The Women Between

Chapter 7: Wake Up

“Cass, wake up!” Garrett cried, giving her body a shake.

“Shh, Buddy,” Steve cooed, holding him tightly to his chest. “She needs her rest. The kings marked her, so she could become Queen of the Wolves.”

“But I want us to finish our week,” he pouted, sounding like he was going to cry. “She promised.”

“I’m sorry, my baby,” Carla called after everything went dark, again. “Steve was right to pull me away. The Kings would have killed me for interfering with their mating, but I will be here when they hurt you. I will be here…”

“Her ankle is fine, Your Majesties,” a man that she knew as Dr. Oliver chuckled. “There are no broken or fractured bones. I see no sign of anything torn in her X-rays either. She will be able to walk once she wakes, since she has a double mate bond healing her...”

“She better,” Gregory growled, sending a pleasure through her body that made her moan. “Beautiful, rest. You need it, my love.”

Those voices calling to her or talking around her drew her confusion. It is like she is in a dream state that will not let her use her body or her voice. Her mind is conscious while her body is ladened by chains to keep her laid out like a corpse. She had wanted to respond especially to her little brother and her mother. Those men that sounded familiar and yet not puzzled her. She wanted to know why they were so caring towards her. What is worse is that it all seemed to run together, making her want to free herself from the chains holding her down. But the last thing she heard made her want to know who they were talking about and what was going on. Was it she that had a hurt ankle?

“She will be fine, Brother,” Thomas said with laughter in her voice. “I think she likes you better. That kiss…”

Then, darkness covers Cassandra’s mind with blips of memories, like the shouts of her mother and roars of the crowd. Someone was proclaimed Luna Queen. Then, there are the strange ones, where she is walking to a strange bathroom, but her vision was too blurry. It made blobs of everything, which she was sure was a large bathtub or a large shower stall. A large figure stood before her suddenly, that struck fear into her heart while something more blossomed in it. She wanted to say love, but her mind zeroed out, again, sending her deep into that sleep.

Everything was just too phenomenal for her to believe when her eyes started flitting open to wake from her long slumber.

The first thing that greeted her was a dark brown ceiling that was wooden. It is a slab that has lacquer glossing the cracks made by it nailed together. It is unlike her home, where it is white with spots of brown from whatever had gotten on it. Her brows perked in her confusion as she blinked to clear away the film that tried to lull her back to sleep. She knew that she needed to wake up and try to remember how she got here, but her mind was too mushy. She could only lie there and wait to wake up fully.

She wanted to call out for her mother, except her throat was dry and her mouth was tacky. It was like she had not drunk in days. Her body was stiff, too, which added to her discomfort, but she could not give into the fear welling inside her. She refused to become panicked by the sight. She knows there could be a reason that she is facing an unknown bedroom, but she is thankful to know that it is not the alpha twin’s room. Their ceiling is grey and not wooded.

She does not remember anything, yet, with her mind refusing to work right. There was nothing to say that someone threw anything at her or ran into her to knock her out. There was blissful darkness coating every inch of her memories to keep her sedated and warm. It only made her weary and think of other possibilities that had her in someone else's room.

Something feels off even as she breathes in to ease her quickly beating heart. She got a nose full of honey and chocolate that made her moan. She wanted a bite of it, no matter if the two are not exactly good together. It even drew her to move her head to the right, smelling the source close to her. A twinge went through her neck that drew a groan from her lips and scrunched her face in pain. She did not want to move it any further, especially after seeing the brown wooden dresser.

The beige wall is trimmed in dark brown wood that looks newly done, which matches the dresser. A gold framed mirror was attached to it that was reflecting the ceiling, but her mind circled around what was on it. A woman’s toiletries are lined on the top of it that are high end purchases. Her heart thumped a few times at the sight that had her brows knitting together in worry. If it was a man’s toiletries, she would have flipped out with the need to know if they had s*x or not, and if they used protection. She is not ready for a baby just yet or STD’s to ruin her life. There are still a lot of things on her list that she would like to accomplish before settling down with a child. This was just something else that made her hope she had not switched sides suddenly.

