Cage the Beast

There was pack at his place more days than not, whether it was official business or they just felt the need to be close to James. He was alpha, sometimes all a wolf needed was to be close to him. Whether they were not feeling well or if it was something more serious; an alpha's presence could make or break a situation. James understood that far more than perhaps even he wanted to admit. It nearly bothered him that he hadn't seen any pack in nearly three days but then again, he knew some of the pack had gone off on a camping trip and would not be back for another week and when a large portion of the pack went off, others tended to do their own thing from time to time.

James sat in his chair, his feet propped up on the ottoman in front of him. He let his head rest against the back of the chair, his lips pursed as he considered heading over to the small, wet bar in the corner of his room. A drink after today sounded like a good idea to him but getting up sounded like more of a chore than he really wanted to admit.

When Lia sat beside him, James couldn't help but smirk. His eyes watched each and every one of her movements as she settled against him. His brows shot up in mild surprise, having not quite expected her to meld herself to him so quickly. Lia was his to do with as he pleased, he knew that, but it never seemed to sink into the wolf he bought. Reaching out, James lazily ran his fingers through her hair as he hummed under his breathe.

"Did your old master have you make drinks?" James asked after a few moments of silence, deciding that it was decidedly a stupid question but he knew it would onl yserve to sour his mood if he told her to make a drink and it ended up tasting horribly.

@ castle.
A quiet sigh escaped from Aelia as she felt James start to stroke her hair. Bright blues slowly closing as they took in the small form of comfort from the feel of his apparent good mood for her acting like a good girl. Sure, the contact was small and may seem something odd to most, but, to Lia, this was the first form of praise she'd gotten from someone in a while. Master or otherwise pet, Lia was locked up most of her life, so any form of praise meant a lot to her. Even something so small as a pat on the head or having someone's fingers run through her hair.

Slowly, Lia's eyes opened and looked towards James' face. A tinge of her tiredness appearing in them as she focused on his nose as she listened to his question. Her lips moving into a small frown as she listened to his request. Doing her best to try and understand what he meant by make drinks.

Then, she slowly shifted her head to the side as she slowly understood and glanced at the little wet bar area before looking back towards the man who had just spoken to her. "On my days out of the cage, he told me to pour something called goose into his orange juice sometimes." She told him honestly, not sure if her answer would please him or not. "Otherwise, I don't know. I'm sorry." She murmured quietly and lowered her eyelids a little as she leaned her head into his hand more.

"I'm a quick learner though." Her words were soft as she spoke. Her gaze focusing on nothing in particular as she waited quietly to hear the man next to her voice. Wanting to know if her answers would have pleased him or not.

James' lips pursed together at the thought as he gave a sigh, knowing full well that if he were to have Aelia make his drink, that he would only end up disappointed. Setting his pets up for failure was not something that he preferred to do, he never liked to have to beat a wolf simply because they weren't aware of what was expected of them. It was only when James gave them the proper tools to succeed and they messed up that he got irritated. That he would correct them with little regard for whether someone would consider his methods proper or not.

If his slave broke a glass being clumsy or purposely disobeyed an order? They were punished without James batting an eye; the only time that James had completely lost his mind was a time when Marcus was trying to help a girl to her room and she'd pushed him. Marcus hadn't gotten too terribly yhurt, he'd only bumped his head but James had shifted and torn the girl to shreds. She'd begged and pleaded as James shifted but hell, he didn't listen to a word she cried.
"
Dropping his feet to the floor, James stalked over to the wet bar in the corner. He wasn't going to bother to show her anything other than his usual go to - he could have someone else show her more standard drinks that his pack would enjoy; that he might have on the occasion. "Come," he uttered, giving a slight hand motion for her to follow him.

"Per shot of bourbon," James said, holding up the small shot glass. He wouldn't bother using it himself but his girls were smart to, never too much or not enough in his glass. "Two of these filled with room temperature water," he said, motioning with anod of his head toward the bottle of water he kept for that exact reason. "No ice, nothing else in there. Understood?" James asked, his attention focused on the task in front of him.

