Free Web NovelChapter 78: I understand
Raven
The next day was even more torturous than the last.
I still forced myself outside anyway.
I needed the sun on my face. Needed something that didn’t feel suffocating. Something warm. Something real.
But even standing beneath the morning light did nothing to ease the heaviness sitting inside my chest.
The moment I stepped outside, the stares started again.
Pack members paused whatever they were doing just to look at me. Some whispered under their breath. Others openly stared with narrowed eyes and obvious curiosity. And the guard standing directly behind me only made everything worse.
I could feel his presence constantly.
A reminder. A warning.
I no longer ate with the rest of the pack. Even if I wanted to, I already knew exactly how the conversations would go. Endless questions. Demands for answers I didn’t have. Suspicion in every glance.
So I stayed away.
I had only been standing outside for a few moments when I heard footsteps approaching from behind.
I turned slightly and saw Loel and Xarna walking toward me.
Both of them wore determined expressions.
Not concern.
Determination.
The kind that told me they had already decided they were getting answers from me whether I wanted to give them or not.
Xarna reached me first, crossing her arms tightly over her chest.
"Are you going to keep running from us?" she demanded, bitterness thick in her tone. "Because if you are, then you might as well turn around and leave."
Loel sighed beside her, though hers sounded more hurt than angry.
"We’re your friends, Raven," she said quietly. "Or at least I thought we were. You’ve been avoiding us."
Her eyes shifted toward the guard standing behind me before returning to my face again.
Xarna looked furious.
Loel looked confused.
And I just stood there staring between them, exhaustion weighing so heavily on me that I suddenly couldn’t bear carrying the truth alone anymore.
I already knew how this would end.
I already knew how they would look at me once they found out.
Disgust.
Shock.
Maybe hatred.
And strangely... I wanted it.
Because at least then someone else would finally know what was happening to me.
"I’m sleeping with Alpha Rex, Alpha Axel, and Alpha Thor," I said flatly.
The words hung heavily in the air.
Both of them froze.
I watched every emotion flash across their faces at once.
Shock.
Disbelief.
Confusion.
"You’re pretty," Xarna snapped suddenly, anger rushing into her expression, "but not that pretty."
I stared at her blankly.
"Then why do you think I’m living in the alpha quarters?" I asked. "Why do you think I have a guard following me everywhere? Clearly I’m important enough."
Neither of them spoke.
So I kept going.
Because I was too tired to stop.
Too tired to pretend anymore.
"I’m going to carry their child," I continued, my voice sounding distant even to my own ears. "And Gessia plans to pull the unborn child out of me to strengthen the alphas with its life energy."
The words tumbled out before I could stop them.
I didn’t even know why I was saying it anymore.
Maybe because nothing worse could happen to me than what was already happening.
Maybe because part of me desperately wanted someone to believe me.
"They said it’s supposed to strengthen them against attacks, but—"
"Liar!"
Xarna’s scream cut sharply through the air.
"Liar! Liar! Liar!" she shouted again, staring at me like I had just committed some unforgivable crime. "How dare you lie about the alphas like that?"
Her face twisted with fury.
"They would never do something so vicious!"
I looked past her toward the guard standing nearby.
He had heard every single word.
Every single one.
But he only glared at me briefly before looking away again as though none of this concerned him.
As though I was nothing.
Tears burned painfully behind my eyes.
I turned toward Loel instead, hoping—stupidly hoping—that maybe she would understand.
But she looked horrified too.
"They wouldn’t," she insisted, shaking her head as she stepped closer to me. "They would never do something like that..."
Her voice softened slightly.
"...not without a good reason."
The words hit me harder than any slap could have.
A sharp pain straight through my chest.
Of course.
What had I expected?
That they would save me?
That they would stand against the alphas for me?
They couldn’t even imagine the alphas being wrong.
I took several steps backward like I’d been physically shoved.
"I’m just crazy then," I muttered bitterly.
But before I could say anything else, the guard suddenly stepped between us.
"She has been ordered to be watched," he said coldly. "Her mind was severely damaged after she was taken from the pack."
My stomach twisted painfully.
No.
That wasn’t from the alphas.
That had to be Gessia. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
The alphas didn’t care enough to explain anything about me.
More tears flooded my eyes as I watched Loel and Xarna’s expressions soften into pity.
Pity.
That was worse than anger.
Worse than disgust.
I wanted to scream at them. frёeωebɳovel.com
Wanted to rage and demand they listen to me.
But I was too exhausted.
Too empty.
The guard gestured for me to follow him, and silently, I obeyed.
We walked back toward the alpha building in complete silence.
The moment we stepped through the entrance and the doors shut behind us, a sharp slap struck my face so hard it sent me crashing onto the floor.
Pain exploded across my cheek.
"I thought you’d have enough sense to keep your mouth shut while the guard was with you," Gessia snapped viciously. "But clearly I expected too much from you."
I stayed on the ground.
Her blue eyes blazed with fury as she stood over me.
Behind her, the guard immediately began answering her questions calmly, as though I wasn’t even lying at her feet.
"You are no longer allowed to leave this building," Gessia said sharply. "From today onward, I forbid it."
Every word felt like another chain locking around me.
"You will eat here. Sleep here. Wake up here. And if you wish to walk outside, it will only happen before everyone wakes or after they’ve gone to bed."
She crouched suddenly and shoved her hand into my hair, yanking my head upward painfully.
I grabbed at her wrist instinctively, trying to lessen the pressure.
"It seems the severity of your situation still escapes you," she hissed.
Her grip tightened harder.
"You are nothing but a slave," she spat. "And the moment you stop being useful, you’ll be thrown away like trash."
Her voice kept getting louder and louder.
The alphas had gone hunting.
Which meant she could do whatever she wanted.
No one would stop her.
I glanced desperately toward the guard again, but he didn’t even look at me.
Nothing in his expression changed.
No sympathy.
No discomfort.
Just emptiness.
For a brief moment, I wondered what exactly she had told them about me to make them all so cold.
Gessia suddenly grabbed the fabric of my dress roughly, bunching it upward as she leaned down and inhaled sharply between my legs.
Disgust twisted across her face immediately.
Clearly, she smelled no blood.
"Tonight," she screamed furiously, "Alpha Axel will visit your room, and he will not leave until morning. Do you understand me?"
She raised her hand again like she was about to hit me.
Fear rushed through me instantly.
"I understand!" I blurted out quickly, nodding frantically. "I understand!"
My voice came out weak and shaky.
Still, I remained on the floor after she released me.
Staring at the cold, hard ground beneath me.
I expected myself to cry.
I expected tears to fall.
But even though my eyes burned and overflowed painfully, nothing came out anymore.
