Page 94 of The Unwanted Mate of the Lycan Kings
“Zirah?”he asks, and I realize he used my name instead of calling me human.His eyes trail over my bloodied body, and he drops the bottle tucked in the crook of his arm.It shatters on the floor,sending shards of glass flying and spilling the amber liquid.He reaches out and grabs me, and the moment his hands touch me, I cry out, pain coursing through me.He trips over his own feet as he lets go in a panic and lands on his ass.
“No!No!What have I done?”he chokes with wide eyes as he stares at me dangling from the canopy beam on his bed.
“I’ll...I’ll get help...Someone will—” he looks on the verge of a panic attack as he scrambles to his feet, grabbing my legs.
Does he not remember what he did?Why does he seem so shocked when he did this to me?He clutches his hair, eyes following the chain to see the hook it hangs from.
He rips it off, and I scream when the chain suddenly drops under my weight.My limbs feel like putty from hanging all night, and I crash toward the ground.I clench my eyes shut, waiting for the pain.
Zeke grabs me before I hit the floor, which makes me scream as my legs and backside, reopen and slick blood starts trickling and I slide through his arms.I feel like I’ve been skinned alive.He drops me in panic before stumbling into the door frame.He rips the door open and screams for his brothers while I lay on the ground, unable to move.
“They’ll come...They’ll help you.I’m sorry...I...”he stutters, reaching for me while I whimper.The more he touches me, the more it hurts.I just want him to leave.There are no footsteps in the hall, but he decides to pick me up and rush to the bathroom, still screaming for his brothers.
Help does not come.
He twists the taps to the shower while I lean limply against him.It’s all I can do, unable to support my own weight.My body trembles from the pain, and I can feel his grip tightening around me.I try to push away from him feebly, but my hands still have no feeling.
Zeke finally sets me down in the shower, the water pouring over my body.I close my eyes, trying to escape the pain and find some kind of comfort.However, Zeke’s frantic hand jostle me around, tugging and pulling at my shirt.At first, I wonder what he’s doing until I realize too late that he’s undressing me.He tears my shirt down the middle, and I cry out, the motion dragging me a bit across the tiled shower floor.
“No...No...Zeke.Leave me alone!”I scream, and he jerks away from me, landing on his ass, looking at me bewildered.“Don’t touch me,” I breathe, collapsing in a heap on the floor.
“Zirah, please.I will make it better.I can make the pain stop,” he begs while leaning forward, his hand outstretched toward me.“LEAVE ME!”I scream so loud it renders me breathless, and a guard from the hall bursts into the room.I don’t move much because I barely have the strength to.Every inch of my body aches.
When the guard steps in further, Zeke clutches his hair, leaning back against the shower wall.
“My King...What have you done?”the man breathes, and he crouches beside me.
All I can do is stare at Zeke, who rocks back and forth, muttering to himself like he too can’t believe what he did.The guard sweeps my hair out of my face, and I know I should be embarrassed that he can see me naked, but all my dignity went out the window.The guard gasps, turning his head to look over his shoulder.
“Elias, go find the kings.”
“Is she alright?”I hear the other guard question, but I can’t see him.
“Find them now!”the guard orders, and the man hurries off.
“I didn’t mean it.I don’t remember,” Zeke whimpers, banging his fists on the side of his head.
“He’ll kill me...I deserve it...I deserve it.”Zeke whacks his head then rips at his hair.
“Elias warned you last night...We knew you were in no state to be with her.You are such a glutton!”the guard screams at him.I wait with bated breath for Zeke to lose his temper and kill the guard for the way he spoke to him.Any other time he would have.However, Zeke just rocks back and forth, muttering to himself.
“Glutton, I’m the glutton,” Zeke mutters, making my brows pinch when I hear them running toward us in the corridor.Moments later, Regan and Lyon burst into the room.
Regan’s eyes are drawn straight to Zeke and the guard, then to me.Lyon runs into his back when he stops abruptly.
The growl that leaves Regan promises violence.
“Zeke...”Lyon gasps, staggering into the room.
“I don’t remember...I just...you have to help her,” Zeke screams at them.Lyon pushes past him, and the guard leaps away from me.But I would rather stay with the guard.He seems kind and has not hurt me.Lyon stops just inside the shower door.His gasp is audible as he stares down at the blood-soaked floor and my broken body.
“Clean her up!”Regan snarls at Lyon, who runs toward me, shoving the guard out of the way.I cry out the moment he grabs me, pulling me into his lap.He bites his wrist, but I slap his hand away.
“Zirah!”Lyon growls at me.
“I don’t want you.I don’t want any of you,” I cry, thrashing in his arms despite the agony that rips me to pieces when I do.Regan roars, punching the wall, the force splitting the tile when he moves toward me, gripping my face.
“You will not fight him!”he orders, and I feel his command roll over me like I am being smashed under a tidal wave.My body falls slack and my thrashing stops.He runs his thumb across my lips, his eyes softening.
