out a bit.
Picking my bag back up I make my way to the edge of the pride territory. Making sure I stay on alert for any approaching patrols I take a deep breath as I cross over the territory line. As soon as I do I make a run for it. The farther I run the more I can feel the connection to my pride growing thinner. Until I feel a sudden snap which is followed by a sharp pain as the connection breaks. Though the pain was horrible it was nothing compared to the joy I felt as we were finally free.
It had been a few weeks since I ran away from my pride and became a rouge. It hasn’t been easy for Chase and I. Being constantly on the move trying to keep from being brought back. Avoiding other rouges as I don’t have the strength to fight not like them. But despite all that I was no longer being abused and neglected. Having found a nice tall grassy field That makes us feel safe I lay down on my back and look up at the night stars. As it starts to get colder, I take off my clothes and change into my cheetah form. It has gotten a lot easier as I have been shifting so often now. Making a makeshift bed out of my clothes and some dead grass I curl up into a ball and close my eyes. Sometime early in the morning is when Chase decides to shout my name waking me from my dreamless sleep. ‘What is it Chase I’m trying to sleep.’
‘I’m sorry Mikey, but we gotta get out of here. I sense a few rouges approaching our location.’
Bolting up to my paws I sniff the air and I can definitely smell a few rogues. Shifting back for a second I grab my stop and stuff it back into my bag as quickly as possible. Shifting back I grab my back and carefully try to sneak through the grass. Though of course they eventually catch my scent and I have no choice but to bolt. Using my speed to my advantage I run as fast as I can. Though I still pace myself as I know I will tire myself out much more quickly if I don’t. Running until I lose their scent I come to a stop catching my breath. Though as I do I catch the scent of a leopard, a lioness, a jaguar, and another scent which I didn’t recognize. That is when I realized that when I had run from the rouges I had accidentally crossed into a pride’s territory.
So, I do the one thing I can do which is to run as fast as my legs can take me. Though from my escape from the rouges I don’t have much energy left. Which does make me slower than I usually am. As I run, I look back to only see three of the were-cats running after. Panting heavily as I am starting to run out of steam I try to push myself harder. Just enough so that I can cross the border and escape them. That is until I am tackled by the were-cat who’s scent I didn’t recognize, and she turns out to be a cheetah like me. She is around my size because for a male cheetah I am small. As she keeps me pinned to the ground the other three were-cats catch up. While they seem to be talking through their pride’s mind link, I try to wiggle out from under the cheetah. But I end up getting snapped at by the jaguar who noticed me trying to escape. Yet to my surprise the cheetah and the lioness growl at him in a protective manner. Trembling underneath the female cheetah I lay there in a submissive state. She gets off of me, so I roll over onto my belly. But I stay pressed close to the ground with my tail tightly wrapped around me. I look up at them and they seem to be talking again through their shared mind link.
Not being pinned anymore, I decide to take advantage of their distracted state and bolt away from them. But it doesn’t take long for the jaguar to catch up with me. Not only am I tired, but I am also underfed, so my running isn’t as fast as it could be if I was healthy. As I have been mainly surviving off of the mice and rabbits that live in the grass. When the jaguar catches up to me, he rams me hard into the ground. Which causes my head to hit the ground just as hard as he hit me. I let out a whimper of pain as my vision starts to blur. The leopard rips him off of me and throws him to the ground. The last thing I remember is the delicate touch of a hand on my head and the soft voice of a woman before it all goes black.
When I regain consciousness, I find myself in my human form fully dressed and in a dimly lit cell. Getting to my feet I walk over to the bars of the cell and grab them. As soon as my skin touches the bars it burns me. Jumping back, I let out a yelp and tenderly rub the quickly healing burns. ‘Those bars are silver you idiot.’
‘Yeah, I think I figured that out, Chase.’
As soon as I block Chase out of my mind the doors to the prison open. I back into a corner when I smell the same jaguar scent from earlier. Two men walk over to my cell, one of them the jaguar and the other is the leopard from earlier. The leopard kneels in front of my cell and speaks. “I’m sorry about the cell. I know you must be scared, but you were found just on the edge of our territory.”
I tear my eyes from the jaguar and look at the leopard. He has short dirty blonde hair and blue green eyes. If I wasn’t terrified for my life, I would have considered him cute. That and there is just something about his scent. There is something mixed in his own scent that I just couldn’t help find myself drawn to it. “Look we aren’t going to hurt you, so how about you tell your name mine is Axle and this is Heath.”
Becoming overwhelmed I start to tremble slightly in fear as I look away from Axle. I jump in fright when I hear the door open again. But for some reason my body relaxes immediately. As I breathe in the scent of fresh pine in a rainstorm and freshly baked bread. Then to my surprise Chase shouts happily. ‘Mate! Mate! Mate!’
