Rite of Submission - Rite 1

23: Immunity

                Sophia's perfectly manicured brows drew together with a look of concern, "What happened?"

I sighed heavily, "I can't tell if he's crazy or has a death wish at this point." I crossed back into the sitting room and flopped down on the sofa. "Either way, he's tormenting me with it."

"What did he do now? Do I need to go yell at him again, because I will," she sounded just as annoyed with him as I felt. I shook my head no. "Did he at least tell you the good news?"

"What good news?" a little spark of hope flashed within me, distracting me from my anger towards him.

She clapped her hands, "Your blood showed lower levels of wolfsbane, it looks like your body is metabolizing it and breaking it down. Dr Martinez thinks you could be descended from a bloodline that was immune to it. Since there isn't any pack known to have that kind of immunity, she thinks it could be a rare dormant gene. Your ancestors could be from a pack that was absorbed into another; suppressing the trait as they mixed into the new pack. She's going to run some genealogy tests." She seemed very excited. "If you can pass that ability on to your offspring, then it might explain why our father was so intent to have you and Dmitri..." she snapped her mouth shut. "I'm sorry, I just..."

"It's ok," I tried to smile; "I know that you didn't mean anything by it. I'm just stressed out by it all. I think I might go soak in a bath and then go to bed if that's ok."

"Of course," she gave me a soft nod, "do you want me to have some food brought up? Maybe some tea?"

"Sure," I nodded and made my way to the bathroom. I closed the door, and stripped down while the tub filled with water. The hot water burned a little as I settled into it. As I adjusted to the temperature, my muscles started to relax, letting the heat melt the tension away. If only there was a way for the water to ease the torrent of thoughts assaulting my mind still.

I could be immune to something that meant death for anyone else. I had spent the day agonizing over the possibility that I could have somehow been a walking death sentence to everyone around me. I could understand why I was worried about Sophia and maybe even Blake; it was my concern for Dmitri that I couldn't come to terms with.

Besides the thought of being put to death for causing his death, why did I care so much? Why did I let him kiss me just now? Better question, why did I kiss him back? I let my fingertip trail over my lower lip, reminding me of the events from the night before. But that hadn't been real; Sophie had told him to be nicer and gentler with me.

Why had he sat and waited outside the library for me earlier? He could have sent anyone to babysit me if he felt the need to let Blake leave. He also could've just ordered me returned to his or his sister's rooms for that matter. Instead I'd been left alone, for much longer than we'd agreed, unless I was in some kind of isolation.

Still nothing could explain how I'd been able to ingest so much wolfsbane without it also getting to one or both of the twins. There was nothing I had that was separate from the two of them. I'd been here for a week so there wasn't a way that I'd arrived already poisoned, was there? For there to still be such a high amount running through my veins, I'd have to of had an ungodly amount in my system and immune or not, there had to be some side effects for that.

I also couldn't shake the image of the scar on Dmitri's hand. Was it possible that he just hadn't noticed it? I'd missed it all week, maybe he had too. That didn't seem likely. They had their own doctor here, and she definitely should have noticed. When had it healed over? The doctor had mentioned something about his healing speed.

It couldn't be a mate's mark, it wasn't in the right spot and I was female. I shouldn't be able to leave one. Running my tongue along the edge of my teeth, I couldn't imagine how it'd be possible, I had the wrong chemistry.

If it was a mark, my mark, was that the reason for the conflicting feelings I had for him? Did I find myself wanting him because I was feeling what he wanted? Or was his lust because I wanted him? I didn't know how that kind of thing worked, but my parents had always seemed to feed of one another's emotions. It couldn't actually be a mark. Lycan or not, I wasn't the shifting variety. If I was that stupid contract would be worthless, because I was clearly no Alpha myself.

I needed to get my hands on the original and revised contracts again. There had to be some clue in there that would answer at least one of my questions. Did both our parents know about my immunity? As far as I knew we'd been grated sanctuary by their pack when I was about 2-years-old. The thought of someone proving a toddler could be immune to an herb that was lethal to lycanthropes regardless of their ability to shift seems particularly cruel. Sophie had mentioned more than once that her father had not been a good man though. Were my parents immune too? At least one of them had to be right? How else did I inherit the trait?

Did my parents know more than they told me? Of course they did, they kept the fact that I was going to end up being handed over to the pack's Alpha from me. What more could they have hidden from me through my life? I would probably never be able to ask them unless I fulfilled the agreement they made.

Dmitri had already proven that he could make the experience physically enjoyable. Just the thought of it sent a tingling sensation down between my legs. I couldn't deny that I felt a physical attraction to him. Was it just having the decision made for me that I couldn't get over? The only choice I had left was to say no, and even that had its limits. Trying to sort all these thoughts out, was giving me a fresh headache. I sank lower in the tub, and laughed. I was drowning in uncertainty while sitting in a tub full of water. If I ever felt like I couldn't take it anymore, I could always try to drown myself physically. Dmitri hadn't been able to drive me that far yet though.

Exhausted with my own thoughts, I let the water out of the tub and wrapped myself in a towel. Walking into the empty bedroom I realized that Sophie was probably still working in the other room. Staring at the pile of clothes that were supposed to be mine, my eyes settled on the tee shirt and boxer shorts I'd pulled from Dmitri's dresser this morning. Out of all the fabric piled on the settee, they looked the most comfortable. I was too exhausted to let my mind wrestle with the idea of comfort over what would it imply to everyone else, so I just pulled them on.

I stood staring at the bed in the middle of the room for a long while. I was also tired of sleeping in one twin's bed or the other. Grabbing a pillow and one of the extra blankets from the closet, I made my way back out into the sitting room. Sophie cocked her head to the side as she looked at the items in my hands. "I'm going to watch some TV for a while if it won't bother you," I lied. She gave me a quick nod and returned to her work.

I curled up on the sofa and flipped through the stations, finally staying on a documentary about volcanoes in the depths of the ocean. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep, and Sophie didn't try to wake me up when she went to bed. For the first time since I got here, I slept alone.