The Slave Queen

King Eric

Eric had arrived in the large Pack village early that morning, and had enjoyed walking with the Wolves who had no clue who he was. He had the ability to hide his aura so thoroughly not even Lycans could sense it if he didn't want them too.

All morning it was apparent the entire Pack was preparing for the arrival of the Pack Delegates, as well as the Awakening Ceremony that would be held tonight for the local Pack.

He was nearly as excited as they were, his beast Nykel turning uneasily inside of him as if he was searching for something. 'What is with you today?' he asked his beast as he walked into a book store that was filled with antique and collectible books. A first edition Drakof had caught his eye, that was well over 5 thousand years old.

'Someone is here.' Nykel replied uneasily. 'Can you not smell it?' he asked sharing tjenscent with him.

It smelled of strawberries and honey, and for some reason it seemed awfully familiar to him as well. He just couldn't place where he had smelt it before. It however had been a long time since he had been this far west, as he had been searching for his lost cousin for the last 17 years. She had left with her Mate, and had not been seen or heard from since the night that miserable Alpha Drew Jacks had cast her and her mate from his Pack. He had killed the man for it, as well as his entire family before burning the entire Pack village to the ground after sending the members away. Most had gone to the Royal Pack, some had gone Rogue and been hunted mercilessly since.

She had been like a sister to him, and it was only after her Mate refused to abandon his Pack as he was Beta, that he granted them the right to settle with his Pack. His Alpha however had not been understanding, and he had used the reason of the Alpha defied a Royal order to allow them to be there to execute him. And as Alpha, if he was Rogue, the entire Pack was Rogue. He could have killed them all, but he had settled for the Alpha, Luna and their three children. He smiled at the irony, as that small Pack had only been about a dozen miles from here, and he had stopped to see it was still the desecrated marker of what happened to those who defied the King.

'I can now, but where is it coming from?' he asked as his beast growled.

'If I could tell that, do you think we would bs in this musty book store. It permeates the entire village, they have been here a long time.' Nykel said irritated. His sense of smell was among the best, and not even he could pinpoint the location of it. He purchased several books from the store, and the wonderful older woman had told him she had several more boxes of the first editions he sought that he paid for after inspecting and arranged for her to ship them to the Royal Pack. He hadn't used the Lycan Pack, as his trip this time was cross country. He was headed there for an extended stay, as there was an increasing Rogue threat he had to deal with on the western coast of his domain.

He walked tonthe center of town, and saw the severely beaten Rogue bound to a secure whipping post, his feet barely able to reach the ground to relieve the strain from his arms. Eric was not fond of the idea whippings still occurred in Packs, but tradition had long held disobedience required punishment. It was something he had been unable to change, as none of the Lycans saw it as a problem. They followed stricter rules, with far harsher punishments so saw no problem with it.

It had just reached noon when the square filled, surrounding the whipping post as what was clearly meant to be a hearing was held. He knew it was when the Alpha approached, as did several of the warriors and the Delta carrying what appeared to be the remains of a camp and another two children who had been found inside it. He watched in detached amusement as the children, probably 3 and 5 were sent to the Orphange to be cleaned and cared for until they became of age.

For nearly 2 hours they questioned the young Rogue, who was probably only 18 or 19. They found items bearing the Mark of several other nearby Packs, and learned that in one of them when called had just had a Rogue attack, and 2 Wolves had perished in the attack. There had been 5 of them, 3 had managed to escape their Patrols.

The sentence was not unexpected, especially as they had killed two Pack members of an Alliamce between the local Packs. What had surprised him was the 200 lashings first, with a whip he could tell was laced with silver threads through the tip. After they had finished, the beheading ended the poor fools suffering as the crowd cheered when the smell his beast had been trying to locate suddenly became much more powerful.

He watched as two warriors drug a girl into the square, and lashed her to the post before speaking with the Alpha. He watched as Derrik nodded and walked back to the table and grabbed the whip.

'It's the girl, and now I know why tje scent is familiar.' his beast said as the girl turned to look right at him and he was nearly struck dumb by the resemblance. She looked just like his cousin, with just a bit of her mate in this girl.

'She is the daughter of Cristina.' he said simply as he realized what was about to happen and began making his way through the crowd.

"You are hereby sentenced to 20 lashes." Alpha Derrik said as he played with the whip cracking it next to her face. He drew it back again, making sure it snaked all the way it's long length was capable of before he went to swing it forward. When he tried however it held firm, as a low growl eminated from behind him. "Who the f**k dares-" he began to say as he turned and looked at the man holding his whip just before the most intense Alpha Aura washed over him and the crowd.

"I heard no trial held for her Alpha!" King Eric roared at him. "What crime does she stand accused of?" he demanded.

"Disobeying orders Majesty." he stammered as he forced himself to kneel before he felt the whip be torn from his hand.

"What order?" he demanded again as the entire square knelt before him and bared their necks to his overwhelming Aura. He looked at the girl who was suspended off the ground by several inches.

"Matters of my Pack are-" he began to say when a growl erupted from the King and the whip lashed out and struck him across the chest.

"WHAT ORDER?!" he demanded making it a direct order that forced all of the Wolves to touch their heads to the ground in submission from the increase in strength.

"She was late!" Alpha Derrik finally yelled unable to lie through such a command. He felt the pain across his chest, knowing that it had split the skin and would leave a scar. The low growl that eminated from the King let him know this was an unacceptable answer.

"20 lashes for a Pack Member being late?" he asked barely able to contain his anger at the statement.

"She is an Orphan Majesty, not a member of the Pack." he said defensively. Derrik was glad none of the Alphas had arrived yet to witness this.

"The law is clear Alpha, that a Wolf may not be punished by whipping with silver until their Wolf has awoken. 20 lashes, take that girl down from there!" he ordered the two warriors who had hung her there. "You are to take her to the quarters prepared for me, where you will guard her until I arrive."

Derrik was trembling as he knelt there, and the King stood over him. As soon as the girl was down, he looked at two other warriors. "You two, lash him to the post. Top rung." the King order ensuring that the Alpha would dangle off the ground just like Daisy had been.