Chapter 10 #2
Kane gave her the last of the soup, slipping in the spoon before she could say more. This conversation was making him unhappy. The gold had faded from his eyes, only to be taken over with more cold.
"They were slaves," he informed her with an air of final authority.
Sasha shook her head in rebuttal. He had no idea what he was talking about.
His expression was firm. "They. Were. Slaves. It is why you lived in Sector 10. Your father wanted to keep drone slaves, and there are only three sectors where that is still possible."
"That's not true."
"It is true. It is why I was that man's enemy."
Sasha shook her head again. "No."
"Yes."
Sara gave Sasha’s knee a pat. "I need to know if you remember doing any of the healing, Sasha. If it was intentional, a gift you developed over time with use, or if it was accidental and you didn't know."
Sasha closed her lips mulishly. She didn't want to answer any more questions.
Kane made that noise.
"I knew!" she blurted involuntarily. Oh, this man. She didn't like him anymore. "I thought I could help. I wasn't always sure. But it was the right thing to do, anyway."
"That is just amazing, Sasha. Simply amazing."
Someone rapped at the door, then opened it and entered the room without waiting. A gray-haired alpha came in with a smile.
"Sasha Dover, and you are Alpha Kane. How nice to meet you both. I am Dr. Bruns. Seems we have had a traumatic day, yes? Are you doing okay with that, miss? No hysterics at all?" He clicked his tongue.
"On behalf of my profession, I apologize for that man. I thought we had weeded out his type. Terrible." He stayed near the door until Kane nodded.
The Doctor relaxed, a mild loosening that Sasha wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't been watching so closely.
"This will only take a moment. Plus, I have your lab results.
All normal for a first heat. You weren't taking the supplements, though, so that is going to make your final transition more uncomfortable, I am afraid.
Did my wife have a chance to mention that?
" He stopped at the sink to wash his hands.
"We were discussing her records, dear. So interesting.
You are going to want to add this amazing girl to our patient list—with Alpha Kane's permission, of course.
I haven't had a chance to talk with her about what her body is going to put her through in the next six months.
I'm so sorry, we got caught up in other things. .."
Sasha, bothered that neither Kane nor Sara understood about her father and mother, decided to make it clear that Kane had lost his chance to become her alpha.
"Constantine Kane is more or less keeping me prisoner. He is not my chosen, not my bonded husband, or my contracted husband. I want to apply for the Selection. The other nurse said my dad left a list for me—I want that. As far as I know, my mother is still alive and is my legal guardian."
Her words sucked all the air out of the room, leaving hollow stillness in their wake. The two medical professionals held their breath. They watched Kane warily, the biggest monster in the room, unpredictable and unstoppable.
He handed the empty cup to Sara. "Can you bring more, please? Or maybe the tea?" His words felt cold and careful.
He picked up the data pad where he’d set it earlier and typed on it for thirty seconds. Sasha, Sara, and Dr. Bruns all waited, as if he held his sword aimed to strike.
Kane was not one to disappoint. He cleared his throat, making sure Sasha met his gaze when next he spoke.
"Your mother will be dead within the hour, accused, tried, and convicted for crimes against a breeder.
Merrick will lose a hand, accused, tried and convicted for crimes against a breeder.
He might need to lose both hands, but I want to talk to him first.
"Your property and all inheritance through your mother are now in custody until you have a marriage contract. As you are in my territory, that makes you my responsibility. So, Doctor, you do have my permission to add Sasha to your patient list. Please make the necessary appointments."
Yesterday she had thought him presumptuous to make the stupid appointment. What was he today when he’d killed her mother, crippled her enemy, and claimed guardianship over her?
"Who. Are. You?" she hissed.
The silence broken, Sara patted Sasha's knee again in motherly encouragement. She stood up, cup in hand.
"You don't know dear? He is the oldest living son of King Rhineholth and his bond-mate Annalise, the heir to the monarchy and Warlord Alpha Administrator of the 12 Sectors."
*
The rest of the appointment went by in a blur. Her brain was shutting down and her body taking over, her first heat firmly taking hold.
Sara brought more broth, which Kane made her drink like water, forgoing the spoon.
A whole handful of colorful pills was given to her, like candy, with room temperature tea to wash them down.
There was more talking, but Sasha hardly listened.
She heard phrases like “extremely uncomfortable” and “very painful.” But that kind of talk was almost comforting. What did these people know of pain?
As the itchy heat became fire—her bones shattering over and over again—her belly twisted as if cut by claws. The worse the pain got, the stronger she was. She knew this place. She could handle this pain.
What she couldn't handle was a man—a stranger—a damn arrogant prince who was at least a century older than her, being kind and gentle to Maura's demon spawn daughter.
At some point she ended up in his arms again, in his lap. He told her to do things like sit on the toilet, wash her hands, drink more water, and she did them without any embarrassment, because he was a prince and could just boss around whoever he liked.
