Surrogate For Alpha Dom

#Chapter 179 — 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.

my body

look at each other with grim

on — another week

"I’m sorry, child."

professes gravely, closing

would not do this if

ever experienced

instincts are screaming at me to run, to get

me that whatever these men intend will be far worse than anything the doctor or dormitory

isn’t anywhere to

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 can

into his palm, but

me away from the door, propelling me further into

legs, and I’m lifted

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

metallic tang fanning

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

— I’m powerless in their strong grips, and they

a feather swaying in the wind for all the

distant keening pierces the air,

grief and pain more complex than the sheer fright in

A deep voice, tinged with concern, joins

"It’s too much."

"Just a little more."

second voice, floating above

"We're so close."

sounds are coming from, and the priests don’t seem to hear them at

continue with their task with single-minded focus, and i’m nothing more than a

the

my wrists while the other sits on my

shimmering silk cloth, it’s pearlescent sheen glimmering like moonlight,

around my

in the fabric, winding it round and round

arms are locked against my sides and my legs

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

my mouth, the priest finally removes his hand

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

to breathe, though I don’t understand

my nightmares come to life - my mind is awake but I’m trapped in my own body, unable

anything! But nothing happens because

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 from

fragrance a moment before drops

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

fight the cocoon, that foreign electricity in my veins warning

but I refuse

then, speaking a language I

swirl around the small room, carrying arcane power older