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.

go away!” I hiss, my body shuddering with

look at each other

— another

“I’m sorry, child.”

priest professes gravely, closing the

do this if

I’ve ever experienced before, takes over

me to

will be far worse than anything the doctor or

there isn’t anywhere

two attackers far larger and stronger than I am bearing down on me.I try to scream, but the second priest clamps

his palm, but he doesn’t even

away from the door, propelling me

first man grabs my legs,

their hold, my screams muffled and garbled as the priest continues to smother

blood seeps into my mouth, the metallic tang fanning the flames in my

fighting for air and struggling to

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

the wind for

keening pierces the air,

than my own, thick with grief and pain more complex than the sheer

tinged with concern, joins

“It’s too much.”

“Just a little more.”

second voice, floating above me,

“We’re so close.”

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

nothing more than a pawn

the floor and

my wrists while the other sits on my

cloth, it’s pearlescent sheen glimmering like moonlight, glowing in the

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

the fabric, winding it round and round like a glittering

locked against my sides and my legs tightly

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

mouth, the priest finally removes his

moonlight closes over my gaping lips, locking my face into

breathe, though

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

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

my silken prison, and I strain to identify the sounds: the clink of glass? The jostling of beads? novelebook A bottle uncorking? For

pungent, herbaceous fragrance a moment before drops

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

my veins warning me that

but I refuse