Consuming fire

Lucifer's POV

Ruthless retreated and neighed at the sight of me while I furrowed my brows at Ashlyn annoyed.

I made her stand properly and I went to Ruthless. "Aye friend, are you alright?" I asked him and he neighed leaning on my shoulder. I ruffled his mane and turned to Ripper.

"I recall giving you a clear warning never to let her near a horse," I said to him and he nodded.

"Technically, you said to ride and I was not.." She began to speak.

"Shut up!" I yelled at her and she stumbled back a bit at my outburst. "You do not talk while I'm still talking," I said to her upset at the fact that she had taken such a risk to go closer to Ruthless.

What if he'd knocked her down and she breaks a bone? Only I understood Ruthless and the way he thinks.

I turned back to Ripper and Rage. "Who allowed this?" I inquired in anger.

They both looked at each other.

"I.." Ashlyn began to speak again and I shushed her up raising my hand and upholding a finger in mid-air. "Speak not or face my wrath," I said to her without turning back to look at her.

"I did." Rage said and Ripper stared at him.

"Why? Of all the horses in the stable, why Ruthless?" I demanded of him.

"It was to test her skills with horses and nothing more I swear." Rage said to me. I frowned at him.

"I swear if you were not more than a comrade to me, I would have had you locked up in the dungeon for seven days and seven nights without food or water and you'd be taken out in the morning and flogged thoroughly with the spiked whip," I said to him and Ashlyn gasped in horror.

"It will not happen again." He said lowering his head.

"Good," I said to him and turned to Ashlyn.

"And you did not find a woman's task to perform rather a man's own?" I demanded of her and she shook her head.

"Why did you not go to Kill?" I asked her and she shook her head again without speaking to her.

"What? Have you suddenly gone dumb?" I asked getting irritated by her silence and she shook her head again.

I walked closer to her grabbing her shoulders. "Open your damn mouth and talk!" I yelled at her and she heaved.

"I did not see Kill only Ripper and he was busy with his task." She to me.

"Is that why you kept me quiet?" I asked her frowning at her.

She shook her head. "Far from it. You asked me not to speak or I'd face your wrath." She said and I almost shook her hard.

The crazy woman! Whenever I needed her to shut up, she would not but here she was now playing mute while I'm questioning her.

"Find Kill, he'd know a task that befits you." He said.

"Lucifer, Kill is not in the pack house right now," Ripper said.

I let go of Ashlyn and turned to him. "Then where the hell is he?" I demanded.

"Perhaps at the windmill." He said. I growled. Only Kill would have given her a difficult task that I could not think of right now.

"As soon as he gets back, tell him to see me," I said and walked away without waiting for a response.

Ashlyn's POV

I heaved in relief as he walked away. Someday this man would be the death of me I was sure.

"Is that the way he punishes you all?" I asked no one in particular.

Ripper chuckled. "This is the least of it. He can go all cranked up and it would be worse I say." He said.

I gasped. What could be worse than being beaten with a spiked whip? "Have you gone through the punishment before?" I asked him and he nodded.

"We've all gone through it and worse even but we've learned from it." He said.

"And which is never to go against Lucifer or anger him." Rage chirped in.

He was even cruel to his comrades. I wonder why they are still loyal and as if Ripper read my mind, he said. "We're forever loyal to him and the pack no matter what. He's the definition of a true alpha to us. Reprimanding us for our mistakes even though his ways of doing so are harsh, we're forever loyal to him come what may." He said beating his chest proudly.

"So say I," Rage said hitting his chest too. I wondered what good Lucifer had done to deserve such loyalty. "Had to Kill been here, you'd have gotten a hard task, vampire." Rage said shaking his head.

"He's a mini caricature of the alpha. I believe that's why he's second in command." Ripper said and I looked over at Ruthless. He was just so sweet a few minutes ago with his master and now he was staring at me aloofly.

"Lucifer is a venom that once injected in the bloodstream, you die a painful and agonizing death," I said to them and Ruthless ears pricked at the mention of his master's name.

Ripper chuckled. "He's not that of a monster." He said. I looked at him.

"Yet he could not let me mourn the death of my unborn child," I said and they both grimaced.

"My apologies for the death of your child but I know Lucifer would not be so callous to kill his child if he knew about it." He said taking the side of his alpha.

I scoffed. I did not even want to talk about it. I'd feel nothing but pain and my wound would never heal.

"Why are the horses taken to the ring?" I asked changing the subject.

"To test their prowess for the events beginning tomorrow. The Highland Alpha Games is mainly about competition. Who's the fittest alpha." Ripper said as we all advanced to the ring.

"So far in the last decade, Lucifer has always emerged the fittest and strongest of them all." Rage said and I stood by the ring watching the other Lycan members tend to the horses. Saddling them for rides.

"Which of the horses does he use in the race?" I asked.

"Dumb question for you to ask vampire!" Rage exclaimed. "His trusted horse of course. Ruthless!" He said to me shaking his head at my naivety.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Has Lucifer been alpha for a decade?" I asked suddenly interested in knowing my Master.

Ripper nodded. " Nine and a half. He was sworn in despite his father being alive. His father already waned and weak and the people could not wait for him to join our forefathers before having an alpha that could rule them properly and his father had not disagreed with it." He said.

"But letters have been sent to my father for ten years before my home was taken over," I said wondering how an inpatient man like Lucifer would wait ten years before taking down my hometown. He did not even wait for a week before taking Dunbar!

"That was his father's doing. After the first letter, Lucifer wanted the town burnt to the ground but his father was a kind-hearted man and insisted letters kept being sent to his father which he disagreed with. He had issues with him because of it.

To Lucifer, our rightful properties should not be in the hands of strangers, enemies, and insubordinate and after his father passed away and paid his last respect to him for four days, he took over your town." Ripper explained.

"And may I be damned not to admit that I loved that day!" Rage exclaimed. "I so much admire my alpha. I love the fire in him!" He said and I rolled my eyes.

"It can consume anyone in his path." Ripper acknowledged Rage's words as the truth.

He was right. The fire could consume anyone in his life including me and I knew better than to play with fire. I'll get burned if I dare.