How stupid and silly he must have thought her, sneaking into his compound, his palace, taking the place of a drone and making it into his meeting with an Administrator.
Certainly, behind his stoic face he had been laughing at her offer of a bond and a pub when he’d sat her down in that chair behind his messy desk.
He must have thought her the most foolish girl in the world. She was a dirty, pudgy rat from the slums, an eighteen-year-old child who lived in a brothel. Oh, her boldness must have been hilarious to him.
Sasha had thought she was something special.
Breeders were rare. Her mother was the only breeder she knew.
Even in school, she had been the only breeder of her age.
She’d thought she was bringing a valuable commodity to the bargaining table, only the table had already been laid with gold dishes and the finest food.
This man could have any beautiful, wealthy, respectable female he wanted.
No wonder her father complained about Constantine. He was a politician; everybody complained about politicians. If Merrick had seen Kane as a rival, it was no different from every alpha in the 12 Sectors.
But Kane wasn’t just a rival. He was the rival. To best him in any way would be a victory like none other.
"I want to go home," she moaned.
"Shush, Beauty. I will keep you safe." Kane was so close, hovering at her ear. That voice of his—only the alpha of alphas could have a voice like that. It was alright that it made her gush and tingle. It must have made every female feel that way.
"Don't want safe. Take me home."
"I will have your belongings brought to you. Will that make you feel better?"
"Only being home will make me feel better. I want to go home."
"Alright, Beauty. I will take you home."
He took her right back to his home, to a room that smelled like him, but also like vanilla cakes with pink frosting.
*
Sasha slept. When she woke, there was a female in the room with her.
Sasha was all pain and instinct. She didn't know the woman, only that she didn't belong to Sasha, and she didn't want the wrong female anywhere near her.
She attacked like a crazy person, with viciousness learned at her mother's knee. Then she attacked the bed she had slept on, tearing it apart because it had come from a wrong woman and she would not share. She would rather be dead than share.
Kane came. His voice and his purr. He brought new bedding and her own bedding, pillows and stuffies from home. He brought her clothes. He brought two of her females, the ones who belonged to her and who she loved.
She made him take off his shirt. He wore another kind of shirt under it, tight and close to the skin. She hadn't known that, but she decided she wanted that too. Then she took off what she was wearing and put on the button down shirt. Her friends fed her, and she slept again.
She slept and woke up with the pain. They gave her handfuls of pills. She ate something and peed a lot. Her body leaked even when she wasn't on the toilet, black blood mixed with a shining, nasty fluid streaming down to her knees. Then she would sleep and wake again.
She lost track of time until her internal clock told her that she hadn't seen Kane for several hours. She didn't know where he was.
For Sasha's animal brain, this was not okay.
She was not having it. She wanted his voice, his purr, his smell, and she would damn well have it because this was all his fault anyway.
She started demanding. Her friends—her females—tried to shush her.
Kane was away and please don't call him because he is terrifying.
Sasha knew she was being an infant. She felt like one, but she had put up with the pain and she would not put up with his absence.
She decided to leave the room and look for him. The door was locked. She pounded on it. She screamed like a wild thing at it. When the wrong alpha opened it, she attacked him with teeth and clawed hands because he was wrong. He was not hers, and how dare he come into her space?
When Kane came, he pulled her off the wrong alpha and made the male leave. He looked like he had been awake for days. She saw it in his face, the crazy, uncombed mane of his hair. Even his white shirt was wrinkled. As soon as he touched her, spoke to her, she could breathe again.
She bullied him into her space, demanding his shirts and pushing him down into her bed. He tried to leave, but she was absolutely not having it.
She changed out of his old shirt, put on the one he was wearing—the soft, inside one this time—crawled on top of him, and shoved her nose in his neck. She demanded he purr then, and he did. He may not have been very good at it before, but now he had it just right.
Her friends got her up to feed her, make her drink and take the medicine. The alpha still slept on the bed, so they kept quiet. When the door creaked open and a wrong alpha tried to come in, Sasha gave him the look she’d learned from Kane. The one that warned of death.
The door shut.
Sasha went back to her nest, snuggling on top of the alpha who was the best part of it. When he tried to wake up a little while later, she had her females bring food and water for him. She fed him, then she purred for him until he fell asleep again.
The cycle lasted eight days. Kane could sneak out of the room to attend to his work and household for about six hours at a time. When the clock creeped into seven hours, Sasha would begin to rage and demand to see him.
It wasn't just her wild screaming echoing down the hall that bothered the household.
Every person who had met her or heard her since the beginning of her stay could feel her.
Empathically gifted, her call affected them all until they were twitching like shine addicts for a fix, drone to alpha, her heat amplifying her ability.
The one who heard clearest and suffered most was Kane himself.
Breeders choose, and whether he wanted a bride-mate or not, Sasha had chosen him.