Alpha Dom and His Human Surrogate

Chapter 175 — Bound Trigger warning — Assault (non-sexual)

Ella

“It’s all right, Ella.”

The first priest says, approaching me as one might a skittish horse — with slow, measured movements and hands exposed to show he holds no weapon.

“We only want to protect you.”

“Protect me from what?” I question shakily, my back flush against the locked door.

“You have a very powerful magic inside you, and if it’s allowed to come out you’ll be exposed.We can’t let that happen.” He explains, using a tone much too gentle to be trustworthy.

It’s as though he’s trying to trick me, to convince me he’s kind when he truly intends malice.

“I don’t have any magic.” I insist, wishing that I did.

Maybe if I was magic I might be able to put a stop to the things happening here — to protect the others without bringing harm to myself.I was so preoccupied with this statement that I almost missed the second piece of information.

“Exposed to what?”

“You do, it just hasn’t shown itself yet.”

The second priest sighs, keeping his distance but watching me with sharp eyes.

“At least not in ways you understand.Tell me, have you never noticed how much stronger you are than your peers? That you can hear and smell things from much greater distances? That you can run faster, jump higher, suffer greater injuries with less pain?”

He inquires, his hawkish gaze searing into me, “do they not follow you? Gravitate to your side and obey you as a leader?”

My head spins, making me dizzy with the possibilities.He guesses correctly, but that can’t be because I have some sort of special power.It’s just the way things are…isn’t it? “And exposed to a world you cannot yet join.”

The first man adds.

“It must happen when the time is right – but that time is a very long way off.”

“I don’t understand.”

I squeak, a sense of pure dread settling in the pit of my stomach.

“We know, Ella.”

The second man proclaims, “And I’m sorry that this must happen, it will not be pleasant, but it is necessary for the future of our people.”I shake my head, fighting back tears.

Their words are triggering every alarm bell in my young mind.I know what men do to little girls under the guise of necessity, the pretense of helping or protecting.

And I know exactly how unpleasant things can get.

My blood runs cold, and my pulse races, triggering a strange new energy deep in my bones.

It pulses through me like a bolt of electricity, a wild thing writhes just beneath my skin, feral and rabid — begging to be free.

go away!” I hiss, my body shuddering with these

at each other with grim

spot on — another week and we’d

“I’m sorry, child.”

professes gravely, closing the distance

would not do this if there

terror, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced

instincts are screaming at me to run, to get away at

be far worse than anything the doctor or dormitory matron have ever inflicted on

isn’t anywhere to

a bolted door at my back and two attackers far larger and stronger than I am bearing down on me.I try to scream, but the second priest clamps his hand over my mouth before the sound

sink my teeth into his palm, but he doesn’t

away from the door, propelling me further

man grabs my legs, and

their hold, my screams muffled

the metallic tang

I’m gagging, fighting for

— I’m powerless in their strong grips, and

feather swaying in the wind for all the effort they expend

distant keening pierces the air, sounding very

and pain more complex

with

“It’s too much.”

“Just a little more.”

voice, floating above me,

“We’re so close.”

these sounds are coming from, and the priests don’t seem

continue with their task with single-minded focus, and i’m nothing more than a pawn in their game — tiny and

onto the floor

first priest restrains my wrists while the other sits on my kicking legs, pulling his

it’s pearlescent sheen glimmering like moonlight, glowing in the

when they begin wrapping it around my body,

fabric, winding it round and

my arms are locked against my sides and my

grip, and soon they’re wrapping my head, as if they

falls over my mouth, the

half second of my scream escapes before the moonlight closes over my gaping lips, locking

able to breathe, though

is awake but I’m trapped in my own body,

– anything! But nothing happens because this

priests rummaging around outside the walls of my silken prison, and I strain to identify the sounds: the clink of glass? The jostling of beads? novelebook A bottle uncorking? For all

is filled with some pungent, herbaceous fragrance a moment before drops of moisture seep through the silk and

body, stones or crystals placed in deliberate

that foreign electricity in my veins warning me that I

time, but I refuse to