Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King novel Chapter 227

Chapter 227: 0227

TW: Childhood sexual abuse and trauma.

Kaelen POV

Within seconds, the rest of the memories came rushing back, so vivid and suffocating that it felt like I was being dragged into them all over again.

I was ten years old, sitting on the rug in front of the fireplace in that isolated cottage. I could still remember the warmth of the flames and the way I had been happily piecing together a little wooden toy car she had given me.

At the time, I had looked up at her with nothing but genuine affection, convinced that maybe, just maybe, I had finally found someone who wanted to be my mother.

Then everything changed.

The memory shifted, and suddenly she was kneeling behind me, her arms wrapped around my shoulders. Her hands slipped beneath my shirt, and I remembered the warmth of her breath against my neck.

"Let me help you feel good," her voice echoed through my mind, sweet in a way that made my stomach twist. "You like how much I care about you, don’t you?"

"No... I don’t like that." My younger voice came back to me, small and frightened. I remembered squirming in her hold, too confused to understand what was happening but terrified enough to know I wanted her to stop. "Please, stop..."

"Shh. Keep quiet. If anyone finds out, your father will kill you for this."

The memories began flashing faster, one after another, each one cutting deeper than the last. My chest tightened as the darkness inside my head stirred, and then that voice came roaring back.

Stop speaking. Shut your mouth. Keep it locked inside. You are broken. You are a monster. SHUT UP!

I squeezed my eyes shut, gasping as the pressure inside my skull became unbearable. It felt like my head was being split open from the inside, and I clenched my jaw so tightly it hurt. My hands twitched with the desperate urge to grab my hair and pull until the pain drowned everything else out.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I was ten years old again, trapped inside a memory I had spent years trying to bury, while that voice tore through my mind like it wanted to rip every last thought apart.

Then, just as suddenly, the noise began to fade.

Warmth surrounded both sides of my head, and soft hands gently covered my ears, shielding me from the screaming inside my mind.

"It’s okay," a gentle voice whispered, reaching through the darkness.

Lorelei.

Her small fingers rested against my scalp, her palms covering my ears while her thumb moved softly through my hair.

She had leaned closer beneath the velvet blanket, her forehead resting against mine as though she was trying to pull me back into the present without forcing me to say another word.

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