Page 20 of Magic Claimed
“Gilda…I’m their mate.” Those awful, awful words tumbled out of my mouth. I had had hoped to feel lighter. Once I’d choked them out, I didn’t feel better at all.
“But…how? They would have had to touch you to know that,” Gilda said.
There was a soft bang as my head fell back against the wall. “All three of them did.”
“And then you..?”
“And then I Changed too. I don’t know how, but I did,” I whispered, suddenly scared that my safe space had ears. I clutched Gild’s hand. “He can’t find out, Gilda. If he does, I don’t think…I couldn’t…Esoti would kill them if he knew.”
Gilda clutched my hand. “I will never tell him. But Gods, Serafine. This means you’re a wolf! How?”
“Maybe being tortured by Esoti for so many years hid it. I don’t know. It’s not like I know much about my parents. I only know my mother was an asshole who sold me to Esoti. I don’t know who my father was, let alone three of them. Maybe she got rid of me because I was a shifter.”
She wouldn’t have told Esoti I was a shifter and my secret would have stayed safe had I never touched my mates. The weight on my shoulders became oppressive. I cursed Esoti. I cursed my parents, the shifters and I cursed those gods damned scientists who thought they could change nature a thousand years ago.
“Gods, I’m so tired.” I sighed. “Is Esoti expecting me?” As soon as I was able, Esoti expected me back on duty. I thought I’d have another day to rest, at least. He usually sent Gilda to collect me, only I didn’t have the energy to keep my eyes open.
“I will tell him you haven’t regained consciousness yet. It will give you a few days. Gods know, you need it,” Gilda said.
Unlike me, Gilda was kind despite her harsh life here. She was a much better person than I was. She was a soft-hearted fool or an angel on Earth. “If we had another life, Gilda, I would still choose you as my friend. I’m so thankful I can talk to you.”
She smiled and squeezed my hand. “Sleep now. I will bring more food for you in the morning.”
“Don’t get caught,” I said.
“Haven’t got caught yet!” Gilda slipped out of the small space and I locked the door after her. I listened until her quiet footfalls faded into the silence of the castle before I drew the blankets back around me.
Warm, safe for now and full, my eyelids closed. I dreamed of wolves who Changed into massive naked men who chased after me. I ran through the woods, but I wasn’t fast enough. They caught me, but instead of tearing me apart, they kissed me and touched me gently all over my body. I wanted them so desperately that I begged and pleaded with them for something I couldn’t name. The golden glimmers of light sparkled inside me, filling me with warmth, and then my dreams faded away into nothing. I slept so deeply I didn’t wake until Gilda returned the next morning with some more food for me.
I slept for three more days like that, rolling through dreams filled with the Alpha and his seconds and in them I wanted more, more, more. It was never enough.Theywere never enough. No matter how hard I tried to dream of something else, it was the three wolf shifters who dominated.
I was surprised that my body healed so quickly. Normally it was a week before I could crawl out of bed after a session like that with Esoti, but when I woke the morning of the third day, I felt stronger and more awake than I could remember. My senses pricked with extra sensitivity and there was agitated energy in my muscles that had never been there before.
It was as though I had a new body, but when I looked at my limbs, I was the same. The scars hadn’t changed. I was still rail thin but I could smell myself and if I didn’t do something about it, my hidey hole would be found by stench alone.
I crept to the stables, careful to go the long way and stay steer clear of people. I grabbed a dress from the rag bin in the cleaning closet on the way, and then gathered soap and a cloth, filled a bucket with water and headed into an empty stall. I quickly scrubbed the grime from my skin and cleaned my hair as best I could before I slipped into the cleanish dress.
Feeling better, I snagged an apple that was to be fed to the horses, and turned around to see Ben entering the stables. A scowl creased his face when he saw me. “Those are for the horses.”
“And this one’s for me.” I took a big bite and chewed it before he could take it off me.
“Master needs you,” Ben said. I stifled a shiver but knew I wasn’t successful when satisfaction skimmed his face. He was bluffing. There was no way Esoti knew I was anywhere but recovering somewhere in the castle. Ben was trying to assert his authority, and I was the lucky target.
“Why does he need me? You not good enough? I would think after all the groveling you do, Master would be happier with your services. Maybe you should suck up to him in more creative ways,” I said, pushing my cheek out with my tongue a couple of times.
He grabbed my shoulder, his fingers digging into my bones. “Get up there, vermin. Guests have arrived and you need to serve them.”
His fingers tightened about my bicep like claws and he didn’t let me go, despite how much I struggled all the way to Esoti’s quarters. My heart pounded so hard my ribs rattled and the mouthful of apple I’d eaten lodged halfway in my throat. The only guests Esoti had were guests I likely didn’t want to meet.
Ben knocked and before opening the door and thrusting me inside. “Found her stealing food from the horses, Master.”
The snide words I wanted to hurl at Ben died on my lips as Alerick, Jarom and Eike turned to face me as one Alpha unit. Why were the wolves here? And why did Esoti not send me away as he usually did?
My skin tingled as though hundreds of ants skittered over me and my muscles rippled beneath my skin, pulsing with a need to bend and elongate into a different shape. My hand fisted and claws formed from my blunt fingernails and pickled into my palms and I knew with dreaded certainty that I was going to Change into a wolf in front of Esoti.
Chapter Twelve
“Stop!” Alerick commanded, the word infused with ancient magic that sank into me and stopped the Change my body fought for. I sagged in Ben’s grip and tension fled my body as I gasped for breath.
