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She visited him every day. She brought him meager rations. Though he was starving, Anjel could not bring himself to take the food. He was freezing, aching, his insides raw with worry. He felt Akio's absence keenly. He didn't know how many days had passed, exactly. He wasn't even sure he slept. Manacles kept his arms raised above his head; the slack was attached to a pulley across the room, which he could not reach. He'd tried, for most of the first day, while daylight still spilled into his solitary cell. Not even his tail could make it.

When Rayvenn came in that evening and found him in the middle of the floor, straining for the pulley, she tightened up the slack so much that he was essentially pinned to the wall.

She only loosened it when she visited. Anjel refused to look at her, refused her food, flinched away from her touches.

It was her fault, hers, that Akio was gone, that Anjel was locked up, his fate in the hands of the Fellowship. He could only imagine what Akio was going through. He could only hope she'd survive. At times--at dark times--he wondered if survival was the real punishment.

On the first day, Rayvenn came up close to him and tried to force-feed him. Anjel kicked her away, knocking the tray of food from her hands. She fell back onto the rough stone floor and sat, watching him, her face an emotionless mask. Anjel stared back.

The next day, manacles also attached his ankles to the wall.

Rayvenn did not try to feed him anymore, but she did lower his arms every day, and place the tray of food nearby so that he could feed himself if he desired. Anjel usually sat with his tingling hands in his lap and glared at the floor immediately in front of him.

Sometimes she talked to him.

She would recall fond memories they shared growing up together. Memories that once would have made Anjel smile, now turned his stomach sour. The taste of her betrayal was strong and bitter.

Every day before she left, Rayvenn would pull the manacles back up, lock the pulley, take the tray of food and leave. But not before crouching near him--not near enough to be bitten, no, she'd learned that lesson--she'd crouch near him, and whisper, "Ghaleon will let you come home and forgive you. He loves you and so do I. Come home and be mine."

Every day, Anjel ignored her.

Until the day she didn't lower his manacles. Rayvenn came into the cell, and the door closed soundly behind her. She wasn't carrying a tray of food. Anjel watched her approach, his body and his mind and his heart tired, too listless to even pique curiosity. She was holding something in her hands. He couldn't focus long enough to make it out.

Rayvenn hovered nearby, hesitating. Days without food and water and sleep slowed Anjel's reaction time, so when she reached forward and muzzled him, he barely fought at all. Once the leather was buckled tightly, Rayvenn visibly relaxed.

"This has been going on too long, Anjel," she said softly. She stroked his crest, laying her head against his horns. Anjel's head hung down, his eyes closing. He was so tired. His heart ached. The missing piece was so far away, unreachable. Akio's touch was a memory. He held onto it, curled into it, trying desperately to forget his current circumstances.

He must have drifted off. He came to with Rayvenn washing him off with a heavy cloth and hot, steaming water. The heat eased his muscles. When he opened his eyes and lifted his head, she stopped and placed the bucket on the floor, her gaze sympathetic.

"Ghaleon won't let me come and visit you anymore after today," Rayvenn said. "You have to agree to come with me, or they will just let you rot in this cage."

"Let me rot," Anjel muttered, his jaw still fettered by the muzzle, but able to open enough to speak. The muzzle clearly was for Rayvenn's safety, not his silence.

She placed her hand on his cheek. "It could have been me," she sighed. "I could have been the first to love you, Anjel. I always looked up to you. You made me feel so safe. I was waiting for you to notice me, the way all the other dragons already had."

"You were like my sister," Anjel spat.

"It wasn't the first time I'd been dragged off to be raped," Rayvenn continued. "I lost my virginity long before. It was why Ghaleon started to insist you chaperone me anytime we went into town."

Anjel remained silent, watching her carefully.

"You were the pure one, Anjel. Even though Ghaleon thought you were more trouble than you were worth--that you were a bad influence, that I should be spending less time with you--I idolized you. I strove to keep you on the right path. I wanted you to stay pure because... because I couldn't."

Silence filled the room. Rayvenn was rubbing the scales on Anjel's chest, not meeting his eyes.

"You were a victim," Anjel said. "It wasn't your fault. You're no less pure because of their intentions. The stain is on them."

When Rayvenn raised her gaze to his, her eyes shimmered with tears. "It's easy for you to say that. You weren't the one who..."

Anjel's heart softened. He pulled on the manacles in a knee-jerk reaction to her tears--he meant to hug her.

Rayvenn collected herself, sitting straighter and wiping the tears out of her eyes. "Anyway," she said, a short, nervous laugh escaping her throat. "I loved you. I didn't think anyone could love you the way I did. And I thought maybe... you loved me, too."

I did, Anjel thought, _I loved you as my sister._But he remained silent.

