The Hellbeast King by Stephanie Hudson
Hell Beast King
“Oh God, no,” I muttered on a barely heard whisper but somehow…
He heard it.
I knew it the moment he cocked his head to the side, as if he had just picked up the sound on the non-existent breeze or something. Jesus, I would have asked who the hell was this guy, but I knew. Of course, I knew.
It was him.
The one they all seemed terrified of. The one they called the Alpha. The HellBeast King. That’s what he had said in my dreams and now here I was, facing the threat in real life! And I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move. I could do nothing but take in his terrifying presence and mentally drown by the power he held over me.
The dangerous wolf who looked as though he wanted to eat me. To devour me whole and lick his lips and grin the whole time he feasted on me. I could quite easily say that I had never been so frightened in all my life, and that included the endless minutes I had been trapped in this place! But the entirety of the room, the gruesome and the terrifying, those that I now knew were all real… well, they had nothing on him.
Nothing.
I knew why they called him what they did because, simply put, he was a beast of a man! He was threatening and intimidating and controlling even without needing to move a muscle, something he certainly had an overabundance of.
Just like in my dream, the guy was huge!
He looked as though he could have crushed me with a bear hug, and he was still stood in front of his throne with enough space between us that I knew I could run. That I could try and might still have a chance. Which is precisely when my mind came unstuck, and it decided that I wanted to live. So, despite the silent warning he gave me the second he knew my foolish decision was made, I started backing away slowly. But then, still keeping him in my sights just in case he decided to pounce suddenly, I noticed his handsome face start to change. His scowl deepened into a hard narrow gaze as if trying to pin me in place with just a look.
I gasped in fright.
And then the silent spell that had me entranced in his wordless trap vanished with the sound of the crowd going crazy. A crowd that unbelievably were going crazy for me. A mighty eruption of applause echoed around the cave and all for my dance. I swear, if I hadn’t currently been hunted by their King, I would have allowed myself a moment to relish in my triumph, despite how much my bones ached… it had been worth it. Especially when I had a bad feeling it might have been my last, as the intense look he gave me was both deadly and soul consuming.
However, the sound of their admiration didn’t only break the spell for me but for him also, as he was shaken out of his silent claim. The invisible chains snapped and the hold he had on me was shattered. Meaning, I did what any sane person would have done…
I ran from the wolf.
However, after turning round to run, I only made it four steps before doing a foolish thing when I heard that demonic growl of anger that had the power to shake the whole place behind me.
I looked back.
This meant that I nearly fell forward in an uncoordinated attempt at trying to escape, as the sight of his supremacy was impossible to miss. This was because I’d just caught sight of him as he lowered enough in his stance before he launched into motion. I screamed as I saw him power all his body forward in a run like a wild beast would do. This before throwing his weight forward in an astonishing show of strength as he leapt from the VIP platform, clearing the space between his throne and the stage, so in mere seconds my life was flashing before my eyes.
My oh so foolish life.
A foolish life that continued down that path of idiocy as I insanely believed I still had a chance. Which was why I turned back to the direction I was headed and continued to run from him, this time doing so to save my life. But that was when I felt it. The immense hum of power behind me, one that nearly had the strength to bring me to my knees! It was like a wall of strength I knew was closing in, and a heartbeat was all I was left with as it rose to stand behind me.
This was before I felt my shackled hands shift as if the cord attached to them was being caught. Something that was proven when I felt myself being tugged violently back, not just stopping me in my tracks, but whipping me around so fast it could have caused whiplash.
Just like he had done in my dream.
But then, just before I fell from the force of it with the floor being the only place I was headed, I was tugged again. This time it counteracted his strong actions and made me spin straight into…
My captor’s arms.
It was in that moment that my entire world came crashing to a standstill, as if this was the most profound moment I had ever experienced so far. This, casting what I had thought had been into the shadows as if there had been nothing before meeting him. As if nothing would ever be the same again, and as if my body and heart had never coexisted before this point. As if suddenly my weak respiratory system wasn’t the reason I was trying to claw in breath.