I look up to see a man walking slowly down the steps leading into the dungeon with a woman’s arm looped through his. At the sight of him my heart leaps out of my chest while Chase lets out a pleased purr at what we see. His hair is thick and a perfect brown color. He is tall and from what I can tell underneath his clothes he is muscular. Although I can’t see his eyes because for some odd reason, he is wearing dark sunglasses down here. But not only did he make my heart leap out of my chest, but he also made it ache in pain. As I don’t like how the woman is holding onto his arm who smells like the cheetah from before. Which makes Chase growl in my mind as he is our mate. The jaguar called Heath bows his head to my mate as he says. “My king, I thought you were heading to the meeting with the other neighboring prides’ kings.”
Again, my heart nearly leaps from my chest and nearly comes to a stop. My mate not only looks like a sexy Greek god, but he is the king of the pride. It does cause a bit of panic to fill my heart as I am reminded of my former King. Axle stands and turns to face Heath. “I called him. Theo is our king, and he is the one who decides what happens to all trespassers, not you Heath.”
Heath gives Axle a slight growl. Which causes my mate to growl at Heath as he snaps. “Don’t growl at your second-in-command. You are not the pride's enforcer nor are you second-in-command. So you don't make these decisions remember your place Heath.”
All this growling and raised voices scares me causing me to let out a frightened whimper. My mate’s attention snaps back to me as bad thoughts run through my head. ‘What if he rejects us? What if he wants a female for a mate and not us? What if he abuses us like our past king did?’
‘Mikey do not think like that. He’s our mate, he wouldn’t hurt us.’
Even though Chase states this as if it were a statement I couldn’t help but hear the slight worry and concern in his voice. I look up at my mate as he looks at me. “Axle open the cell door.”
“Are you sure Theo? He could lash out and he seems terrified.”
I could see my mate Theo smile slightly when he heard Axle call me a he. But I could help but be confused can’t he see that I am a guy. “Yes, Axle, I am sure.”
Axle puts on gloves and unlocks the door to my cell. Theo lets go of the woman and walks up to me. Kneeling in front of me he sniffs the air as if he is trying to search for me. When he finds me, he reaches out for me, but out of instinct I flinch away from his hand. When I peek open my eyes, I see him pull his hand back as he has a confused, sad, and hurt look on his face. That’s when Heath enters my cell. “My king we should just kill this trespasser and be done with him.”
Theo starts growling and through his sunglasses I can see his eyes glow an odd golden orange color. In an instant Theo slams Heath against the silver bars causing him to hiss in pain as Theo and his were-cat snarl. “You will not harm what is ours! Our Mate!”
I let out a slight yelp in surprise as Theo bares his canines at Heath. Heath bares his neck to Theo in submission. While the other two look at their king in shock and surprise. Though the looks on their faces then shift to that of worry. “I’m sorry, my king, I didn’t know that he was your mate.”
“Theo your nose.”
Theo releases Heath and brings his hand to his nose. That’s when I smell the familiar metallic coppery smell, the smell of blood. Still trembling slightly, I watch as Theo wipe clean his bloody nose. Turning to me he gives me a small comforting smile before he says. “Katie take him to the pride house for me and let him get cleaned up, have the doctors give him a full exam and get some food for him.”
I give him a tiny grateful smile, but he doesn’t seem to notice it even though he is looking at me. “Axle.”
Axle who is pulling Heath to his feet lets him go and allows him to leave. While Axle offers Theo his arm. To my sunrise Theo grabs Alex’s bicep and lets him lead him up the stairs. But halfway up the stairs he stops. After sniffing the air slightly, he looks over at Katie and speaks. “I have to get ready for the meeting and won’t be back till later today. Please look after him for me Katie.”
“Of course, Theo.”
While my mate leaves Katie comes to my side and offers me a helping hand which I gratefully take. Helping me to my feel she then loops her arm with mine to help keep me steady. “Come on, let’s take you to my brother’s room and get you all cleaned up. We have a room ready for you in a few hours.”
“Your brother?”
“Yeah, Theo, your mate, he's my older brother.”
I can't help, but smile slightly as I was already starting to like Katie before I knew who she was from when she protected me from Heath. So, her not being Theo’s lover or something similar like that would definitely make a friendship difficult. Helping me up the stairs I squint at the sudden bright light that is the sun as we step outside. Which leads me to believe that I had been unconscious for a little while since the sun is actually coming up now. Sticking close to Katie I let her lead me into the pack house and down a hallway to a bedroom. When she opens the door I am met by an intoxicating scent that clearly belongs to my mate meaning that this has to be his bedroom. While Katie heads into the bathroom I can't help but to feel a bit anxious being in his room, but despite that my curiosity gets the best of me and I start to look around Theo’s room. He has a king size bed with silky black sheets that are cool to the touch with a thick black comforter folded neatly at the foot of the bed. Other than a dresser and a nightstand on each side of the bed his room doesn’t have much to it. There was also a fireplace and a large T.V. facing towards the bed I am about to look around a bit more when Katie calls me to the bathroom. The bathroom being just as nice as the bedroom, the tub being filled with warm bubbly water which smelled of berries. "If you need anything just call out for me."