@ castle.
For a moment, Aelia was scared that she was going to be in trouble. That she might have gotten into some trouble just for not knowing how to do something. Her lips moved into a frowning position as she shrank back slightly as James stood up, a little scared to get hit by him.

She was ready to apologize but quickly realized that he wasn't coming after her. Then, at the small motion, Lia jumped to her feet and moved towards the small wet bar. Her bright blue eyes looked on in interest as she tilted her head. She watched each movement that James made and slowly nodded her head in understanding.

"Why room temperature water? Aren't cold drinks more refreshing?" She asked quietly, genuinely curious. Aelia had never had a drink herself so this whole concent about having alcoholic drinks was a little odd to her. She was naive to the reason that everyone started to act weird after having a few of them as well.

A wriggle of her nose was Aelia's reaction as she smelled the intense smell of the bourbon as James poured it into a glass. "That stuff smells weird." She mumbled quietly, then reached up to rub her nose as she could practically feel the bubbles burning her senses. Then, she slowly lowered her eyed towards the glass as she watched her new master finish making his drink. She didn't dare to ask to have one, she didn't really have any curiosity to try it anyways. A little scared that it'd be poisoned or something.

"More refreshing, yes, but bourbon is best served room temperate. It's my favourite alcohol so it will be in your best interest to remember that. I do not like to repeat myself," James said. He lifted the glass to his lips, smirking at Aelia's comment about the smell. He gave a one sided shrug, reaching forward for a second glass. He poured bourbon before he held the glass out to her.

"Here. Test it," James encouraged, raising an eyebrow when she seemed to hesitate. James turned toward her a bit more, his shoulders pulling together as if he was all but daring her to disobey him. He'd just brought her here, doing anything but exactly what he'd told her to do would not bode very well for her in the long run.

When Aelia reached forward to take it a bit apprehensively, James huffed before he gave a quick nod of his head, as if he could encourage her somehow. When she finally took a sip, James was quick to reach out and take it from her grasp, replacing it with his original glass - the one with the watered down bourbon. "This will taste different. More flavourful, you'll get all of the notes of the alcohol instead," James explained. He figured that it was likely her first drink ever so he thought it was important to show her the different of keeping the ratios right.

James took the other glass back from her, mixing the two together and pouring enough water into it from instinct alone before he returned to his seat.

"Tell me about your time with your first master. What did he require of you?"

@ castle.
"Yes, sir," Aelia said quietly as she watched James bring the drink to his lips and take a sip. The hair on the back of her neck still stood on end as she could still faintly smell the acidic smell of the drink. Then, she shifted her gaze towards his hands as she watched him grab another glass and poor more.

At first, Lia thought he was just wasting glasses before he handed the second to her. A scared look appearing in her eyes as she eyed the glass then her master. Her lips moving down into a frown as she hesitantly grabbed the drink. She had noticed that he didn't add water to the drink, but didn't comment on it. Instead, she acted like a good girl and tried to take a small sip. Which she could barely do because as soon as the drink touched her tongue, it caused her to tense up and shake her head in disgust. The taste was not something that Aelia liked.

Aelia's soft blue eyes looked towards James warily as he took the yucky drink from her and replaced it with the one he watered down. She couldn't help the small uncomfortable while that emitted from her as she looked at the drink, but didn't dare ask to not try it. Instead, Aelia gulped and raised the drink to her lips. She expected it to tase disgustingly strong like the last one but was surprised that it wasn't as bad. "Oh." Was all she said as James took the drink back and mixed the two.

Quickly and obediently, Aelia followed James back to the chairs and sat next to him on the floor once more. She rested on her knees and crossed her arms on the edge of the chair by his legs and rested her head on her arms as she looked up at him. "What he required of me?" Aelia repeated, her voice quiet as she shifted her gaze towards the wall on the other side of the room as she remembered the man who had pretty much raised her. He was like a parental figure in a messed up way. Purchasing her at a VERY young age and all, she knew nothing but him and the other wolves that came and went in his possession.

