December

by Merel Pierce

  There before her, the man whose fading bruises still littered her throat, the man Nikolai called Riktor, leaned casually against the edge of an old wooden desk. December’s eyes went first to his knee, noting the immobilizing brace mounted over cargo pants and the cane resting against the desk nearby which only confirmed the horrible truth. Their cohort was the man Nikolai had banished for trying to kill her in the transfer station. Slowly, she lifted her eyes to meet his gaze. The hollows of his eyes were scratched and dark with bruises, the lids still abraded by the damage she’d done. The feral beast of an alpha grinned.

  “There’s our pretty. I see you were successful, then.” The brute declared in more words than she’d thought him capable of speaking. He motioned for her to be brought forward impatiently, and suddenly the other alpha from the station was stepping up to take her from the unknown male at her back.

  Hands on her hips, he lifted her up, depositing her on her feet again once she was directly in front of his companion. Riktor smiled again as he hooked her arm and spun her around so abruptly that she nearly lost her balance. December yelped in surprise, panic rising when she heard the fumbling of a belt being undone and a zipper going down behind her.

  The man at her front pressed her back against the semi-seated male’s lap, where she was dismayed to feel the heat of an already hard rod of meat pressing between her ass cheeks. The standing alphas eyes trailed down the length of her body, fingertips lightly brushing against a bruise here or there that Nikolai’s fingers had left on her skin in his enthusiasm.

  Despite the way her cycle was forcing heat to bloom low in her belly at the presence of so many virile males, December still felt the overwhelming disgust that accompanied the men having their hands on her body. “Looks like Petrovski started breaking her in for us. Considerate of him, wasn’t it?” The alpha murmured as he lifted a lock of her hair and inhaled deeply, watching with amusement when she shied away.

  The beast at her back gripped her hips cruelly, angling her forward until her face was pressed against his friend’s abdomen. “Too bad, I like them fresh.” He grunted as he pushed his cock down and lined himself up with her entrance, hidden as it was between her bound thighs. “They scream more that way.”

  “She’s so tiny, I bet she’ll scream plenty.” One of the other men chimed in, sending a wave of laughter through the gathered males that made December go cold.

  “Are we ready to seal this deal? I know we agreed you’d get her first, considering what the little bitch did to you, but…”

  “Wait until I knot her, we’ll do it then.” The man interrupted, giving a visceral growl that had December flooding and spasming over the head of his cock so violently, that it took several whole seconds for the pain of his unexpected entry to register. She cried out as he jerked her down over his meat, filling her in one invasive thrust. A second growl had her twitching and groaning wretchedly against his friend’s shirt while the man stroked her hair with almost mocking gentleness.

  “Take that fucking gag out of her mouth, Sergei! I want to hear her!” Obligingly, the second man tugged the drool-dampened cloth down over her chin, turning it around so that he might untie it while his friend continued to force her back on his cock over and over in one punishing thrust after another.

  Once the gag was gone, the brute redoubled his efforts. December gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, grunting and whimpering against pursed lips as her forehead bounced off the standing alpha’s chest with each forward motion of the other man’s hips. The other males were murmuring in the background, talking amongst themselves and even growling on occasion as if the way the little omega bucked and oozed slick despite the unwanted nature of the act was a game.

  When Riktor’s thrusts began to grow shorter and the telltale sting of an expanding knot began to stretch her opening, December hoped it wouldn’t last much longer. Bastard that he was, the male shortened his stride further, intentionally allowing his knot to swell while only a third of the way into an opening that was far too small for its girth. She gasped, whimpering in pain as Sergei growled and petted, winding the length of her hair around his fist until her head was immobile against his hand.

  When her discomfort became so great that it took the edge off the numbing haze her cycle had blessed her with, Riktor leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her so tightly she could hardly breathe. When he slammed her back on his bloated shaft again, the alpha earned himself the scream she’d sought to deny him.

