Epsilon [Werewolf]

Chapter 67

Kyra

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Not much changed after I'd woken up from my concussion. Aside from an egg-size welt in the back of my head and a throbbing headache, I was relatively fine.

Alia and Zion had been relieved. Zion had asked me a few basic questions -- what my name was, what his name was, where we were. I told him to cut the bullshit and that I was fine, that I'd gained no serious injury. He'd smiled at that, of course, but concern still glimmered there. I couldn't blame him, and in truth, I was feeling a lot of brain fog.

Azriel, too, had been relieved -- along with very apologetic. He'd rushed in the moment I woke up, dropping to his knees and asking for my forgiveness, waxing lyrical about how he couldn't believe he'd do something like that, that it was an accident. I'd stayed wholly silent, trying not to react to his words. I figured that maybe, if I tried hard enough, he would presume I'd gained major head trauma and never lay a hand on me again. Of course, that was just wishful thinking.

'I'm sorry, my dear,' his words boomed into my mind for the umpteenth time. I looked around my empty cell, and I could almost envision his slouched form before me. What I hated perhaps more than this false mate bond was how he could send words down it whenever he pleased, as though he were right there, yelling them into my ear. I'd been tempted more than once to tell him to fuck off, but I knew I had to keep up my unresponsive exterior. Perhaps it would buy me a little time. For what? I didn't know.

Still, that didn't stop him from bringing me out of my cell, having me washed and scrubbed raw to be presented before the court. I'd kept my words to myself. Anything I had spoken were under Azriel's iron force. That day at breakfast, when I'd deigned to react to his proclamation of love for the sixth time, I could tell it was really starting to worry him.

When everyone departed, I too ducked through those wooden doors, beginning my rounds of the court while Azriel kept me firm in those iron-hard bonds. I had settled for a white bench in the courtyard, positioned in the corner and out of the way. People usually didn't notice me when I sat there. That was until a cascade of familiar golden curls bobbed in my direction. 

"Luna Kyra!" Raina called, rushing over. I could see the amusement in her eyes of having to call me Luna. She did it as a front, of course, but never used the title formally while we were in private. It was a small reprieve in this world of nightmares.

"Raina," I said in response, straining to even say her name against the bond. It seemed Azriel had limited me to the basics -- greetings, small talk, but nothing more. "What brings you here?"

She stopped a few feet away, a faint rosy glow painting her porcelain cheeks.

"I just want to have a little chit-chat, Kyra!" She said, making sure to keep her voice low. "Besides, there is so much court gossip I need to fill you in on right now."

I gave her my nicest smile, though any smile felt bitter nowadays. "Oh?"

The girl breezed towards the bench, settling beside me. I noticed how a few of the courts people throwing looks our way, despite trying to hide it. Some even looked jealous of Raina. 

It was something I'd never noticed before, but then again, I had found myself noticing a lot more of late. Perhaps being forced into the background -- both within my own head and physically -- had made me more aware of my surroundings.