"Okay thank you."
"Of course."
Katie gives me a warm smile before stepping out shutting the bathroom behind her to give me my privacy. Once the door is shut I let out a heavy sigh before I start to strip off my clothing. Seeing a hamper I carefully place my clothes in the empty hamper. Once I do I notice the big mirror at the sinks. Biting my bottom lip I decide to go and stand in front of it to look at myself when I see myself. I can't help, but wince at my appearance. My skin is much paler than normal, while being covered in almost healed bruises and scars. I looked very skinny as well as I can see almost every rib in my body. Which is sad that it is an improvement as despite not eating a lot as a rogue it was still a lot more then I had been eating before. My light brown hair is black and greasy being matted down from all the dirt and grime.
My eyes that used to be once bright chocolate brown eyes look dull and dead. As the dark circles under my eyes made them look sunken in. I sigh hating how I look right now but I knew it wasn't my fault I didn't make myself look like this. Despite telling myself this I couldn't help, but blame myself for letting it happen even if there was nothing I could do to stop it. Tearing myself away from the mirror I make my way over to the very inviting bubbles in the tub.. Easing myself into the water I let out a groan as I immediately relax in the warm water. As it feels amazing on my tired aching body making me smile as the bubbles tickle my nose. Being grateful for the bath I start to wash the dirt and grime off my body. While I clean myself my mind starts to wander to Theo, my mate. ‘How old is he? What is his favorite type of music? How tall is he? Will he love us?'
‘He is 22 he loves rock, country, and classic music. He is 6 foot 3 and yes, they already love us both.’
I nod happily at Chase's words. So, my mate is three years older than me. He likes the same kind of music as I do and he towers over my 5 foot 4 body by eleven inches. Happy about this information I can’t help but let out a happy purr until I realize something. ‘Um… Chase, how do you know all this stuff about our mate?’
‘The mind link we share as mates. I have been talking to Kyle.’
'Kyle?'
'His black panther.'
‘Oh okay… Wait… Did you say black panther?’
'Well a black jaguar technically, but yes. you know that makes him even rarer than us.'
Which is true as only one in fifty werecats that are born cheetahs. While there are only one in a thousand werecats that are born black panthers. That means that my mate is probably the only one in his pride probably in neighboring prides as well. As I think about this I am suddenly shaken from my thoughts when Katie knocks on the door telling me that there are clothes on the bed for me. I thank her, but my voice cracks from not using it for weeks. With all the bubbles now gone I get out and drain the dirty water, before I grab one of the towels and dry myself off. The towel is very soft and fluffy making me realize that Theo clearly has a liking for things with pleasing textures. Wrapping the towel around my body I open the bathroom door poking my head out to see if Katie is in the room. Seeing that the room is empty I step out into the bedroom. Looking around I notice a pile of clothes folded neatly on the foot of the bed.
Going over to them I find that it is a pair of boxers, sweatpants and a grey t-shirt. Carefully I slip them on, but I can't help, but glance over at Theo's closet. Biting my bottom lip gently I hesitate for a moment before going over to his closet. Reaching out I open the door to the massive closet that is only a quarter of the way filled. Stepping into the closet I walk all the way into the end as I look at all the clothes that are hung up. Noticing a sweatshirt I stop and reach out to touch it. It was surprisingly soft to the touch and of course it smelled of Theo. Unable to resist I take it off the hanger and pull it close to my chest as I breathe in his scent. It makes Chase purr happily while it does soothe my internal anxiety. That is when there is a knock on the door that makes me let out a surprised yelp as I am pulled out of my trance. "Hey Katie I just wanted to make sure that you are okay in there. Can I come in?"
Coming out of the closet I cling to the sweatshirt subconsciously. "Y-yes you can come in."
Slowly the door to the bedroom door opens and Katie steps in. A small smile forms on her face when she sees that I am holding Theo's sweatshirt. Remembering that I am holding it I end up blushing darkly as I am about to apologize, but Katie comes back before I can. "He won't mind if you borrow it."
Hearing this I can't help, but perk up excitedly while getting a bit flustered again. "Really are you sure?"
"Yes I am sure."
I look at her a bit unsure, but thanks to the mate bond I quickly cave and slip it on. The sweatshirt goes down to my mid thigh as the sleeves go past my hands which ends up making me giggle. It was just funny how it swallows me whole as if I am a small child again. This makes Katie's smile grow a bit more though a chuckle ends up leaving her when my stomach ends up growling loudly. Which causes my face to flare up red in embarrassment as I hide my face in my hands. Katie chuckles softly, but she doesn't make fun of me or chastise me for being a pig like my old pride would. Instead she only speaks to me in a sweet and soothing voice. "Why don't we get you something to eat before we get you checked out."
