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“No!” I whip my head up in shock, ignoring the pain from the movement.
“You’re lucky they haven’t killed you,” she says. ”The only thing saving you is that Caelan isn’t dead yet. If I were you, I’d hope and pray to whatever gods you believe in that he heals, because I can’t promise you’ll last long if he doesn’t. Lay back.”
Resting an arm under my lower back, she pushes my shoulders, encouraging me to lie flat on the hard ground. I do as she says, taking the time to gather enough courage to beg for an update on my Mate’s condition. I just need to make her understand how important it is. I need to explain what I am to him and how they all have the wrong idea.
“Can I, please—”
“No.”
“I need to tell you something. About Caelan. About—”
“I don’t care.”
“Please, if you would just listen—”
“Whatever sob story you’ve concocted, save it. I’m only here to make sure you don’t die before the Alphas decide to kill you themselves.”
I want to freaking scream. All I want is a chance to tell her, tell someone, about the Bond. Now that my thoughts aren’t as muddled by my concussion, I can explain better than the very little I remember of the conversation with Gavran and Silas. I know they misunderstood things I said, and I understand how my words must have sounded, but surely they’ll understand once I explain it.
It’s the only plan I have. The only viable solution I’ve come up with since being dumped in this cell.
The Beta doesn’t care what I have to say, though.
“When we got Caelan on the table, he had nearly coded twice. He had full-body blistering from silver corrosion.”
Each word is a weighted stone in my gut. My blood turns to ice, and I whimper, but she doesn’t stop.
“His body was rejecting his own blood. His lungs were collapsing.”
“I can help,” I plead frantically. “We—”
“I have no interest in your lies,” she snaps. It’s the most emotion I’ve seen from her since she walked in. “You are not the victim here, and your father isn’t around to save you.”
Tears blur my vision. The sheer impossibility of her beliefs is as maddening as it is untrue.
They think my father would save me? The idea is laughable.
Jonathan Varenthrall would put a blade through my ribs before ever lifting a finger to help me.
“Caelan’s pack is beside themselves.” Her hands run over my ribs, pressing on various painful areas harder than necessary.
Wait.
Did she just say his pack?
Who is his pack? The Alphas who found me and brought me here?
Are they my Mates, too?
My eyes flutter shut, despair crashing over me.
I’ve never felt so untethered. I want Caelan. I want a nest. I want to curl up into the smallest little ball possible and hide somewhere no one can ever find me.
The Beta keeps talking, but her words may as well be static. My face tingles. My fingers feel numb.
It’s much easier to find the thread of our Bond when I search this time. Now that I’m looking for them, I’m dimly aware of the Fated pack Bond attached to Caelan’s soul. Both threads are blocked by the same wall of onyx as mine. Now that I know they exist, they’re obvious. Transparent echoes of a deep green rather than the solid, pulsing silver of our Mate Bond.
I can’t believe I didn’t notice them before.
