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.

I hiss, my body shuddering with these new

men look at each other with

another

“I’m sorry, child.”

professes gravely,

would not do this if

unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before, takes over my

are screaming at me to run,

be far worse than anything the doctor or dormitory

there isn’t anywhere

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

teeth into his palm, but he doesn’t even

simply wrenches me away from the door, propelling me

legs,

thrash violently against their hold, my screams muffled and garbled as the priest continues

metallic tang

and I’m gagging, fighting for air and struggling

fight them — I’m powerless in their

a feather swaying in the wind

pierces the air, sounding

and pain more complex than the sheer fright in my

with concern, joins the terrible

“It’s too much.”

“Just a little more.”

second voice, floating above me,

“We’re so close.”

have no idea where these sounds are coming from, and the priests don’t seem to hear

i’m nothing more than a pawn in their game — tiny

onto the

restrains my wrists while the other sits on my

extracts a shimmering silk cloth, it’s pearlescent sheen glimmering

when they begin wrapping it around my body, it tightens around me with

in the fabric, winding it round and round like

arms are locked against my sides and my

a muscle in the fabric’s punishing grip, and soon they’re wrapping my head, as if they

silk falls over my mouth, the priest

moonlight closes over my gaping lips, locking my face

able to breathe, though I

come to life – my mind is awake but I’m trapped in my own body, unable to move or

muscles to move, to do something – anything! But nothing happens because this isn’t a dream from which I can wake, this is

I strain to identify the sounds: the clink of

before drops of

laid over my body, stones or crystals placed in deliberate patterns on my head,

foreign electricity in my veins warning me that I won’t be able

I know I’m running out of time, but I