She breathed in, then out to keep herself calm from the rapid thoughts circling her mind. She knows that she did not have s*x. There was no evidence of it when she started to feel her limbs move of their own accord to help her shift a little. She had to take it slow or risk the same pain she had gotten in her head, but she was not done looking for her answers.

Cassandra turned her head, again, feeling the same twinge fly through her neck to her head. She kept it at a tilt, feeling the soreness that made her eyes wince. There is another dresser of the same color with a large, golden metal vanity next to it. There is no mirror or toiletries, but the other piece of furniture has a lot of makeup stacked on it. A few facial creams are there, too, like they are trying to hide their age or cover up marks. Whoever she is, she buys the expensive items, she thought, as she took note of everything she had seen so far.

She wonders what is in those brown wooden drawers attached to the vanity. Is it hair tyes or more creams? She could only guess at what a woman of her status would place in them to satisfy her daily needs. But it does not explain why she would be in a woman’s bed and why she was so sore, like it had been days of sleeping.

As her mind slowly woke, she felt how sensitive her body was from the warmth to the touch of the sheets. It is a little too warm with a weight pressing down on it and her limbs are the only thing she can lift from the bed. It is like something is holding her down to make her stay right where she is now. Was she drugged?

She turned her head back to the center of the pillow, and then, lifted it with a groan. She had not meant to sound so loud, but her lips parted, and it slipped out from her. They were dry and tacky, but it did not stop her from looking at what was making it difficult for her to move. She swears, though, that she had drunk blood with the taste that is starting to be prominent in her mouth. It made her cluck her tongue with the metallic taste getting stronger by the minute.

When her head was partially lifted off the pillow, she saw two arms crisscrossing over each other. Their hands are around her waist with a white sheet over her body, keeping their tanned skin from touching her. She notices that there are two different colors of tan- one dark and one light. She sucked in a breath and was surprised to see that it was hairy, which meant it was two men.

Her mind jarred awake fully at the thought of what she might have done with them for a few seconds. She has always fantasized about multiple partners, but never has she ever acted upon it. She did not know whether to be horrified about letting it become a reality. Her heart even clenched at the way she let herself go from monogamy to polygamy in seconds. How could she do that to herself? And why can’t she remember what she did?

Then, Gregory lifted his head. She jerked to her right, looking at him, feeling the pain sear through her head that made her whine. It was a little too soon for her to do that when she had not even stretched her body. She did not know if she had put up a fight or was injured from whatever happened, but the sight of him was enough for her to remember everything.

The hot kiss to the marking flooded her mind, turning her cheeks red. Heat whipped through her body that reignited that need they produced while enthralled by them. Her face nearly turned crimson at the memory and the way their hands had gently but firmly held her. She wanted to moan over it, especially the way their tongues and mouths were on her neck readying her for marking.

Her hand flew to her neck, feeling its sensitivity made her clench her thighs. An onslaught of something hot and feral entered her lower abdomen that seemed to make something wet start to coat between her legs. If she was not red before, then she was now, as she realized that they had marked her, and she ignited her arousal to mate. It may have been just a touch of it, but that was enough, she knew, to draw it forward.

However, the thought of those alpha kings making her a puddle in front of everyone entered her mind. It made her feel sick to her stomach, at first, before her heart fluttered with something that had tethered her to them. She could feel it pull her in two different directions that promised her a love unlike any other she had ever experienced. And she wanted that silent promise that her blood had paid for, that her body was paying for. It had melted the ice around her heart to a yearn for the kings, but she was still unsure if it was obtainable for her.

“It’s alright, Beautiful,” Gregory cooed in her ear as he massaged her neck.

The connection his hand had to her skin sent sparks and tingles through her. It took away the pain and the fear that wanted her to flee from this lavish prison. His slow movements at the nape of her neck even eased it, too, letting her relax a little from the panic starting to well inside of her. A soft moan came from her as he continued to her shoulders. He rolled it out a bit for her, letting her eyes close to the blissful feeling blooming inside her. It feels so good to have his hands on her body like that.

He is using the mate bond.

