Page 47 of Alpha's Revenge Luna

Sweat makes the bedsheets cling to me and my burns, burn fiercely as I toss and turn in bed, just like when trapped in the cells, my body still withdraws from the Belladonna.

How I can possibly withdraw from literal poison is beyond me.

It’s not like I had much fun taking the crap, it seems taking it causes pain as well as going without it.

Tossing the sheet back, Dion groans beside me when I accidentally smack him with the blanket and my hand. I want to shower, but I know in a few moments I will be freezing cold and shivering.

“Why are you awake?” Dion groans, sitting up and turning the lamp on.

I tug the blanket covering myself with it despite feeling like I am in a sauna.

As he moves around and jostles my body, the cramping starts, and I bite back a whimper.

Dion grips my hip, shaking me. “I know you’re awake,” he growls, annoyed behind me.

However, I know speaking will alert him to something being wrong, as I won’t be able to keep the pain from my voice.

I don’t feel like listening to him tell me it is my fault.

In his eyes, everything is my fault, I would rather not add my own torment to that list. Although that is technically my fault since I took the stupid things, and now I am paying for it dearly.

He mutters something too low for me to hear and gets up off the bed and wanders off.

It takes me a few seconds to realize he went to get a drink from the fridge concealed in the wall.

I hear the door close and his footsteps approach as he climbs back in bed.

His hands reach for me and my entire body stiffens.

“Fuck, did you pee the bed?” he snarls, tossing the sheet pack.

Kinda wish I had, he’s always so busy leaving his marks on me with all his biting, like I am his personal blood bank.

Maybe I should give him a dose of his own medicine, only animal style, and mark my territory by peeing on him.

I chuckle at my thoughts only to cringe and double over more as the laughter makes my stomach hurt more.

“Emery?” he whispers, though now his voice has changed, holding concern I know is not genuine. He’s probably worried his blood bag will drop dead. Heaven forbid he has to feed from his pack again.

I don’t get a chance to reply when I am suddenly grabbed, his hands rough and I thrash as he pulls me closer, the burns covering me tugging, and my skin feels like it is tearing. “Stop, why are you burning up?” he growls, sniffing me.

“You’re not in heat.” he murmurs. “Did you take something?” he demands, the accusation stirs anger within me.

“It’s the Belladonna withdrawals,” I snap angrily, pushing off his chest and lap. Well, I am up now, I might as well take the shower I wanted.

“What?” I hear him ask, but I pay him no mind, instead stepping into the bathroom and shutting the door, then locking it.

I peel my clothes off and climb into the shower, twisting the taps.

The cold water cools me, only to make me freeze, and I twist the hot on.

I sit on the shower floor and lean against the wall when the door bursts open.

“You don’t lock doors,” he growls, and I turn my gaze to the wall while he leans against the sink basin.

He starts typing something into his phone before holding it to his ear.

“Sorry, Doc, I don’t suppose you can come to the packhouse?

” Dion speaks, and I turn my head to tell him it will pass, yet before I can open my mouth his glare makes me fall quiet.

“No, the rogue women are fine. It’s my mate,” he answers, and I sigh. So pointless, it will pass in a few hours. It always does, it tends to come in waves.

Dion explains while I tune him out, focusing on the wall, when suddenly the shower door opens. I turn my head to look up at him as he steps in. “Well, apparently, it’s a good sign,” Dion declares.

“Of course it is, nothing excites you more than my pain,” I snarl angrily. He glares at me.

“Do you want my help or not?” he snaps.

“Not, just get out,” I tell him.

“You’re a stubborn little thing.” he retorts before reaching for me.

I try to slap his hands away. Yet, a warning growl from him and the way his eyes flicker sinisterly, I know fighting him will only end badly for me, so I stop.

I become an inanimate doll, allowing him to haul me on to his lap as he sits on the floor where I was.

“Doc said your wolf is fighting off the toxin, you’re not in withdrawal, your wolf wants out. Belladonna stuns, and poisons, making your wolf dormant. She is awakening,” he tells me.

