Chapter 24

Aurora

My eyes are covered in thick, tightly tied fabric. Something about my senses have been dulled, a dry, toxic taste on my tongue making me cough. I don’t recall drinking anything, but the feeling of a mute potion weighs heavily on all of my senses.

I try to wiggle my arms free of the binds that keep them pinned behind my back but like all my attempts before, I’m met with a harsh slap that sends me flailing onto my side, the feeling of warm blood pooling under my nostrils. I can’t even smell the blood, feeling it drip off my cheek while my arms and legs are still wrapped up in metal ties and fabric restraints, my ankles bound, and my wrists kept tied behind my lower back.

I drop my face down, trying to protect it, unwilling to prompt another hit from whoever keeps me captive. It’s impossible for me to see a thing, to know the scent of my captor, unsure what else to do so I lay helpless on the cold, wooden floors, waiting until someone or something happens to explain why I’m here and what they want with me.

I know there is more than one of them. I hear them speak so horribly of myself in the next room, their voices murmuring through the thick walls and only letting me catch a little of their intent, but mostly catching how much they disdain my existence.

“Filthy peasant,” a voice mumbles as I try to release the blood that is stopped up in my nostril by blowing it outward. It splatters all over my chin; metallic and warm. “Get this mess cleaned up before he returns. I don’t want him to be upset over the fact that she is bleeding all over the place. Smells like a commoner in here.”

At his words, I’m yanked up by my hair, my legs kicking as I’m dragged across the floor, thrown onto some kind of tile now. The sound of metal clanking makes me jump, cold water pouring down my bare body, hitting me all over and covering my face. It’s so icy that I am too shocked at first to scream.

Once I gain the strength, I hold in the yell, unsure whether I should even attempt to scream at all now, the water finally warming up to a maintainable temperature. I curl up under the stream, under the sounds that mimic rain, closing my eyes under the blindfold while I pretend to be in my bed, with Jaxson, and not a hint of animosity anywhere concerning Luke.

It brings me some semblance of safety, of sanity, letting the water splash down my face and neck, clearing it of the blood that attempts to dry on my skin. I keep my mouth shut, finding the shower wall and pushing myself to sit up on it, hearing the labored breathing in the next room as water is moped over the wood floors.

“Stupid girl,” someone sighs, ringing out the water in the same shower where I sit. The smell of cleaning chemicals and my blood makes me gag. I adjust my arms behind my back, the metal bracelets on my wrists cutting the circulation of my fingers. “Be still, dammit,” he gripes. I freeze instantly. “Stay here and don’t think about moving.”

His heavy steps leave, the feeling of hot water pouring over my head the only feeling left.

“Jaxson,” I breathe, wishing somehow, he could hear me. “I’m so sorry. I should have never run from you. This is all a mistake. It’s all my fault.”

A deep, throaty laugh startles me, the noise so abrupt and rolling in humor that my stomach cramps at how I know that sound from somewhere before. I sniffle an inhale, pulling my knees up and holding my head down, hoping that it is enough protection from Xander’s wrath.

Even though I know if he wants to hurt me badly enough, he will.

“Little princess,” he says, his voice like a snake slithering around my throat. “Come on now. Don’t be so shy. You can say hello to me.”

I keep my lips sealed, just in case it’s a trick; an excuse to be hit.

“I love seeing you so demure, Aurora,” he hums, his voice pleased. “It’s not like after our last interaction, while you were busy ratting me out for the likes of that damn mutt, forcing me to run from my comfortable life. I somehow knew it wouldn’t be the last time I’d see you, though. You are here to stay for good, little princess.”

I shake my head, forcing myself to not shed a single tear in front of this monster.

I know for sure he gains pleasure from my misery.

“Where did you end up finding her?” he asks.

Someone else answers. “She had been running through the woods above the North Hills pack-grounds. One of our patrols was hunting and ran into her alone. Jaxson and a few of the warriors were out looking for her. He managed to drag her here. We covered her scent for the most part, but they’re still out there trying to track it down.”

“Make sure her scent is muted completely,” he growls.

“Already done. Gave her an extra dose of potion for muting her senses and her smell,” he replies. “We have another batch being made of wolf’s-bane infused potion. It will certainly knock her on her ass, but it will keep her locked out if she attempts to reach him through mind-link.”

“Good,” he says, his voice thick.

“I want word sent to the palace that have her. If we can’t get Jaxson alone, we won’t be able to take him out. Then it’s just me and my poor excuse for a father. He will eventually have to continue the lineage of the Alpha status and he will have to give it to me.”

He will be a worthless, evil Alpha. “Jaxson will be Alpha even if you kill me!”

I know better than to challenge Xander who is already prone to wanting to hurt me. It doesn’t help that I taunt him. I expect the hit and I’m not disappointed in that assumption, a harsh kick laid into my shoulder, knocking me sideways against the shower wall, my head bouncing off the hard tile.

“Jaxson will be Alpha, with or without me,” I repeat, speaking over the sounds of the running water over my body. “So do what you will, but he will kill you whether I live or die, Xander. You will never be Alpha. You will never be king!”

He doesn’t laugh like I assumed he would, something about my words definitely wounding him. Instead, I feel his hand curl into my bicep, yanking me from the shower. I slip on the floor, soaking wet, trying to follow his steps while I’m tied up and blindfolded. He harrumphed at my struggle but didn't slow down, pulling me up a set of stairs before I was tossed across the floor, landing on a bed of some kind.

It reeks of his scent.

I panic, trying to rip my wrists free, but he catches my arms and forces me to face down on the bed, holding my wrists up while his other hand presses into my backside, forcing me to bend over the corner of the bed. His leg nudges one of mine, spreading my thighs apart when his waist centers my naked sex and presses the center of his pelvis into my heat.

I ache, trying to pull away, only hearing him growl at my panic.

“You wanted to insult me,” he says, something sinister in his voice. “You think you can embarrass me? Hurt my feelings? Ha, what a joke, little princess.”

Opening my mouth, I aim to apologize, his hand instead grabbing my heat, making me gasp alive in fear, the feeling of his knuckles digging into my mound, my thighs, forcing hot tears into the blindfold.

“No, no,” I beg, pleading with everything I have. The more I struggle to move out of his grip, the harder I feel his erection press into my backside. “Please…”

“Beg,” he growls.

I break at his command, sobbing through my words. “Please don’t, Xander—”

“ALPHA!”

“Please, Alpha,” I say, trembling as his grip tightens. His entire body tightens and the only thing from him stripping me of my dignity is a thin pair of pants and a zipper he could easily rip free and utterly ruin my life. I beg harder. “Please don’t do this, Alpha. Please. I’m sorry I insulted you— I’m sorry— I didn’t mean it, Alpha, please!”

“Just as I thought,” he says, his hand yanking back from my sex, slamming his palm down on my ass, forcing me to howl a yell.

He only laughs, watching as I slip to the floor on my knees, pressing my face into the side of his bed while I sob shamelessly, feeling weak with the thought of how close he came to forcing me into something I would never be able to live down from.

I beg for Jaxson to hear me in the link, knowing that I’ve been far too poisoned with potions to be able to even shift right now, let alone call my mate. I try anyways.

Please, Jaxson. Find me soon.