That nasty thought popped up in her mind from the bad side of her that was tainted from all the bad in her youth. It made her stiffen and her eyes jerked open to see Thomas slowly waking from his sleep on her left. Her eyes widened, realizing that she had two mates who forcibly marked her and brought her to their home. That is why nothing looked familiar, she thought, as she realized the woman’s stuff was her items. She is not going home to her family, to Garrett, who she promised to spend a week with. It is why her mind keeps going hazy.

The panic that had begun to fill her cup began to refill it with some more fear, until she jerked up from the bed. She moved to the foot coming close to the edge and looked at them. Her chest started heaving with her breaths coming out heavy and quickly, as she looked at them both. They lie on top of the covers with slacks on their lower half and their shirts off. The delicious sight before her tightened her lower body and pooled a need between her legs. She is starting to salivate at the way they are luring her to get closer to them with their muscular chest. Every ab looked kissable and tasty to her, wishing that she could run her tongue from their neck down to their waist band of his pants. She knows she would not stop licking there, wishing that they were naked before her.

Quickly, her tongue darted out licking her dry lips at the thoughts plaguing her mind. She wished for a drink to quench this thirst drumming in her throat that made her repeatedly swallow. She could not let herself do that when she knew that they had crossed a line with her. They had made sure that she had no choice about being marked, leaving her one option only- to become their mate. That does not suit her.

“Umm, you may want to cover up before it becomes too much for us,” Thomas said, looking down pointedly at her exposed chest.

A noisy gasp slipped out of her as she grabbed the sheet and began to struggle to get it over her body. They lifted themselves up to let her have it, so she could cover herself to feel safe from them. She was sure that her face was crimson from being exposed to these two men. She may as well be a cherry with how dark she is sure it is right now, but then she wonders why she is naked. They were half dressed and she was not, which caused a horrible feeling in her gut that made her feel sick.

Cassandra only wanted to lash out at them because of this. She feels vulnerable now instead of confused and fearful. She knows that they are the kings, but this did not mean they had the right to do this to her. It made her fists ball up, feeling ready to throw a punch at them for this indignity. She did not think that she could be demeaned any worse than what the alpha twins had done. And now, she is proved wrong by how she woke to these two men.

Still, their wolves are made to be strong enough to fight back, so she must try to be calm with them before she incites them to do something worse. There is her family that she must think about, too. They could kill them if they so choose to do it. She needs tact when she has no footing for anything, but be damned, she wants to roast their nuts over a fire for this.

Thankfully, the only thing she is sure they have not done to her is mate her. Her body does not feel violated at all, so that makes it a little better.

“You, you, you stripped me?” her soft voice held accusation with a tinge of hurt that made the last word squeak.

“You stripped yourself,” Gregory corrected, looking at her angrily. He sounded offended by her accusation, which made her flinch at his harshness. It only took a moment for him to calm down and ease his tone to help her through this part of the marking. “You said that you were hot.”

“Yeah,” she nodded, feeling the power of his anger starting to hit her.

She knows that she cannot let their emotions affect her, or she will crumble under their will. She must find something inside of her to fight back against the mate bond, the mark that they put on her. They are dominant alpha males, who are kings and more powerful than a normal alpha. They will demand their way by using sly methods to make her sound unreasonable while they sound reasonable. Her panic is helping her from submitting to the bond and them that wants her to calm down. She cannot do it, or they will have her.

“Then, explain to me why you risked my life to mark me?” Cassandra asked, turning his anger into hers.

The look on their faces made her want to laugh as their mouths almost dropped open completely. Their eyes were widened with shock, showing that they had not expected her to say that. They sat there dumbfounded, as if it were not true, but she was not sure if they expected her to know about the marking.

She has read a lot of books about human mates and the repercussions of a marking, mating, and being mated. They have a fifty-fifty chance of surviving one forced marking, but two forced markings drop her chances drastically, especially when the wolf is powerful. These are kings. They have a lot of power, and she should be dead.

Why did they not care about that?

“We already knew the possibilities,” Gregory said in his struggle to recover from her question. “But we knew that whoever the Moon Goddess gave us would live for us.”

“Plus, you seemed to want it,” Thomas jibbed in trying to feel justified about their choice. “You let yourself go to the mate bond’s will.”