  The sizzling pain of tearing tissue lit her nerves on fire as his knot was forced in, his violation drawing the scent of blood to taint the air along with her fear and forced arousal. December was blinded by the pain, spots dancing up into her field of vision as starbursts of miserable sensation exploded in her brain. Her painful cry faded into a broken sob, and she couldn’t help praying she would faint and be spared the suffering that being bound to the beastly thing until his knot deflated would undoubtedly bring.

  Relief wasn’t in the cards for her. The moment the male was seated and his cock began to spasm inside her, he pulled December upright against his chest. She knew better than to beg him to stop. The scent of blood already clouded the air with a dangerously excited musk.

  When the blonde stepped away and loudly dragged a chair back to the exact spot he’d been standing moments before, her overwrought nerves shot up a warning. She watched with fearful eyes as the male sat down, his knees carefully framing those of his friend and once more sandwiching her between them. He smiled at her wickedly, smoothing the sweat dampened hair back from her face as he shot a meaningful glance over her shoulder.

  “Let’s do this, eh?”

  Riktor grunted, propping his chin against her shoulder heavily as the two men exchanged another look. “Yes, let’s.” The knotted alpha lifted his hand, making a wide gesture at the room beyond. “My friends! We are here today to celebrate the first successful strike against Petrovski’s reign!” He announced with all the zeal of a motivational speaker. “Sergei and I have sworn to lead this charge, and we have taken Petrovski’s intended mate as a symbol… A symbol of our commitment to the cause of bringing down the man who treats us all as dogs! A man who is not fit to lead this city! Today, we claim his intended mate as our own, and in doing so bind the promise we’ve sworn to you with the blood of his female!”

  Realizing too late what they meant to do, panic gave way to abject horror as December began to scream and fight in earnest. “No! No, you can’t!” but they weren’t listening. Desperate eyes turned to the watching crowd for help but found only arousal and hunger in the eyes of the watching males. All save the beta, who averted his gaze as if he were ashamed.

  She wailed so desperately that even Sergei’s rumbling purr when he leaned forward and closed his mouth over the swell of one breast couldn’t abate her terror, especially when the second alpha’s mouth closed over the muscle at the base of her shoulder. “No please!”

  The pain of the alpha’s knot was nothing compared to the murderous crush of their teeth when both men bit down on their chosen flesh in unison. December screeched again as her whole world shattered into a million sharp edged pieces, flickering flashes of agony scorching a torturous path through the very core of her being. This time, the gods took pity on her and unconsciousness swallowed her whole.

  Chapter 15

  “December? Wake up.”

  She coughed, struggling to open eyelids that were crusted shut with any number of fluids. Tentatively, she rubbed her fists against her eyes and tried again. Her vision was bleary as she looked up at the shadow crouching in the open doorway next to her. Both his size and smell told her who it was, even if she couldn’t see him clearly.

  “I brought you a sandwich.” The young male said softly. “Dante let me bring you another blanket too, since Riktor ruined the last one.” December grimaced. He’d ruined her blanket by fucking her on it, hurting her so badly in the process that she’d wet herself.

  She struggled to draw herself up
from the cold floor, wincing in pain and infinitely grateful when the little male tried to help. Once she was propped against the wall of the small space she gave a shuddering breath, allowing the boy to drape the warm blanket around her shoulders and overlap it in front of her body.

  “There, that’ll be a little better, yeah?” He encouraged as he threw down a piece of cardboard on the floor and sat down next to her, unwrapping the food he’d brought with him before offering it to her. “It’s a few hours before they change shifts, and Dante said you were used too hard yesterday so he’s not going to take his turn.”

  “What a saint.” December wheezed bitterly as she took the paper-wrapped food. In truth, the Frenchman was probably the only reason she was still alive. The first day she was here had been awful. After the Russians had forced the pair bond, she’d fainted, only to wake up with the one named Sergei fucking her on the floor like some sort of sex doll. The rest of the alphas had taken turns after that.

