Chapter 5

King Bryans POV

I left the room to find Brooke and see what that girl had to do with my mate. She was trying with all her might to stop the man from whipping my mate. Just the thought of him hurting her had my blood boiling. Broke had put the girl in the dining room and was standing guard. I entered the dining room and walked over to her sitting table. The girl went pale by her reaction. It told me that she knew exactly who I was.

" I see that you know who I am."

" Yes, Your Majesty."

" Then who are you to that girl?"

" I am her best friend, Your Majesty."

" I'm going to need your assistance when the time comes."

I then explained to her that she was my mate. She did not look shocked about that. She must know more than she is letting on. I will get to the bottom of that in a minute. But right now, I sense something going on in my bedroom. It was a couple of hours before the sun came up.

" Brooke take "

" I'm sorry. What is your name?"

" My name is Cassie."

" Brooke, take Cassie to a room, make sure you get her something to eat, and lock the door so no one can enter her room."

I then ran to my room. To my horror, even after being beaten, she had found the strength to climb out the window. I tried to get to her before she jumped. But I was too late. She jumped, and I could hear the tree branches break as she half climbed down them and half fell. Then I felt a pain in my arm and my ankle. She has hurt herself.

I jumped out of the same window to chase after her. I could see the drag marks from her injured foot. I then transformed into a bat. I could see her. She was trying to run for her life. I did not want her to be afraid of me. But why would she run from her people? Then it dawned on me that she did not know that she was half vampire. Nobody had ever told her. I'm sure that she would have figured it out.

She then tripped and impelled her leg on a fallen branch. My leg started to hurt, and I could smell her blood. I then decided to guide her to a cave telepathically. The sun would be up soon, and I needed to get her back to the castle quickly. The telepathy worked. She found the cave and started a fire. How she did it was beyond me. She had a broken arm, and she had managed to start a fire.

I let her start to go to sleep.

" Rest, little mate, you're going to need it."

She then fell asleep. That was great. I quickly transformed into a human and returned to the castle as fast as possible. I barely made it before the sun came up. I was starting to burn. But I rushed up the stairs and put her back into my bed. Then again, I quickly had William examine her. He set her arm correctly and then her ankle. The wound in her leg wasn't healing properly. He then stitched it up.

We both knew that if she had some blood, then she would heal faster. But we were not going to force that on her. That had to be her choice. We eat regular food and drink blood. After William left, I decided to stay in the shadows. I purposely did not light a fire in the fireplace. She started to wake up again. She was rubbing her eyes and looking around. She kept rubbing her eyes as if they were not working like they were supposed to.

I tried to get through to her. I spoke gently about her needing to rest and not hurting herself anymore. I knew she did not intend to get hurt when she jumped out of the window. But she did get hurt. She looked around, confused. She was trying to find out who was speaking. But I was in the shadows. I then decided to introduce myself.

"Relax, little mate, you are safe. My name is Bryan."

"You're safe, and you are protected. "

"You have nothing to worry about."

"For now, rest again."

Again, she looked around, confused. But she couldn't go anywhere until that ankle healed, so if she thought about escaping again, she spoke out. She started asking questions, and I answered them. I was taken aback when she asked what I wanted from her. I could tell she had been through a lot. She was a bit feisty. She then told me her name.

" I do have a name."

"My name is Rebecca."

I loved her spirit. She then said she didn't understand what I was talking about. I reassured her that she would be on time. Her eyes started to close, and she was asleep again. I made sure to light a fire this time. I wanted her to be warm when she woke up. I then left to get some sleep. She will be out for a while. The sun had risen, and it was time to rest. I knew the Romani clan from which she came. They traveled at night and performed at night.

I'm sure that with everything she has endured tonight, she is exhausted and, with her wounds, she needs rest. I was optimistic that her healing power would heal her wounds with rest. If not, then she would need to drink blood. I knew that would freak her out. But that would be her only option. I could also tell that she was a virgin, which is surprising because of the amount of physical abuse she had to endure. From my experience with that, sexual assault usually happens as well.

I was happy that she was still a virgin. The other man's scent tends to linger after they have sex. Truthfully, to me, it stunk. But until I found my mate, I had to tend to my desires. Right, it was interesting that she was in my bed. I would be sleeping in the guest room. I must convert my room to a couples' bedroom instead of a bachelor's one. I loved the color red. But I don't know what she likes.

But she has nowhere to go right now because her ankle is injured. It would be a while before she could do anything. I will have to have the royal laundress take her measurements so we can get her some clothes. Broke was about the same size as she was. She had curves in all the right places. She wasn't too skinny, which told me that they at least kept her fed. Her breast was at least a c-cup. She had muscles that said to me that she worked in manual labor.

I know she knows how to climb and fall from trees. She also had a drive to get away from danger. I still can't believe that having a broken ankle and broken arm, she had managed to climb the steep hill to the cave. She could endure a lot of pain. Her face was beautiful and free from scars. So that told me that she was whipped a lot. I wonder how her back looked and if there were any scars. Being whipped as violently as she was, I'm sure there are a few scars. I want to inspect her body to see what damage has been done.