Wynter's Bane

Chapter 39

I don't know when I finally pass out from sheer exhaustion, but it takes hours. I lay there as the time crawls by, my body radiating pain as my mind goes over and over everything that was said and done.

Could I have fought harder?

Should I have given Myth the answers she wanted?

Would it have mattered?

Endless answers cycle through my mind, but when really factoring in who it is I'm dealing with, it all leads me back to where I am or in a worse situation. Doesn't matter what I could have done, she had the numbers on her side from the beginning. Always has. She's just driving her point home.

Sometime before I had fallen asleep, I had heard my parents return home, but not once did I hear them inquire as to my whereabouts. Were they in on it, or at least aware like my brother? Did they even care I was down here? Are they punishing me too for the perceived 'shame' I cast on them? I weep silently as I curl up as much as possible, conserving as much body heat as I can.

Jay is right outside in the bedroom, I hear it when he begins snoring lightly. For him to have gone to sleep, I know it has to be really late. Wonder if my parents even know he's here. I try shifting my arms around, but my dislocated shoulder nearly has me screaming out when I move it wrong. Instead, I lay there and think of just what it is they plan on doing with me. After sending myself into panic fits multiple times, my brain finally has enough and sends me to sleep.

Don't think I'm out for long though when the door is shoved open, which causes my eyelids to shoot up. My heartbeat is like thundering hoofbeats in my eardrums as Jay walks in, rubbing his face. I can just make him out when turning my head. My hair obscures my vision, but I can picture him well enough as he moves to the toilet next to the tub I'm in.

Hearing him fumble with the closed lid, I stay absolutely still. He didn't turn on the light, so if I'm lucky he'll forget I'm in here, do his business and leave.

"Ready for today, Runt? Mythine has quite the day planned for you. I knew she had a mean streak, but she seems to really have it in for you. Not that I mind, you see, we keep her happy and give her what she wants, and she gives us what we want. While I wouldn't mind a piece of her ass, she's determined to get her hooks into that supposed Alpha. She mates with him then we sit pretty, understand?"

So much for remaining invisible. Hearing his stream splashing against the water bowl, I want nothing more than to close my eyes, but his words have me going on the alert and defensive. My eyes won't open completely, jaw is swollen, nose filled with the scent of my own dried blood, and my body is stiff, but my insides still manage to clench in trepidation.

How does Mythine know Faust is an Alpha? The royalty claim could have been garnered from someone eavesdropping on us, but not at any point was it brought up that he was an Alpha. Has she seen his mark and knows what it means? If she has, why is he so sure it was me that spilled his secret? Especially if she's seen it, they both had to have been in an intimate setting?

The thought is not only disturbing, it seems to hurt. I keep saying they're welcome to each other, but whenever I picture them in that way, I can't help the visceral pain that seems to twist my gut. I want nothing more than to turn my head away as my eyes start to fill with the burn of tears, but I bite my lip in anger. To hell with them both. Ever since I laid eyes on him, my life has been nothing but misery.

The flushing of the toilet startles me so much I jerk, regretting it instantly when it pulls on my arm and jars the rest of me. Not even a minute later I'm being grabbed and pulled up which has me crying out since he grabs my busted arm. Falling into him when I'm upright, he catches me easily. Since he's over six foot himself and well over two-hundred pounds, at least half of that being muscle, I know he can break me easily enough if he tried.