Trapped With the Alpha (Balfour Shifters Book 1) (28 page)

Raising my hand up to my pounding head, I cease my movements immediately upon hearing the shuffling of feet coming in my direction. Forcing my eyes to remain open, I look to my left and see the witch stalking toward me with an evil glint in her black soulless eyes.

“Well, now, look who finally decided to wake up and join the party,” the witch says while throwing her head back and releasing a throaty chuckle. “I have to say, I’m impressed with myself for having the foresight to keep you tethered to him all these years. Watching your pain was lovely, but seeing the great Balfour Alpha falling into a pit of despair was absolutely delightful.”

Moving around the room, she begins lighting candles. “I knew your misery would keep me entertained, but I assumed I would have to keep working to make it worthwhile. Brody did it himself, though. I didn’t even have to do any work to force the wedge between you two. His lust did all the wedging necessary.”

Instantly, my mind begins to scramble through her words, trying to make sense of what she’s saying. “What do you mean, keep me tethered to him? What are you talking about? I don’t understand. I’ve never met you before in my life,” I stammer out, even though I fear her answer.

Throwing her head back again, she releases a laugh that sends chills down my spine. The evil radiating off of her is almost stifling in its intensity, making my skin crawl. Rolling to my knees, I force myself to stand. I attempt to take a tiny step back, hoping that if I move slowly enough, she won’t notice me edging closer and closer to the door.

The second my back foot steps down on the concrete below us, her head snaps up, and all sounds of her laughter cease immediately. Narrowing her eyes at me, she slowly begins to shake her head back and forth. “Uh uh, Isabel. You aren’t going anywhere, my dear. You wanted me to help you forget, and that is exactly what I am going to do. By the time I am done with you, you won’t even remember who you are, let alone remember your mate.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, trying to keep her talking. 

“Oh, darling. Don’t play stupid with me,” she says as she moves to light another candle.

“I don’t want to forget him. I just want to forget everything that happened during the time we were apart.” I don’t even know if my words are understandable from the way my teeth are chattering together in fear. 

I begin to lift my foot again, wanting to get a little bit closer to the door. I’ve barely even lifted it off the ground, when the door behind me suddenly slams shut, causing me to jump and release a high-pitched scream. “Please, just let me go,” I stammer out, my fear easily heard in my voice. “I don’t want any trouble. I just want to go home.”

“Oh, but I do want trouble,” she says with a smirk. “I’ve spent eight-hundred years keeping you two apart, and I’m not about to let you go back to him now.”

The second her words sink in, realization hits me and a gasp escapes my lips. Finally, I know the truth. A part of me knew it as soon as I looked in her eyes, but my mind just couldn’t believe it was true. Here I am, standing no more than a few feet away from the monster who imprisoned me all those years ago. I can’t believe I willingly brought myself back to her. Hell, I basically wrapped myself up with a big red bow and delivered myself to her. “It was you. You cursed us.”

She ignores me and continues. “It really is a shame that I missed that little crack in my spell, when I cast it all those years ago. Who would have thought that you would be capable of escaping all on your own? I certainly never envisioned it happening. Imagine my surprise when I saw you on his arm at The Den a few weeks back.”

After all that Brody and I have gone through, this is how it’s going to end? The second the thought flitters through my mind, I feel my anger begin to rise. No way. I refuse to believe this is the end. “Brody needs me.”

“Yes, he does.” Raising a brow at me in question, she asks, “So, do you understand now why I can’t let you go back to him? Why I can’t let you go back to your mate?”

“I don’t understand,” I snap, anger replacing my fear. “Why are you so hell bent on keeping us apart? What did we ever do to you to deserve your hate?”

Rolling her eyes at me, she huffs in exasperation, seemingly growing bored with this conversation. “What did you do to me? It wasn’t what you did to me, but what your Alpha’s ancestors did. He started this war.”

“Okay, then, enlighten me. If you’re going to continue torturing me, I think you can at least give me an explanation first,” I say with a shrug, trying to bluff my fear away. 