  She’d spent hours in hell, damaged flesh re-injured with every fresh penetration. When her crying became a nuisance and growling only made her cry more, they’d simply switched holes. Thank god, no one had tried to knot her ass. Even still all three of her holes were bruised and raw before it was done, and she was covered and filled with cum.

  When they’d finished, Sergei had dragged her to an unused bathroom in the corner, tossing her on the cold tile floor, and shutting her in darkness where he’d obviously meant to leave her, regardless of the injuries she’d suffered. The men had argued then, and while she couldn’t understand what the Frenchman had been shouting at the Russians, it became clear early on that his word held some clout.

  The man she’d later learn was named Dante had seen to her then, cleaning and bandaging the wounds on her shoulder and chest in silence before smearing some sort of salve in and around her abused sex. December was so miserable and exhausted that she’d passed out again.

  The next day wasn’t any better. Riktor and Sergei took her again, together this time. Before the evening was out, she’d been used by two more alphas that staggered in through the course of the afternoon. Again, she was locked in the bathroom, and again when the Frenchman came to take his “guard shift” he tended to her injuries and applied balms, murmuring at her softly in his language and purring when she cried. She was only made to suck his cock. It was a small blessing she’d learn to appreciate quickly enough.

  When Sergei’s little brother returned with the suited alpha named Ivan, it became clear the boy had been told not to touch her. But once Ivan had his fill of her he didn’t care, so the boy sat next to December on the floor of her dark little bathroom with the door cracked, enthralled with just being close to the battered omega.

  In an effort to humanize herself to him, December had weakly told the boy her name, and asked his own. He was excited that she’d spoken to him, eagerly offering his own name in return. He was called Maksim, or Maxi to his friends. When she’d asked if she could call him Maxi, the boy had shuffled his feet and replied “Sure,” somewhat self-consciously, which told December he wasn’t very experienced with women.

  He was so starved for attention that even her pitiful attempts at broken conversation were happily absorbed by the youth, who seemed just to enjoy the time with her. She made a point of complimenting him, talking about how nice he was and how much she liked his company. He was eager to please, more so once he realized she was a person, not just a sex doll, who could offer him the approval that he obviously wasn’t receiving anywhere else.

  When she’d complained about the cold, he draped her with his hoodie. On another occasion, he even brought a blanket. When she mentioned having not eaten in days, he shared his left-over pizza and some of his drink with her. When she said she couldn’t talk anymore because of her pain, he even promised to try and get her some medicine the next time he came.

  They continued this way almost every day, with him bringing her offerings of food, blankets and medicine, and her tolerating conversation with him to keep his good favor.

  No matter what he brought, it couldn’t dull the ragged pain and discomfort of the bonds the men had forced upon her. They hummed inside her constantly, prickly like a cactus wedged between her lungs that made it difficult to breathe without suffering the sting and pinch of their sharp needles.

  As the days passed, her new world developed a relatively predictable pattern. The alphas traded shifts watching her and using her. While most of the men simply wanted to get their rocks off, Riktor was a different story. December would rather have taken all the other men together, than let Riktor get her alone. Even though her heat had ended two days in, it made no difference to him.

  When Sergei wasn’t around, the brutish alpha always found a reason to hurt her. A split lip, a black eye, fresh bruises on her throat, sore ribs… He always justified it by saying she fought him. She knew none of the males believed that. She didn’t fight any of them, had specifically stopped fighting them just to prove the point. But it didn’t matter. She was bonded to Riktor and Sergei, no one else’s input mattered in the end.

  Sergei never pushed the subject of her mistreatment in front of the others, as she’d come to learn on one occasion when the two men were alone with her and he brought it up. It wasn’t common knowledge, but Sergei was submissive to Riktor, she realized. When Riktor had rolled off her back and gone after the other male for daring to complain about his handling of her, she understood why.

