The first thing I felt when consciousness crept back was pain—not the sharp, silver-laced agony from the whipping post, but a deep, bone-deep ache that seemed to pulse with every heartbeat. My eyelids felt heavy as lead, and when I finally managed to pry them open, harsh fluorescent light stabbed into my skull like needles.
White ceiling. White walls. The antiseptic smell of a hospital.
I was alive.
The realization hit me like a physical blow. I should be dead. I wanted to be dead. The mate bond rejection should have killed me, and if not that, then the blood loss from Marcus's whip certainly should have finished the job.
A shadow moved in my peripheral vision, and my entire body went rigid with terror.
Male. Tall. Broad shoulders. The scent hit me—unfamiliar, but undeniably masculine, tinged with the authority of a high-ranking wolf.
"No, no, no," I whispered, the words scraping my raw throat like broken glass. My hands scrambled against the hospital sheets, trying to push myself away from the approaching figure. "Please, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, don't—"
The man stopped immediately, his hands raised in what was probably meant to be a calming gesture, but all I could see were weapons. All men's hands were weapons.
"Stay back!" The scream tore from my chest, and I felt something pull in my back where the deepest lashes had cut. "Don't touch me, please don't touch me!"
Panic flooded my system like ice water. The heart monitor beside my bed began beeping frantically, matching the wild rhythm of my terror. I tried to get up, to run, to escape, but my legs wouldn't obey. They felt like water, useless and weak.
"Gabriel, step back," a quiet female voice said from somewhere near the door. "You're frightening her."
The male—Gabriel—immediately retreated, his footsteps growing distant. But I couldn't stop shaking. My whole body trembled like a leaf in a storm, and I pulled the thin hospital blanket up to my chin as if it could somehow protect me.
"Hello, sweetie." The voice was soft, gentle, unmistakably female. "My name is Maya. I'm a healer here. You're safe now."
I turned my head slowly, every muscle in my neck protesting the movement. A woman with kind brown eyes and graying hair approached my bed with deliberate, slow movements. Her hands were visible at all times, palms open, showing me she carried no threat.
"Where—" My voice cracked. "Where am I?"
"Blood Moon Pack territory," Maya said, settling into a chair beside my bed but maintaining careful distance. "You've been unconscious for three days. We weren't sure you were going to make it."
Blood Moon Pack. The name sent a chill through me. I'd heard stories—whispers about their Alpha King, about his power and ruthlessness. Had I escaped Marcus only to land in the territory of someone potentially worse?
"I need to leave," I whispered, trying again to sit up. The movement sent fire racing across my back, and I gasped, falling back against the pillows.
"You're not going anywhere for a while," Maya said firmly but kindly. "Your injuries were... extensive. The silver in that whip nearly killed you. Your body needs time to heal."
Silver. Of course Marcus had used silver. He'd wanted to make sure I suffered, that my wolf couldn't help me recover quickly.
"The Alpha King—" I started, fear making my voice shake.
"Has given strict orders that no male pack members are to come to this floor," Maya finished. "He was very clear about that after... well, after your reaction to Gabriel just now."
I stared at her, confusion cutting through my terror. "He's not angry?"
Maya's expression softened with something that looked like pity. "Angry? Honey, he's the one who found you at our borders. He carried you here himself, gave you his own blood when we thought we might lose you. If anything, he's angry at whoever did this to you."
The idea that someone—especially an Alpha—might be angry on my behalf rather than at me was so foreign I couldn't process it. Marcus had always said my pain was my own fault, that I brought his anger on myself through my failures.
"I don't understand," I whispered.
"You don't have to understand anything right now," Maya said gently. "You just need to focus on getting better. Are you hungry? Thirsty?"
As if summoned by her words, my stomach cramped with hunger. When was the last time I'd eaten? Before the whipping, certainly. Maybe the day before that.
I nodded hesitantly.
"Good. I'll have some broth brought up. Easy on your stomach after three days without food." Maya stood, her movements still slow and deliberate. "Is there anything else you need? Clean clothes? They had to cut away what you were wearing when you arrived."
The thought of being naked, vulnerable, sent another spike of panic through me. "Clothes," I managed. "Please."
"Of course. Elena—she's one of our female pack members—she's about your size. I'm sure she won't mind sharing."
Maya moved toward the door, then paused. "What should I call you? We didn't find any identification."
For a moment, I almost said my real name. But Celeste Rivers was broken, used, discarded. Celeste Rivers was the Luna who couldn't produce an heir, who'd been publicly humiliated and cast out. I didn't want to be her anymore.
"Emma," I said quietly. "Just... Emma."
Maya nodded without question. "Alright, Emma. I'll be back with food and clothes soon. Try to rest."
After she left, I lay in the silence of the hospital room, staring at the ceiling. Through the window, I could see trees swaying in the breeze, their leaves catching the afternoon sunlight. It looked peaceful. Safe.
But safety was an illusion I'd learned not to trust.
Footsteps in the hallway made me tense, but they passed by my door without stopping. Maya had said no males were allowed on this floor. The Alpha King had ordered it.
Why would he do that? What did he want from me?
In my experience, powerful men always wanted something. And when they didn't get it, they took it anyway.
I closed my eyes, exhaustion pulling at me despite my fear. My back throbbed with each breath, a constant reminder of what I'd escaped. But I was alive. Somehow, impossibly, I was alive.
And for the first time in years, no one was demanding anything from me.
It was a start.