I’m hoping with everything in me that, if I can just keep her talking long enough, Brody will realize that I’m gone and figure out where I am. This bitch may be an ancient witch, but there isn’t a doubt in my mind that Brody will be able to kill her. He may not know where I’m at, but he will have learned of my disappearance by now. It won’t take him too long to figure everything out and come to me. I have faith that he will go to any lengths necessary to protect me.

Shaking her head at me, she laughs before saying, “For someone who I can crush with a flick of my wrist, you sure are a demanding little one, aren’t you?”

Glaring at her, I cross my arms and refuse to give in to her little game. She obviously has a story and a half to tell, if she’s been willing to keep these charades up for this long. I’m almost positive she is desperate for someone to listen to her story. “I think I deserve to know the truth.”

“Fine.” She sighs, pushing her hair over her shoulder. “If I’m going to take the time to tell you my story, you can at least have a seat.” 

No sooner than she finishes her statement, I begin to feel a pressure in my head. Placing my hands against my temples, I try with everything in me to fight against whatever it is she is attempting to do. The more I fight to keep her out of my head, the worse the pressure becomes. Finally, I cannot take a second more of the pounding inside my skull and give in to her. 

The second I give up resisting, I feel her inside my brain, as if she is taking control of my body and mind entirely. Without any consciousness, my feet begin to shuffle over to the ancient wooden chair in the corner of the room. The feeling inside my mind is so foreign, I immediately begin to try to fight the pull inside of me once again. I manage to stop my movements for only a moment before it feels like a jackhammer has taken up residence inside my head.

The pain is so severe I almost drop to my knees. “Stop!” I scream, grasping the sides of my head.

“You’re fighting me, dear. You're causing your own pain,” she says, her words barely cutting through the pounding in my brain. 

“Please, stop.” I begin to pant, digging my hands into my scalp in my desperation to stop the sensations assaulting me.

She chuckles, and then I feel the witch’s presence as she walks up behind me. Grabbing onto my hair, she snaps my head back in a harsh maneuver that causes my scalp to burn. I can feel my hair being pulled free with the force behind her grasp. Automatically, my hands fly up to wrap around her wrists in an attempt to stop her.

“Please,” I whimper, unable to keep tears from falling. “I will do whatever you say. Just please, stop.”

My head is tugged back further as I feel her sickeningly hot breath against my ear. “Do not resist me. You are no match for me. Do you understand?”

Nodding my head as much as possible, I silently give my agreement. As soon as she accepts my acknowledgment, she begins to release some of the grip on my hair. Just as I begin to feel the relief of her releasing me, I find my body once again under her control. 

Standing, I awkwardly stumble to the chair in front of me before spinning around and slamming down into it. My body hits it with such force that I actually hear the wood groan under the strain of my weight. Pain shoots up my spine, bringing forth a whimper.

“Now, where were we before you so rudely interrupted me? Oh, right, I was just about to tell you what those bastard wolves did to me and my family years ago,” she hisses as she begins to pace back and forth throughout the room. The obvious agitation coming off of her is staggering. I have no idea what the hell she thinks they did to her, but it obviously is something that causes her a great deal of pain. 

As she continues to pace, I attempt to see just how much control of my body I still have. It takes every ounce of mental strength I have to even wiggle my pinky finger back and forth. The realization that I am completely at her mercy is enough to cause my anxiety to spike, and I have to fight to slow my breathing before I hyperventilate.

 If this is just the beginning of what she has planned for me, my only hope is that she gets bored soon and finishes me off quickly. Even after spending so many years trapped and helpless, this feeling of complete helplessness is unlike anything I have ever known. The complete and utter panic coursing through me is enough to bring another round of tears to my eyes. I can’t go back to that life again. I swear, if I have no other choice, I will take my own life if I have to, or force her to do it for me.

The thought of never seeing Brody again is enough to cause bile to rush up my throat, and I begin to heave on the floor in front of me. Without being able to lean forward, I end up covering myself in my own vomit. For the life of me, I can’t even be bothered to care about that minor fact at the moment.

