Read Online Dom Wars Round Five by Lucian Bane - Free Book Online Page A

looked around for a moment. "This'll do." He pointed to a thick tree, multiple trunks merged into one, covered with knots and low broken branches. "Climb."
    " What?"
    " Climb. The fucking. Tree." The look on his face slammed out of the past to rattle me. My old man wore the same one when he was being a nasty, abusive bastard.
    I shrugged around the sick feeling in my gut and pulled back the rebellion that burned to be set free. If I didn 't do what he wanted, he could take it out on Tara or Steve. "What-the-fuck-ever." He wanted me to climb a tree, I'd climb a fucking tree. Not a problem.
    Approaching the tree, I checked for the best angle with hand- and footholds. Satisfied I 'd found the fastest way up, I put one foot on a protruding knot and propelled myself up to grab onto a branch slightly higher than I could reach from the ground.
    Excruciating pain shot through my left palm and I roared before dropping back to the ground, holding my hand up for inspection. Blood welled around half a dozen things sticking out of my palm. "What the fuck?"
    The Preacher came close and grabbed my hand to look. Before I could object, he took hold of one of the things and pulled it out. A thick spike, between two and three inches long, nearly pencil sized at the base. "Thorn tree," he mumbled. He removed the other thorns, each one burning like a hot poker, the puncture wounds bleeding freely.
    H e turned without a word and walked away, clearly demanding that I follow. Bastard. Just like the old man. Keeping my injured hand cradled up against my chest, I complied, determined to prove I could take anything he dished out.
    A few yards further, he stopped again and pointed. "That one. Climb."
    My hand burned , ached and still bled. Not to mention it felt like it was swelling fast. Like hell he'd get the satisfaction of knowing that.
    A low hanging branch offered the perfect opportunity to get into the tree. With one foot against the trunk for leverage, I managed to swing up with just my right hand. No thorns. The skills I'd learned in childhood returned and I managed to climb fairly easily, despite my reluctance to use my left hand.
    When I was as high as I could safely go, I stopped and looked down at the preacher. He sat on the ground, illuminated in the moonlight, whittling. Bastard. "What now?"
    " Come back down." His voice was a rumbling bore.
    Really? Useless bullshit exercises. Just like the old man. Going down was harder than climbing, and around the halfway mark, a splintered branch raked along my shinbone, taking skin off through my fucking jeans. Involuntary reaction nearly toppled me out of the tree but I managed to make it the rest of the way down.
    Once on the ground, I pulled up my pant leg to see the damage. The branch had taken a wide strip of skin and flesh. I straightened to find the preacher still whittling. Annoyance shot through me.
    " What now?"
    " Climb it again."
    I stared at him. "Really."
    This time he looked up. "I said climb it again." Back to whittling. "Just so you know, Bane, this can be as easy or as hard as you like. Cooperate and do as you're told, learn the lesson, and it'll be over quickly. Resist and it will go on all night."
    Turning my back to him I shook my head. "Bullshit. I'm going back to camp."
    Three steps later, a monumental force hit between my shoulders and took me straight to the ground. Steel bands circled my neck and forced my head up.
    " Listen motherfucker. You will do what I say. You will take your training, which is punishment in this case for not obeying earlier orders. And you will not involve your woman in our business. That would be very unwise. Do I make myself clear?"
    Nightmare images of what this bastard could do to Tara shot through my head. "Crystal," I choked against the hold on my throat.
    He release d me abruptly. "Now get the fuck up and climb that tree."
    I got slowly to my feet, mentally searching for a way out. Nothing. The wolves howled again, sounding a little closer.