Chapter 11 Ch 11

I couldn't even scream from the amount of shock I felt. My cries stayed locked down in my throat while I felt Basileus' fangs burrowed in my neck. The torment only lasted a few seconds before his head lifted. Blood dripped off his chin and onto the bed. A blank, dazed look colored his obsidian eyes. Finally, I found my voice and released a scream.

The fog in his eyes seemed to instantly disappear. He took me in, licking up the blood. When he realized it was mine, he shoved himself away from the bed. It was so strange to watch his burly figure of fur and muscle bumble so disgracefully.

"Flower—"

"Get the hell away from me!" I yelled.

More blood was oozing from the gaping fucking hole in my neck but the adrenaline continued to pump. Was I dying?

"I can heal you—"

"Just go," I ordered. I sounded deadly to my own ears, even though I had no strength to defend myself. Not in comparison to his strapping body.

Basileus whimpered but left. I stayed frozen on the bed, abandoned to wonder if I was going to bleed out. My eyes watered. I never wanted any of this. Why did I fail Peter? Why did I run like an idiot? I never learned.

Never trust anyone. Never trust a wolf. They will always hurt you in the end, I reminded myself.

The hotel door opened and I didn't have the strength to cower. Lee ran in. Her panicked eyes found me before she hustled to my side.

"Oh my God," she whispered, touching my shoulder that was now soaked in blood. "He marked you? Why the hell . . . Shit."

I stiffened when she leaned in closer to my wound. Some irrational fear believed she was going to sink her teeth into my neck, too.

"I won't hurt you," she said. "Angelica should be on her way."

She took my hand into hers. At first, I thought she was trying to comfort me, but then I realized she was feeling my wrist for a pulse.

"Am I dying?" I whimpered.

"No. He marked you, that's all."

Marked? I felt my stomach pitch angrily and bile rose up in my throat. Before I could spew it out, the acidic wave sunk back into my stomach. Everything was so dim and my neck fucking hurt.

"What—what does that mean?" It took nearly all of my remaining energy to push those words out of my throat.

Lee heaved a sigh. "A wolf marks his mate to signify the bond to other wolves. Lycans don't have mates, so I'm not sure what the significance of his bite means to him."

That sounded idiotic to me. Who decided to bite the hell out of their soulmate to make sure everyone else knew they were taken? I moaned as the wound throbbed. Heat flushed up my body. The only other time I'd felt this level of discomfort was when I passed out giving blood.

"She's here!" I heard Lee shout, realizing I'd gone under for a moment.

Soon a pair of cold hands were on me, comforting against my flushed skin. I couldn't open my eyes anymore.

"It's a marking," Angelica's voice spoke through the choppy waters of my mind. "There's nothing I can do."

"How? He's not a wolf! I thought he was only acting like this because she was ovulating? This is too much like mate behavior to be anything else."

There was quiet and I almost thought I'd passed out again when Angelica finally answered her.

"He can't have a mate," she said. "It shouldn't be possible. Unless . . . Nature has intervened? I don't think there's any other way this could have happened. All we know right now is that she has been chosen, and that means Nature is in control."

–(—)–

"If I pass out one more fucking time," I threatened groggily.

Tandan stood over me with a scowl. He wasn't exactly the image I wanted to wake up to.

"If I have to babysit one more fucking time," he mimicked me with a sour face.

"Where's Lee?"

Scoffing, he sat on the edge of the bed. His hands ran a messy trail through his hair as he said, "Ridiculing the boss."

"Basileus?"

"Obviously. You're slow for a human, you know that?"

I cut my eyes at him and pushed myself up to sit. To my surprise, I felt a thousand times better than I had the last time I was awake. My neck didn't even hurt. I reached up to touch it but Tandan smacked my hand away.

"That's gross," he said. "Don't touch it."

"You're gross," I snapped back.

We glared at each other until a smirk spread across his lips. "It's too bad you're probably gonna die. You're fun to mess with."

"I'm gonna die?" My voice was sapped of humor. "Holy shit, I'm gonna—"

"I'm kidding. Basileus won't let you die."

"He's the one who bit me!"

He shrugged. "Anyway. Lee went to beat his ass. They'll be back."

Back. He's coming back. My chest tightened in panic. I jumped up from the bed and looked at the door. Tandan moved into my path, brows furrowed.

"What do you think you're doing?"

My gaze snapped to him. "I can't. I can't wait for him to come back," I said, fighting the weakness in my voice. "He'll hurt me again. I know how this goes. I have to leave—"

Tandan grabbed my arms when I attempted to move around him. I didn't bother shaking him. He was a lot stronger than me.

"You can't leave," he scolded. "What do you think would happen then? He'd kill everyone in the fucking way. Haven't you realized that by now? You can't keep running, Anna. Listen to me, damn it."

I knew he was right. That didn't make running any less appealing as an option. Pursing my lips, I sat back on the bed. "So I'm supposed to just sit here and take it?"

He released his grip on my arms but didn't sit with me.

"Yes," he said. "There's nothing else you can do. Lee and I are going to do our best to make sure he doesn't actually hurt you. But you're—"

"'Actually' hurt me?" I yelled. "You don't think this bite in my neck was him actually hurting me?"

Heaving a deep breath, he shook his hair. The dark strands fell across his tanned forehead. "I know it was painful. I mean his intentions. He didn't intend to hurt you. The mark is a weird thing . . . it makes a mate do weird things."

"Is that why you and Lee are always weird around each other? She doesn't have a scar on her neck, though."

His eyes went wide at my comment. I regretted what I said the moment his shock melded into anger.

"Lee and I are complicated. We have a past that isn't normal for mates."

"What happened?"

"I'm not here to tell you that," he hissed. "And it's actually none of your damn business."

I lifted my hands up. "You're right. Just curious. Guess I'm not the only one in a fucked up situation."

He shrugged stiffly.

There was a knock at the door before it swung open. Lee walked in. She looked anxious.

"He's hunting again," she told us. "I couldn't find him. He should be back tonight, though. We'll get him to talk."

I sunk back onto the bed. My prisoner status would not be changing anytime soon then. Damn.