Chapter 30
Dominic pulled away and my arms dropped to my side. I wanted to collapse, I couldn’t feel Grayson’s pull anymore.
With the Binding Right completed and the moon at its fullest, Dominic took a few steps back. His skin shredded away and the giant white wolf emerged.
He was so close, I could feel dew collect on my nose from his panting. I cowered as he sniffed at me, the danger of a wild animal’s proximity making my stomach drop. I wasn’t sure what he would do next.
A puff of air blew my hair back and I squeezed my eyes shut. A muzzle pushed at my neck, just underneath my chin. When the air turned cooler, I opened my eyes again.
Dominic was walking away from me. He paused and turned his head back, waiting for me to follow. I looked behind me to the cliff’s edge, hoping Grayson would leap over and take me from my nightmare. When the night remained still, I turned forward again to follow Dominic away.
He kept my pace by my side as we descended the rough terrain. I held a hand in the fur if his back for balance. It was coarse between my fingers, like fur of a husky. The platinum color reflected the moonlight and he appeared to glow against the path before us.
The air was quiet at the bottom, the trees buffering any wind or crashing waves. The now flat walk provided time for my body to relax and my mind to process.
Tears dropped as I replayed Grayson disappearance over that cliff. How had Dominic bested him? Their fight had only just started and then ended so quickly. It didn’t seem fair.
Then the Binding Rite struck my thoughts. What had I done?
I betrayed Grayson, betrayed Julien. Tonight I was protected by this, white as polished marble, wolf beside me. But what about tomorrow?
Being bound also meant I would want him uncontrollably. Dominic was attractive in the same way Grayson was and his personality wasn’t too far off either. He was cold in a hardened leader kind of way. I had disliked him since I first got to know him and now, I could already feel my feelings for him shifting as I made excuses for his previous behaviors.
The hours drifted on during our night walk and when we finally reached the familar path home, my body was heavy with exhaustion. The village was empty and I sauntered to our bunkhouse.
I fell into my bed. Dominic curled up on the floor at the foot of my bed, keeping his eye on the door. I buried my face in the pillow, fighting back sobs while sleep began to take over.
A numbness washed over me, body and mind. I listened to the breathing wolf that lay at my feet, protecting me from all dangers as I fell into a deep slumber.
"What did you do?"
The sound woke me. Sitting up, I felt sticky in the morning mugginess. Sunlight beamed through the open doorway and I glanced down at the open space below my bed. I was alone in the room. I rubbed my puffy eyes, empty tears still burning.
"You had no right!" Came the voice again.
Julien.
An aching feeling lurched in my heart. He sounded so devastated, his voice high and loud as he scolded Dominic.
"The girl was in danger, there was no other option." Dominic’s tone was steady, not angry in his attempt to be reasonable.
"There’s always another option, you tricked her into it!"
I was afraid to leave the room. Afraid to face the anguish I could hear in Julien’s voice.
"Calm yourself," came Marek’s defending tone.
"I’m with Julien, that was pretty fucked up Dom," Jax chimed in.
They were all there, all still alive. I stood, reaching for the doorframe, and peaked towards the firepit where their voices had originated.
They all looked so...normal. No scratches or bruises or bite marks. It was as though the previous nights fighting had only been a dream. As though Grayson had been a dream.
I listened for him in my mind, urging him to answer. My hand instinctively felt for his raised mark on my wrist, rubbing it like a calming stone.
As if Dominic could sense my despair, his head turned to me and the other’s followed his gaze.
Julien ran to me, placing his hands on my arms. "Are you ok?"
Of course he would ask that first. My safety was a priority over my actions to him. He was too sweet and too kind, I didn’t deserve him.
"I’m ok," I said, staring at the ground. I couldn’t bear to look him in the eye, to see the heartbreak that I had caused.
"What the hell did you do to her, Dominic?" Julien seethed, I hated hearing him mad.
Dominic stalked towards us, his approach measured. I heard his boots crunching in the dirt, my eyes still averted.
"I did what you were too weak to do," his voice angry now, aggression saturating his words. I knew his words would pierce Julien like a spear.
He grabbed the place above my elbow, eyes still locked with Julien’s. Julien breathed through his teeth.
"Come on," he said without looking at me. "We’re going back to my room. An Alpha’s Luna doesn’t share a den with the rest of the pack."
He tugged my arm away and I stole a glance at Julien. The mix of pain and anger he displayed at my leaving broke something in me.
I could stop Dominic. I could fight the bond, tell Dominic off, and run into Julien’s arms with kisses of apologies. It’s what Julien wanted, it’s what his eyes were pleading me to do.
But I didn’t.
Instead, I turned away silently. A hole had formed in my heart that sucked all feelings from me. My attention, in turn, went towards Dominic as he led me by the arm to the seclusion of his room. To our room.
With the door shut behind us, I sat at the edge of a cot. My knuckles went white with my grip as I held back the grief that stabbed through me.
Dominic’s form pressed down on the spot beside me. His hand resting on my shoulder in comfort. It was awkward to have him this close. He still felt like a stranger.
I looked at the wall in front of me, remembering he once held me against my will there. An anger sparked that made my lungs quiver.
His hand traveled from my shoulder to a strand of hair that he tucked behind my ear as he spoke.
"You made the right choice. I can let you relax here for awhile, I know it’s been a stressful day. We can consummate later tonight."
My head turned slowly, the spark igniting into a roar of deafening fury.
"Excuse me?"
His brows knitted at the look of outrage in my eyes but he stood his ground.
"Consummation is part of the Binding Rite. I have the right to claim you." He raised his hands up in defense as my breathing quickened and my upper lip scrunched up.
"I won’t make you, of course, but it is apart of the ritual. You agreed to this."
I wanted to burn him alive with only the look I was giving him. The audacity he had to demand such a thing after everything that just happened.
The room was dimly lit from the cracks in the door and single window. Without a lamp, the room was covered in shadow until a purple haze lifted the space.
I felt the burn as I refused to look away. If I could take his soul with my mysterious powers I would. I never thought I would be this mad at anyone except Grayson.
My grip on the bedframe tightened, threatening to break it as I held back the energy that was building inside of me. I couldn’t kill him, the bond prevented it. But what would happen if I tried?
"Get out." My voice was hoarse and demanding, sounding more like my mothers than mine.
His hand came down to my knee, making the build of power from within me more difficult to ignore.
"All I want is to protect you,"
The air changed around us. A humidity grew that smelled fresh and earthy. The room grew darker, making the purple deeper and more vibrant.
His other hand settled over mine where I clenched to the bed and I snapped it away.
"Rebel. I just,"
"I SAID, GET OUT!" A demonic undertone echoed under my voice, it boomed through the air at the same time thunder cracked from above.
Dominic jumped back from his seat, tripping as he did so. My head tilted back with my chin raised high, he was afraid of me now.
The sky released its pressure, the sound of rain drumming on the roof made of foliage.
Dominic heard me now, slowly rising to his feet. His palms lifted in surrender and he backed towards the door. A rush of wind passed through as he pulled it open.
I held his gaze,screaming my wrath through the look in my eyes until he shut the door between us.
I had been in this prison before. It was the same, yet it was different. Before it was Grayson and now it was Dominic.
I let go of the charge I had conjured, the electricity dissolving through my fingers as I released my hold on the bed, and I broke down over the weight of my own collapse.