"To look pretty, and keep him company mostly." She said, remembering the few times that her old master commented on how he wanted her to act for the night. "My old master liked having fighting competitions with his wolves against others, so he'd have me sit and watch mostly in my wolf form, so he could pet me." A small sigh escaped from Lia out of instinct, as a wave of sorrow washed over her.

"As I matured, my old master started having me wear less clothing and walk around to serve drinks to his guests. He started me on lessons to dance around a pole, it was fun and I liked learning that. It seemed to please him." Her eyes shifted towards James' face, her eyes looking towards his chin instead of his eyes. Not wanting to anger him. Then, her eyes closed slightly as she felt a wave of tiredness wash over her followed by a small yawn, which she tried to cover as she buried her face in her arms to try and hide the sound. Even though she knew he'd hear her yawn. The exhaustion and stress of the past few days had started to catch up to her.

James raised an eyebrow when Aelia whined, all but daring her to not do as he had told her. Everything was going well enough that he'd be incredibly disappointed if Aelia decided not to listen to him. He was admittedly a bit relieved when instead of trying to weasel her way out of it, she simply did as she was told. He couldn't help but smirk in her direction when she gave a simple 'oh' after tasting the properly mixed bourbon. "That's why it's so important to mix it properly - it allows all of the flavours to develop properly."

James listened intently after he sat and Aelia began to explain to him what her former master had required of her. It was more or less what he had been expecting from her but he couldn't help but be a bit put off. Particularly when Aelia mentioned fighting rings. His shoulders pulled together as he tensed, his eyes narrowing a bit. "That will never occur here. Fighting is frowned upon, it is barbaric and that your master asked that of you..." he growled, the hair on the back of his neck standing up at the thought.

James was a business man, invested in plenty of questionable ventures but he was not one to exploit the werewolf race in such a manner. He huffed, grinding his teeth together as he took a longer sip of his drink. "I am going to take a shower before we settle in for the night. Do whatever you need to do, I expect you to be settled and ready by the time I am finished," he said as he pushed to his feet. "There is a small bathroom across the hall if you find you would like to freshen up. Bottom drawer of my dresser has large shirts of mine that you can wear until we can get you settled with clothes of your own," James explained, pausing by the dresser to touch the drawer with his toes.

Disappearing into the bathroom, James slammed his now empty glass down onto the bathroom counter. He turned the shower on, quick to climb inside. He felt like if he didn't shower off the disgust at just thinking about it, he would go crazy. It was the better part of an hour before James had finished, not even bothering to wrap a towel around his waist before he left the bathroom, intent on pulling on a pair of sweatpants before heading over to his bed to relax.

@ castle.
Listening to James huff, Lia lifted her head and looked at him worriedly. Careful to not make eye contact. She wasn't sure if her words had upset him at all. He had asked for her to tell him what his old master did, but, it seemed to have still displeased him. Maybe she should have just told him small pieces and not about him liking to pet her. Surely, a man of his stature wasn't against seeing who of there kind was strong enough to carry a bloodline.

Bright blue eyes trailed after James as she watched him from her spot by the couch. Her head silently nodding as she took in his words. "Yes sir, thank you." She said quietly, only daring to move from her spot by the couch once he had gone into his own bathroom.
Then, as soon as she heard the click of the door, Lia stood up and rushed towards the drawer. She didn't know how long he'd be in the bathroom and she wanted to make sure she was cleaned and ready for bed before he came back. So, Aelia grabbed a soft feeling grey shirt of his and snuck out of his room and into the bathroom that he had indicated was across the hall.

"Wow." Aelia breathed out as she slipped into the bathroom and closed the door. It seemed that every room in this place was more amazing than the rest. After a moment of taking everything in, Lia blinked out of her thoughts and quickly peeled off the damp shirt and placed it in a hamper that was in the room. Her clean shirt being placed on the counter as she slipped into the rather large shower and turning it on. A soft sigh then left Aelia's lips as she let the hot water wash over her skin, warming her up a little bit.

