Free Web NovelChapter 116: Family Jewels
My breath caught in my throat. For a second, all of my senses were flooded with him. Cassian’s eyes seemed to burrow right through into my soul, and I found it torturously difficult to look away.
Even the gold of his irises felt as though it was alive. His wolf was threatening to come to the surface, pulled by the allure of the incomplete fated bond between us. Likewise, I could feel something curdling and twisting in my chest, attempting to break free.
For once, when forced into such close proximity, Cassian was so quiet. His mouth was no longer spitting his familiar insults towards me, and while my ears were thankful for the respite, a Cassian that wasn’t arguing with me was simply too weird. He simply didn’t seem like himself.
It was as though he had been taken over by another entity.
"Cassian?" I asked hesitantly, hoping my voice would snap him out of it since he hated every reminder of my presence.
However, rather than moving away, Cassian actually edged closer and closer, until our noses grazed past each other and our lips were just a small gap away. If either of us moved even just a little, they would touch.
I could feel his breath fluttering gently across my lips, almost sweet. My lips parted, and I slowly inhaled before moving.
I had to snap both of us out of this strange trance before we ended up making another huge mistake. I didn’t need a matching mark on the other side of my neck.
Since words didn’t work, I had to use actions.
I gritted my teeth and shoved him back, all while making sure to bring my knee up to right where I knew it would hurt the most.
My knee collided harshly against Cassian’s crotch with a loud thud, and instantly, he snapped out of that trance-like state.
All in a split second, he sucked in a harsh intake of air through his teeth, hissing in pain as he reeled back. His hands moved down to clutch at his family jewels, his eyes squeezed shut as a sharp yowl of pain tore through his throat.
"Fuck!" he yelled, hunching over like a hermit. His body weight immediately pulled away from me, allowing me to sit up and watch with mild amusement as he fell backwards and onto the floor.
If half the pack didn’t come running at his scream, I would honestly be shocked. My own ears were ringing from his yowl of pain.
"It’s not that bad," I said, just to rub salt on the wound. "I only kicked you with the force of a human woman. One that was malnourished for years," I couldn’t help but add, in case Cassian oh so helpfully forgot what I had endured.
I hadn’t held back my strength, but since he didn’t fly across the room, I guessed my sudden burst of strength had not kicked in and ended his chances of being a father for good. It was regretful, but I assumed I would always have another chance, however rare and far into the future that might be.
Either way, I relished the way he curled in pain like a millipede that had been poked at.
I rested my chin in my palm, watching him as he groaned and howled.
"Fuck you, Briar Argyris..." he spat out venomously in between gasps. His whole face had turned red. "Wait till... I get... you..."
As if. I crawled out of bed, scuttering towards the door like a rat that had stolen some cheese. I wasn’t stupid enough to stay around and wait for him to recover from that blow.
"No, thank you!" I said with a little too loud a giggle. "Consider that payback for pushing me, Alpha Cassian," I added, especially emphasizing Cassian’s alpha title.
I didn’t know what had taken over me for me to act so brashly. Cassian was an Alpha, and I was still in his territory at the moment, no less. He had every power and ability to have me killed for that slight if he wanted to. Even if I survived, he could easily torture me and make me yearn for death, just like before.
However, maybe it was because of the tingling sensation in my neck. I knew that it wouldn’t be so easy for him to get rid of me this time. A tiny voice inside my head just knew for certain that Rowan would stop him before he would get the chance― heck, maybe even Soren.
On the off chance he somehow snuck past Rowan’s defenses, Cassian still had his brother to consider. He might be mad at Rowan, but their relationship was much stronger than his relationship with, let’s say, Lucien. Cassian wouldn’t reach the point of wanting Rowan dead.
But if I died, his dear brother might not survive for long. Even if he did, he would be living in pain from then on for the rest of his miserable life. Surely Cassian wouldn’t be too cruel as to subject his sweet brother to that sort of pain?
