CHAPTER 26
I relived my worst nightmare in real time.
“Mate!” My translator said in my ear. Canticor took off after Miravel. The other males drifted to sit on the sidelines. Canticor chased her, and with an impressive flying leap, tackled her around the waist. She landed, sprawled face-down on the ground.
Oh no. No, no, no, no no. Tell me this wasn’t happening. Was he seriously going to fuck her in the dirt in front of all of us? Her parents were in the front row! I must be hallucinating. I started to feel queasy, and a terrible memory bubbled up in my brain.
She fought him hard, and he pinned her every time.
She punched, kicked, spat, and honestly put up a much better fight than I did.
They were nearly equally matched in height and strength, and she made him work for it.
But eventually he overpowered her, flipped up her skirt, pulled out his cock, and plunged into her from behind.
My own experience overlaid what I was witnessing.
I suddenly couldn’t breathe, and my chest felt tight.
M’Pak asked if I was ok, and I couldn’t answer.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away as Canticor pumped in and out of her.
The villagers cheered. Meanwhile, I was frozen in terror, trapped in the memory of what it felt like when Prince Dakleth tore me apart.
Canticor roared and then dragged his claws down Miravel’s back.
Something inside me broke.
I staggered to my feet and fled on shaky legs as far as I could before collapsing to my knees on the outskirts of the market.
My stomach violently heaved. Once, twice, three times, I vomited up my breakfast. Even then, I kept dry heaving, tears streaming down my face as my body collapsed in uncontrollable tremors.
A soft weight gently nudged my shoulder. M’Pak. I grabbed fistfuls of his fur and buried my face in his side. “I want to go home,” I told him. He lowered himself to the ground.
“Climb on,” he said. I had never ridden on his back before. It had never occurred to me. But in that moment, I was grateful to him for the offer. I climbed on, and he rose from his knees and ran all the way to the cottage with me clinging to his back.
He sprawled on the pallet with me as I lived through my rape yet again. It had been months since the memories had consumed me like this. My nightmares had faded with time, and part of me had foolishly believed they would never terrorize me again. How wrong I was.
I burrowed into M’Pak’s side and let my tears take me.