Haunted by the Mysterious Alpha

CHAPTER 11

Emily’s POV.

My eyes fluttered open. I jerked to a sitting as my gaze settled on the chubby figure of Madame Severine. “How are you feeling?” she asked, shuffling further into the room.

“I am feeling better,” I lied. With those hawkish eyes, she scrutinized me. A smile touched her lips but it quickly morphed into a frown.

“Is it true, that you refused to eat?” she questioned, her voice dripped with derision.

“I-I’m not hungry,” I stuttered and avoided her gaze. She scoffed and stepped away.

“Suit yourself. Remember to wake up early tomorrow, early to bed early to rise.” She stopped and glanced at me, and then climbed into her bed. It was a matter of time and her snores filled the room.

Gently, I laid down on my bed and dragged my gaze across the open window, as the sky darkened into full-blown nighttime. A howl broke out in the air– Randolph and the men patrolling the place.

I watched the stars twinkle around a pale crescent moon, the hamlet growing terribly quiet at each passing minute. I tried to sleep but sleep eluded my eyes.

Closing my eyes regardless, I sought for something to take away the grief in my heart and my thoughts shifted to the stranger from the riverbank. A smile spilled on my lips.

Adjusting on the bed, I imagined how those powerful arms held me, those brown eyes and how they bored into my soul. But it was how he looked at me with something primal and intense that pulled heat in-between my legs.

I adjusted again on the bed as his sweet scent; that incredible smell of musk and honey, clung my senses. Who is he? Why am I feeling this way toward him?

I blushed sheepishly as I remembered how I stared ravenously at his wet torso. A tomato couldn't compete at how red I am.

Dragging a breath, my gaze darted across the window, to the night sky and all of a sudden, all I was seeing was his face– his perfectly chiseled face and those powerful brown eyes.

What is wrong with me? Why am feeling this way toward a man that I barely know? Every fibre in me seemed to come alive at just thinking about him; what is that?”

A mate-bond?

I sat up on the bed and panted, could that be the inexplicable pull? This warmth that consumed me every time I thought about him.

My mate. He is my mate.

Slowly, I laid back on the bed. Seconds turned to minutes and minutes into hours, and finally sleep flickered the rims of my eyes, only for the morning sun to peek over the horizon.

Madame Severine woke up and headed for the door.

“Good morning, ma’am,” I greeted and sat up on the bed.

She halted in her tracks, her eyes betraying her as surprise flitted across her expression. The two women from yesterday joined us in the room each of them carrying a bucket filled with ice. Madame Severine signaled at them and they emptied their ice in the tub, and they left, returning each with a pail of water and also emptied them in the tub.

“Strip!” my host instructed.

I do; climbed down from the bed and undressed. “Get in!” she commanded.

I moved and slipped into the water. Stifling a cry, as I lowered myself into the icy water.

“Deeper.” Madame Severine rasped and I moved deeper, submerging myself in the water. My heart pounded furiously. I squeezed my eyes shut and blocked out the intensity of the icy water. All to no avail.

Expelling rings of bubbles, I sought to break out of the water but Madame Severine’s hands grabbed me and kept me submerged. “Don’t move!” she commanded.

Terror clawed at my heart. The water pressed against my ears and muffled the world around me. My body began to spasm and suddenly, she let go. I broke out from the water and wheezed, I coughed and dabbled on as much air as I could.

“Again!” Madame Severine dipped me inside the water and just when I was about to give up, she let me go.

“There..there! Quite impressive,”she praised. “Now get out,” she spat. The pieces of ice falling off my body, I slipped out of the bathtub and dressed back into my gown. “You know what’s next?” she asked and glanced at the chair.

Swallowing, I nodded and walked to the chair. My breath came in frantic pants as I sat down and she strapped me in. “Remember what I told you, resistance will only prolong your healing. Comply and this session will soon be over with.”

I wanted to argue, to scream at her that nothing was wrong with me. But the words remained stuck in my throat. Dragging a shaky breath, I nodded.

She signaled at the woman standing closest to the drawer and effortlessly that one bent toward the wooden compartment and retrieved a fresh syringe filled with another black fluid. My heart began to thud. “Just breathe,” Madame Severine grabbed my arm as she collected the syringe. I accepted my fate and closed my eyes, and waited for the next agony. The needle pierced my skin and I screamed.

The pain spread through every nerve in my body like wildfires and squeezed my chest. “Stop!” The pain intensified and charred through my ribs, and rippled in my skull.

“You have to confront the truth, Emily, confront it,” my host's voice sounded in a distant.

It hurt. It really hurt. In my head, images began to flicker, so fast; I see my parents—my mother’s beautiful face, gentle and kind, and my father, smiling at a five year old me a I ran around our castle’s garden. Suddenly, I’m lost in a spiral of despair as their faces morphed into monstrous visages of the lycans from my dreams, and they chased after me. The laughter twisting into loud growls as I staggered around a dark forest.

And then, I saw him– the stranger from my nightmare. Lightning streaked across the sky.

“You!!” I shrieked. “What do you want from me?” I demanded.

I hated how the darkness covered his face.

