Torn

Chapter Four

Mason

“I officially reject you as my mate” his voice was strained, as if he didn't really want to reject her. Lottie fell to her knees, a bloodcurdling scream tearing itself from her throat. Some people stopped to look but I quickly scooped her up and shoved her in my car. She continued to scream in mindless agony and loneliness, her voice finally giving out by the time we reached her house. Her eyes were haunted, focused on something going on inside her. She didn't say a word, her eyes the palest I had ever seen them; almost white. She looked dead already. I shook her and she flinched, opening her mouth to scream again and finding she couldn't. I took her inside. She was quiet again, at least she was until I got her in bed and her back arched completely off the bed. She screamed as if something were ripping her to shreds, doing it slowly, letting her feel every ounce of pain it had to offer. She whimpered pathetically. The real battle was going on inside her. She would have to fight to keep her life without that perfect person made especially for her. I doubt she even knew she was screaming and thrashing. I tied her up again to avoid her hurting herself or me, working quickly and trying not to get hit by her flailing arms. This was going to be a long night.

I was wrong before. This right here, her getting rejected, was absolute hell. I felt powerless, hopeless as I watched her in constant pain and raw survival. Before it was the unbearable temptation. Now it was the feeling of impotency. I had never felt like this before and I didn't like it. I'd rather die than have to watch Lottie like this ever again. She pleaded for her life. To who? I didn't know, maybe the moon goddess herself. I sat in a chair beside her bed and tried to tune out most of her piercing screams. They struck me right at my core. I would do anything to protect her, to care for her, even at the cost of my own life because I loved her. But this here, I couldn't do anything and I've never been more scared. If she really did die, what would I do? Quickly follow her to the afterlife was the most likely answer. I couldn't be without her and I was powerless to stop anything from taking her away from me. I couldn't do anything but wait it out and pray to the goddess that she made it out alive. So that's what I did.

It was two days until she stopped screaming. Three days to completely stop responding to any outside stimuli. She wouldn't flinch if I touched her, she wouldn't whimper at my voice; she didn't do anything. She just laid there and dealt with her rejection with deafening silence. Her eyes were wide open, yet they saw nothing. She didn't eat and her weight loss was starting to scare me because she didn't eat during her heat either. I tried to get her to eat but she literally did not move and during her heat, she wanted nothing but pleasure. I had to put my hand under her nose just to make sure she was breathing because she never made any noise. I untied her, figuring that she couldn't hurt herself anymore and sat beside her. I skipped school and called the principle so she knew what was going on ( that was not a fun conversation. Jacob was going to be her Alpha soon as well as ours and she was really upset that he rejected Lottie, who she thought would be a better Luna than Cindy). At least we were excused from school for as long as Lottie needed.

At last, five days later she woke up. She gasped and sat up, her eyes wide open and finally regaining their color of a light silver. She was panting as if she'd been running a marathon. I was jolted awake, it being around three in the morning, and went to her. I smoothed the hair from her face. Her head was sweaty and she didn't turn toward me. Instead, she kept her head pointed toward the door; her eyes still unfocused and distant. I turned her head toward me.

“Lottie? Are you okay?” dumb question to ask but I couldn't think of anything else. She didn't respond.

“Lottie?” my voice was a little scared. What if this experience screwed her up beyond help? I sat her up. What was I supposed to do to fix her?

Maybe we should make her something to eat, Derrick suggested. He'd been asleep during all this: self inflicted unconsciousness because he couldn't bare to see her that way. He'd go insane. I picked her up in my arms. She still didn't say anything but her eyes were a little more focused. I took her downstairs and made her some hotdogs in sandwich bread, fixing it up exactly how she liked it. I put the plate in front of her but she didn't move. All she did was slump in her chair. I began to get frustrated. The moon goddess finally gives her back to me and she's entirely unresponsive? I shook her gently.