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“I know,” I whimper throughout the mind link.

“You disrespect me and my pack, and you think an apology will suddenly make up for it?” Zypher asks bitterly.

“I’m sorry, Zypher. I’m sorry,” I whimper.

“Oh… not nearly sorry enough,” he says. “But you will be.”

I hear the whip crack before I feel the stinging on my back. I shriek as pain floods my skin. He keeps lashing it across me from my shoulders to the backs of my knees while I scream at the top of my lungs. I beg him to stop, but he just keeps hitting me with all of the force he can muster up. I can smell a hint of blood in the air. I can hear my mates crying, begging Zypher to stop hitting me. Right now… I just want him to kill me. I want to pass out from the pain.Anythingto get me away from the feeling of fire on my skin.

When he finally stops, my body slumps, and I recognize myself from my vision. Morwen comes over and unhooks the restraints, causing me to drop to the ground. I curl myself up into the fetal position, tears streaming down my face as I tremble in pain. Zypher grabs me by the collar and forces me up onto my knees in front of him. I keep my head down, but sobs still shake through my body.

“Go lay on the table,” he spits out.

“Zypher, p-please,” I whimper.

“Go, Lilith. You need to be cleaned,” he says in a surprisingly soft tone. I have no desire to question this sudden mood change, so I do as I’m told. He holds his hand out to assist me in standing when I start to get up. I look at my mates, and they look just as confused as I do when he helps me to the table.

“Thank you,” I whisper. He doesn’t say anything as he picks me up and lays me across the cold table. He doesn’t restrain my wrists, so I rest my head on my arms and look at my mates.

“Can I trust you to not move from here while I go get some things to help you?” he asks, stroking my hair.

“I can hardly breathe, Zypher. I’m not going anywhere,” I choke out. I couldn’t run right now, even if I did want to leave my mates here.

“Good girl,” he says. He leans down and kisses my forehead and I recoil in disgust. Zypher and Morwen leave the room, and I finally allow myself to relax.

“Are you okay?”Daemon asks through our mind link.

“I’m in a lot of pain,”I reply simply.

“I’m so sorry. I wish we could do something to help,” Kael says.

“You all talking to me is a lot of help. It’s going to be the difference between fighting and going insane,” I say.

“What is he doing?”Kael asks.

“I don’t know,” I say. “He’s never gotten that angry with me before. Ever.”

“He feels bad,”Daemon says.

“Probably. The man is obsessed with her,”Kael says.

“What do you mean?”I ask.

“It’s like he’s in love with you,”Daemon says. “It’s like how an abusive partner will take care of you after beating the fuck out of you.”

“Gross,”I say simply.

Zypher comes into the room alone and sets a bowl of water next to me. It has an antiseptic smell to it. He takes a washcloth from the water and rings it out before gently wiping the blood from my back.

“I didn’t want to do that,” Zypher says softly.

“See. Told you,”Kael says.

“Why did you?” I ask cautiously. “You’ve never hurt me like that before.”

“You’ve never disrespected me before,” he replies simply. He makes a fair point. I’ve never been a bitch to him like that before. “You make me so angry sometimes, Lilith. I don’t like hurting you.”

“I know,” I say quietly. He wipes across my mid-back, and I whimper in pain.