Reborn in Blood
MARA
It was 9:30pm in Halecrest pack hospital.
“Get up, Mara.” Aiden shoved me so hard my back hit the bed frame before I crashed onto the floor. “You are so selfish. Just two bags of blood and you are acting like we are killing you. You have plenty. All the food you have eaten in our house.”
My fingers curled into my shirt as I crouched on the cold tiles, my body shaking from weakness and fear.
“Brother Aiden, I do not know why we are wasting time here. Kendall will die if we keep waiting for her permission,” Jace said quietly from the wall.
“I agree,” Aiden replied without even looking at me.
My head shook weakly. They had already carved pieces out of me. Bone marrow, liver fragments, anything the doctors said might help Kendall survive. I barely had strength left to stand. The doctor had warned them, but the Halecrest brothers did not care.
“No.”
Aiden’s head snapped toward me. “How dare you say no to us? You are nothing but a defect Omega our grandfather wants us to mate with.” His lip curled. “If you want one of us, you better do as we say.”
Jace opened the door. “Come in and take her.”
The doctors moved toward me, but I screamed, my voice breaking.
“No.” For the first time, I fought back. “I will not say yes. I refuse to give my blood to Kendall.”
My hand pressed lightly over my stomach. Jace’s eyes caught the movement. He knew. He knew I was carrying his child.
He walked up to me, grabbed a fistful of my hair, and forced my face up to his.
For seven months, I had endured everything. Humiliation. Insults. Chores meant to break me. As a she wolf without a wolf, the Halecrest home had been my last resort. A roof was better than sleeping on the streets. Or so I thought.
“Who said you have a choice” Jace hissed before leaning close to my ear. “Give the blood they want and maybe I will be merciful enough to claim you. Besides, your brother….”
My lips parted, eyes burning.
I had genuinely believed he cared. I was a fool.
“Now,” he said, straightening. “Will you save Kendall or not?”
Every part of me screamed no, but the thought of losing my little brother cut through me. My legs shook as I sank to my knees, arms curling around my stomach instinctively.
“I… I will do it,” I whispered as tears streamed down my face.
Aiden smirked. “Good girl.”
Hours passed like a nightmare in slow motion. The room smelled of antiseptic and iron, my veins screaming from the constant draining. My arms ached, my head throbbed and each breath I took felt heavier than the last. Yet none of them notice. Or rather they didn't care. Their focus was only on Kendall.
Kendall. Always fragile. Always sickly. My eyes darted to where she laid. Her pale skin glowed under the soft hospital lights, her weak smile tugging at me as she looked at her brothers.
I barely had the strength to sit upright, but I forced myself to watch. They looked like the perfect family. Tomorrow Kendall would become the Wolf King's bride while I…I would still be living in this hell.
Suddenly, a sharp wave of dizziness. My heart raced. My chest burned making me clutch my arm. Something wasn't right.
“N-nurse…” I called weakly but there was no answer.
I wanted to call out again when Jace stepped in, his eyes cold as they locked unto me.
“You don't look so well,” he said, his tone deceptively calm as he adjusted his glasses.
I gasped, clutching my arms to my chest. “Something’s… wrong. I—I feel…”
He tilted his head, studying me with that unnerving calm that always made my skin crawl.
“Poisoned?” he murmured, almost mockingly. “Can't breathe? Maybe that's because I asked the nurse to slip in a huge amount of pea protein into your drink earlier.”
My breath hitched.. I was allergic.
For a second, I couldn’t even process the words. I just stared at Jace as he stepped closer like he had all the time in the world.
“You really thought,” he said, bending slightly, “that I would marry you? Keep dreaming. Kendall will marry the Alpha King and you? You will die here tonight.”
I fell to the ground as my throat already started to close up. My hands clawed for the nurse's call button but I fell. Just then, Jace stepped on my hand making me look at him.
“Why? I…I did what you wanted. I gave you my blood. I gave Kendall—” I gagged as I struggled to breathe.
I fell to the ground, struggling but Jace didn't even do anything to help. He just watched me, chuckling like some psychopath.
“Nothing is wrong with Kendall. All this…it was planned so I could finally get rid of you. You really don't know your place. How dare you get pregnant?” He asked, staring at me like I was dirt.
Tears streaked down my face as I felt myself slipping. The thought of revenge clawed at me but it was already too late. I'd trusted him like a fool.
“Holy Moon goddess,” I whispered weakly as the darkness took me.
*****************************************
“Mara,” a voice called out softly for me.
I shot upright with a gasp, clutching the bedsheets as if they were the only thing grounding me to this world. My heart pounded as I glanced around the room.
I wasn't dead. I was… breathing.
“Mara?”
I jerked my head toward the sound.
Alpha Jordan Halecrest sat in a chair beside my bed, his large hands folded over a cane. His sharp eyes, eyes everyone feared, were fixed on me with something I’d never seen before.
Concern.
“Child,” he murmured, leaning forward. “Are you alright? Do you feel better?”
My mouth trembled. “I… I don’t…” My voice cracked. “Where am I?”
“You’re safe.” he said. “Actually, you're in my house. After we arrived, you suddenly fainted. Poor child, you must be malnourished.”
“Fainted?”
I swallowed, confused, shaking. None of this made sense. This wasn’t the same hospital room. The sterile smell was there but everything was different.
Had it all been a dream?
I glanced around searching for my brother. He stood at the corner, his eyes filled with the same concern as Alpha Jordan. Just then, I stared at the brothers. They were also here. After everything they did at the hospital, how could still show up in front of me?
“Grandfather! I have good news!” Kendall's voice echoed as she opened the door.
Her brothers immediately flocked around her, holding her hands as she entered.
“Silas Saint has agreed to come for our Christmas dinner.”
I froze.
“He said that it's the only day he has time. Grandfather, is this not great news?” I muttered under my breath following Kendall as she spoke.
It had not been a dream.
What was going on? Did I really go back in time?