Taken by my mate; Second Chance
Chapter 31 - Afraid

NOVAESTARUS

Ambrose wrapped his arm around me when I didn’t move, sliding me back down the bed and then pulling me back towards the pillows. I had been on the verge of falling asleep when I felt the tinge of his touch on my bare hip. The second moment I knew it was him and that I was fine, but in that first moment my body had rushed delivered the message of panic all over my system.

My breathing got more shallow and I could remember how it felt when those men took me. Enough had happened over the remainder of the day for me to get by on adrenaline and spite, but now the worst of my day started to trickle back.

I could feel their hands again. The ones that grabbed me when I entered my bedroom, and the ones that wrapped me up in one of my own sheets because they hadn’t planned this. The suffocating feeling of being black and blue, and struggling against immovable hands as the light was stripped away and I heard Sequoia cry and scream in my mind. Remembering the smell of my own blood mixed with the sweat and leather that surrounded me had my throat closing against my every breath.

When my body struck the cold earth through the bag and they dragged me down a hall I was sure I was going to die, really and truly die. Before they uttered their words that I knew deep in my heart were lies, I decided to believe whatever they said because I wanted the ache of worry to stop. I stupidly convinced myself that if I was gone Ambrose would be safe, but that would have only incited my family’s anger further and they’d probably kill everyone.

The sound of their laughter at my pain as they were careful to avoid causing injury to any place they would mount on a wall. That was the small blessing, that they considered me an animal before a person, and wouldn’t touch me like that. It didn’t stop them from removing all of my clothes though, knowing the cold would cause me pain all on its own. My muscles and limbs started aching immediately, and if I could have moved I knew my joints would have been screaming. They knew well all of my weaknesses but didn’t know that they would have meant very little if I had actually had my phoenix. They thought they were so strong and skilled, but if I had been at my full capability…

Ambrose started to rub my back when he realized I was stuck. The soft words he spoke to me began to calm my worries, not for what he was saying but that it was him to speak. He pulled me back into the bed and turned my hips towards him, puling me tight against his chest and tucking me under his chin.

“I will die before anyone hurts you again,” he whispered into my hair, and I hoped it never came to that.

His hand trailed down to my backside, squeezing it affectionately before it cupped the back of my thigh and brought my leg to wrap over him. I felt the breath slowly build in his chest and then drift out over the top of my head. My hand moved under his shirt to gently pet a small area of his skin.

“If you die I’ll be right behind you,” I said softly, not caring if the others could hear me but feeling the exhaustion take over my unrest.

He kissed the top of my head and whispered, “a world without you would be a travesty,” before I fell asleep.

-

I was up before anyone else, and they all looked exhausted in the spaces around me. Ambrose held my hand tightly but I had apparently started to overheat because I had kicked off my pants under the covers and his head was on top of my sweater, breathing it in deeply. Sequoia also looked wrecked, initially she had chosen to sleep in her leopard form between me and the patio doors but was now in front of the fire.

Everyone looked so deep in sleep, but I was wide awake with more energy than I wanted. I tugged my pants back on, deciding to leave my sweater where it was. If I went back to our room I could grab some shoes and another sweater before going for a run. I quick peak outside told me the weather was mild and I knew the air would help clear my head.

I moved carefully around everyone to the door, unlocking each bolt slowly and carefully so as not to wake anyone. Covyn had a lot of locks on his door and I wondered if he was afraid someone who try to break in while he slept. I couldn’t imagine him being scared of anyone, and, like lightning struck through my head, my hand stopped on the knob. I remembered seeing those men at dinner, laughing and joking with the others at their table so easily. No one would have guessed their family had passed down this ‘hobby’, certainly not me, because they looked like everyone else.

That was when it settled in my stomach, the thought that would change every second of my day, I had a good reason to be afraid of everyone.

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