Free Web NovelChapter 25: Broken Shoulders
Rebecca’s POV
I entered the storeroom and stared at the heavy bags of cement lined up on the floor. For a normal werewolf, lifting this would be nothing, but for my human-like body, it was a mountain. With trembling hands, I grabbed the edges of a bag and dragged it up, struggling with every ounce of my limited human strength to lift it onto my head. My balance instantly wavered, and my legs shook wildly under the crushing weight, but luckily, I managed to stay on my feet.
With shaking thighs, I walked out of the storeroom. A small wail of pain escaped my lips as the extreme weight pressed down hard on my neck and spine. It felt unbearable without my wolf’s durability to protect me.
Slowly, I made it back to the site. I tried to lower the bag gently, but my human arms gave out completely, and the heavy bag crashed loudly onto the dirt floor.
Panting heavily, I massaged my aching neck, trying to catch my breath. But the supervisor’s harsh voice cut through the air again.
"Keep moving! We don’t have all day for you to slack off!" he shouted in anger.
With trembling feet, I walked back to the storeroom and forced another heavy load onto my head. It was an absolute miracle that I didn’t collapse right there on the path as I made my way back to the construction site. I dropped the load on the floor, my muscles burning, and turned to go back when the supervisor stopped me again.
"Get me the heavy iron bars from the back of the storeroom," he ordered coldly.
"I can’t," I spoke up, my voice shaking as I looked at him. "Those iron bars are far too heavy. They are twice the weight I can safely carry."
"Really?" he asked, his eyes flaring with rage as he stepped closer into my personal space.
"I physically cannot lift them," I murmured, stepping back.
"Will you go in there and bring those iron bars out, or would you prefer I go tell Lord Kaden that his slave is disobeying direct orders?" he threatened, a dark smirk on his face.
Hearing Kaden’s name made my blood run cold. I gulped down the lump of pain in my throat and turned away without another word. It was better to go through this physical pain than to face the brutal, terrifying wrath of Alpha Kaden again.
I got back inside the storeroom. Gathering every single ounce of strength left in my weak, blocked body, I lifted one of the thick iron bars and managed to place it on my head. But the moment the full weight settled, I realized I couldn’t move. My human feet felt like they were glued to the stone floor.
The weight was too much. My spine felt like it was about to snap.
"Holy Goddess," I whispered in agony. I tried to force my left foot forward to take a step, but my knee buckled completely.
I crashed hard onto the stone floor, and the heavy iron bar came tumbling down, landing right across my left shoulder with a sickening crunch.
"Ahh!" I wailed out loud, the sharp, blinding pain making my vision go completely dark for a second. I collapsed flat on the floor, the heavy iron pinning my left arm down. With my wolf locked away, there was no fast healing to save me from the injury. "Help! Please, help!" I whined, using my good right hand to slowly, agonizingly push the heavy metal off my shattered shoulder.
The pain was entirely unbearable. I couldn’t move my left arm at all, and every tiny breath I took made me want to vomit from the agony. Quietly, I sobbed, hot tears pooling on the dirty floor. I tried to push myself up to stand, but my human body wouldn’t listen.
After several painful attempts, I finally managed to stand up, tightly holding my throbbing left shoulder against my chest. I turned to leave the room to find help, but the supervisor suddenly walked in. He stared at me with deep anger.
"What the hell is going on in here? Where are the materials?" he demanded.
"I think... I think I have a broken bone in my left shoulder," I whispered, the intense pain making more hot tears spill over my eyelids.
Instead of showing concern, the hatred in his eyes burned even hotter. He took a predatory step closer to me, reached out, and violently grabbed me by both of my arms, squeezing tight.
"I wish you had died instead of just breaking a bone," he hissed right into my ear, his voice filled with a deep, personal venom.
The words shocked me. I knew everyone in the castle hated me because of Helen, but this man wasn’t even a servant here. He was an outside contractor, a building supervisor. Why did he hate me so intensely from the very minute he saw me?
