Painful
Serafine POV
I haven’t tried to run, not yet. The urge is there, sure, but if I run, it’s proving him right.
The thought of running to safety is clawing at my throat and pulsing behind my eyes, but I can’t run and look weak. The weight of his words is still pressing against my chest. They are heavy and suffocating while I stare at him, trying to find even a flicker of the man who had held me under the moon, that man who made me feel safe, even if just for a moment. He’s gone, though, and it’s just the Alpha standing before me. No, I’m staring at the rogue. The exact cruel, merciless rogue that everyone described. His entire posture and expression make my body shake. He’s going to punish me, I can see it already in his eyes. He’s going to hit me and make me pay for this, for something I’ve not done.
“You think I’m lying,” I say quietly. The words taste like ash on my tongue, the final remnants of what we’ve just built burnt to ash. You think that I’m feeding him information when I’ve barely spoken to anyone here. You think I’m just like him.” My words are meant to hurt him.
He tightens his jaw. “You may be a woman, Serafine, you may be my mate, but that doesn’t mean I won’t punish you.” The air is pulled from my lungs, and I stare at him, stunned. I had hoped he wouldn’t. “You would punish me for something I didn’t do?” How is that right?
“Yes, because it means I’m protecting my pack,” he replies without any hesitation.
I want to laugh. I want to cry, actually, I want to scream and lash out. “So what then?” I snap, my voice getting sharper. “You‘ Il beat me and hurt me? Put your hands on me without proof. Make me bleed? Is that who you are?”
He doesn’t flinch. “I don’t need to beat you to punish you.” His words are cold, like he’s already decided the way forward.
“But you’re going to do something,” I snap. “You’re going to punish me, based purely on suspicion. There’s no evidence, and no truth in it.”
He steps forward, his frame towering over mine. “I can’t afford to be wrong.” His words are cold. “If it takes punishing you when you’ve done nothing to ensure I’m punishing you when you have, so be it.”
Curling my hands into fists, I can feel the heat of my wolf pacing inside of me. The rage is building too fast for me to control, and my chest heaves as I stare at him.
“Then maybe my father should know everything,” I say coldly, my voice shattering everything. “Maybe if you’re going to treat me like a traitor, I should be one! Maybe he deserves to know exactly what you’ve been hiding. He should know what your pack is, and what you really are.”
Nothing in his expression changes, something flickers in his eyes. It’s cold, quiet and dangerous, and I realise now what I just said. I made it all worse, everything.
He lifts his hand and calls out without even looking away from me. “Bring her.”
Footsteps come from behind me, and a moment later, a maid enters. She steps into the large hall, ensuring her steps are quiet and careful. She’s carrying something. I can’t see what it is, only that it’s covered in a cloth and small.
Two Betas follow her, one flanking each side of the doorway, blocking my only escape.
He’s really going to do this. He’s going to punish me. “No,” I whisper. “You can’t be serious!” This is wrong.
“You want to test me?” Xander says. His voice is empty of all emotion. “You want to challenge me? Then fine.”
My body moves back, but the Betas move quickly and grip my arms before I can even react. I thrash against them, trying to break out of their hold.
“Let me go! I didn’t do anything,” I cry out, my voice getting louder and more desperate.
“You want to test me?” Xander says, and now his voice is empty of emotion. “You wanted to challenge me? Fine.”
I step back, but the Betas move quickly, gripping my arms before I can react. I thrash in their hold, my voice rising.
“Let me go. I didn’t do anything!”
“You should have thought of that before threatening your Alpha,” he says. “I don’t want to do this, Serafine. But I can’t let it go unpunished.”
Fighting isn’t going to help. I know there’s no way out of this right now. So, I stand taller, I force my spine straight, and I square my shoulders. My throat is tight, but I try to bean my unica calm so he doesn’t get to take more from me than he already has.
Successfully unlocked!
“Then do it,” I say. “Hurt me. Show everyone that you’re no better than my evil father.”
Something flickers in his eyes, but he doesn’t stop. He doesn’t let my words impact his choice. He looks to the maid. She approaches with the cloth–wrapped object. Slowly and carefully, she pulls the fabric aside and reveals a silver–handled syringe. It’s filled with a thick and glowing liquid.
1/2
Painful
“No, please,” I breathe, feeling the panic build. “What is that?” It’s nothing I’ve seen before.
“It’s not something that will kill you,” he says softly. “But you’ll feel it and that will make you remember what defiance costs
you.”
“Xander, please don’t,” I whisper. Hoping that pleading will call to his more gentle side.
“I have to,” he replies. “Do it now.”
The moment he says it, the maid moves, and pain explodes through my arm. The needle punctures my skin, but that’s not the issue. I scream as something sharp burns through me. It’s like the liquid inside as ignited and is burning me from the inside out. The moment it enters my blood, my knees buckle and my body twists.
I thrash against the Betas, but they hold me firm. The pain spreads like poison, searing through my veins. I swear it’s like it’ s burning through my bones as well.
It feels like my skin is being peeled off from the inside. Almost like something is clawing through me, if I could see inside my body, I would be sure my muscles are tearing and ripping me apart. I scream even louder this time. My voice cracking as my body trembles violently, and they hold me up.
I can still see Xander through the blur of tears, standing still and unmoving. I know in this moment, I hate him more than I‘ ve possibly hated anyone.
