Mated To My Bullies

Chapter 12: "The Price of Power"

Stephen's POV

The first thing I felt when consciousness returned was pain. Not the sharp, clean pain of a blade or claw, but something deeper. Something broken inside that would never heal right. My wolf whimpered in the back of my mind, weak and fragmented, like a shadow of what it used to be.

I opened my eyes to find myself in the medical wing of our family compound. White walls, sterile smell, the steady beep of machines. But what caught my attention wasn't the bandages wrapped around my torso or the IV drip in my arm. It was Maya, sitting in a chair beside my bed, her dark eyes watching me with an expression I couldn't read.

"You're awake." Her voice was different now. Colder. The serum Marcus had pumped into her had changed more than just her strength.

I tried to sit up and immediately regretted it. My body screamed in protest, muscles refusing to obey properly. "How long?"

"Three days." Maya leaned back, arms crossed. "Your brothers have been taking turns watching you. Karl thinks you might die. Nathan's placing bets on how long you'll last. Elijah just sits there and stares at the wall."

"And you?" The question came out rougher than I intended.

She was quiet for a long moment. "I think you're angry at me."

She wasn't wrong. The anger burned in my chest, competing with the physical pain. "You destroyed everything."

"I saved your lives."

"You saved our lives by becoming exactly what Marcus wanted you to be." I forced myself to sit up despite the agony. "Do you even understand what you did in that arena? You killed twelve wolves without blinking. You moved like death itself."

Maya's jaw tightened. "Would you rather I let them tear you apart? Let Marcus win?"

"I'd rather my mate didn't turn into a monster."

The words hit her like a physical blow. I saw her flinch, saw something flicker in those dark eyes before the cold mask slipped back into place.

"Maybe I always was one," she said quietly. "Maybe you just never noticed because you were too busy being one yourself."

Before I could respond, the door burst open. Karl strode in, his face twisted with frustration. Nathan and Elijah followed close behind, both looking like they'd rather be anywhere else.

"Finally awake," Karl said, not sounding particularly relieved. "We need to talk. All of us."

"About what?" I asked, though I had a feeling I knew.

Karl gestured toward Maya. "About her. About what she's become. About whether she's worth the trouble she's bringing down on this pack."

Maya stood slowly, and I noticed something I'd missed before. She moved carefully, deliberately, like every motion cost her something. "I'm right here. If you have something to say, say it to me."

"Fine." Karl's eyes blazed with anger. "You've brought nothing but chaos since the moment you arrived. Our father is furious about the Marcus situation. Other packs are asking questions about what happened in that arena. And now Stephen..." He gestured at me lying broken in the hospital bed. "Now our future alpha is permanently weakened because of you."

"Karl," Elijah warned, but his twin ignored him.

"No, it needs to be said. Look at him!" Karl's voice rose. "His wolf is shattered. He can barely sit up without help. He'll never be the same, and it's all because she couldn't control herself."

I felt my wolf stir weakly at the insult, but it was nothing compared to the surge of rage I felt at Karl's words. "Enough."

"Is it though?" Nathan spoke up from where he leaned against the wall. "I mean, he's not wrong. She's dangerous, Stephen. More dangerous than any of us realized."

Maya's hands clenched into fists at her sides. "I'm dangerous? I'm not the ones who cornered a defenseless girl and tried to assault her. I'm not the ones who bought another person like property. I didn't create this situation."

"But you're making it worse," Karl shot back. "Every day you're here, you bring more problems. More violence. More.."

"More truth?" Maya's voice cut through his tirade like a blade. "More consequences for your actions? More proof that you can't just take what you want without paying for it?"

The tension in the room was suffocating. I could feel my brothers' wolves responding to the conflict, to Maya's barely controlled power. Even weakened, I could sense the serum-enhanced strength radiating from her. It was intoxicating and terrifying in equal measure.

"Stop," I said, my voice carrying what little alpha authority I had left. "All of you, just stop."

