Chapter 5

MORRANA

The agony was something I had never experienced before, infinitely worse than the brutal beating I'd taken in the alley. It felt as though my chest were burning alive from the inside out, forcing me to curl in on myself. The sheer force of the spasm dragged me off the sofa, and I crashed onto the floor.

My cast struck the floor as I reached blindly for the nearest pillow, pressing my face into it to muffle the scream building in my throat. The pain remained for minutes I couldn't count. Then, as unexpectedly as it had come, it faded, yet I couldn't move; the shock left me trembling on the floor.

Something was wrong.

Slowly, I lifted the hem of my oversized T-shirt and found a dark bruise spreading beneath my ribs, nearly black at the center, with a small area of broken skin that hadn't been there before.

Nobody had struck me there, yet I stared at the wound in confusion until I heard Skarre's aching sobs.

"Mate... with another woman."

And the realization hit like thorns.

The mate bond.

Somehow, whatever Caius was doing with Cecilia was reaching me through the bond.

I closed my eyes. "Goddess, please."

There was no answer.

I dragged myself into the bathroom, found some gauze and medical tape, and cleaned the wound as best I could before wrapping it tightly.

My father had taught me how to dress injuries when I was little, back when I still believed he would always be around to teach me things.

The memory hurt more than the antiseptic.

As I pulled the tape taut, a bitter, hollow laugh escaped my lips because the hypocrisy of our world was suffocating. I was bleeding on the bathroom floor because my fated mate was sleeping with someone else, yet I knew with absolute certainty that if the tables were turned—if I even so much as looked at another man the way he looked at Cecilia—Caius would drag me into the pack square and kill me in public just to make an example of me.

"Fucking bastard."

By the time morning rolled around, I hadn't slept a wink.

I found my mother in the kitchen preparing for another day of work. She was already dressed for the first of three shifts.

She looked utterly exhausted.

"Mom, you can't keep doing this."

She gave me a tired smile. "We don't have much choice."

A flicker of hesitation crossed her eyes before she added, "Alpha Caius raised the trailer rent again last week. It's a grand now."

"A grand!? For this?" The words exploded out of me. "This place is a rusted metal box on a dirt lot. That absolute piece of shit is trying to starve us out!"

"Morrana, stop! Please!" My mother lunged forward, her hand clamped on my mouth.

Her eyes widened as she glanced toward the small window.

"I am begging you, keep your voice down. The council never listens to complaints from anyone below Omega status. If they hear you talking like that about the Alpha, they'll throw us out."

Her fear silenced me.

I gently pulled her hand away. "Fine."

Ten minutes later, I forced myself to walk to school, every step sending pain through my body until, by the time the gates came into view, my aching ankle had me limping.

Beta Kai was waiting beside the entrance, his arms crossed as he watched me approach.

"You look like hell, Morrana." He commented as he stepped out to block my path.

"Move, Kai," I gritted out, trying to push past him. "I'm late for class."

"Can't do that. It's the Alpha's orders. Caius wants you kept on a short leash today." Kai tilted his head toward the black dome of a security camera mounted right above the main doors.

"He's watching you through the security feed right now. Don't make a scene."

A bitter laugh nearly escaped me. Even when that bastard wasn't here, he still found a way to make his presence felt.

I looked at the camera. Then back at Kai.

A reckless spark flared up in my chest. If he wanted to watch me, I was going to give him something to look at.

"Hey, Kai," I said, stepping closer to the Beta and lowering my voice to a harsh whisper. "Do me a favor and relay a message to our beloved Alpha. If I'm still his mate, he needs to stop sleeping with his girlfriend."

Kai's expression instantly froze. His eyes went wide, and his gaze went completely distant for half a second, until a violent roar slammed into the confines of my own head, shattering my thoughts with the brutal force of an Alpha's command.

"Get in room 109, now!"

The command hit hard enough to make my knees weaken, but I forced myself forward and limped through the school.

Room 109 was an empty history classroom at the end of the hallway.

The moment I stepped inside, the door closed behind me, and I barely had time to turn before Caius caught my shoulder and shoved me against the wall, sending a tearing pain through my ribs.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Caius snarled. "You think you can broadcast our business to my Beta? Don't play games with me, Morrana."

"I'm not playing games," I breathed, staring right back into his angry eyes.

"Are you spying on me now?"

"Spying on you?" I let out a sharp laugh. "I don't need to spy on you, Varro. You did this to me."

I reached for the hem of my shirt and pulled the fabric upward, exposing the bandage wrapped around my ribs. Before he could stop me, I tore it away.

"Look at it!"

The bruise underneath was dark and angry against my skin.

Caius froze.

For the first time since I'd known him, I watched the color drain from his face.

His gaze remained fixed on the wound, and the hand gripping my shoulder slowly loosened.

For a mere second, something crossed his face. Was that guilt?

But the vulnerability disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, his jaw setting hard as his eyes turned cold again.

"Cecilia isn't going anywhere, Morrana," he said, his voice flat, dead, and detached. "You'll get used to it."

He turned on his heel and strode out of the classroom, slamming the door hard behind him.

I stood there staring at the empty doorway, feeling something inside me finally go numb.

The rest of the school day passed without meaning. Kai remained nearby at Caius's command, watching over me as I moved from class to class in a gray haze. I didn't cry or argue; I simply waited for the day to end.

During the very last period of the day, the classroom intercom crackled to life.

"Morrana Valmont, please report to the principal's office immediately."

A strange uneasiness settled in my stomach. I gathered my things and made my way to the office.

The secretary was waiting for me with the telephone in her hand.

"Morrana, honey, it's your mother's supervisor from the diner."

My stomach dropped. I hastily took the receiver. "Morrana speaking."

"Morrana? It's Martha," the supervisor's rushed voice came through the line. "Your mom... she just collapsed in the middle of work. The ambulance just left with her. They're rushing her to the county hospital right now."