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

look at each other

another week

“I’m sorry, child.”

gravely,

this if there was

I’ve ever

screaming at me to

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

isn’t anywhere

and two attackers far larger and stronger than I am bearing down on me.I try to scream,

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

from the door, propelling

man grabs my legs, and

my screams muffled and garbled as the

into my mouth, the metallic tang fanning the flames in my already

rises, and I’m gagging, fighting for air and struggling to focus on

to do or how to fight them — I’m powerless in their strong grips, and they seem

well be a feather swaying in the wind

the air,

pain more complex than

A deep voice, tinged with

“It’s too much.”

“Just a little more.”

voice, floating above me,

“We’re so close.”

coming from, and the priests

single-minded focus, and i’m nothing more than a

thrust onto the floor and

the other sits on my

pearlescent sheen glimmering like moonlight, glowing

around my body, it tightens around me

me in the fabric, winding it

locked against my sides and my legs

the fabric’s punishing grip, and soon they’re wrapping

the

closes over my

though I

my mind is awake

endings and muscles to move, to do something – anything! But nothing happens because this isn’t a dream

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 the fabric’s strength, it does not stop me

fragrance a moment before drops of moisture seep through the silk

placed in deliberate patterns on my head,

my veins warning me that I won’t

time, but I refuse to give up hope