an ethereal glow that coats her skin. It washes over her, raining down her body like water as it uncovers what’s hidden beneath it. What she kept hidden when I saw her naked for the first time. I freeze, my shocked eyes tracing over every inch of her, and all I can do is stare, not believing what I’m seeing, not able to focus on one spot.
I hear my brothers inhaling sharply, muttering curse words while her pack and Belldame look distraught, staring at her with horrified eyes, indicating they haven’t seen her like this either. Josh, her brother, looks just as horrified but not surprised, and I snarl at him. I can’t help the protectiveness that rises within me as I feel her hurt. He forced her to do this and now he thinks he has the right to look like he’s devastated?
I growl, hearing Drax echo it within me as my heartbeat pounds in my ears as I look at Rhea’s skin.
Skin that is scarred beyond belief.
She’s covered in them. How the fuck is she covered in them?
She doesn’t open her eyes, letting everyone gaze upon her, upon what she’s hidden from the lands. I step closer unconsciously, unable to help myself.
It feels wrong as I trace the small, white lines over her collarbones with my eyes, as if I’m witnessing something I have no right to. My eyes rove nonetheless at the deep, raised scar that starts from the side of her ribcage, curving down to her hip on the left side. Then I look at her right side that’s littered in burn marks, deeper in some places and lighter in others, the skin a mottle of red. A crater-shaped scar is at the top of her thighs, more jagged, red lines run on the insides of her thighs, more white lines traveling down her legs. Even her feet have scars on them, trailing up to her ankles as if she stepped on something sharp. Her arms have more burn marks, dotted here and there, and a thick, jagged line runs the whole length of her right arm on the outside.
Line, after line, after line. Thin, white, red, thick, jagged.
What the fuck?
“Do you want to see the ones you added?” Rhea whispers, not even opening her eyes and I flinch, unable to stop the reaction to her words.
Me, the Alpha of the fucking Elites, flinches.
I swallow roughly, still looking at the scars on her body and I know I don’t want to see the ones I placed on her skin. I can’t. My own back itches at the thought.
She hasn’t opened her eyes, but she knows I’m there, now right in front of her as my body moves on instinct, blocking the others from seeing her. Needing to be closer to her, to see her. To just be fucking close in any way I can. I can’t take my eyes off her.
“Who the fuck did this?” My words are all wolf, rage at the forefront of my mind. I can’t control it, can’t stop the feeling of wanting to tear everything down at the sight before me, and hurt the ones that did this to her. “Rhea,” I growl when she doesn’t answer. “Who. The fuck. Did this to you?”
These are not scars from fighting, from building cabins or cutting wood.
These are…torture.
She finally opens her eyes, dead, but full of hurt. Dull but full of betrayal, vulnerable but filled with pain and the instinct of wanting to shield her, nearly brings me to my knees. To hide her away and make it better, to stop the next tear that falls from her eyes. I told her the only time she would shed tears is because of me, and me alone, and I fucking meant it. I still do.
Some fire comes back in her eyes at my words. At my demand. “Why do you care who did this to me?”
“Little wolf, tell me.” My words are rough, gravel and barely contained as I fist my hands at my sides to stop myself from touching her. That makes her pause for a second. Her eyes fill with confusion before it fades away.
“Which ones?” she whispers mockingly. “Take your pick, I remember every single one of them. My first one?” She lifts a hand and moves it to a raised scar on the outside of her leg. “I kicked out when they tried to get me out of my cage, this was my first punishment. I was seven and a half. This one?” She moves her hand to the hole in her thigh as my body stills. “Another punishment for trying to run, I was nine. These ones?” She moves them over the burn marks. “To see how much pain I could endure, how long I could hold out before passing out. And then to see how quickly I would heal. I was fourteen. And these.” She moves her leg to the side to show me the lines running down the insides of her thighs, starting at the top and running down to below her knees. “I wouldn’t keep them open, so they sliced them open instead so I couldn’t close them, because the pain was too much to have them pressed together. I was seventeen.”
