Page 14 of The Alpha's Forced Bride

She rested my hands on her knee and clasped her hands over mine. The way she did this made me feel like she was wrapping a warm blanket around me. At the same time, looking into her eyes told me about the demon that resided within her. A flash of black over the steely gray, like a mast appearing through a sea of fog, signaling the arrival of something powerful. It was a ship that sailed on the horizon and intended to seek port inside of my soul.

Hold on, was possession like that transmittable? Was it like a flu or a cold, something viral that could infect the people around them? I knew very little of possession other than what I had been told in the meetings, or what I had vaguely known before. All I knew was that I had to avoid these types of people.

“I understand you were captured in the woods.” She gave me a small smile at the twitch of anxiety inside of me, almost like she had felt it herself.

“Yeah, but that’s the least of my worries.”

She nodded. “And what are your worries?”

“This ritual—whatever it is—and how I’m not allowed to choose whether I want to participate.” My gaze flickered with aggravation over to the man who was keeping me captive before returning to Nora. “This isn’t exactly consensual.”

“Don't worry about that. There's a pond nearby that we will take you to. You will take your ritual bath there.”

I frowned. “You mean I have to bathe in front of all of you?”

She gave me a wistful smile. “I'm sure you've shifted in front of plenty of people in your pack, so you’re accustomed to being seen in your natural form. Why should it bother you that we’ll see you naked?”

I turned to look through the bars at Harvey, who was sitting at a miniature desk across the room. Some dusty old scrolls sat there. Bits of parchment, paper, and folders, along with a couple of pens, caught my eye; they looked so modern against the ancient wood of the desk. Then I looked at him, and I was taken aback by his gaze. I sensed a wounded heart underneath that demon facade. I felt fear, of course, but I also felt a curious intrigue that kept me staring. I wanted to respond to Nora, but at the same time, I wanted to talk to Harvey more. I wasn't sure which of those desires to feed.

I tilted my head, thinking about how I didn’t want to argue with the old woman. I didn’t know if she was powerful or whether she would take my side in the event I tried to run. I wanted to get on her good side as much as possible. “Yeah, I’ve been naked in front of plenty of people. That's true.”

But this is different.

Nora gave my hand a light squeeze. “After your bath is complete, a purification ritual will be performed. You'll then walk barefoot to the alpha's home and meet him for the mating ritual.”

A knot formed in my throat. “What do you mean purification?”

“It's nothing invasive. It is simply an application of oils. Do you not have a mating ritual of your own in your pack?”

I nodded while breaking eye contact. “Of course we do.” I had seen it a thousand times and attended a million of those events. “But we definitely don't do it naked, or even barefoot, unless people are into that sort of thing. I don't think we've ever even partied naked.”

Nora laughed. It was a welcome sound to hear in the musty basement. The way the jovial tone carried seemed to cut through the tension in the air. I felt a lightness entering the room. I glanced at Harvey for a second to see him giving something of a gentle smile. His eyes were glossy, wide, and alert, attentive to everything that I did.

My heart leaped. He’s watching me.

I found myself wanting to impress him while also wanting to rebel at his every command. I already had an alpha, I didn't need another one. And I certainly didn't need to meet with one. Who did this sort of thing? Why the hell was I running in the woods like that last night?

I recognized a sadness creeping in—a nostalgic yearning for something greater. Good goddess, my family must be worried about me, I thought. I know Dad has to be looking for me by now. I’ve been gone for a while, and I don’t have my phone.

I looked at Nora again and found her to be a lot more compassionate in her demeanor than Harvey, or anybody else that I had encountered so far. It was good that she was here, and it was good that she was holding my hand. It felt like with every new rise of anxiety, she gave me a look or a touch or a squeeze that chased it away—or at least reduced it enough so I could focus on everything else.

I bowed my head toward her and let my hair fall into my face, listening to the steady thump of heartbeats around me. I homed in on hers, hearing that crooked rhythm that elders usually had in their hearts that signaled their old age. On top of that was the lively thrum, the incessant beat of Harvey’s from across the room, which seemed to flutter and increase in intensity every time I spared a glance in his direction.

“Non-invasive,” Nora repeated with another quick squeeze of my hand. “The oil smells nice. It’ll make you more agreeable to the event.”

I grimaced as I looked at her. “Event? Is that what you people call sex?”

She laughed louder this time; the sound was so wonderful and infectious that I couldn't help but join her. It felt so girlish in nature and, at the same time, like a wise understanding of how finicky language could be and how interesting it could be when applied to different situations.

“Yes. Well, I was being polite. I was trying to be polite. Anyway…” She gave my hand another squeeze. “If you think about it, every encounter we have is an event, isn't it?”

I appreciated her philosophy for a second. “You kind of remind me of somebody.” I almost didn't mean to say it. I almost didn't mean to do a lot of things right now. But the words came unbidden. I teared up slightly as I realized exactly who that philosophical statement reminded me of.

Oh, Dad.

I missed my father so much. I missed my best friend and everyone else in the pack. I missed my alphas. My heart seemed to shrink at the thought of never being able to see them again. I wasn't sure how this was going to work out, if it even could work out, or if I would simply be lost to whatever this pack wanted for me.

They were possessed, and they were demons. How did I know that they weren't trying to trick me? Was any of the comfort I felt actually real? Again, as if hearing it, as if sharing my feelings, Nora offered comfort, and she waited a little while as I dried my face with my shirt. I'd been crying so much that my cheeks were soaked, but I hadn't noticed at all. Then, I felt the strangest thing; I felt like there was someone in the room who was deeply upset by me being so intensely upset.

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