The little white dragoness drew herself up further. "I have to convince you to leave, Anjel. I can't let you sit rotting in this cell." She came closer, pressing herself against him. Anjel's body, starved for touch, felt every curve of her beneath the cloak. "Let me love you, Anjel. In time you can grow to love me. Let me give you children. A family. Let me surround you with love."

"I love Akio," Anjel said simply, denying in his mind the pleasure he felt at her touch, her gentle kisses on his throat. "We're mated. Akio is my family."

Rayvenn was in his lap now, her thighs straddling his waist. She wasn't wearing anything under the cloak, Anjel realized with a sinking feeling. He felt her sex, hot, against his sheath. He yanked down on the manacles, struggling to move, but when he bucked his hips forward, it only moved her on him--bettering her position. Her thick lips embraced the tip of his sheath, pressing it down, exposing the hyper-sensitive flesh tucked within. Anjel groaned.

"Please don't do this," he begged.

Rayvenn arched her back, her talons on his shoulders. She didn't say a word as she ground against him, relentlessly awakening the most traitorous part of his body. As he lengthened, he slid up inside of her, and it was impossible to deny how good it felt. Anjel clenched his jaw, letting his body go slack, fastidiously controlling his hips--he_would not_ reciprocate.

However, it did not deter Rayvenn. Her soft sighs as she rode him were not aiding Anjel in his determination to not enjoy it. His cock pulsed inside her, finally at full length--as if sensing this, Rayvenn started lifting higher before sliding down his length. With one hand, she unlaced the front of her cloak, revealing her delicately-scaled breasts. Anjel squeezed his eyes shut, but that failed to improve matters. With his eyes closed, he felt her body all the better, her sounds were amplified.

"You feel so good inside me, Anjel," Rayven cooed, leaning forward and pressing her breasts against him. Her breath tickled his neck. "I just know you'd make a good daddy... you could live a long happy life with me. I'll give you a family. You can't have that with her."

"Akio," Anjel said, his voice straining. "Gods forgive me."

It did feel good. Curse his body, for taking pleasure against his will. Anjel arched his neck, pulling up on the chains which held him.

He lowered his head and looked at Rayvenn. She was staring at him, her eyes half-lidded with pleasure. "I won't let you," she said. "I won't let you say 'no.'"

"Rayvenn--" Anjel felt he was approaching the point of no return. His head swam, the muscles in his abdomen and thighs involuntarily tightening. "Stop. Please. I can't..."

"I want it," she said. "I want you to be mine."

Anjel squeezed his eyes shut, trying desperately to stop it, to think of something else. His stomach twisted with hunger, and his tongue was dry with thirst, and his heart was mangled and broken, but his cock was the only source of pleasure, and his weak mind grasped at it. He roared when he came, shooting a starved load inside of the dragoness. "No," he said, shuddering at the end of his climax, all too aware of the excess dripping out of her, tickling his balls, leaking onto his thighs.

"You'll come home with me," Rayvenn said, disengaging herself from him. Anjel couldn't look at her as she cleaned up and redressed. "I'll make you happy."

"I'll never be happy without her."

"I'll help you_forget_ her."

"I'll never forget her."

The door closed behind her, leaving him alone in the cell. A sob burst free from his chest. Anjel shook the shackles fiercely, roaring magenta flames into the air. Anger swallowed his pain. It was so easy to slip into the familiar rages of his youth; to release the restraints inside of him, while his body was still stuck.

By the time Rayvenn came back, Anjel was quietly seething. The armed whitecat that came with her jingled his keys in his paws while he wrinkled his nose, disgusted, at Anjel. He unlocked the manacles on his ankles first, then his wrists. Anjel stared dully at Rayvenn, knowing that his rage would be misdirected at her.

Certainly, this had happened because of Rayvenn. But she was not responsible for her brainwashing. Anjel pitied her. He searched within himself for more than just pity--for respect or love--but came away with nothing else. His anger would have to wait.

He was given a black cloak and he put it on gratefully, though he badly needed a bath. When they left the depths of the prison, Anjel was surprised to see that it was night. It was disorienting; he had been underground, in a dark cell, for well over a week. Clearly, his sense of time had suffered. A brisk wind came from the west and the smell of snow carried with it. Rayvenn paused at a flying dock, glancing back at him.

"Can I trust you not to fly off?" Her expression and pose did not belay any kind of fear that he would try to escape. "We're going home. Your wolf is gone. Who knows where she is now?"

Anjel remembered the guards saying Akio would be taken to the stocks, but he said nothing. Trying to escape now would do no good.

Rayvenn launched herself over the edge of the cliff, and Anjel followed. He snapped his wings open and flew easily, even after neglecting his body for days. The wind buffeted him, heralding the coming storm, and he could see lightning in the distance. Anjel hoped against hope that Akio was not strapped to the pillory tonight. His heart beat heavily in his chest, but he locked it up--he had to put it away for now.

