Chapter 35 CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
MAEVA
I wake up aware of two things. I did not go to sleep and this is not my home. My eyes snap open and for a second, nothing makes sense. I should not be here. Everything in this room feels wrong. Then the memories start flowing back and I groan. The council, my words, Taron, Him.
Caius. I try to stand up but restraints bite into my wrists instantly, dragging me back down against the deflated mattress with a sharp pull. I’m lying down spread eagle on the bed and all my limbs are tied to different places in the bare room.
A snarl rips out of me before I can stop it. My teeth grind together in anger and embarrassment. How dare he do this to me? I try to shift but I can’t, I’m too weak to.
Taking me right from my pack is bad enough but he didn’t even try to fight me. He just put pressure on my pressure points and I was out. There would have been more dignity we had fought.
“He didn’t overpower me.” I mutter under my breath, my voice rough with anger. “He cheated.”
What would the pack be thinking? Just yesterday, I assured them that everything will be fine. Are we even still in today?
I pull against the bindings again, muscles tightening, pulling, testing. They don’t give. I look around the room. It’s completely bare. No furniture, no wallpaper or pictures on the wall, just an empty white room and the deflated mattress beneath me.
Where is this place that he brought me to? The cell I was in the last time he kidnapped me has more character than this place. The blinds are covered and the only source of light here is the bulb directly above me.
I take a deep breath and close my eyes. Taron. The thought hits me like a blow to the chest. I should have never used him like that. He didn’t want to be part of this and I made him a part of it and now he’s hurt because of me. I can’t even mind link him to know how he’s doing.
I know Caius didn’t kill him but I want to know how he is. I should have picked a stranger, someone greedy for power. Everything makes me angrier at Caius. My life had an order to it before he came along with his bond and turned it upside down.
The door opens but I don’t look towards it immediately. I don’t give him that. I know it’s Caius. He’s the only one who would dare come here. His presence is powerful and I feel him. Not through the bond. No, that’s long gone. I noticed it at the pack when he came but I didn’t have the chance to celebrate that win.
The low hum of electricity that moves through me whenever he’s near, pushing me to get closer to him, to touch him and beg him to mark me is gone. In its place is mild recognition that I would have for any other wolf. I smirk. The wait was worth it.
“Wipe the smirk off your face. Muting the bond is a temporary cure.” He says as he steps further into the room.
My neck snaps to his direction and my eyes widens in surprise.
“How did I know? The witch bragged about it. Did she tell you that muting the bond will eventually weaken your wolf?”
No. that information was not given to me, the sneaky witch. Why can’t they ever give you the full detail of anything? Wait, why should I even believe Caius? It is to his advantage that I stop muting the bond.
“Yes.” I lie.
He laughs mockingly and walks out. He walks back in, dragging a chair with him. He sits down and watches me with a smirk.
“You’re lying. You love being a powerful alpha too much to accept to weaken your wolf for however long you thought this plan of yours would last.”
Just a few months until after the blue moon, I think to myself.
“You just made a very big mistake taking me and I’m going to make sure you regret it.”
“Yeah, I can see you doing much from where you’re lying.”
“Release me and find out.”
He shakes his head. “No. I don’t think I will. You’ve been calling the shots in this relationship since it started. It’s my turn now and you’re going to earn every freedom you have. You really want to see what it feels like to have your will taken? I’ll show you.”
“You plan to leave me like this?”
He shrugs. I won’t beg and I won’t apologize. I won’t give him the satisfaction of hearing me beg him.
“You attacked my Beta in my pack. You will pay for that.”
“Don’t worry. Your precious Beta is alive.” He says it with so much venom before his face morphs into a smile.
“In fact, he let me leave. You’re right. Your pack warriors were not about to let me leave your pack with you, mate or not. They were prepared to fight but your Beta let us through. Made me sad that I didn’t kill him.”
“He saved your life and that’s what you have to say?” stupid Taron and his need to be a good person. Maybe Caius could have been injured and I wouldn’t have to be here now.
“You kissed him in front of me. That shit you pulled in front of the Council was already bad enough. Kissing him right in front of me was you signing his death warrant. You’re lucky I kept him alive. Killing other people in your pack would have helped me calm down but he decided to be a good leader.”
The ‘something you should learn’ hangs thick in the air and I struggle against the restraint again.
“Don’t bother. You’re not getting free until I say so.”
I try to shift again but I still can’t.
“What did you do to me?” I ask.
“Nothing you can’t survive from.”
I snarl and growl and struggle against the restraints.
“I swear to you right now, Caius, you will regret this, you will never have me.”
He stands up and bends down in front of me.
“Oh but I will. In a way, I like that you muted the bond. This way, when I finally claim you, you won’t ever turn around and say it was because you were powerless against the mate bond.”
With that, he stands up and walks away and closes the door behind him. I listen for footstep and when I’m sure he has left the house, I scream in frustration.
I’m going to have to kill Caius for this.