My Alpha's Mark

50 Don’t fight me

Kacie

We sit in silence for I don’t know how long but we don’t move. There isn’t anything but the sound of the waves outside and my haggard breathing.

“I will hurt you,” Clara warned. “Don’t try and fight me.”

I nod to let her know I’m not going to fight back. I can barely breathe right now, I don’t think I could handle another fight with her so soon after this beating.

With a sigh, she stood and turned to leave. I fought to swallow the lump in my throat. It felt like sawdust and wouldn’t go down. I took a deep breath gasping for breath and it felt like I was being stabbed repetitively in the side. I used my hand to grip my side tenderly hoping that if I pressed on where it hurt, the pain may subside.

It didn’t.

Panic sets in when the image of me lying on the floor for hours or days pass through my mind. The thought of being left here to wait for Alpha Ken sets me into flight mode. I scramble to get up and started to say something before she got too far away.

Say what? Plead? Beg for help? I bite my lip to stop the words from coming out. Am I being stubborn in death? Yes. Am I facing death right now? No, but am I going to acknowledge that I didn’t just need help, I needed Clara’s help.

Clara looked back at me over her shoulder before turning away. With the flick of her wrist, I was lifted onto my feet. The shock of my body moving without my knowledge had me dumbfounded enough it rendered me speechless.

Like how??

I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact I was just LEVITATING in the air. An intrusive thought made its way into my mind and whispered, “Where’s the pain?”

That’s right.

I was just in pain and struggling to breathe. I had been making whistling noises while I took breaths deep enough to soothe my lungs but softly as to inflict the least pain possible.

Sorcery.

Well duh, she’s a witch. I almost laugh at how stupid I sound having a conversation with myself in my head and my heart tinged as I thought of Athena.

I should have buckled under the pain and collapsed but somehow I didn’t feel the same crushing pain, if anything, I felt lighter as I took my first few steps. Realizing I could keep myself upright, I followed her back to my room.

The door opened with a bang and Clara moved to lean against the wall. She nodded towards the shower.

“A cold one will help,” she said.

I nodded and made my way to the bathroom. She took off my handcuff before I went in. Clara stayed with me in the room while I showered and got into bed. While I knew we weren’t friends, I felt comforted by the fact that I wasn’t alone.

I finished showering and got dressed in the bathroom before opening the door and going back into the room. Clara put the handcuffs back on.

I didn’t have enough time to heal so it didn’t really matter that she took them off in the first place. It was more so that I would have the freedom to move around without help, take my own clothes off and scrub myself in the shower.

The pain was still numb and I crawled into bed. When my head hit the pillow all of the pain came crashing into me at the speed of a subway train, knocking the breath out of me. It’s so unexpected that I cry out in pain.

“Oops,” she said, “I should have warned you before I removed the darkness from your body.” She didn’t sound sorry but I was starting to understand that she always came off bitchy or was always bitchy. I wasn’t sure which one.

I inhaled and exhaled slowly, flinching at the pain that followed every breath I took.

“So you were helping me?” I shoot her a glance before looking at the sheet bunched in my hands.

“I won’t accept or deny that claim,” she murmured while looking at her fingernails more intently than necessary. Was she being bashful? Gasp.

“You like me just admit it, Clara the witch,” I said with a small smile and I can feel my lips curling up.

She stops studying her nails, her eyes lift and meet mine over the tips of her fingernails. “Fat chance, wolf,” she says but I can swear I see her lip twitch as if she’s fighting the urge to smile.

“Mm-hmm.”

Her hand falls to her side and she strides, or the better term would be, glides over to me until she’s by my side. I peer up at her waiting for her to say something. When nothing happens and she doesn’t say anything I lean back and close my eyes.

A few minutes pass with nothing but awkward silence. I’m not sure of what I should do but I know she’s still by the bed. Weird much? Is she worried about me? I don’t think that’s it but how do I explain her odd behavior.

I wish Athena was here. She’d tell me her opinion before I could even ask for it. The stillness in my head and the sound of my voice alone in my head was daunting.

A few seconds later, I’m about to ask her if she’s going to watch me sleep when cold fingers brush against my wrist. My eyes fly open and I watch as she removes the cuffs from my wrists.

My eyes widen and automatically I look up at her. What in the world is going on? I know she’s not going to let me escape but this looks like she’s letting me escape.

“Is this a trap?” I ask.

“You’re not going to escape. I’m taking them off to give your body the chance to heal the broken ribs and maybe the bruising and cuts marring your body,” Clara says in a low voice.

“As I said earlier, don’t try and fight me because I will hurt you.”