No, it was all down to him.
All down to the beast who now had me held captive in his unyielding hold. Jesus, but I didn’t think I had ever seen such powerful raw masculine beauty before and when I did, I never would have thought it would have had the strength to consume me! To render me numb to everything else around me but him. This menacing ruler that I knew commanded his people with an iron fist. The handsome, hard lines of his face said as much. Those molten silver depths that narrowed and seemed to glow at the sight of my fear told me everything. Eyes that would have had the power to hold me prisoner even without the immense strength of his hold.
But in that look, there was something more, something I could tell he was trying to hide. Was it surprise? Shock at finding a human intruder in his sick and twisted club or… something else? Because I knew he was holding himself back, and no doubt it was stopping him from attacking me out right in front of our audience. Because, let’s face it, after all I had seen on this stage and around this room, it was clear they were all here for one thing… blood or naked flesh.
Which made me then question why he hadn’t done it already. Why hadn’t he just given his people what they wanted yet? My confusion was added to when they all started to chant for the wolf to claim his prize… to claim his Little Red Riding Hood.
Of course, my hood had fallen down and left me with a mass of red curls sticking out in every direction, as I could feel my untameable hair all around me like a halo, one he suddenly seemed fascinated with.
In fact, one calloused, rough hand reached up, and I held myself so still, like some frightened fawn ready for the sound of a bullet to come tearing through the trees. His silver-grey eyes looked down at me, watching my every move, my every reaction as if he was studying me, willing me to react to him and please him. He was so tall… so much taller than me, that I only came up to his chest, as he towered over a head height above me.
But he surprised me further when his movements slowed after I visibly flinched. Which was when he finally spoke, and it was a soft rumble of words that held a roughness to them no matter how softly they were intended. This fact again shocked me in itself, for they weren’t the harsh words of a threat or intimidation, but instead ones of… comfort.
“Easy now, Red.”
I swear he could hear the hard lump I swallowed down as if I had been dropping a pebble in a well of water. In fact, the moment I saw him smirk, I refused to look at his eyes any longer, knowing the power they held over me. So, I focused on the other elements of his face. Like the trimmed facial hair those full lips were the centre of, hair that tapered down into a full beard ending just past his chin. This matched the long, thick hair that was a strange charcoal grey colour and was currently tied back from his chiselled face. One made to look even more frightening by the wicked scar that started at his brow and made a jagged journey down the side of his face before snaking back into his hairline by his jaw.
But his face was actually the softest part about him if that could even be believed. Because the rest of him was all solid muscle, starting with his wide shoulders that managed to block out most of the world beyond him. Thick, muscled biceps that the leather jacket he wore didn’t hide, and those long legs encased in dark denim, screaming out that biker was his choice of style. This was confirmed when he finally reached my hair and took possession of one of my curls, causing my shame to get the best of me. It made me lower my head, finding first his heavy skull and bones belt buckle, and then further down his heavy biker boots. A pair that looked well-worn and only half tied as if he just couldn’t be bothered wasting the time doing them all the way up.
Of course, I couldn’t help during this journey of discovery to notice the hard ridges of his stomach just barely seen beneath the thin material of his dark T shirt beneath the leather. Jesus, but did this man have a single place on him that was soft or did the guy just live in the gym? But then again, that idea of him didn’t exactly fit either, as I could more likely put his incredible body down to chopping wood with an axe. Or maybe he too was a fighter and was a regular in the ring, pounding on demonic faces?
I couldn’t help but shudder at the idea, and he took the reason for what it was… fear.
“Soft,”he muttered to himself in regards to my hair, as if he was surprised or maybe it was confirmation he wanted. I just didn’t know. I mean, I knew my hair was soft, as my hairdresser usually commented on it, as it wasn’t as coarse as it looked and often surprised people because it was so thick as well. But then curls were often soft, weren’t they? Oh God, and now I was here in front of this gentle brute questioning my own damn hair!
