Filed to story: My Kidnapper Is the Wolf King
“I’m here.” A tear rolls down his face. I want to reach for him, to brush it away, but he is too far away. My body is too heavy. He touches my cheek. “I’m here.”
I smile.
He makes a sound in his throat, a sob. “You’re going to be okay.”
And I know then that he thinks I’m going to die.
There’s something important I want to tell him, but my brain is fuzzy. I cannot find the words.
My eyelids flicker. The world dulls.
“Stay with me, Princess. You have to fight this. Please-“
Callum stiffens and looks over his shoulder. A second later, someone crashes to their knees beside him.
“Move aside.” A sharp male voice cuts through the darkness.
Callum keeps his hand on the bite, but shifts slightly. He takes one of my hands, and his fingers curl tightly around mine as if he can stop me from falling away.
“Can you save her?” Callum’s voice is small. Afraid.
Even though I’m so far away right now, I know that his voice should not sound that way. He is strong and certain-a warrior. He does not fear anything.
“I don’t know.” Blake’s face swims into focus.
He is a monstrous vision. His neck and chest are crimson with blood, and there’s mud caked in his hair. His expression is serious, and that, too, seems wrong.
Where is the mockery? Where is the smirk on his lips?
I close my eyes.
He taps my cheek. “Look at me.”
My eyelids are seared shut. I do not want to look at him, anyway.
“I should have known you were too weak,” says Blake. “Or perhaps it is not weakness, perhaps you are simply too ashamed to face me. Do you remember when you slapped me, little rabbit? Back in my chambers? I was on my knees before you. Do you know what I think? I think you were angry with me because you were imagining riding my face. And you liked it.”
My eyes flicker open. Shock and irritation ripple through me.
“What the fuck-” snarls Callum.
“Quiet,” snaps Blake. “Do you remember when I betrayed you, little rabbit? Had you strung up in the dungeons?”
Callum’s growl vibrates through me, but I keep my eyes fixed on Blake’s. The stars shimmer in and out of focus above him.
“I used you to get what I wanted. I made you a pawn in my games. I took you away from Callum, and had him locked up, too. I enjoyed seeing you like that, you know? Bound and chained. Defenseless.
Helpless.
I could have done all manner of things to you. All manner of perverse things. Would you have liked that, Aurora?”
Anger flares inside me, hot and wild and putrid. It pushes up my throat like a venomous snake, and a hiss escapes my lips. It hurts. Goddess, it hurts.
I whimper, and my eyelids flicker shut.
“Gods, Aurora!” Blake slams his hand into the ground by my head. I don’t even flinch. “Get angry! Get angry with me!”
“That’s enough, Blake!” says Callum. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but find another way. Get some herbs. Stitch her up. Just do it. Fix her!” The plea in his voice breaks my heart.
“She’s been bitten, Callum! The only way she survives this is if she stops suppressing it!”
“Suppressing what?”
“Her wolf!” Blake’s exasperated voice cuts through the darkness that is settling over me.
Callum falls silent for a moment. “What the fuck are you talking about? She’s not a wolf.”
“Of course she is, you fool. She’s a half-wolf, like me. And James’s bite will either force her wolf to fight back, or it’ll dominate it and kill her.” He slaps my cheek again. “Look at me. I’m not finished with you yet.”
I roll my head away, unable to make sense of anything they’re saying.
“Aurora! Damn it!” snaps Blake.
He grabs my chin.
Life is spilling out of me. I can feel my soul leaving my body, turning me back into the husk I was for so many years. Darkness fills my chest, and I’m cold. So cold.
Even Callum’s hand around mine offers no warmth anymore.
My cheeks are wet, and I wonder if I’m crying, or whether it’s blood.
Frantic male voices fill the air but they don’t make sense.
“Just do it,” Callum snarls.
“Fuck. It’s not. . . it’s not medicine. It’s something I read.”
“She’s not-“
“She is a wolf
!”
I try to focus on the men kneeling beside me. I try to focus on what they’re talking about. It’s something to do with me. Something important.
“What is it?” says Callum, his voice dark.
“I think I can share my. . . life force with her. If she’s a wolf.”
“I should do it,” says Callum.
“No. It has to be. . . I. . . I don’t have time to teach you. Just. . . get out of the way.”
“Blake-” Callum’s voice is low. Warning.
“Get out of the way!” Blake’s voice is all wrong. Angry. Feral. Forceful.
He shifts over me and I can almost feel his warmth.
He rests his forearm on one side of my face, putting his hand on my cheek as I try to roll my head away. He pushes his forehead against mine, and he whispers something in a language I do not know. I cannot tell if it’s a chant, or a prayer, or a plea. All I know is my pulse is slow, and the air is cold, and my body is draining of life.
And I’m tired. So tired.
If I had the strength to pray, I’d tell the Goddess I’ll choose to live differently, if I survive this. I’ll live my life fully. I’ll dare to hope and dream and want.
I’ll stand up for myself and for others. I’ll learn to fight. I’ll make my own stories, rather than be the side character in the stories of kings. I’ll never be shackled again.