Their forced luna novel Chapter 54
I was pregnant? Slowly, my hand traveled to my stomach. It was still normal. It wasn't exactly flat, but it was the normal level of baby fat I'd always carried.
Could there really be a child growing inside of me?
Zale's child? Or did it belong to one of the others?
"Whose is it?" I asked her. I couldn't tear my eyes away.
"It is the heir of the Prime, just as was planned. He'll be the one that destroys the Primes and their abominations once and for all.
"No," I whispered. I took a step away from the being that had saved my life. "You can't be serious. Why?"
The Goddess took a step closer to me and she held her hand out cradling my cheek with her palm. "Child, you shouldn't worry so much. Everything is going exactly as I planned. You have been freed from the one that abused you before, and the Prime and his men will never touch you again."
"But, I want to be with Zale, Javier and Bo. I don't want to be apart from them." I shook my head slowly, trying to come to grips with her words. "Please, don't do this."
"Amanda, it's already done. You will be happy with Aren. He is my most devoted follower. I was the one that let him know where to find you."
"No!" I pulled away from her. The anger surged inside of me. "I didn't escape from one abuser to end up with another. Do you know what your devoted follower is doing to all those women? He's sick!"
"He merely wants a large legacy. It's natural for any wolf. Things will be a dream for you if you just submit, Child. Trust in me and my ability to pick the best mate for you." She reached for one of my marks and I shied away from her.
"Don't you touch me," I hissed. I clenched my eyes shut. I hated what I was about to say, but I needed leverage. "I'm leaving here, I'll find a way to get back to my mates and this child will be raised exactly how I want to. I am grateful for your help, I am. I couldn't have gotten this far without you. I would have died at that first bastard's hands. I don't doubt that. But you're wrong about Zale. I know he's rough on the outside but he's a good person deep inside."
"He's a Prime," she spat before her features gentled. "Have I ever steered you wrong? Has anything I told you ever been wrong? I even erased the bond you shared with that monster. All I'm asking is that you trust in me this time and let me give you a happily ever after."
Happily ever after? I had heard too much about Aren from Cee and Mitsi to ever believe this man was capable of something like that. I could just see it now. My belly swelling time after time with his offspring and being sold off. No way. I would never let that happen. "I'll take the life of this one," I whispered. "If you don't let me go, I'll make sure I never give birth."
Her smile was replaced with a snarl. The classic beauty she had been was turned into monster straight from the deepest horrors in a single moment. Her usual light blue eyes turned dark almost black and she growled at me with every word from her lips. "You will not touch that child. If you dare to even think about it I will make you suffer unlike any pain you've ever endured before. I will bring back the bond youahd with your first Alpha and let him find you, I'll even make it so he can capture you. You will suffer, you will agonize and I will not relent until you give up and die. Then I'll put your soul into the body of another destined to repeat your cosmic debt, and I promise I will keep that man alive for centuries just to torture you."
Fingers of fire grabbed my shoulder. The spots where I had once born a forced mark burned like acid had been dribbled on me. Even though this was just a dream, I felt it all.
But worse than the pain, worse than the agony and the fear of what she promised, worse than all of that was I felt him on the other side. "Amanda!" His scream echoed in my head.
"No! I'm sorry," I sobbed. I trembled. I couldn't take any more. "Please, cut it off."
"Are you sure?" she questioned me, the smile back on her lips. "I want to do the best thing for you, Child. Reminding you what fate awaits you if you turn away from your destiny is for your own good."
The pain intensified and I heard his laughter all around me. The triumphant cry of a monster that only existed to torture me. "I'll obey," I whimpered again.
Her mocking laughter surrounded me as I was pulled out of my deep slumber. "Just in case, I will leave you a reminder, my Child. I advise you to embrace your mate and accept the life I've given you, but even if you fight me on this. Nothing will change my plans. It's already too late."
We would see about that.
She laughed again, louder and my body burned, the marks from my mates singing me.
I woke and the pain didn't stop. The mark from Bo was getting hotter and hotter. "No," I whispered, grabbing at it.
Aren opened the door a wide smile on his lips. "It looks like you finally got some rest, and my prayer is being answered. That's the spot where I'm claiming you."
"You can't mark over another," I snapped.
He chuckled. "You're being silly, Alessa. That bond is already gone. Behave, or I'll pray for the others to be taken as well. You and that child you will bear are mine, it's best you accept that."
I reached out through my tether. No, it had to be a lie. I was still blocked from Ares, my own wolf, and the bonds but with Javier and Zale I had a dull echo, a sensation they were there on the other side.
But with Bo, there was nothing.
He'd been taken from me.
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