“Self-preservation,” Cassandra breathed, looking at them sadly.

She is still struggling to breathe right through the anger and the panic welling inside of her. She feels trapped with no way out. Her emotions kept flipping between hurt and anger, making her struggle to keep sane through this conversation. She did not want to sound irrational or hysterical, but it was clawing its way up her throat. Her throat is aching to spew venom at them. She wanted to scream and shout that they were cruel to her and that she was not their mate. It would do no good, she knew, but she did not like this feeling they had given her- doomed.

“You, you showed me that I had no choice even after I hurt my ankle,” Cassandra pointed out. Her voice squeaked a bit, which made her clear her throat, except she could not stop stammering and stuttering. Her body even quaked a bit while she spoke, wishing that she could sound firm through the turmoil roiling through her. “You, you had scared me from the moment you proclaimed me your mate. I… I never thought I would have one. I’m human. Werewolves mated to a human is about one in five hundred thousand. I, I, I read up on these things from the alpha’s books in his office when I was little.

“However, I thought an alpha mate would not risk the life of his female. I guess, guess that is wrong. You both risked mine.”

“Listen, here woman,” Gregory snapped, pointing his finger at her. Anger snarled his nose and the storm was in his eyes, again, that drew her attention. She wanted to appease that pain she saw ripping through him, but she knew she was right. She could not let his emotional pain get to her when she was hurting, too. “We are not going to apologize for marking you. You kissed me and even showed me that you wanted it. You did not fight us until the pain began and we tried to help you through it…”

“That should have told you something,” Cassandra said angrily as she fought back against him. “It is supposed to be three seconds of pain followed by pleasure.”

She saw his face soften before his eyes lightened with understanding. There was no pleasure that came to her from this marking. She was in pain from it, and she could still be, until she chooses them or rejects them. She sits there feeling hollow. It makes her want to cry, but she is no longer that little girl. The twin alphas of the Red Moon Pack took away the softness in her that would make her willing to shed a tear. She uses her anger to protect her from all the pain someone inflicts on her, like her mates. She had hoped that they would never make her feel as worthless as those twins had done.

“I know it seems like we do not care about you,” Thomas began, trying to ease the situation, “but we do. We had been looking for our mate for so long that Gregory had given up hope while I was not too far away. We do not care what you are like, just that we have someone to love and who will love us back. I’m sorry if you are hurt by our actions, but I am not sorry for marking you.”

“The same,” Gregory growled.

She looked at them understanding the need for love, acceptance from another, and the dwindling hope of finding someone. She, too, had wanted that all her life, because she had lost hope like Gregory. It was there in her chest blossoming like a flower as she saw the path that she had paved for herself to follow. Now, it is gone. She feels lost and helpless about what to do now that she has mates and how to handle two men instead of one.

“Look,” Gregory said softly, drawing her attention to him as his anger abated, again. “I’m sorry that we hurt you. I know that this is all hard for a human, but we will make up for our faults. We will make you happy.”

“I was supposed to spend time with my brother for a week,” Cassandra stated softly, looking at him pleadingly. “It was day four when I had to go to that banquet or whatever. How long have I been out?”

“Two days,” Thomas answered with a sigh. “You woke periodically.”

“We took turns feeding you and giving you drinks,” Gregory jibbed, wanting some of the spotlight. He wanted her to know that they had cared for her as a mate should do. “The doctor said that you are very strong willed to wake so frequently.”

“Yeah,” she scoffed, wishing she could roll her eyes at that.

Her jaw felt like it was being pried apart to speak to them. It hurt in the joints and the taste in her mouth was like blood had pooled into it. She wanted to scream, holler, and yell that they did not care about anything except themselves. She wanted to do anything except sit there feeling vulnerable and being naked in front of them. Her heart is even thumping painfully in her chest. The tears that want to rain down her face are stinging in her eyes from her refusal to cry. She cannot do it. She cannot let them see how much hurt they have caused her. It will be just like before. It will be their pleasure to see her breakdown into a puddled mess with shame and pain marring her features. That is an alpha’s pleasure.