“His head or yours,” he gurgled.

“Whose head?”

He pointed at someone tied to a large stake. I moved closer itching to see the face of the person when suddenly, a laughter cackled in the air; a mixture of a male and female voice.

“No!!” I screamed as they tormented me. The forest twirled and seamed to suffocate me.

“Face it, Emily, face it!” Madame Severine’s voice echoed. I tried to, but suddenly roots of trees sprouted from the ground and pushed me into a dark ditch.

I screamed as I fell into the endless hole and I blacked out.

* * * * *

Slowly, my lashes fluttered open and two faces blurred just above me. “You did very well today.” Madame Severine’s face blurred into focus as she smiled.

I was no longer tied to the chair, but was laying on the bed– my small bed.

Of course, the second face was my father's gamma. “Hello, Your Highness.” Randolph smiled. I tried to move and he bolted, helping me to sit on the bed.

“How long was I unconscious?” I asked no one in particular and rubbed my temple.

“An hour,” Randolph replied.

My gaze widened slightly and met with Madame Severine’s. “There is progress, Emily Blakesley. I must admit,” she said.

“What did you see?” Randolph asked.

“Nothing much. Except lycans that often chased me in my dreams, and then there was the stranger. He said he wanted me or someone dead.” I paused and exhaled. “Unfortunately, I couldn't see the person he was showing me- And I heard a mixture of masculine and feminine laughter, it sounded evil. Roots of trees emerged from the ground and pushed me into a ditch, that was when I lost consciousness.”

“Hmm.. Your story, it’s quite different from the others,” my host said. She smiled and straightened up. “At least there’s progress, we’ll get you healed in no distant time,” she added.

Am I really sick? I’m not sure how long I can take these tortures.

“How long before the treatment will be over?” I asked, my gaze flickering between them.

“Perhaps a couple of weeks, or months. Or even years.” Madame Severine replied and my heart sank. “Alright. Time to eat your food.”

My host stepped aside and a girl about my age stepped forward with a tray of food and set it on my laps. My stomach rumbled even before I set my eyes on the bowl of hot porridge, but I had no appetite.

“What do you think?” my host asked.

“Thank you.” I plastered a smile on my face.

However, at the first taste of the porridge, I went berserk and ate, spoonful after spoonful, as though I just came out from a dungeon. Madame Severine chuckled and headed for the door. “Feel free to explore the hamlet when you’re done,” she said.

A thought materialized in my head. “Can I explore the river?” I wiped my mouth with a serviette. At my question, she paused and turned around. “Please, I enjoyed the peace that came with watching the water the other day.”

She seemed to ponder about the situation. “Not more than an hour,” she approved.

Excitement lit up my eyes. “..but Randolph goes with you.” My stomach flipped and my tongue went sour.

“Of course. Randolph comes with me,” I muttered. She proceeded out of the room while I strived to finish my food.

Minutes later, my father's gamma tailed after me as I sauntered through the familiar forest bordering the hamlet. Silver rays of the afternoon sun filtered through the trees and illuminated the place. At long last, we broke out of the greenery and emerged on the riverbank.

Grabbing my dress, I darted forward. A smile touched my lips as my gaze settled on that particular spot on the riverbank, where he held me in his arms. Warmth tugged my heart.

Exhaling, I glanced at Randolph. “What?” he asked. “Do you need anything?”

No. I was about to shake my head when suddenly a thought materialized in my head. Wrapping my arms around myself, I flung around and faked a shiver.

“Y-Yes, the weather is cold, isn’t it?” I stared at my personal guard. “I need a blanket.”

Randolph frowned and took a step forward. “You’re cold! Perhaps, we should go back to the settlement.”

“Is it too much to ask?” I snapped and faked the tears. “Ever since we got here, I have suffered and never for once have you helped me.” I reduced my voice to a whisper. “All that I ask for is, a moment to enjoy this peace the river brings me. I am simply cold. I did not say I want to retire to the hamlet!”

“Of– of course,” Randolph stuttered and nodded. “I’ll get you the blanket,” he replied and turned to use the mindlink. I held on to hope that it doesn't work. “Damn it!” Randolph groaned.

“What happened?” I asked.

“For whatever reason, I can’t access the others via the mindlink,” he said. “I will have to go and get it myself. Are you sure–”

“I’ll be fine. You have my words.” A convincing smile played on my lips.

He nodded and bowed. “I’d be back very soon.” The smile on my lips materialized into a grin as he left. Exhaling I turned and brought back my gaze at the river, at last my chance at solitude. The breeze tousled my hair and I filled my lungs with the fresh air.

My gaze darted back to that spot on the riverbank and all I could think was the man who saved me– his scent and those beautiful brown eyes. I suddenly wished he was here...if only wishes were horses, I’d be riding on one.

Except I had no horse either.

Time passed; seconds turned into minutes and suddenly, footsteps echoed behind me. “Randolph, you’re back!”

No response. I flung around, just as that incredible scent hit me; a mix of musk and honey. Nothing prepared me, absolutely nothing, as I came, face to face with the stranger who saved me.

Breath lodged in my throat.