My vision tinges black. I’m shaking now with every word, my body vibrating, my blood pounding. The ground quakes beneath my feet, black mist appearing around me as the darkness rises within me. I sense the others taking a step back, not wanting to be close, but Rhea? She stands still, looking at me dead in the eye. Unafraid, unconcerned as her eyes shift to my power, watching as it floats around violently as she tilts her head at it.
Her hand moves, palm up, and I instinctively guide a tendril of my power toward her, offering it and calming it the best I can until it rests on her hand. The connection is instant, pulsing through me as she takes in a deep breath, more than likely feeling what I am. Her fingers move slowly, letting the mist fall between her fingers as she plays a symphony only she knows. Yet, I can feel it all and it shocks me to my core. Pain, so much of it, and shame. Shame that her body is bare, shame that everyone can see it, shame of how it looks.
When I look at her body, I don’t see something shameful, I see strength, endurance, bravery. I see a woman who has been through unimaginable horrors and survived. She still stands and I… I think I was wrong. No, I know I was wrong about her, and I don’t know what to do about that. What to feel. All of this is unnatural to me, the way my body reacts to her.
The marks on her body don’t lie about what she has been through as a child and teenager, what she wanted to keep hidden from me even during her heat when she doesn’t have full control. How did I not sense the glamor she placed upon herself?
She strokes over my power with her fingers one last time before she drops her hand, and I grab the back of my t-shirt, pulling it over my head. Everyone is silent as they watch on, watch me pull the shirt over Rhea’s head and pull her arms through it as she stares at me with confusion. I’m confused by my own actions too, but the need to cover her, to hide her from prying eyes overwhelms me, and I can’t hold back. Once she’s covered, my t-shirt reaching the top of her thighs, I turn, giving her my back whilst also shielding her from others.
Josh steps forward tentatively, his eyes on the Elites. “Do you see now? We have done nothing but try to survive and help others.”
That’s the first thing he says? After what he has done?
I stalk him, my steps heavy and steady. I don’t recognize who I am, it’s like someone else has taken control but I know it’s all me. Once I’m within reach, my arm pulls back and then my fist connects with his face, again and again, disgusted he made her do this, to reveal herself this way. He falls to the floor and I’m on him instantly, hands around his neck as my power spills from me, wrapping around his arms and legs to hold him still. His eyes bulge, his mouth open, gasping for breath, but I don’t care. I lean down, wanting these words to be for him and him only, for him to recognize my words for what they are.
A fucking vow.
“You ever, and I mean fucking ever, make her do that again, guilt her into showing her body when she isn’t ready, when she doesn’t want to, I will gut you for weeks. I will peel your skin inch-by-inch from your bones, I will pull every tendon in your body out slowly as I force you to watch. I will take your fingers and make you swallow them to silence your screams, I will grab your intestines and hang you from them, only to cut you down, and then start taking your ribs, sticking them into you like pins to hold you down, so I can start showing you your own organs. Then,“ I breathe out a growl, the rage inside of me making every muscle in my body shake over what he has done. “I’ll take your heart and make you watch as I squeeze, crushing it in my hand as your life fades before your eyes. It will be the last thing you see.” I lift my head higher and look down at him, his face turning a shade of blue. “Do you understand me?”
It’s not lost on me that I have no right to be angry at him for making her do this, he didn’t cause physical pain to her like I did, he didn’t whip her like I did. But he hurt her, and that is something I won’t tolerate. Everything inside of me won’t let me.
“Let him up, Darius.” I glance up at Rhea’s words, her body now unmarred apart from her markings, which are faint. Her eyes are only on me, not once looking at Josh. “Now isn’t the time.” I look at her and see the exhaustion clear on her face, the pain lingering in her eyes with anger brimming under the surface. That’s the only reason I listen, not wanting to cause her more pain, not after witnessing what marks her skin. I give Josh one last squeeze before I get up off of him and step away.
Josh sputters and coughs, rubbing his neck as he stumbles to his feet. Rhea turns and walks back to Belldame, not once looking back. Belldame tries to give her a hug, but Rhea sidesteps it. Belldame says something and Rhea shakes her head before her shoulders slump slightly, her pack stepping closer to her while Josh remains in front of me. Rhea walks away when her pack is near, and I know she doesn’t want them close right now, I can feel it. She turns and heads back over to me and stops a few feet away, ignoring Josh who looks at the ground in shame, still rubbing his neck.
