Ella’s POV When | cthrough again, there was a bright light shining in my eyes. | winced away; pain seared through my body and hissed in agony. | jerked away from the firm hands that were grasping me.
| felt a blow against the side of my face, and | knew it had to have been someone’s hand. Shit me. | felt a warm liquid oozing down the side of my face and instantly smelled my own blood. My body quivered and shook in agony. | could see my wolf in my mind's eye, and she was cowering against a corner, not wanting to speak, but also not wanting to leave me. | could see the pain in her eyes though; it was the wolfsbane. It was hurting her terribly.
“Id like to do a proper examination of her,” said a gentle voice. My vision cleared only slightly, and | saw a tall woman standing before me. Or maybe she just seemed tall because | was being pressed to the ground.
But she wore a white doctor's coat with a blue blazer underneath. She had long blond hair and fair skin; when she looked down at me, | saw her emerald, green eyes that were practically glowing and her long lashes that nearly touched the glass of her silver-framed glasses.
From the silver, she definitely wasn’t a wolf.
She was pretty though, and she looked gentle. She was speaking to someone | couldn't quite see. | wasn’t sure if | was still in the dark, or if it was just my vision, either or, | couldn't tell where | was.
But | could now feel my body and | could move. If these assholes holdingwould allowto move that is. But they were pressinghard into the ground; | could hardly breathe. They were treatinglike a rabid animal.
Like | was a beast they couldn't tame.
“You can do the examination here,” a familiar voice seethed.
It was Jazzy; | knew her voice almost immediately. She was standing nearby, speaking to this woman. I'm assuming this woman was a doctor of ssort, but she wasn’t a human. Maybe a witch? She could be a healer.
“Not properly | can’t. | need my clinic. It has technology that you could only dream about. | would be able to do a full examination and get you a report on her health in only a few hours,” the woman explained; she sounded almost desperate and eager.
It worried me.
Jazzy was quiet for a moment.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“It's not necessary,” she muttered.
‘It is if you want your spell to work. If her blood is tainted or if she’s ill, it won't work,” the woman said in return.
“Jazzy, | have been your healer for over a century. When will you learn to trust me?” There was no response at first; for a moment, | thought maybe Jazzy had walked away. But then she spoke again, and | felt my body shuddering.
“Fine. You have 3 hours. Then | want her back in this cage. Give her more wolfsbane to be sure she doesn’t try anything stupid.” “Yes, mam,” one of the men holdingsaid.
| felt a sting in my neck and then it felt like my entire body was on fire again. | wanted to scream, but the pain was too much. They wouldn't letgo; as much as | struggled, they wouldn't release me.
The last thing | thought about before everything went black was, “Colton...." When | opened my eyes, | instantly wished I could black out again. | moved my arm and pain seized my flesh. | screamed in agony and looked down to see that a silver cuff was wrapped around both my wrists.
When | moved my legs, more pain consumed me, and | realized | was cuffed at my feet too. | was completely chained down on this bed.
The worst part was... | was completely naked.
However, | was more alert than | was previously. Which meant whatever they gaveto makefeel numb and out of it was wearing off.
| heard the clicking of shoes and it was coming closer. | wanted to struggle and try to break free from these chains that bound me, but | knew if | did then it would only causemore pain. | was so weak, and | was so exhausted; | didn’t want any more pain right now.
“Oh, you're awake,” the sgentle voice from earlier said as she approached.
| looked up to see that healer lady walking toward me.
“I'm Dr. Hannah Laureen,” she said gently, givinga small smile. “You can callHannah if you'd like.” “Where am I?” | found myself asking, surprised that | could even speak.
She looked surprised too but then she smiled.
“I'm afraid | can’t tell you exactly where you are. But you are inside of my clinic right now. I've been monitoring and examining you for quite stnow.” “W...why?” | struggled to ask that question; | wasn’t even sure | wanted to know the reason.
“Jazzy wants to use you to create a Volana vessel,” she answered simply as if she were ordering pizza. “But she wouldn't be able to do that if you were unwell or tainted.” “A Volana vessel?” | croaked. “Why me?” She raised her brows atas if she was genuinely surprised that | didn’t know the answer.