Looking around the shower, there wasn't much, but there was still some bottles of soap and shampoo. Probably from those of the pack leaving them or maybe that Marcus guy making sure that everything was stocked. Whatever it was, Lia was thankful because the last time she was able to bathe was when she was with her old master before he passed.

Washing up quickly, Lia made sure she didn't smell of grime anymore. Just her pure feminine wolf smell before she stepped out of the shower and drying off with a towel she found hanging on the wall. Then, she'd slip the grey shirt on before moving back towards Jame's room. Her small feet leading her towards the bed and crawling on top of it, sitting on her knees in the spot that smelled a little weaker of his scent.

Aelia had just started to look around the room once more before she heard the bathroom door open and glanced towards it. A small squeak escaping from her as she saw James without a towel Her hands quickly moved to cover her eyes as her cheeks turned a light pink color. She's had males see her naked as she dried in her cage after bathing, bit never the other way around before. This was a new sight, and she had no idea how to react right now.

James didn't bother to even look toward Aelia when he entered his bedroom again, her scent was all he needed to know that she had listened to his instruction. If a girl couldn't even listen to the most basic instructions on the first day, it was easy enough for James to know that the girl wouldn't last for very long. He only looked up when he straightened, his sweatpants resting on his hips. James raised an eyebrow at the picture he was met with, Aelia covering her eyes and appearing bashful. His frown fell as he let out a small laugh, realizing all too quickly what had to be running through the young shewolf's mind.

Tilting his head to the side, James couldn't help but bask in the amusement for another moment. James dropped down onto the mattress, raising an eyebrow as he watched Aelia. He stayed silent until she lowered her hands, simply sitting there until she chanced a look in his direction.

"Are you trying to tell me that that was your first time seeing a male naked?" James asked, not having a hard time in figuring out why Aelia was so bashful. He couldn't help the laugh that sounded from his lips as he shook his head. "You won't have to deal with it all that often," he said, hoping to ease her nerves at least a bit. While it wouldn't be often that he tried to comfort her, he didn't exactly want her stressing out to the point she wasn't any good to him.

It was true though, James had no intention of whoring her out. He was the only one that would ever enjoy her body, at least while she was under his ownership.

"If your old master decided to reward you with something," James started to speak, stretching his legs out in front of him. "What would it be with?" He asked, knowing the promise of a reward would be enough to make her obedient.

@ castle.
Nothing but pure embarrassment filled Aelia's veins as images of what she had just seen ran through her mind. She couldn't help a bit to want to find a dark hole somewhere and hide for the rest of her life. She was not ready to witness something like that. Nor did she really know how else she was to react.

Even as the bed dipped and the echos of her new masters laugh echoed in the room, Lia kept her eyes hidden. At least, she stayed like that for a couple more moments before daring to cast a glance towards her new master. An to her relief, he was covered. The relief of everything turned into a small sigh as the young felt her shoulders relax. Not stressed about something that she had very little knowledge about if any at all.

"Yes, sir." Was Aelia's simple reply to what he asked. The truth was a simple answer, so her reply was the same. She didn't really see the reason to explain that she was a sheltered female. Her bright blue eyes looked up towards James' lips as he told her she wouldn't have to deal with it often. She wasn't too sure what he meant by that, so the only thing she really did in response was to look at him in confusion before slowly shifting her body so that she was sitting on her knees facing him.

Suddenly, all embarrassment seemed to vanish from Lia as she heard her favorite word. When she was with her old master, it was used a few and far between everything. She mostly just got told she was a good girl, but, on the extremely rare occasion, she was granted things. "Well, sometimes I'd be allowed a sweet, like candy or dessert." She told James, remembering her love for chocolate chip cookies. "Other times, he'd allow for me to walk around the backyard. Of course, he'd keep a shock collar on me for just in case though." A small shiver ran down Lia's spine as she remembered the feeling of electricity as it ran through her body. She hated it, that's why she'd mostly lay on the back porch and accept the suns warmth while she could.

