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 with

at each other

spot on — another week and we’d be too

“I’m sorry, child.”

priest professes gravely, closing the distance

would not do this

unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before, takes

screaming at me to run, to get away

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

isn’t

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

sink my teeth into his palm, but he

simply wrenches me away from the door, propelling me

man grabs my legs,

thrash violently against their hold, my screams muffled and garbled

seeps into my mouth, the metallic tang fanning

fighting for air and struggling to focus on my

how to fight them — I’m powerless in their

as well be a feather swaying in the wind for all the effort they expend

pierces the

and pain

with concern, joins the

“It’s too much.”

“Just a little more.”

voice, floating

“We’re so close.”

from, and the priests don’t seem to

more than a

onto the floor and pinned

wrists while the other sits on my kicking legs,

cloth, it’s pearlescent sheen

and airy, but when they begin wrapping it around my body, it tightens around me with the unyielding force of

in the fabric, winding it round

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

can’t move a muscle in the fabric’s punishing grip, and soon they’re wrapping my head, as if they intend to

before the silk falls over my mouth, the priest finally removes his hand

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

breathe, though I

mind is awake but I’m trapped in

at my nerve endings and muscles to move, to do something – anything! But nothing happens because this isn’t a dream from which I can

sounds: the clink of glass? The jostling of beads?

before drops

or crystals placed in deliberate patterns on my head, chest,

trying to fight the cocoon, that foreign electricity in my

out of time, but