“Because you are the strongest Volana to ever exist,” she answered, narrowing her eyes at me. “Which means, she can create the strongest vessel to ever exist.” The strongest Volana? I'm not the strongest Volana. | just started to be able to control my abilities. I'm still learning. I'm still young. My mother was way better than | was.
| couldn’t be the strongest Volana to ever exist. | would have laughed if | wasn’t so uncomfortable.
“So, she’s going to turninto a vessel so | can do her bidding?” | asked bitterly.
This made Dr. Hannah Laureen laugh.
“Oh, goddess no. You are just the Volana used as the sacrifice. She has another body for that.” | suddenly felt cold.
She was going to use someone else as the sacrifice? Who? | wanted to ask, but | couldn't even get the words out of my mouth. | felt uneasy and my stomach clenched.
| just wanted to go home; | wanted to get back to my mate. My wolf was whining and there was nothing | could do about it.
“I have most of your medical tests done. You seem very healthy. I'm pleased by that,” she said fondly. “Your allergy list will take a little longer. | should get results within the next day or so. But other than that, I'm pleased with what | see.” “I want to go home,” | muttered, wanting to struggle against the chains. But not wanting to causeany more pain.
She frowned.
“I'm afraid that’s not possible. Jazzy needs you as a sacrifice for Monday's ritual.” “Monday?” | whispered. | knew they had takenon a Saturday which was when the banquet was held.
Oh, goddess... the banquet. Everybody was going to be so worried. Did they even know | was missing? “Monday is when the red full moon is,” she explained. “It's the only tthat this spell will work.” “What spell?” | demanded to know.
She sighed.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“It's not important,” she said, shaking her head at me. “All you need to know is that Jazzy is the boss. What she says goes. If you go against her, she will hurt you in ways that will make you wish you were dead.” | shuddered at the thought, thinking about earlier when | felt that terrible pain. | didn’t want to feel that again. | glanced at the cuffs that were wrapped around my wrists and legs.
“Can we get rid of these?” | asked, hearing the strain in my voice. “They hurt...” She frowned and glanced at the cuffs before shaking her head.
“For my safety... | can’t remove those,” she answered.
“Do you seriously think I’m strong enough to do anything?” | asked, staring up at her pointedly.
She only shrugged.
“You are the strongest Volcano wolf to ever exist. | can’t take the risk.” A growl escaped my throat and this t| knew it was my wolf; she was awake, and she was angry.
Val being awake meant the wolfsbane was wearing off, or maybe this was a different kind of wolfbane that allowed her to be active.
“I think it’s skind of enchantment...” Val said, almost hoarsely. “It doesn’t feel right. I'm able to speak to you...maybe even shift. But | wouldn't be strong or fast. | also don’t think | can use my abilities... I'm useless.” “You aren't useless,” | told her my wolf firmly.
“It’s definitely a different type of wolfsbane...” she continued. “Or—" “Dark magic,” | finished for her.
“Dark magic,” she repeated, confirming.
| didn’t understand why they’d want my wolf to still be active... but powerless.
“I just got an alert that your blood work is in,” Hannah said, turning away. “I'll be back.” She was only gone for a moment; | hadn't seen her take out a phone or anything, so | wondered how they alerted her so quickly.
She returned moments later with sdocuments in her hands. She was staring at them curiously and then she frowned deeply.
“That's something | certainly wasn’t expecting. However, it makes a lot more sense,” she said, glancing atlike she was studying something before looking back at the documents. “I was curious about that... oh well, I'll have to speak to Jazzy about this right away. It shouldn’t be an issue... just might need to tread carefully going forward,” she said, shaking her head as she placed the documents down.
What was she talking about? What made more sense? “I'll get the rogue guards to bring you back to the cell now. I'm done.” Rogue guards? They were using rogues? | felt disgusted knowing rogues had their hands all over me. | squirmed uncomfortably but | wanted to know what her earlier statement meant.
“What weren't you expecting?” | asked. “What makes more sense? Is something wrong with me?” She looked atcuriously, almost surprised looking.“Oh, you don’t know?” She asked, raising her brows.“Know what?” | asked, aggravation clear in my voice.
“You're pregnant,” she answered simply. “With twins.”