They fell silent, but the anger remained. I looked at each of them in turn. Karl, furious and frightened though he'd never admit it. Nathan, calculating and cold as always. Elijah, torn between loyalty to his brothers and something else I couldn't name. And Maya, standing apart from all of us like a force of nature barely contained.

"The truth is," I said slowly, each word deliberate, "we're all responsible for this mess. We created Maya just as much as Marcus did. We pushed her into that corner, and now we don't like what came out."

"Stephen..." Maya's voice was softer now, uncertain.

I met her eyes. "But Karl's not wrong either. You are dangerous. Whatever that serum did to you, it's changing you in ways we don't understand."

"I'm still me," she whispered.

"Are you?" I asked. "Because the Maya I knew three days ago couldn't kill without feeling anything. The Maya I knew couldn't break reinforced glass with her bare hands. The Maya I knew didn't look at people like she was deciding which way to break their necks."

I saw her flinch again, saw her wrap her arms around herself in a gesture that was achingly familiar. For just a moment, she looked like the scared girl we'd first brought here. Then the mask was back.

"Maybe that Maya was weak," she said. "Maybe she needed to die so the rest of us could survive."

The words hung in the air between us, heavy with implication. I wanted to argue, to tell her she was wrong. But looking at her now, seeing the power coiled in her small frame, the coldness in her eyes, I wondered if she might be right.

"The pack elders are calling for a meeting," Karl said into the silence. "They want to know what we're going to do about her. About the attention we're drawing. About the fact that our future alpha is..." He gestured vaguely at my broken form.

"What attention?" Maya asked.

Nathan pushed off from the wall. "Three other packs have sent messengers asking about what happened at Marcus's compound. Word is spreading about a wolf who can do what you did. Some are curious. Others are scared. None of that is good for us."

I felt a chill that had nothing to do with my injuries. If other packs were taking an interest in Maya, in her abilities... "What are they saying?"

"That she's an abomination," Karl said bluntly. "That the serum Marcus gave her has turned her into something that shouldn't exist. That she's a threat to the natural order."

Maya laughed, but there was no humor in it. "The natural order? You mean the one where strong wolves prey on the weak? Where females can be sold like cattle? That natural order?"

"Maya," Elijah spoke for the first time, his voice gentle. "Maybe you should rest. You look—"

"I look what?" She turned toward him, and I saw something that made my blood run cold. There was a darkness in her eyes, something that hadn't been there before. Something hungry.

Elijah took a step back. "Tired. You look tired."

Maya started to respond, but the words turned into a cough. Then another. Then she was doubled over, her whole body convulsing as she fought for breath.

"Maya!" I tried to get out of bed, but my body betrayed me, muscles cramping with the effort.

She straightened slowly, one hand pressed to her mouth. When she pulled it away, her palm was stained with bright red blood.

We all stared at her in shock. Nathan was the first to recover. "The serum. It's killing you, isn't it?"

Maya wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, leaving another streak of red. "It's not killing me. It's making me stronger."

"Maya..." I whispered.

She looked at me then, and for just a moment, I saw through the mask to the girl underneath. Scared. Alone. Dying by inches and trying to pretend she wasn't.

"I'm fine," she said, but her voice was weaker now. "I just need.."

She never finished the sentence. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed, more blood spilling from her lips onto the pristine white floor.

"Get the pack doctor!" I shouted, ignoring the pain as I tried to get out of bed. "Now!"

But before anyone could move, we heard footsteps in the hallway outside. Heavy boots on marble floors. The scent hit us a moment later, wolf, but not one of ours. Foreign. Powerful. Dangerous.

Karl and Nathan immediately flanked the door, their wolves rising despite the situation with Maya. Elijah dropped to his knees beside her unconscious form, checking for a pulse.

The footsteps stopp

ed just outside our door.

"Well," a voice said from the hallway, cultured and amused. "This is certainly interesting."