Reclaiming Her Heart

Chapter 26 - Victoria

Adam

I hated doing this. Putting her through this again. Forcing her to remember such tragic and traumatizing moments from her past.

We had done this before, during her time hunting Elam. Her pain and torment wasn't any easier to swallow the second time around. If anything, it was harder.

Though, I was more prepared this time, knowing just how badly she could react. Knowing just how triggering it could be.

My wolf and I were dug like a tick in her mind, privy to everything she experienced. When she came out of the memory with Hans, she called out her safe word.

I hadn't expected anything else.

Gently, I set her on the edge of the bed and took the blindfold off first. My mind brushing hers gently as I concentrated on her deeper, more turbulent emotions. However, she wasn't responding to this like she did the last time. She just seemed more... Broken. Like her spirit had been extinguished.

There was little to no fight left.

This worried me more.

After untying her, I handed her a glass of blood and instructed her to finish it as I cleaned up. Picking her up, we settled on the bed. Pulling her into me, I gave her some time to work through everything before opening the floor up for discussion.

"I knew Hans wasn't my real father," she confessed. "The Lykaios alpha said as much, indicating he was my father."

I could feel the question forming at the edges of her mind and decided to answer it. "Lucien, at his time of death, indicated a cousin of his could be your father. He said he didn't give you up to him, because he was selfish. You came to Lucien during a time when he needed a reason to live. You gave him that, Jadea."

Within her chest, her heart fractured a bit more. "He called for Ariat's help when we were faced with Elam's army, knowing Ariat would recognize me. Knowing there was the possibility he could lose me," she breathed through tears. "Yet, he did it because we needed help to defeat Elam."

"He loved you enough, he was willing to risk all to lose you. He knew you needed more warriors. That calling Ariat could be the first step to something greater." I wasn't sure exactly where she was going with this line of thought. And so I quieted and waited.

"I didn't want to believe Ariat when he first told me," she confessed. "It just didn't seem, real. However, there's no denying it now." The violence, the hatred and vengefulness of Hans and Harley was a lot to take in. Her sobs over what they'd done tore through her, and ultimately, shredded my heart in the process.

She mourned Benji. She mourned the loss of womanhood because it was due to such abhorrent and unfair circumstances.

During all of this, I still couldn't get over how submissive she was being. It didn't seem right. My wolf and I were wary of it, but we weren't sure what to do about it.

When she calmed down, and was starting to relax into slumber, she said, "This wasn't the memory I was hoping to have. Though, I am grateful for it all the same. You did a good job leading and executing the scene," she praised, those beautiful light-green eyes looking up into mine. "Thank you."

"Of course, baby girl. Why don't you try to get some rest?" I curled my fingers into her hair and gently massaged her scalp. Just the way she liked it.

She sighed softly in contentment, her eyes drifting closed. Her breathing evening out, her heart slowing down.

She's still not here, my wolf whispered, worried. Speaking about her wolf. We expected her wolf to react violently to the memories of Hans and Harley, in an attempt to protect her. But, her wolf was a no show.

"Sing to me," Jadea requested softly. There was no way I could tell her no.

As I sang her a soft lullaby, she dove into a deep, dreamless slumber.

While she slept, I stayed awake, soaking up this time with her. While we were together in the cabin, we hadn't been physically close like this. She wasn't ready to be this vulnerable with me unless it was during aftercare. While it was a softer limit of hers, I didn't want to cross a boundary and lose this small amount of time with her.

It took an hour before I felt like I was crossing a line.

Sighing, I picked her up and tucked her into her own bed. She didn't wake up, which was probably a good thing. I prayed she would be able to get some real rest tonight. She needed it desperately.

With one last lingering caress to her cheek, I made my way out of the cabin. Stripping, I took to the perimeter, needing the monotony of the run to help ease my own insecurities and demons.

We will get through this together. For her, my wolf soothed.

Yes, we would. I agreed, and continued on. I ran until we felt the intense and savage emotions ripping through Jadea, bleeding into our connection.

***

Jadea

I was coasting on the comforting tendrils of sleep, moving through the dreamless landscape until my mind forcefully dumped me right into the middle of my traumatic childhood home.

I was cowering in the basement, where my father had thrown me to keep me from getting underfoot and becoming an embarrassment during Pappy Elam's ceremony.

Pappy Elam arrived earlier that morning. I'd heard him praise Harley and dote upon him. He asked Hans where I was, though Hans re-directed him to other matters, distracting him so he would hopefully forget about me. Which was fine by me. The less I was involved with the ceremony, the less I would incite my father's ire.

As the day passed, more packs showed up. Alphas who supported Elam and his cause swore oaths to him. Other, powerful immortals came as well. Around dusk, Silas—my mother's brother—told Elam he would not stand behind his depraved and nefarious acts. He did not agree with Elam's cause or what he stood for. There was a lot of shouting. Things were broken as a scuffle ensued in the house.

"If you step foot outside that door," Elam's malicious voice rent the air. "You will lose the most precious thing you hold dear. You and your pack belong to me! You are my son! You are of my blood! If you leave you will become the enemy!"

Silas didn't take Elam's rants to heart. He left.

Pappy Elam had been beyond irate.

Not long after, I heard whimpering from a scared girl.

"You were able to retrieve her, good," Pappy Elam praised Hans. "Silas is going to learn what it means to double-cross me. To choose anything other than family. Prepare her for the ceremony," he ordered.

I heard them drag her outside. I don't know why, but I ran to the small window that was high up on the wall—that was at ground level—and searched for their captive. I wanted to know who they captured.

I started when a young woman, about sixteen or seventeen, was thrown on the ground directly in front of the window. Her wild and scared gaze had the same light green eyes as Silas. The same that were passed down from Pappy Elam. Her hair was platinum blond, long and braided intricately. Wisps of it framed her beautiful heart-shaped face. She was gagged, her hands bound tightly behind her back. She was screaming and flailing. Tears of fear and terror falling from her eyes.

This was Silas's daughter, his eldest child: Victoria.

I watched on in abject horror as some of Elam's followers hoisted her up, stripped her, and forced her into a very simple white dress. They tore at her hair until the braids were all undone.

And then she was dragged, kicking and screaming to the center of the demonic symbols drawn into the ground. Long, magically imbued stakes were nailed through her hands, shoulders and feet to inflict the maximum amount of pain while keeping her still. And then, the demonic ceremony commenced. Scary shadows silhouetted by fire danced around Victoria. There were all walks of life dancing and celebrating: vampires, wolves, demons, even fae. I didn't remember much of the ritual, my memories a bit splotchy. Probably because I had been so scared, I'd blocked out most of the memories for my own preservation.

But there was one memory I couldn't escape. The one of Victoria laying in the middle of the demonic symbols. Her blood staining the ground. Her middle ripped open, her guts spilling out. Her eyes glazed over in death.

Her life had been sacrificed, and it had been brutal. Dark magic was used. And Pappy Elam, with his white hair and light, crazed green eyes, blazing from the kill. Her blood dripping down his face and chest as the fire surrounded him. And to a child, he looked worse than a nightmare. He looked like a soulless devil...

As the ceremony drew to a close, Silas's agonized screams filled the air when his search for his missing daughter led him straight to his father. His daughter had been sacrificed out of spite and hatred. Elam kept his promise: Silas lost his most prized possession. His daughter.

Silas fell to his knees, pulling his daughter into his arms, his cries the most haunting thing about that night.