Shyly I nod in agreement as I follow her out of the bedroom as she leads me to the massive kitchen. It was much nicer than my old pride's kitchen. It was clear to see that it had a lot of special modifications done to it. Though what those modifications are for and why they are needed I wasn't sure. "Do you have anything you don't like to eat or any thing you prefer?"
"Oh um no I-I w-will eat anything."
Hearing this Katie stares at me for a second, her liquid silver eyes seeming to be studying me. "Hm okay."
Grabbing a pot and pan she then starts to gather items to cook with. "Do you want me to do anything?"
"No no you just sit down and relax, you have had a rough morning."
I am a bit reluctant, but I sit down on one of the stools at the island. While Katie lays some bacon on a baking sheet after she preheats the oven. Once the oven is ready and the bacon is seasoned she throws it in and gets started on what is clearly tomato soup. As the strong smell of tomato fills my nose and makes my mouth start to water. As tomatoes are my favorite, whether it was tomato soup, tomato sandwiches, or just tomatoes by themselves when I could sneak them. Chase loves them just as much as I do as he is purring loudly in my mind. 'I definitely like her more now.'
Mentally I chuckle at his antics, but he was right. Not only was she my mate's sister she was also kind to me and is a cheetah like me. I had never met another cheetah before it was kind of crazy to think about it. Suddenly I am pulled from my thoughts when a warm sweet smell fills my nose. Looking up I see Katie place a mug filled with a golden yellow drink. "It's Camomile tea with a bit of ginger and honey. It will help soothe your throat. I noticed that it seemed a bit irritated."
Thanking her I take the mug and take a sip of the warm drink. It was just as delicious as it smelled as it did ease some of the irritation in my throat. "So um... would you mind if I ask you a few questions? If you feel comfortable with that."
Hearing this I finish my sip of tea before I answer. “It’s Michael, but you can just call me Mikey.”
"Well it is nice to meet you Mikey. Of course you already know that I am Katie. It is short for Kathryn. So how old are you?"
“I am 19.”
“Really, but you are so small for your age. I'm sorry that was kind of rude to say.”
“No its okay. I was born early and a runt.”
“Oh well here eat up you are far too skinny even for a cheetah. Oh, and Mikey welcome to the Shadow Pride.”
I smile shyly at Katie as she places a bowl of warm tomato soup with grilled cheese with bacon in it. My stomach immediately lets out a loud hungry growl at the smell of the food. We both laugh slightly as I start to dig in to silence my stomach. Katie sits down next to me and starts to eat as well after tucking some of her jet black hair behind her ear. When we finish our food Katie takes the dirty dishes and washes them despite me stating that I can do the dishes. "No I can do it, you need to take it easy."
Now that I am clean and fed Katie then walks with me to the pride hospital. Waiting in the exam room I fiddle with the edges of the hoodie while Katie stays with me which I am grateful for. When the doctor enters she talks to me for a bit about any medical history that I am aware of. Being a bit anxious I glance at Katie who gives me a supportive nod. Taking a deep breath I tell the doctor everything: every broken bone, every scar as well as the malnutrition though I did leave certain things out. When I finish I can't help, but glance at Katie again as I know this was a lot to take in. Her eyes were teary, but she didn't look at me as if she was disgusted like my old pride. Instead she looked protective and even a bit angry though not at me. When it comes time to the exam Katie offers to step out to give me some privacy which I am grateful for. Once done Katie comes back in while I have a couple vials of blood taken for testing. The doctor places a bandage over the area after she finishes taking the last vial. With that we are allowed to leave and we head back to the pride house.
Katie keeping me close to her as she now seems even more protective over me now, not that I mind. as it feels nice to be cared for and about for once. Being led to the living room Katie plops down on the sofa after grabbing the tv remote. Turning on the tv we end up spending most of the day watching several different movies. Trying to figure out what movies I do or don't like. I'm not sure which movie it was, but I ended up falling asleep on the sofa. I am sure how much time had passed when I suddenly woke up when I felt sparks run over my whole body. Barely conscious I can tell that I am being carried by Theo. Snuggling closer into his warm chest I breathe in his scent as I let out a happy, but sleepy purr. As the door opens and closes he chuckles softly. When he tucks me into bed, I can’t help but let out a small whine at the loss of contact. He runs his warm hand through my hair as he whispers to me softly. "Okay just till you fall back asleep though."
I feel the bed sink under his weight as he lays down. He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me against him. As I start to drift back to sleep, he kisses the top of my head which causes me to start purring again.
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