Page 10 of Magic Claimed
“There’s one way to clear it up.” Jarom looked down at me. “Change female, and tell us the truth of why you were in our territory and why you would keep the fact you’re a wolf shifter a secret from us.”
I tried to Change. I really did, but all I did was sidle into the wall on my unsteady feet. My body remained a wolf. I had no idea how I’d Changed and I had no idea how I was going to Change back.
“If she won’t Change on her own, you’ll have to make her, Alpha,” Jarom said.
“Don’t be so cruel, Jarom. You know forcing a Change is painful,” Eike said.
“Yet she refuses,” Jarom said, gesturing towards me as though I was stuck in a wolf’s body on purpose.
“I’ll give you one chance, mate. Change now. It would be best for all of us if you did it on your own,” Alerick said.
The door cracked open and a man with shaggy blonde hair stuck his head into the room. It was the opportunity I needed. I gathered my feet beneath me and dashed to the open door. If I could get out, I’d run and run and run and never look back.
My legs refused to do what I told them, and instead of dashing across the floor, I managed a sideways hobble before a hand clamped on the back of my neck. The door slammed shut and my only avenue of escape disappeared. I yipped as Alerick knelt before me. His brow pulled low over his concerned gaze. “Now why did you have to do something like that?”
His fingers massaged my coat. I sank into his touch against my better judgment. I struggled against his hold. It was a knee-jerk reaction I was powerless to stop. My mind blurred as panic settled in. His hands tightened on my neck, trying to stop me, but I was in the full grip of dread.
“Forgive me for what I am about to do. Look at me, mate.” His words were spoken softly. I knew I shouldn’t look at him, but the power of the Alpha was behind them and I had no resistance to look into his handsome face and into his direct gaze.
“Change.”
The word vibrated through my body and sunk into the centre of my chest where a tight ball I didn’t know was there unravelled. My cells contracted and then expanded. Fire surged through my blood. Agony ripped through my body as I splintered and began to reform. My mind spun out of control and I was helpless to the power that surged through me. My limbs lengthened. My snout shortened. My fur receded into my skin. My whine became a scream that tore from my mouth.
Black edged my vision and surged over me. I was barely conscious of powerful arms supporting me as I writhed helplessly on the floor and then I let the darkness carry me away, thankful because there was no more pain and no need to wonder who or what had cursed me to my fate.
Chapter Seven
“Balls, Alerick. How could you have done that to her?” It was Eike and from the sound of his voice, he was angry.
Probably at me. People often were. It didn’t matter if I was at fault or not, I was the target who couldn’t fight back. I found my body cushioned by something soft and warm, and someone had put a blanket over me.
I don’t know how long I’d been passed out but I certainly didn’t expect to have been looked after like this. I was always left discarded on the floor. Despite my comfortable bed, I was weak. My bones throbbed and my muscles trembled. And I wasstarving.
I knew what hunger was. I’d taught my body to work through it, but it was beyond me now. My stomach twisted so hard that my backbone throbbed.
I couldn’t give them any sign I was awake, despite my gnawing stomach. Maybe they would leave me alone if they thought I was out, and I could sneak away. A slim chance, but slim was all I had.
“I didn’t think it would be that bad.” Alerick’s voice was edged with anger. The type of anger I stayed away from. The faster I could get away from here, the better. Unluckily for me, I was going to have a good reason when Esoti called for me.
Anyway, what did he mean by bad? I’d learned people didn’t care how badly they treated me as long as they got what they wanted. Alerick almost sounded regretful. My brain was still rattling in my head. I had to be hearing things.
“She could still be a spy though,” Jarom said, although I noticed he sounded more contrite. Hearing things, like I said.
“Look at the state of her, Jarom. Esoti likes to keep his spies well fed and fit so they don’t faint half way through a job. She’s nothing but skin and bone. I counted every one of her ribs. I don’t know how she stood on her feet for as long as she did,” Eike said.
A warm presence settled in front of me. Smoke and whiskey. Eike. A strand of hair was pushed off my face and tucked behind my ear. “Did you see the scars on her body?”
I inwardly cringed, wishing they hadn’t looked at me so closely. I might not die, but I bore the marks of Esoti’s attempts. Some scars were tiny and barely there. Others were ugly and puckered.
“That doesn’t change a thing,” Jarom said. His tone had lost fire, but I felt the wheels spinning in his mind. His trust factor was way down. So low, he probably didn’t trust his own mother. I could understand that too.
Mine had sold me to Esoti for a few coins; enough to buy herself a meal. Maybe two if she stretched what Esoti had given her.
“Why doesn’t it change a thing, Jarom? Now we have her she’s not returning to that monster. I’m never letting my mate go,” Eike said.
Chill flew through my veins. There it was. Possession. I’d traded one master for another. Esoti. The wolf shifters. It made no difference to me. They all wanted their pound of flesh. Why did it have to bemyflesh? If only I was free. I’d fly to the end of the earth on my own.
No, that’s wrong. I’d take Gilda if she’d come with me. She was another child who Esoti had bought from her starving mother. She was treated better than I was, thankfully. Perhaps her blindness had saved her. She was fed. Bathed. Clothed, even though she was put to work as a cleaner in the castle. Sometimes, she’d sneak me food. And she always smiled at me. She couldn’t see me, but she knew I saw her. She had a truly beautiful soul and was my only friend.