Stopping abruptly in her tracks, her head snaps around to look at me with disgust. I feel so hopeless right now. I am just barely aware of the fact that her head has swiveled in a completely unnatural way.

“Well, now, look at the mess you just made.” Stomping toward me, she skirts the puddle of vomit on the floor and immediately backhands me across the face. 

The force behind the hit is so strong, my neck snaps as my head whips to the side. Refusing to give her the satisfaction of my tears, I struggle in vain to stop them from running down my face. As soon as the first one seeps out of the corner of my eye, she leans forward and snakes her tongue out, licking it up. Releasing a horrified shudder, I am left unable to do anything but allow her to continue with her sick games.

“Mmmm,” she moans as she licks her lips. “The tears of the weak have the sweetest taste.” 

Snapping upright, she goes right back to her pacing, as if she didn’t just attempt to snap my head off my neck. “Now, where was I again? Oh, that’s right. I was about to tell you the story of what your mate’s sick ancestor did to my baby girl.”

Grateful that she has decided to keep talking, I close my eyes and take a deep breath. If I am going to hold on until Brody gets here, I’m going to have to suck up every ounce of courage and hold off on the blubbering and weeping. I want to cave in and let the tears flow.

“Nearly two-thousand years ago, I gave birth to an absolutely beautiful baby girl. She was the only light in my dark and depressing world. I cherished the very ground she walked on.” Releasing a sigh, her eyes take on a far off look as she reminisces about her daughter.

 Staring at the wall behind me, she doesn’t even blink as she continues with her story. “Moira was destined from a very young age to do everything I would never be capable of. She was graced with a beauty unlike any other I had ever seen, but her heart was something truly magnificent. She would have ruled the world.”

I try to focus on her words, but my mind is so cluttered that I can only grasp a few here and there. 

“Having been born of dark blood and her father’s human blood, her kind soul was a rarity that isn’t often found in our kind. Even though I never understood many of her ways, I still looked upon her in awe. You see, her kindness was a blessing and a curse all at once. Mixed with the power coursing throughout her dark blood, she truly was unique,” she says before going to light another candle.

“The two halves of her combined made her one of the strongest witches ever to grace this earth.” Snapping her eyes down to meet mine, I watch her seemingly peaceful face morph into an awful sneer before she says, “However, her kindness weakened her. That weakness is what caused me to lose her.”

Swallowing my rising fear, I push myself to ask, “What happened to her?”

Without moving her feet, she seems to glide toward me, not stopping until she is right in front of me. Leaning down so that we are nose to nose, she snaps out, “Your mate’s great-grandfather is what happened.” She says it with so much anger behind her words that I can literally feel the spittle flying out of her mouth as it lands on my face.

Sucking back a deep breath, I resist the urge to fight against my invisible bonds, wanting to wipe her nastiness off of my face. Slowly releasing the breath, I say, “I don’t understand. What did he do to her? If her powers were so strong, how could he hurt her?”

Rolling her eyes, she steps back. Before I can even blink, she backhands me across the face again. Only, this time, she hits the opposite side with such force that I actually feel my own teeth bite through my tongue.

“Oh, that bastard didn’t do anything to her, not in the way you’re thinking, anyway.  No, he did something that in our world is far, far worse. He mated her. He mated my baby behind everyone’s backs. He stole her right out from under me. Not only did he steal her from me, but he stole her from Nairn,” she snarls, fisting her hands by her side. “She was to be mated to one of the most powerful warlocks in all of the realms. Instead, she ended up with a shifter. The second that bastard had her complete the mating bond, he put a death mark directly on my back.”

She goes silent for a second. Hoping to keep her talking, I say, “I don’t understand.”

She jerks her eyes to me, looking at me with utter disgust. “Their bond broke her arranged bond with Nairn. That, my dear, is something no witch will ever get away with. Not only would Nairn have had me imprisoned and tortured for eternity, but my Moira would have suffered even worse torture.”

Walking around to the back of the chair, she wraps her fingers in my hair. She gives my head a brutal yank backwards. My neck wrenches back so hard, I feel the tendons pop and snap as my body struggles to resist the unnatural angle that she is forcing upon it.