Chapter 9 Chapter 9
I pushed through the door and slammed it behind me, my hands shaking with anger and residual pain.
What should hurt most? The part that Alpha Zane does not seem to see my pain, or that even in a moment as brutal as that, the only place my eyes could focus on was the dry, chapped lips of Alpha Zane. More evident as he dished out his instruction?
For several minutes, I just stood there, breathing hard and waiting for him to burst through and punish me for my insolence.
But he didn’t.
Through the glass wall, I saw his silhouette appear in his own chambers and watched him stand there for a long moment before he turned away.
The second injection that evening was worse than the first.
Maybe because my body was already weakened. And that the healers had warned me it would “build” on the previous treatment, which apparently meant compounding the agony.
This time, when the silver liquid entered my veins, my wolf didn’t just try to shift. It seemed like she was in a war to break free. To tear through my skin and escape the pain by any means necessary.
The restraints held, but barely. I felt my bones beginning to elongate, my muscles rippling under my skin and my jaw aching as my teeth threatened to lengthen into fangs.
“She’s shifting!” the younger healer shouted.
“Hold her down!”
More hands pressed on my shoulders and my hips. And as I anticipated, another cold injection pressed against my neck, this one forcing my wolf back down with brutal efficiency.
I screamed until my throat was raw.
When it was finally over, I lay trembling and gasping on the table, tears streaming down my face.
“The reaction is stronger this time,” the older healer murmured, making more notes. “But that’s to be expected. Her body is fighting the treatment.”
“Will it get worse?” I managed to ask.
She hesitated. “Each person responds differently. But yes, typically the third injection is the most… challenging.”
Challenging. What a delicate word for torture.
They released me from the restraints, and this time I couldn’t even pretend to walk on my own. Beta Ezra had to carefully hold me back to my chambers, my body too weak to protest the indignity.
He laid me on my bed with surprising gentleness, pulling the covers up to my chin.
“Rest, Luna,” he said quietly. “You’ll need your strength for tomorrow.”
After he left, I lay there in the darkness, my body aching and my wolf whimpering in the back of my mind.
Through the glass wall, I could see Zane’s silhouette. He was pacing, back and forth, like a caged animal.
Did he feel any of this through the bond? Did he sense my pain at all?
Or was I truly nothing more than a means to an end—a womb he needed to carry his heir, regardless of the cost?
I watched as his steps halted, and after picking up some paper, he left the room.
Silly me, I was thinking he was worrying about me when he was only looking for his document. What was I expecting?
As soon as he left, tears filled my eyes. But I dabbed at it with my left fingers and forcing my eyes shut, I positioned myself to sleep.
~~~
“Luna Tiana. It’s time for treatment.” A voice came.
Quickly rebuking it, as I was certain it was just a dream, I shifted my body to another position as I still needed more hours of sleep to stop my muscles from cramping.
But the voice came again, accompanied by loud bangs on my door. I forced my eyes open, worried about what it was, that caused that kind of disturbance.
Could it be head servant Geraldine?
“Luna Tiana,” a voice I recognized as one of the healers came again. “It’s time for the third dose.”
Hearing it caused an instant reset to my brain. That pain again?
No, I wanted to scream. I can’t do this again. I can’t—
But I dragged myself out of bed anyway.
Because what choice did I have?
The third injection was exactly as horrific as promised.
This time, my wolf tried to tear away the mark Zane had forced on me and flee into the wilderness where no Alpha could ever claim her again.
The pain of that attempted severing felt like my soul was being ripped in half.
I screamed until I tasted blood and my vision went white. In that moment, I prayed so dearly, for unconsciousness to take me.
When it was finally over, I lay gasping on the table and was barely conscious.
“The first round is complete,” the older healer announced. “She’ll need three days to recover before we begin round two.”
Three days. I had three days before this hell started all over again.
“Can she walk?” That was Zane’s voice, closer than I’d expected.
“No, Alpha. She’ll need to be carried.”
Instantly, my eyes searched around the room looking for any signs of Beta Ezra. I had not heard his voice all along, and I needed him to just appear.
Being carried by Zane and dumped even in my condition was what I so much feared.
My heart was racing when a knock came on the door and within seconds, another presence filled the room.
“Alpha, the elders are here for a meeting.”
My gaze followed the voice and confirmed that it was Kaius.
Subconsciously, I became more aware and tried my best to keep my face in a more presentable way that did not spell out my suffering.
“I will be there, I just need to…”
“You know what?” Zane paused. “Could you help me take the Luna to her room?”
It was a request yet it sounded like a command.
Staring at Kaius now, the one person left in the room with me aside from the healers, I suddenly wished to retract my words and endure Zane carrying me.
Kaius tilted his head, smiling at me. “Okay, I guess. I have to carry you.”
“Yeah.” I nodded softly. The time Ezra had carried me, it was not literal carrying. It was more of him supporting me as I walked with my weight leaning on him.
“How do we do this?” He muttered softly to himself and I caught it.
The intent behind his statement was unclear to me, but that uneasy feeling that he had made it because of my size crept into my chest.
I lowered my gaze, waiting for him to blow it in my face that he really could not carry me, but to my surprise, he squatted in front of me.
“Perfect. Just try to climb on me now.”
“Huh?”
“Are you scared?” He turned to me, his butts bent towards me. “You should not be, it’s not like I’ll do anything crazy from just carrying you.”
I swallowed, chuckling nervously. “Of course, I know.”
Putting my fears aside, I managed to raise myself and got on his back, my thighs wrapping across his waist to keep myself still.
“Good. Now hold me.” Kaius muttered, gesturing for my hands to come across his neck.
It was not a big deal, right?
Well until, Kaius wrapped his hand on what should be just my hips, but because of the thin layer of dressing, I had on, it felt like he was touching my skin.
My breath hitched. When was the last time someone touched me like this?
Even my mate, Zane. His hands were only good at yanking me, dragging me or showing possession.
But Kaius’ touch as simple as it was felt secure, not painful and like the thrill of a yearning I had longed for.
“You okay back there?” His voice rumbled through his back into my chest.
“Yes,” I whispered, though I wasn’t sure that was true.
My wolf stirred in curiosity. She’d been beaten down by the treatments and the forced bond. Not getting the consolation of even consummation.
But now she lifted her head, tentative, as if asking: Could it be different? Could touch feel like this?
The answer terrified me and I played it out to my wolf.
‘Kaius is Zane, our mate’s nephew and there’s no way in our world we can feel this way about him.’