Alpha’s Rue: His Shunned Luna (Athena Enchanted) novel Chapter 364

AELIANA

He let me go.

He let them take me.

I begged him not to do it and he still fell for it, he let them tear me from his arms and he didn’t even look at me. I didn’t give up fighting, not even when they put me in the back of the ambulance. I screamed until my throat was raw, and even now as I sit on the bed, cuffed to the bedpost, the tears stop coming.

They cuffed me to the bedpost because I wouldn’t stop screaming, and they feared I’d hurt Dr Eleanor. I’ve thought about it, and the only thing stopping me is the idea of proving them right, proving that I’m unstable, and not these cuffs.

“Aeliana,” Doctor Eleanor says softly, staring at me from the door where she’s been glued. “This is Doctor James, he’ll be taking care of your health from now on.”

“Why?” I swallow.

“Because Alpha Kingston fired.”

“No,” I glare. How could I care about her damn job now when I’m getting locked up against my will? “Why did you do it? Why did you say those things about me?”

Her lips part and she turns to the other doctor for a moment before looking back at me. “It’s only for three months,” she says. “You need this Aeliana, you need a controlled environment where you can focus on healing without the pressures of your other responsibilities, or the influence of people’s actions towards you.”

“I don’t want to be here,” I sniff. “I need to be at home, I want to be with my family, please.” I hiccup, “I don’t want to be here, I’ll go crazy for real if I stay here!”

“This is for the best, Aeliana. You’re safer here. Alpha Kingston won’t have to worry about you every second.” She tells me, her voice now grating on my nerves. “He can focus on the pack while you heal. It’s just temporary.”

“Is that it?” I hiccup, nearly choking in my attempt to swallow it down. “Is that what you told him? Is that why he gave up on me? Because I’m a burden.”

Why did I spiral? Why did I go to therapy? Had I said no, Kingston would have let me be, everything would still be okay, but I saw a glimmer of hope in that office, and now look where it got me.

The room is bigger than you’d expect, but it’s maddening. The walls are too white, the silence is too loud, and I feel it closing in the longer I stay here. I’ve never been claustrophobic, but I am today, the window too is annoying. I hate how I can see out into one of the places I find most calming in the world. A garden with a waterfall, it makes me miss the garden at the packhouse.

I can’t take it, my chest hurts, and my throat burns. I try to stop sobbing, but I can’t seem to stop for the life of me. A nurse comes in with some food at some point, she leaves that food for me and again, later, another nurse brings food. I don’t know how much time passes, but the second nurse eventually comes in with another doctor. The doctor introduces herself to me, but I can’t process anything, everything hurts, everything feels lost.

The nurse holds me back while the doctor injects me with something. “This will help you calm down,” she says, her voice trembling. I don’t fight her, I let her do it.

“Is that enough, Doctor Kelly?” The nurse asks.

“Should do it,” she says. “Keep an eye on her and inform me if—” I hear nothing else. I feel lightheaded. My body feels limp, and my eyes fall more heavily with each passing second. I want to go home, I hate it here.