Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 522

No one warned me that I would feel this way again. The war was over—the Winter King was dead. This shouldn’t be happening.

But it was. And, just like back then, there was nothing I could do about it.

I looked up at the ruby, which was still sitting on the table where Isaac had left it. With its wielder dead, it had stopped pulsing, stopped glowing. It was just a red stone, and yet I swore I could feel it laughing at me, mocking me. Like there were red eyes ringed by black, sneering at me from within the stone.

My vision blurred, and I felt consciousness begin to fade. Sleep sounded so sweet, so peaceful, so… easy. To succumb… It would be so much simpler than struggling.

Get up.

No.

GET UP!

That voice in my mind—I wasn’t sure if it was my own or another, but it didn’t matter. I couldn’t stay here. I couldn’t let myself fall asleep. Couldn’t let the ruby take hold of me. I had to move, had to get out. I would not be at the mercy of those stones again.

They were just fucking rocks.

Somehow, I blinked. I started working at the other muscles in my body after that. It felt like moving through mud, but I managed to twitch my fingers. Then, I twisted my wrists.

My skin was numb now, although whether from the ropes or the ruby, I couldn’t tell. But I kept going, even when I heard fresh blood drip onto the floor.

Finally, one hand came free.

Get… UP!

With all my might, I heaved my upper body up, sitting myself against the wall. I stayed there for a moment, panting. Then, I got to work on my ankles. The knots were tighter here, and my vision kept swimming, making it hard to grasp the fibers. My fingers were still dumb and useless, like sausages sewn into my palms.

Focus. Focus.

“Natalia!”

I turned at the sound of the voice. Damon was limping toward me, completely soaked from the rain. Multiple Ashmoor warriors were with him.

“Damon,” I breathed, stumbling over to the stairs. He surged toward me and caught me just before I hit the ground.

“I saw all these missed calls from you suddenly come through,” he said, holding me tight. “I knew something was wrong, so I looked for your car, and found it in the ditch. Followed the signal from your calls here.” He looked at the splintered door. “What is this place? What happened?”

I wanted to answer, but I couldn’t. My throat felt thick, and I was completely exhausted from the ordeal.

All I could manage was a small, hoarse, “Andrei…”

And then I let my eyes fall shut, and a paralytic sleep took hold of me.