Page 21 of The Alpha's Fallen Spell
“Nice to meet you.” Her tone doesn’t seem genuine. There’s a flatness in it that I am far too familiar with.
“Hello,” I say awkwardly.
Elina leans against him in a way that has my wolf bristling. “So, you’re the kid Erik rescued. You’re quite scrawny. How old are you, fourteen?”
“Twenty-six,” I murmur, fascinated by the complex emotions she’s struggling to hide.
“Oh.” The disdain in her voice makes me blink.
“Hey, Elina!” someone calls out to her, and she reluctantly leaves.
“Elina’s a bit blunt—” Erik begins apologetically.
“She doesn’t like me.”
Surprised, he looks over his shoulder at her. “I’m sure that’s not the case. She’s just protective.”
“I know when people don’t like me,” I say quietly, staring after her. “I can sense it. There were a few people in the facility who felt sorry for me. I could sense it in how they spoke. Then there were those who despised me, female shifters whose men liked to use my body. I could sense their anger. Elina just spoke to me the way they used to.”
When Erik doesn’t say anything, I look at him. His expression is ashen. “What did you say?”
His harsh question puts me on edge. “I didn’t mean anything bad. I just think she—”
“They touched you?”
It takes me a moment to understand why he’s angry and what he’s so focused on. “It wasn’t uncommon. They kept the female captives undressed. When you put your shirt on me, that was the first time since I was taken from my home that I wore clothes. They liked to keep us scared. We would cooperate more easily.”
Erik takes hold of one of my arms. “We have trauma counselors here. You can—”
“What?”
“You were assaulted, Fiona. You need to speak to someone who can help you.”
I shake my head at him. “That was nothing. I’ve had far worse happen to me. The things that were done inside that cell were nothing compared to the experiments and the torture.” I gently remove his hand from my arm. “I want to move forward with my life. I don’t want to remember what happened to me or what was done to me. I want to remember that I managed to escape. That I’m free.”
Erik relaxes somewhat. “You’re right. But if you ever need someone to talk to—”
I nod. “If I do, I’ll ask you.”
Erik seemed pretty upset by my revelation. But then, he didn’t have to live through what I did.
When he leaves me to deal with a royal matter, I decide to explore the palace more on my own. It’s vast and confusing, but I remember the path Erik showed me earlier. My newly discovered ability to shift doesn’t come with an instruction manual, but my senses are sharper now—I can detect scents and hear sounds that would have been impossible before.
I follow the scent of books and ink, eventually finding myself in a large room lined with shelves reaching to the ceiling. Books of all sizes fill every available space—more books than I’ve ever seen. In the facility, most books were rare treasures, smuggled contraband from guards who occasionally took pity.
“Do you like to read?”
I spin around to find Maya standing in the doorway, a gentle smile on her face.
“I think so,” I reply hesitantly. “I was given books on mathematical and other subjects and told to read and understand them.”
She steps inside the room and runs her fingers along the spines of some nearby books. “You’re welcome to read anything here. Knowledge belongs to everyone.”
I approach one of the shelves tentatively and touch a leather-bound volume. “I saw Erik,” I say suddenly, “training with the soldiers.”
Maya nods. “He’s the commander of our army. The best fighter in the kingdom, many say.”
“There was a woman with him. Dark hair. She seemed...close to him.”
