No Substitutions [Welcome To Wolf's Peak] (manxman)

Prologue

Casper's POV

I lay on the floor dripping blood from my mouth and trying to breathe through the pain in my chest. I'd heard my ribs cracking with the force of the kick I'd taken and I'd felt the burst of immeasurable pain slice through my left lung followed by the difficulty in breathing. I had no doubt that my lung was punctured but I had no time to concentrate on that before more blows rained down on me.

I'd been foolish enough to say no to Maurice. No one said no to the beloved cousin of our Alpha. I'd been flattered when he'd first shown an interest in me after all he wasn't an unattractive man. I'd gone on a date with him soon after that and only a month later I'd found myself moving in with him. I'd known that things were moving too fast and I'd felt incredibly overwhelmed but everything seemed to happen in the blink of an eye without me having any control over it.

Having no control became a theme in everything. I was corrected for saying things that Maurice did not agree with and I was gradually stopped from working outside of home. I'd worked in the local bakery and it was a job that I adored. It gave me a sense of purpose and baking nice things that brought joy to others lifted my spirit. Maurice didn't want me working there anymore and behind my back he sent a letter of resignation to my boss. He tried to make it seem like it would be good for us to spend more time together and he thought letting me bake in his kitchen would take the sting out of his betrayal.

I was slowly alienated from everyone, friends and family members, but I didn't notice it at first. Something would come up and we wouldn't be able to make Sunday dinner at my parents and then suddenly it had been a month since I'd been to their home. My phone disappeared and Maurice bought me a new one with a new number which meant that fewer people had contact with me and vice versa. My friends were wary of Maurice saying there was a vibe to him that they didn't like, I tried to stick up for him saying that he was sweet and kind and good to me. Those friends called and visited less and less often until I no longer heard from them.

I began to realize the truth around the same time that he started to become violent. It all started with a dinner function he had to attend for work. I was feeling very tired that day and asked to be excused from having to go. Maurice had completely flipped out and started shouting about how ungrateful I was. He said I should be trying to help him further his career since I was a kept man and he paid for everything.

I had no desire to be a kept man but I no longer had a source of income because of him. Any savings that I'd had were spent long ago on necessities that Maurice refused to buy either for me or for the house. When I pointed that out he hit me across the face with the back of his hand. I'd stood there in shock for a good five or ten minutes before his anger seemed to fade and he'd pulled me close apologizing profusely. He'd used the excuse that he was under a lot of pressure at work and I'd foolishly caved in to his manipulations. I'd gone up to our rooms and showered and dressed for the dinner with his bosses and other employees.

Now here I lay in my own blood, my body becoming numb to his blows and my mind finally clearing and seeing things clearly for the first time. I wouldn't allow him to do this again, I was done being his punching bag and I regretted not getting away from him long ago. I'd wasted seven years of my life on this sorry excuse for a shifter.

"Get up. I can't believe I'm wasting my time on you," he said mirroring my own thoughts of him.

"If I'm wasting your time," I gasped out. "Then I'll leave and you won't be wasting any more of your time." Or mine, I finished silently.

"I'll see you dead before I let you leave me," he punctuated his statement with another kick to my ribs leaving me writhing in agony. "I fucking own you, I've supported you for seven years you sorry piece of shit I expect to get my money's worth out of you." He spit on the floor near my face missing me by mere centimeters and spun on his heel walking away to his study.