Accidental Surrogate

3rd Person

Henry glared at Leon as he injected the antidote for ether into Ella’s arm. He was angry with the therapist, but he was also furious with himself for letting the hypnotic state continue for so long. He should have put his foot down the first time, when Ella first began screaming. Listening to her suffering had been horrible beyond belief. She’d started out by explaining the events that happened, but before long she disappeared into the memory, feeling everything that she described so that her story was interrupted by bouts of screaming and crying. She was reliving it all in front of them, and Henry despised himself for helping Leon torment her this way.

It took a moment for the antidote to kick in, but Ella finally went quiet as she was transported back to them. When her lashes parted to reveal bl00dshot eyes, her tearstained skin turned grey, and in the next moment she lurched over the side of the couch and was vomiting onto the floor.

Henry pulled her hair back and ran a comforting hand up and down her back, crooning words of comfort to the poor child. “It’s okay, dear one …You’re safe, it’s over.”

Once her stomach was empty and she Was reduced to dry heaving, Henry guided her to lie down again. Leon appeared at her side with a we.t rag and a glass of water, and Henry gently cleaned her face and helped her drink. “Im sorry.” Ella m0aned, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Nonsense.” Henry assured her. “If anyone has a right to be sick, it’s you. You should have seen some of the messes I cleaned up when my boys were little. This is nothing.”

Ella’s hands went to her belly, her face twisted in guilt and pain. “He’s upset.” Ella whimpered, clearly referring to the baby “I frightened him.. the screaming..”

“Do you want me to call for the doctor?” Henry offered, “Just to be safe?”

Ella’s gold eyes widened then clamped shut, and Henry remembered the things she’d confessed in her dream state. Hints about doctors abusing her, things that made his wolf apoplectic with rage.

“Will you stay with me if he comes?” Ella asked in a small voice, worried enough about her unborn child to agree, but not wanting to face an examination alone.

“of course.” Henry promised, not looking at Leon as he gave the orders to the guards hovering in the doorway. They’d crashed into the room when Ella started screaming, and watched in horror as she recounted the priests binding her wolf, cutting her off from her inner animal. In their world such an act was an atrocity, a crime that should not have been possible, and a violation a shifter should not be able to survive. The man nearest the door took off at a run, and Henry turned back to his daughter- in-law. “What can we do for you, Ella? What do you need?”

“We should talk through what just happened.”

interjected in his therapist voice. “She needs

Henry snapped back, “And not without her mate. We never should have attempted this

the past.” Leon answered sternly. “This was

growled wordlessly, and Ella curled in on herself a

her into his lap and wheeling her out of the sitting room and into the bedroom. He helped her climb into her pillowy sanctuary, purring

while, Ella blinked at him, seeming to realize what he was doing only after it began to work.”I thought wolves only purred for their

sad smile. “We also purr

quivered violently, and she reached for Henry’s hand, holding it tightly.

to thank him for taking care of her. The physician checked on the pup and administered a sedative for Ella, advising no more hypnosis for

they do

talking about the priests who came to the orphanage, and he wished he had an answer for her. “I don’t

her, and she closed her eyes as she drowsily continued, “I always thought I lost my strength because they broke me… the doctor and the matron… I believed they broke my spirit. But it was the priests.” She shuddered,

your sister and made a life for yourself. You might have been missing part of yourself, but the woman my son fell in love

a grimace and a smile. “Because Dominic brought her back to me. She started waking up when we met. If you’d known me before him..”

with conviction. “For now, just sleep

unconsciousness, Henry wheeled back into the sitting room. He didn’t want to go too far in case she had bad dreams, though the doctor had promised the sedative would send her into such a deep

ear. “Hi Dad,

just had her first hypnotherapy session

voice went sharp as