I didn’t know how long we were stood here for, as it felt as if we were trapped like this, and time had stopped because of it. But in reality, it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes. Yet even that I knew was too long, as I could tell the crowd was becoming shocked that their king hadn’t yet got on with the maiming and bloodletting part of claiming his human intruder.
“Young and oh so naïve,” he said with that rumble to his tone that I could have quite easily become addicted to… that is if I had been suicidal of course.
“Please,”I finally whispered, and the second I said this I knew I had done something wrong as suddenly his hand snaked in my curls and tightened before he yanked my head back, so I had no choice but to be forced to look into his eyes.
“Mmm… now I must admit, I do like the sound of that word coming from those tempting lips of yours… shame then, that they come from a human.” He snarled this last part and I flinched back, or at least tried to, but he tightened his hold on me. His other hand was held at my waist and his fingers flexed hard enough to make me whimper. But that little moan couldn’t be helped as I knew his hold would leave bruises. But this wasn’t because of his intent to harm me but more an after effect of my defective body. I wasn’t like most humans he would have known. I was one in a hundred thousand after all.
No, I would not think about it right now.
I would not think of the pain dancing would cause me. Because I knew nothing would be more painful than being forced to watch as the days went by and those bruises would fade, and the memory of his touch would leave my skin. As if this night never happened, and what a freak it made me to admit that I didn’t want that.
Not now.
Not after… him.
But then I had to remember what the others had said. I had to remember all those warnings. This beast didn’t like humans, and I swear I had never wished to be anything but human before that moment. Just anything that would have made this wolf want me. And yes, it was official… I was broken.
Insane.
Lost.
Which is what I decided to tell him.
“I… I am just lost… so please, just don’t…” I paused when a small growl vibrated from his chest, and I swear that I felt it in my toes!
“Don’t what?!” he snapped, and I flinched again and closed my eyes before telling him,
“Dd… don’t… eat me,”I whispered, making him suddenly chuckle, and my eyes snapped open as he growled down with mirth,
“I make no such promise, my Lost Little Red.” Then as my mouth dropped open in shock, he suddenly let me go and just as I was about to take a step back, thinking this was my true answer, I shrieked out in surprise. He wasn’t letting me go at all… no, he was just making his next move. One that started with him ducking his large body and planting his wide shoulder in my belly before tossing me up over it like a fireman.
“Ah!” I shouted, as he stormed over to the edge of the stage and jumped from it like he had a feather pillow over his shoulder and not a five-foot two girl that was now utterly blinded by hair and leather.
At this the crowd went wild, cheering for their king, and I had no other choice but to hold on, gripping a fist full of his jacket and praying with every step he took it wouldn’t be my last. That the very real threat of this handsome harsh beast wasn’t about to end with the sight of my blood spilling over his skin under some full moon.
Of course, I had very little faith in this hope for my future that didn’t include me taking my last breath. Especially when I suddenly found myself being dragged up and then down the length of his huge body. This was before I was walked backwards until a wall was felt at my back and I had nowhere else to go. I was trapped, even more so when with each step he took, he wrapped the length of rope in between my bound hands tighter and tighter around his fist. Then, when there was little left, he lifted it above my head, meaning that my hands had no choice but to move with it.
Soon enough I was trapped, not only with his large intimidating body against me, but also by having my hands pinned above my head like some virginal sacrifice.
“What are you… going to do with me?” I asked, with fear making my voice wobble, something he liked the sound of if the smirk was anything to go by. Which was when he leaned closer, dipping his head down so he could whisper in an amused tone,
“What do you think I am going to do with you, Red…? After all, you can hear the crowd, and I am what they say I am.”
“And what’s that?” His eyes sparked with amusement before he told me,
“I am their HellBeast King and guardian of the gates of Hell… and unfortunately for you, little human…” he paused so his next words were said against my cheek…
“You just wandered into my own brand of Hell.”