Her

Chapter 15

I was silent the entire trip back to the room, Lux leading me like a little pup along the halls as we traveled. I was still silent, I hadn't spoken a word and she hadn't bothered to say anything. My wrist was badly bruised, more than likely sprained or fractured. My mind was an endless torrent, swirling with the news and revelations of what had just happened. All the tribute Omegas were dead. Lux was related to that monster.

She pulled me into her room or was it our room? She'd never given me my own, she had told me that I was staying with her. I held my arm for a moment, looking down at the various bloody stains on my shift that Samael had left when he'd grabbed me. The coppery scent had never left my nostrils and the newfound knowledge of whose blood it was only made my skin crawl with disgust. I needed a bath and a way to erase everything that had been revealed from my memory. For once, I felt a bitter pang of relief that Calix hadn't been chosen, that he'd been spared from such a fate that the others faced.

"I'm. . . I'm sorry about what you saw." Lux said awkwardly, finally breaking the silence between us as she stood there.

I simply lifted my gaze to her, jaw set and somewhat emotionless as I took time to calculate a response of some sort, unable to form words. Finally, my mind grappled around something. "What I saw? Do you mean what I've realized? What goes on?" I said, my voice surprising even me in its calmness and I wonder if it's because Lux hasn't shown me what a danger she truly is yet.

"It's not what it seems."

"Really? Are you really going with that? You. . . You slaughtered them. You left them as bloody offerings to whatever monstrous gods you worship and you tell me that it isn't what it seems?" I whispered quietly, the horror evident in my features as I finally whispered aloud the knowledge that I possessed.

Lux went silent, her face like stone as she stared at me. She no longer looked or acted apologetic, just... Stared. "Maybe it's best you go bathe and go to bed. It's been a long day." She said, her voice obviously stating there was no choice in the matter and it was an obligation.

I simply set my jaw, and looked away. I didn't dare refuse but my blood boiled for a moment at being told what to do. I put it away though and made my way to the bathroom, drawing the hot water and slipped out of the bloodied clothes and into the water, letting it hold me in its own watery embrace as I closed my eyes, trying to push down my feelings as I tried desperately to connect what was exactly going on. Why was this happening? Why sacrifice Omegas? Sure, they weren't too overly useful but did that really equal death in this harsh snowy wasteland? The room too brought questions to mind, how idyllic and peaceful it had seemed yet it held horrors unimagined still.

When the bath went cold and I could no longer sink into the freezing water, I stood and dried myself, the fiery locks of auburn had curled round my head like an unmanageable, frizzy halo. I brushed it back with fingers pushing through tangled locks and wrapped the towel around myself. I hadn't bothered to grab a nightgown or any sort of slip so I crept into the room. Lux was asleep or perhaps faking, I wasn't sure. The room was dark and silent, her body covered in furs as her back faces me, rising steadily. A small pile of clothes had been gathered in the few days, my own sets of fabric. I clumsily grabbed till I felt the thinner fabric of a sleep slip and pulled it over my head, allowing the towel to drop. Of course, my pallet was thankfully still intact. Lux didn't want me sleeping with her despite the connection we seemed to share according to the mystic.

I crept towards the well made pallet and crawled onto of thick furs, peeling back the top layer in order to lay down. My head hit the pillow but unlike previous nights, I couldn't fall asleep. I thought of Samael, Calix, Lux. The Omegaless pack and the children within it that hadn't found their rank. I thought of a thousand different ways to escape and a thousand and one ways that I could die in each scenario that I conjured in my mind. It was hopeless, it was my last chance. It was everything and nothing that I could do. I would simply die here and no one would know of my fate. I would be sacrificed like a pig or elk, my throat slit, and if I was lucky, my thighs clean from blood.

I didn't sleep at all, I couldn't sleep at all. My eyes ached, I was sure they had bags underneath. The morning sun was rising, dawn pushing her sunlit fingers through the windows and breaking through the dark of night. I fluttered them close as I heard Lux stir in her sleep. To my knowledge she typically rose around dawn and let me sleep for several more hours before waking me. I assumed that it would be the same routine. Occasionally I'd wake to catch Lux changing or in some form of getting ready and I'd quickly shut my eyes and act as if it hadn't happened like I hadn't caught sight of her midriff or the elegant curve of her neck as she pulled her hair up or braided it in the strange northern style. So I assumed she would rise and get ready and leave me be. She had no reason to really interact with me all of a sudden.

So I listened to the quiet steps of her morning routine and it felt like ages with my back turned her and how I had to pretend asleep. I secretly thought she knew I was wide awake. After all, it was hard to fool an Alpha. Though it seemed she didn't notice or didn't necessarily care. I heard quiet steps approach me, I tried my best not to stiffen. This wasn't part of the typical routine I had spent time memorizing in my days here. Then suddenly, I felt a pair of soft lips brush against the skin of my cheek, grazing it in a sort of chaste kiss that made my heart thump a little harder than it should have.

"I'm sorry Cyra." Her voice cut through the mornings air, soft and gentle, murmuring against my skin and I felt the heat radiate from her body. Then suddenly, it was gone as I presumed she drew back and I heard footsteps retreat and the closing of the door. Signaling the routine was complete and the Alpha was gone.

Haha, hey! Soo it's me again! I know, I know, I totally keep leaving you guys hanging and I'm super sorry for that! I'm going to try this time around now that things in my life have settled to actually complete the book! So sorry about all the long waits and thank you for sticking around this long!