"Let go of me! You are hurting me!" I screamed in agony, struggling with everything I had to pull myself out of his rough grip, which was crushing my broken shoulder even more.
"If Alpha Kaden fails to kill you, then I’ll gladly do it myself," he threatened in a low, terrifying voice. He shoved me away and marched out of the storeroom, leaving me alone in the dark.
Whimpering in pain, I lightly massaged my arm. The agony radiating from my left shoulder was completely immense, pulsing through my entire upper body. With weak, shaking feet, I walked out of the storeroom. I didn’t even bother looking toward the construction site or the supervisor. I just turned and dragged myself back toward the main mansion.
As I stumbled through the corridors of the castle, I saw groups of servants whispering among themselves, glaring at me with the same familiar anger and hatred. I ignored them all, keeping my head down. free𝑤ebnovel.com
After what felt like an absolute eternity, I finally reached the second floor. With heavy, exhausted steps, I entered my small room, shut the door, and collapsed face-first onto the bed. I cried softly into the pillow as everything that had happened over the past few days played like a nightmare in my mind.
Slowly, I closed my eyes, but there was no comfort. My wolf was completely locked behind that thick metal choker, rendering her useless, unable to heal my broken bone or give me any strength. My shoulder remained stiff, swollen, and broken. With a trembling stomach, I forced my eyes shut and tried to drift into sleep, desperately hoping that the pain would be gone by the time I woke up.
"Wake up! Jeez, so you have just been sleeping this whole time?"
I heard Martha’s angry, sharp voice echoing through the room as she roughly shook my leg.
Slowly, I opened my eyes, wincing as I saw an annoyed Martha staring down at me, tapping her foot loudly against the stone floor.
"Don’t tell me you’ve been sleeping in bed all day while there is work to be done," she snapped, looking at me with pure irritation.
Sighing softly, I tried to push myself up to get out of bed, but the moment I shifted, a white-hot bolt of pain shot through my left side. My shoulder was completely stiff and swollen.
"Ahh!" I gasped, trying to lay back down to stop the agony.
But Martha didn’t wait. She reached down, grabbed my left hand, and forcefully pulled me right out of the bed.
A loud, piercing scream of pure agony tore from my throat as the pulling motion ripped right through my broken bone.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?" she asked in a loud, angry voice, completely ignoring my scream.
I completely ignored her sharp words and just huddled on the floor, wailing from the intense pain radiating through my upper body. But as I wept, my gaze drifted toward the dark window, and a cold dread settled deep in my stomach. It was already night.
"You’ve been sleeping all through the day while there is work to be done," the head maid, Martha, grunted in pure anger. She pulled out clothes from the bag she was holding and threw the dresses right at my face.
"Alpha Kaden demands your presence in his private quarters," she ordered. "Get dressed quickly. I will be back in ten minutes to pick you up and take you to him."
"I can’t," I choked out, cradling my swollen left arm closer to my chest. Hot tears spilled over my cheeks as I tried desperately to make her understand. "I’m sick, Martha... I have a broken bone in my shoulder. I can’t even stand up properly."
I tried speaking up, begging for mercy, but she cut me off without a single ounce of sympathy.
"No one refuses the call of Alpha Kaden," Martha stated firmly, her eyes narrowing as she looked down at me. "Not even his late mate, Queen Helen. If he calls for his breeder, you go. No exceptions."
With those final, cold words, she turned on her heel and swept out of the bedroom, slamming the door shut and leaving me completely alone in the dark.
"Holy Goddess," I whispered in absolute terror, my heart hammering against my ribs.
My body was still entirely raw and sore from what he had done to me on the medical desk earlier, and now my left shoulder was completely broken. With the thick metal choker still locked around my neck, cutting off my wolf and leaving me with only weak human endurance, I had no idea how I was going to survive another night in Kaden’s bed.
