The Panther Uncaged ✔

Chapter 11

Carter never came back. He left me all alone after he got me in trouble. I could hardly remember what was even said, whenever that was. Robin came in three more times to feed and water. Sometimes, other people screamed but at least that meant Rae wasn't here. Robin stuck me with a needle at least twice. I couldn't even move my head after he finished but it let me sleep for a long time, sometimes even halfway through Rae's visits.

Ray always talked but nothing she said made sense.

"He should have been my mate!"

"That stupid brat had to go and remind his poor father of that hoe every time he breathed. He would be mine now if it wasn't for that no good lion!"

I didn't care. Once Robin hosed me down, which was nice, even if it stung when it hit my skin. There wasn't much in the way of clothes left at all, so that happened quite a lot.There was no bathroom here either and it smelled bad. Every time I went to sleep, it got harder and harder to wake up. Nothing was worth this. I just wanted to go to sleep. Please.

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The screams sounded different. They didn't sound as pained. Did Rae get a new person? Lots and lots of footsteps filled the hallways and I heard shouts rise when one of the doors opened. My eyes couldn't stay open but I lolled my head to the side and managed to look a little closer at the door, even if I couldn't focus well. The door opened and the footsteps rushed in. So many bodies filled the room and my ears rang from the shouts. Faces came in and out of view; fingers touched the leather and others pushed back my hair as best as they could with the dried blood keeping the strands glued on my forehead. Suddenly my wrists were free from their bounds and then the rest of my limp body. Warm hands picked me up and moved the earth, shaking the ground underneath them. A moan escaped my lips as my lids were forced shut again. Stop. Stop shaking the earth.

"Soralyn."

My body touched something soft, itchy. I wrestled my lids open and found my hand touched green. Grass. The light was so bright; it was burning my eyes and filling my eyes with water.

"Soralyn, please."

The voice spoke again and this time, something inside me moved. I raised my watery eyes, straight into the face of someone I knew that I recognized well. I just couldn't place him. Icebergs stared back into mine, cold and filled with fear. They began to blink rapidly before a tear finally made its way from the corner of my eyes and my slow brain placed him.

"Xa-,"

My throat was tight from joy and confusion but was all he needed to crush me in a hug.

"Oh honey, oh god, I thought I would never find you. I can't believe-. You-. I'm so sorry Soralyn."

"Sa...sha?"

"Gio has her. We- we finally found you two."

Xavier gathered me into his chest and I let myself sink into his warm embrace. Too soon, an unfamiliar voice interrupted us.

"Alpha Xavier? I know this may be hard for you but it's best we do the exorcism now. She's extremely low on energy and her body can't handle another ritual like before."

"Here? But-. Uh, okay, Soralyn, we're going to perform the exorcism on you okay? Just do whatever it is, we need you to do. Can you do that?"

He sounded like he was speaking to a child rather than a grown woman, but there was an undercurrent of fear that justified it. I met the eyes of the stranger, a tall Native American who stood beside a tiny, wrinkled prune of a woman.