“Will you help us get Sarah or not?” she asks, her tone dull.
Josh steps closer to her, guilt filling his eyes. “Rhea—“
She ignores him, still looking at me. “Will you?”
I look back at my brothers, their faces somber, but they nod at my silent question. Josh got what he wanted after all. “You will come to Vokheim, answer my questions, and then we will help get Sarah if she’s in danger.” She tilts her head. “I want the whole truth. No lying, no secrets, no bullshit.”
“And how will you know I’m telling the truth and how do I know this isn’t some sort of trap, a way for you to take me back to the Highers?”
“This has nothing to do with the Highers right now.”
“It has everything to do with them.” I wait for her to say more, but she doesn’t.
“If you’re not guilty, you have no need to go to the Highers. You did create a pack and home without declaring to them, but I think right now there are bigger things at play, and you know about it, don’t you?”
She nods. “I don’t trust you.”
“I don’t trust you either, however, as much as I don’t want it to fucking be, you might have some insight with the rogures.” Her brows furrow. “I’m not sure how, but the memory crystal Aldus found in Eridian, it might not be real. But it was found there, and if I show it to you, you may have some insight and you may be able to make sense of it. I will get the memory crystal to Vokheim for you to see.”
“If I look at this crystal, tell you about Eridian, you will get Sarah?”
“If she is in danger, yes.”
“Rhea, lets go,” Taylor calls, looking at Rhea in concern.
Rhea looks at him and blows out a breath. She then glares at me, standing taller. “I would say let’s make a deal before the Gods to keep your word, but we know that means shit to you.” She turns without another word and storms back through the fog. Her pack follows close behind her as Josh takes up the back, shuffling behind them.
Where the fuck is she going?
I go to open my mouth but Belldame steps forward. “She’s collecting her things.” She holds her tall stick in front of her, resting on it. “Be careful, Heir of Cazier,” she warns. “For she is our only hope. On her own it’s a struggle, but together, there is more of a chance you can overcome these rogures and restore the lands as they once were.”
“What the fuck do you know of the lands, witch?” I have met Belldame a few times, usually on the Highers orders to persuade her to have an alliance with them. As always, she threatens to boil my balls and refuses the Highers bidding.
“The Gods are still with us, just not seen.”
“The Gods went mad,” I spit.
“Did they?” she questions, and I pause.
“History states it.”
“With what I’m sure you’re about to find out, Alpha Darius, you’re about to learn what is true and what was fabricated.” What is she on about? The woman is senile. “Your Heir powers are coming along, I can sense it with the amount of power you have in you. It’s not complete though, and won’t be, not yet. I have told Rhea about the Plane of the Gods, the Vahaliel.”
“It is a myth.” It’s the apparent home of the Old Gods, no one has ever been there or entered.
“It is real, and I know you and Rhea must go there. If you have any chance against the rogures and the monster in plain hiding. You need to go there and learn the history of the Gods.”
“We know the history, we have records dating back thousands of years. Why not just tell me if you think it’s wrong?”
“All I know is when two Heirs walk the earth at the same time, and their powers collide and reunite, it is time to go visit the Plane of the Gods. You must go.”
She’s talking out of her ass. “And where did you get that information?”
She smiles. “From the Gods, of course.” I roll my eyes.
“If the Gods were still around, why haven’t they appeared and stopped the rogures?”
“I do not know the answer to that, but if the Gods weren’t around, how did you become an Heir?” With that, she turns and walks to the boundary of Witches Rest and waits.
“You good, brother?” Leo asks quietly, coming to stand next to me as the others follow.
“I think we have missed something very important, something that as Elites we shouldn’t have. Whatever comes next, it will definitely change our course, and after seeing Rhea’s body? I think the worst is yet to come.”
Because if the reason she didn’t want to go to the Highers has anything to do with the marks on her body, the way we operate will forever change. We will no longer be in an alliance with the Highers, and a war will break out.
Because as much as I feel anger toward Rhea for her lies, no one touches my little wolf.