  Frozen in fear, December watched from the place he’d left her on the floor as the males fought. Even with an injured knee, it didn’t take long for Riktor to subdue Sergei and rape him with a viciousness that had the lesser alpha begging him to stop. She’d stared in wide eyed horror, terrified to move for fear she would draw the attention of the rutting male, who not only raped his friend but went so far as to knot his ass to re-establish dominance.

  She’d never heard of such a thing in her life, let alone witnessed it. Sergei had gone silent, trembling lightly as he waited for the other male’s knot to subside. Riktor was insane. That much was obvious. As terrified as she was of him, December tried her hardest not to earn his ire from that point on. It could always be worse, she realized.

  The hours alone in the dark were the hardest for her. Where others might have found relief in being left alone, December’s found the solitude unbearable.

  They hadn’t untied her until the third day, and by then she was weak and painful enough that they didn’t have to worry about her trying much. She’d searched the confines of her dark bathroom in a vain attempt to find a way out but found that the hinges were on the outside of the door and the ventilation grate wasn’t large enough for her to fit into. In truth, even if she had managed to get out of her little room, she was never alone. There was always an armed alpha somewhere between her and freedom.

  So, she lay in the dark, wondering how long it would be until she died from her injuries or from Riktor becoming too enthusiastic. She cried when she had the strength. She mourned her freedom, and on the darkest days she even mourned the loss of the alpha who’d shared his bed with her and cared for her so briefly.

  Sometimes when she dreamed, she could hear the ghost of his purr in her ear. Her pain would lessen, and she could sleep. Then she’d wake alone and cold, feeling foolish and heart sick for missing a male who was no better than the company she was forced to keep now.

  To steel herself against the desperate hope that he would save her, she told herself at least these men were honest. They didn’t pretend it was something more than it was. They didn’t play nice or purr and pet her into a false sense of security. They used her as they pleased and left no doubt about what to expect.

  He’d been using her too. He didn’t want her for anything other than the use of her uterus. He’d had no designs on taking her as a mate and had punished her when she tried to save his life. The fact that he hadn’t known made no difference to her fevered mind. In the misery of darkness, it was easy to be angry.


  As the days crept by, her resolve began to erode under the constant weight of the agony and pain the men inflicted. The alphas still came, still fucked her, still left her miserable and alone on the cold tile of her prison. The Frenchman kept her injuries from getting infected, but the increased gentleness of his handling told her that even he realized it would soon be a losing battle. The young beta even tried to rouse her spirits when he came to visit, growing worried when a week and a half in, she was no longer responsive and wouldn’t take the food he offered.

  She grew numb and silent. Disassociating from the horrors she was forced to endure became the only way to survive, even as she slowly allowed herself to waste away. Two weeks in, and she had completely given up hope that anyone would come. She would die here in this warehouse alone, and life would go on without her. The only tears she shed now were in anger, so disappointed was she in herself for being too weak to go on.

  It wasn’t long before December grew feverish, the steady stream of assaults made all the more horrific by the hallucinations that now accompanied them. No longer were her abusers alpha men, but instead monstrous wild creatures with razor sharp claws and gnashing mouths full of wicked teeth. By the time she was thrown back into the darkened bathroom, December was babbling incoherently and whining when anyone touched her. In the soothing silence of her cave, she fell into a restless sleep.

  ***

  December woke slowly, slipping in and out of consciousness as the fever she’d suffered the better part of two days continued to plague her. She shivered, trembling in the darkness despite the cardboard padding beneath her body and the blanket the boy had draped over her sometime while she slept. She was lying on her side facing the door, and each time her eyes fluttered open the thin crack of light beneath it stung at her retinas and forced her to close them again.

  She lay like this for some time, feeling so weak that she idly wondered if the end had finally come. She could hear two of the men talking outside, Ivan and Dante. She was too miserable to pay much attention to them and caught only the occasional word or fractured sentence as the men spoke.