The more I thought about it, the more gleeful I became. Gone was the constant fear that presided over my head, like a butcher’s knife over the chopping board.
There was practically a skip in my step as I approached the door and yanked it open. I smelled it right as I pushed down on the handle, but I reacted a little too late.
Standing right outside was Rowan. Behind him stood Soren, their expressions equally thunderous as they glared at me.
"Shit," I muttered under my breath. The smile on my face disappeared as quickly as it came.
Rowan raised an eyebrow in question, while Soren folded his arms across his chest.
"Shit indeed!" Soren chided. "Where the hell did you go? How could you run off like that? We explicitly told you to stay put in the infirmary and rest. You’re still unwell."
He looked into the room, and when he caught sight of Cassian rolling around on the floor, his frown deepened.
"And what did you do to him?" Soren asked, though he lost every bit of that fire in his previous sentence, and instead, was replaced by utter surprise and confusion.
"He had a little mishap with my knee," I said simply, and Cassian stopped rolling around to flip me off, enraged by my flippant words.
"You nearly castrated me!" He howled, pointing an angry finger in my direction. Both of his brothers stared at him, their eyes widening with surprise. Was it just my imagination, or did I detect a faint note of amusement on Rowan’s face?
"Rowan, Soren, she’s out of control!" Cassian continued to complain, sounding incredibly aggrieved. "She’s trying to wipe out our bloodline!"
"Your nasty attitude is doing a better job than anything I could do," I retorted, rolling my eyes at him. "I did what I had to do. I don’t want any more mating marks from you people."
At my words, a certain gloom came over Rowan and Soren and they turned their suspicious glances at Cassian, who was still spluttering on the floor.
"I would never mark you. You’re slandering my good name!" Cassian’s face was a bright red, and his cheeks were puffed out in outrage. I wanted to laugh.
"Enough. You’re making a lot of noise, Cassian," Rowan lectured, and Cassian shot his brother a betrayed look.
"Me? She’s the one who snuck out of her hospital bed!"
Damn. Cassian had successfully redirected the blame back to me.
I grumbled indignantly under my breath. "Since when have I ever listened and stayed put anyway? Don’t you guys know that insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results?"
Every single time they locked me in, I had found one way or another to escape. At this point, I had to applaud their tenacity for not giving up entirely on this futile game of cat and mouse.
"It doesn’t matter what you say. You should not be running off in your state," Rowan said, his voice low. His face was ever neutral, but the slight furrow of his brow was enough to tell me his anger. "Come. We’re bringing you back to your room."
"Great," I said, raising my chin. "I was already on my way back to the infirmary anyway."
My job here was done. I had already found some suspicious samples in Willow’s room. I just needed to wait for Rowan and Soren to buzz off before I could make use of some of the test equipment present.
Between the various herbs, antidotes, and tomes, I was confident I could find some answers, or at least clues that could help me solve this mystery. After all, I already had a clear direction.
However, Rowan’s next words poured a bucketful of ice water over my head.
"We’re not returning to the infirmary," he said.
My eyes widened with surprise. "What?" I asked. "Why... Then where are you taking me?"
Had my previous assumptions been all wrong? Rowan might not mind keeping me alive, but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t make life difficult for me, as he had done so for the last several years.
Was he going to throw me back into the omegas’ quarters to recover? Or maybe they had found a nice literal jail cell for me to ride through my remaining days.
Considering the fact that they weren’t beneath using silver to cage me in my room at the safe house, I wouldn’t put it past them to put me in an actual box with silver everywhere. It kept me in, and most importantly, would keep any potential invaders — like Lucien — out.
Soren made a gesture to grab me, but Rowan quickly intercepted. The latter reached out first, placing a hand at the back of my neck to steer me. His fingers were gentle, but I didn’t like the spark that trickled down my neck when his fingers grazed the mark he left on me.
Seeing this, Soren could do nothing more than purse his lips.
"Come on," he said. "It’s this way."
