Page 22 of The Alpha's Forced Bride

I nodded thoughtfully. “I suppose you're right about that.”

She gave me a crooked smile. It was a weak smile, but a smile nonetheless. “I do like being right.”

Before she let go, I kissed her hand. I watched her expression waver for a moment as she tried to process what I’d just done. But there wasn’t any time, and she knew that. Fierce compassion poured from her as she walked across the room. She pulled a small wooden chair up next to the cot and sat next to Kirk. She rested her hand over his sweaty forehead, causing his eyes to pop open, the pair of which were so white that they looked like cloudy marbles. She didn't shy away from him, and she didn't cringe when Kirk opened his mouth and his tongue lashed inappropriately at her.

The smile on his face seemed to stretch so far that it would break the skin. Pouring off of him were weird, warbling waves and strange, enigmatic colors that were chaotic and feverish. With her right arm outstretched for Clancy to apply an IV, her left hand remained on Kirk's forehead. She whispered to him, although I couldn't hear exactly what she was saying as Kirk was attempting to speak in a different tongue without his mouth moving. Horrible croaks and cries came from him that were bone-chilling. Disembodied snippets of audio, of screeches and howls, swirled throughout the room, distant yet ever present at the same time.

We were truly in the thick of the possession now. Most demons hid away and didn't make themselves known unless it was absolutely necessary. But with this illness, this demon sickness, it seemed the demon was wreaking such havoc on the body that the body had no choice but to obediently bend to the will of the horrible thing inside. It didn't seem like any part of Kirk was left. Was he still conscious? Was he aware of us in the room? Did he know where here was? I didn't know if this was going to work—especially because I hadn't officially mated with Kiara yet. I was trying to let her get to know me, but if she was showing this kind of support after attempting to run off a few days ago, then I hoped that she would give her support to us being mates or at least to us trying to ritualize it.

The only show of discomfort was her wincing when Clancy plunged the needle into her arm. Once the IV was set, he applied a strip of medical tape over the area to keep the needle from moving, and then applied the other IV to Kirk's restrained arm. A few minutes later, blood was flowing from one body to the other. Liquid crimson flowed through the tube, so vividly bright that it made me lick my lips. Kiara remained strong. The blood loss should have weakened her, and she should have been disturbed by the things that were happening, but she didn't shy away from the man speaking in broken syllables and lashing his tongue as if he wanted to do things to her body.

Seeing that agitated me. I clenched my fists at my sides, and my core tightened up as if I were getting ready to fight. It was then that Kirk looked at me and gave me a terrible smile. His voice seemed to break off in three different directions. “It would be a shame if I tasted her box before you, wouldn't it?”

I snarled at him. Clancy caught my shoulder before I could lunge forward. “Don't listen to him! It's just the demon.”

I shook him off, trying to figure out what exactly about that comment had bothered me. It wasn't like she was in love with me or that I was in love with her. I had profound respect for her, but I only needed her to be my mate. Nothing more than that. As I quietly observed the tenderness that Kiara showed to Kirk in the wake of his maddening possession, I realized that her tenderness was starting to flow into me. After a while, my muscles untightened, my jaw relaxed, and every inch of me slacked with the weight of her comfort.

That was it. I had to keep her by any means possible, even if it meant she would possibly lose her connection to her pack for some time. I didn't want her to be apart from her family, but at the same time, I was absolutely desperate to save my pack. Seeing the way Kirk eventually calmed down with Kiara’s blood in his system made me realize that she was a lot more powerful than I thought. Her offer to help my pack seemed genuine, and perhaps if I wasn't a demon, they would accept me. With her healing my soul, my body, and my pack, we could belong to the world again.

Maybe I could belong to the world again.

I stood there feeling like I was frozen in time while watching Clancy carefully remove the IV and patch the tiny wound on Kiara’s arm. She sat for a while with her fingers pressed into her elbow and her elbow bent. She observed Kirk quietly as the sweat dripped from his brow and the color came back to his cheeks. Eventually, his eyelids fluttered, and his eyes opened with their usual scarlet hue. He turned to the woman who had just saved him and a weak smile crossed his lips. When he swallowed, his throat tightened. His fingers moved, but he didn't try to pull against his restraints. He simply rolled his wrists around inside of the binds. “Thank you.”

Clancy tended to him at once, offering him water and sustenance, some warm soup that he had kept in a mug and heated with a little bit of magic. I could see how Clancy using his demon so much was taking a toll on him. I didn't want him to use any magic anymore, but I wouldn’t argue with him. I knew where that road led, so I left him alone.

Instead, I walked to Kiara and pulled her from the chair, wrapping her in such a tight hug that she made a squeaking noise. I loosened my grip and held her at arm's length, holding her small shoulders lovingly as I looked down at her. I saw the kindness in her face. I adored the compassion that she held for us. “You know, for a woman who was kidnapped, you sure do seem to want to help.”

She laughed. It was the smallest sound, yet so musical in the room that it seemed to lessen the tension. That stuffy feeling was gone, and the air flowed freely in from the open window, causing us to shiver. Even against the winter wind, it seemed like we weren't going to be strong enough.

Light seemed to fill the room, with sunlight from outside penetrating the window and casting a long orange line across the floor. The line fell just short of my boots. Kiara pulled me into the light, as if it was a spotlight illuminating what we were doing. Clancy finished tending to Kirk and turned to me with his hands tucked behind his back. His hunch seemed to bow him forward a bit more than usual.

“Is there anything you need?”

I shook my head. “You should get some rest. You've been using a lot of your demon power.”

Clancy didn't exactly seem bothered by the statement, which truly bothered me. If Kiara meant every word that she said, then I was obligated to allow her to contact her family. At the very least, she should inform them that she's in no danger, not in the kind of danger that might require them to send reinforcements.

We didn’t need another war. We just wanted freedom.

Besides, she was here now of her own free will. That was what I sensed from her now, and with that came certain freedoms. I should do right by my pack, and it started with letting her make that phone call to put me in touch with her alphas. As soon as we mated ceremonially, I wouldn’t have to worry about whether or not I would be accepted for who I am. That was what I should focus on, and that was the goal that I wanted to reach.

And I wanted to achieve it with her by my side.

Chapter 10 - Kiara

It was chilly outside. Midnight approached with its usual nightly march. The moonlight leaked through the trees and tickled the earth around my feet. The dry fallen leaves, all bunched up together like a carpet, felt cold under my toes. I wasn't used to weather like this—it was ghoulish, chilling me down to my soul.

Typically, if I was outside in so little clothing, I was about to shift. But tonight, on this seemingly normal Wednesday evening in early December, I was wearing a loose white cotton dress, which felt more like a silk nightie than an actual outfit, with nothing covering my poor toes. I stepped over the cold leaves with the five women from the pack. Their silence felt foreboding.

I gulped. These are the conditions under which people get murdered.

Ahead of us, the trees bent outward, opening up to a small clearing in the middle of the forest where a pond sat. Thin snowflakes danced on the top of the water. The surface seemed to ripple and move of its own accord like silvery metal, like molten steel. We paused right in front of the still body of water, all staring at each other.

My bathing ritual was about to begin. Nora gestured to the pool of water.

I stared at her for a second. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

One of the women hissed. “Hush, child.”

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