The Mystical Attraction of Alpha

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.

hiss, my body shuddering

look at each

on — another week and we’d be too

“I’m sorry, child.”

first priest professes gravely, closing the

do this if there was

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

to run, to get away at

far worse than anything the doctor or dormitory matron have

there isn’t anywhere

I am bearing down on me.I try to scream, but the second priest

into his palm, but he

away from the

grabs my legs, and

against their hold, my screams muffled and garbled

my mouth, the metallic tang fanning

gagging, fighting for air and struggling

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

swaying in the wind for

the air, sounding very

than my own, thick with grief and pain

with concern, joins the

“It’s too much.”

“Just a little more.”

second voice, floating above

“We’re so close.”

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

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

thrust onto the

on my kicking

pearlescent sheen glimmering like moonlight, glowing in

looks soft and airy, but when they begin wrapping it around my body,

in the fabric, winding it round and round like

are locked against my sides and my legs tightly shut, I’m

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

my mouth, the priest finally removes his hand from

second of my scream escapes before the moonlight closes over my gaping lips, locking my face into the contours

to breathe, though

come to life – my mind is awake but

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

I strain to identify the sounds: the clink of glass? The

before drops of moisture seep

objects are laid over my body, stones or crystals placed in deliberate

still desperately trying to fight the cocoon, that foreign electricity in my veins warning me that I

running out of time, but I refuse to