He had to stay focused. He had to stay controlled.

For her.

He followed Rayvenn, and was only mildly surprised when instead of taking them to the Fellowship's caverns, she led them to Anjel's. They landed on the threshold and made their way inside.

Anjel was bombarded with his most recent memories of his northernmost home. There, against the wall, he gave in and became Akio's mate. Their scents were long dissipated. He led the way through the tunnels, unceremoniously removing the cloak and dropping it to the ground. He heard Rayvenn following him, but he didn't look her way.

Passing the bedroom, Anjel risked a glance toward the bed. The furs were rumpled, some had slid onto the floor. The memory of the day spent curled up around his lover, the taste of her sex on his lips, the feel of her fur between his fingers, was bright in his mind, a frozen claw gripping his heart.

"It would be best if you just forget about her, Anjel," Rayvenn said softly. He looked and found her standing at his side, but he reserved all comments.

Instead, he said, "I need to clean myself." He moved toward the natural spring.

"I'll help you," Rayvenn said, coming after him.

"No." Anjel's voice was flat and forbidding. Rayvenn did not follow him.

When Anjel reentered the bedchamber, Rayvenn was curled up on the bed. He didn't have to scan the room to know that she was naked beneath the furry blanket. He hesitated before climbing in next to her. He was careful not to touch her, and he did not join her under the covers. He laid on his stomach, his tail heavy on his thighs, wings closed tight against his back. The white dragoness turned toward him, stroking his wingdigits with her fingers. For a long while, it was silent. The lanterns that had been lit prior to their arrival were guttering.

"I won't take you again like I did before," Rayvenn whispered. "I'll wait for you to want me to take you."

Anjel laughed once--a hard, dry cough.

Neither of them spoke the rest of the night. Anjel didn't intend on sleeping, but his body was so exhausted that, finally safe in his own home and bed, he slipped into oblivion rather easily.

In his dreams, he held his wolf again. It was true to life; he could taste her, smell her, feel her body in his hands. Anjel wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. He locked his kiss with hers, breathing her breath, hanging on for dear life.

Akio, in his dream, pressed on his chest, uttering a small chuckle. "Anjel," she purred, "I'm here. I'm yours."

"I know," he replied. Their kissing intensified, Anjel's arousal evident. Her paw found it, gripping it expertly. Anjel groaned into her mouth.

He woke slowly. Dream blurred into reality. He opened his eyes with a start and grabbed Rayvenn's wrist; her hand was caressing his erection. "Stop," he said.

She let go, pouting.

"An erection is not consent," Anjel grumbled, sitting up. Light was filtering in from the tunnel leading out. It was morning. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, his organ throbbing between his legs, hungry. He ignored it. "I have to go to the city for food. There's nothing here."

"I'm going with you," Rayvenn said. "We should also go to the Fellowship so that you can apologize to Ghaleon and Diamon."

Anjel turned around, squinting at her, trying to discern if she was plotting or even joking. "Apologize? For what?"

Rayvenn looked at him as if he were daft. "For sleeping with that wolf," she said, as if it were obvious, as if it were ridiculous. "For making a slave your mate."

Anjel steeled his temper. "She wasn't my slave," he said flatly, grinding his teeth. "She was a..." an amazing, beautiful, smart, strong wolf who put light in my dark life, he wanted to say, but the words stuck in his throat. He knew Rayvenn would not understand, and he didn't have the energy to fight with her.

"Let's go," he said instead.

The city was awake. The storm passed over them in the night, powdering the carved mountain streets with snow, but the trafficked areas had already been expertly cleared. Bundled-up dragons and their servants and slaves hustled toward their destinations, not even sparing the ghost duo a glance. To them, they were invisible--and just as well.

It didn't take long for Rayvenn to realize that Anjel was taking the long way to the market; the path would take them past the stocks. She hooked her arm in his and made a nominal effort to pull him to a stop.

"You shouldn't torture yourself," she hissed.

"I have to see her." I have to make sure she's still alive.

Rayvenn didn't remove her arm, but she didn't try to talk him out of it anymore. As they approached the stocks, the traffic thinned. Anjel's heart was fluttering, his mouth dry with worry.

At the entrance of the square, a lanky gray cat with matted fur and tattered clothes eyeballed them. Anjel's eyes watered from the smell of cat piss that seemed to marinate the simple creature.

"And where are_you_ are going, ghost?" the cat simpered mockingly. "Going to get your jollies off with one of my girls, ehhhhh? Or maybe one of the boys? _Hmmm?_Like the feel of a tight arse around yer cock do yeh?"

Anjel gritted his teeth and hurried by, ignoring further taunts. The cat's laughter echoed off the stone buildings that cradled the semicircle of wooden stocks.

Every pillory was occupied.

None of them held Akio.