James' couldn't help the way that the hair on the back of his neck stood up at the mention of Aelia having to wear a shock collar. He let out a low growl as he looked away from her, his lip curling in disgust. It was clear that he was angry because he would never be able to understood why someone chose to own a wolf if they weren't able to control the wolves in the first place. It just made no sense at all to him. If the only way you felt comfortable owning such a powerful beast was by using such devices, James didn't think you should own one at all.

He would punish Aelia if a situation called for it certainly but to reward her in one moment and to hold the threat around her neck in the same breath? James thought it was barbaric and almost childish in a way. It showed just how little prepared someone was.

James was on edge now, his foot bouncing on the mattress as he glared out his window. He knew that there was no way that he was going to be able to relax enough to sleep now and he could practically smell the apprehension and fear rolling off of Aelia after his reaction to her statement. James huffed as he shoved the blankets to the side. He stood, his shoulders squaring as he approached the french doors that opened out onto the balcony.

"Come," James spoke a single word, his voice hard as he rolled his neck, stepping out onto the wood. He took a moment to survey his lands, knowing full well there were at least a few eyes on him. There always was, living as such a wealthy alpha. James took a few rushed steps forward, his hands landing on the balcony as he tossed himself up and over the railing.

James hit the ground after he shifted, shaking his coat out before he took a few steps forward. He looked up, tilting his head to the side when he noticed Aelia hadn't quite followed him. She was staring at him with wide eyes, confused and likely afraid of what he was wanting her to do. James wasn't afraid of Aelia even in shifted form - he was an alpha. He could easily overpower her.

Letting out a warning growl, James started forward again, putting more space between them - trying to make it clear what he wanted from Aelia. When she finally joined him, James wasted no time in taking off in an all out run - he kept slower than he could go, sure that she wouldn't be able to keep up with him if he kept at his full speed.

@ castle.
Apprehension filled Aelia as she watched the shift in James. Going from having a fun conversation with him, to watching him become completely angry. She wasn't sure what she should do in this sort of situation. He was the one in charge and had simply asked her a question. Was her answer unsatisfactory to him? Had she phrased something oddly? She wasn't sure, but she had a feeling that she should be covering right now.

An that's what she would have done, had James not called for her to follow him out to the balcony. A gasp escaping from her as she watched him all but jump over like nothing was wrong. Rushing forward, Lia watched with wide eyes as James shifted before her and landed completely safe.

Amazement and fear mixed as she watched James. He wanted her to come with him, but, they were so high up. Lia wanted to back away and just wait for him to return, but, that growl was enough of a warning that Aelia knew better than to ignore. So, taking in a deep breath, Aelia took a few steps back before having a running start. She placed her hands on the railing and all but tossed herself over. Changing back into her beautiful white wolf form in the process.

A small yelp escaped from Lia as she landed, her front right paw had twisted slightly in her landing. Glancing up though, she got the idea that showing her weakness at the moment won't do her any good. Instead, Aelia just ran after James, being careful to not put to much pressure on her injured leg.

Glancing around them as they ran, Aelia couldn't hide the amazement that flashed through her eyes. The trees were so tall and the air smelled so fresh and clean here. Not to mention the feeling of the dirt between her paw pads as she ran. Sure, she could feel the eyes of others on her, but, right now. This was a whole new thing for Aelia to experience. She had never run in a forest before. At least, she couldn't remember ever doing so.

After a while of running with James, keeping a small distance behind him. Aelia could feel herself getting exhausted. That was when a sound caught her attention. Glancing towards James, Lia made a small whine to try and gain his attention. It was all she could really muster through the heavy breathing she was doing from the run. Her head motioned towards the right of them, where she could faintly hear the sound of running water. It sounded not too far away and was curious about the noise, but. She knew better than to just run off without her master's approval.