I would hardly call that good news , I think dryly.

“Plus side, my presence will help,” he tells me.

“Somehow I doubt your presence will do anything but cause me more pain,” I retort. He chuckles softly like he finds what I said funny.

He traces his fingers down my arm, sending shivers of pain and pleasure through me. “Oh, I’ll give you more than just pain,” he murmurs in my ear. I try to push him away, but the wave hits again, and I’m powerless to resist as he pulls me closer against him.

I feel something hard pressing against me and realize with a jolt that it’s his arousal. Despite everything, desire pools darkly inside of me like a sin waiting to be committed.

His hands run over my body as he leans in to whisper in my ear.

“But I think I know just how to take your mind off the pain...” His lips trail down the side of my neck, and despite myself, I feel a shiver run down my spine. Dion always knows how to get to me, even when I’m in pain and he’s the last person I want near me.

“Well, I can always try my best to distract you,” he whispers against my neck, his lips brushing against my sensitive skin. Despite my pain, I can feel my body reacting to his touch. I hate how weak I am for him, how easily he can make me forget my pain and just focus on him.

“Please don’t, I don’t want this,” I plead weakly, knowing what he wants.

“Well, let’s see about that,” he says before his hands find their way to my waist, holding me in place as he leans forward.

But he ignores me, instead biting down on the flesh of my neck.

Yet, this time instead of him causing me pain, a moan escapes me before I can stop it, the sensation of pain and pleasure mingling together in a dangerous dance.

He feeds on me briefly before his lips move, teeth grazing as he turns me on his lap.

He knows exactly how to push all my buttons, how to make me forget everything else except for the way his body feels against mine.

And just like every other time before this one, I give in to him.

Despite myself, despite knowing how much it will hurt later on when this moment passes, and everything comes crashing back around me like an explosive wave of despair, I find myself yielding under Dion’s touch.

His mouth latches onto mine hungrily while one hand reaches up to cup one breast, roughly. The hot water pours down on us, but all I can focus on is the feel of his lips against mine. His kiss is rough and demanding, but for a few moments, I forget about the pain and burning inside of me.

His hands roam over me, pulling me closer, and I moan against his lips, giving in to my desire for him.

Despite everything, there’s something about him that makes me ache for him.

Pleasure washes over me like waves, leaving nothing untouched by its intoxicating grasp.

He pulls back, his eyes locked on mine, and I see something different in them than usual.

It’s almost as if he’s searching for something within me.

“Don’t pretend you don’t feel it, too,” he whispers into my ear before biting down lightly on the lobe.

My breath hitches at the sensation as I try not to give him any satisfaction by responding.

“Let me help you,” he urges, his fingers brushing a stray strand of hair from my face as he leans back to look at me.

The touch is a spark, igniting a fire that threatens to consume the barriers I’ve been trying and failing to create.

This man gets under my skin, but he’s right, I do feel something even if I don’t want to, even if it is just lust.

“What did Doc say?” I ask him and he smirks.

“So you do want my help.” I grit my teeth, but if it stops the pain enough I can get sleep. I am willing to take it. “Are you in pain, Emery?” he asks.

I stare at him like he is bonkers when I notice something, I’m not.

“When you suppressed your wolf, you suppressed your heat. These are after effects of the Belladonna. Your wolf is waking, but so is your heat since you’ve found your mate,” Dion states. “Don’t say I’m not your mate.” He tilts his head to the side, watching me for a second.

“You know I am, you just don’t want me to be.”

“I don’t know that for sure, not without my wolf,” I remind him. He sighs heavily.

“You’re lying, admit it,” he says. I shake my head when he moves so quickly it gives me a head spin. I’m suddenly standing, his arm wrapped around my waist as he waits for me to regain my balance.

Then he lets me go, stepping back from me. Within moments of him doing so, that same crippling pain writhes through me. “Still think I’m lying?” he asks, reaching for me.

“You’re not withdrawing from the Belladonna, you’re withdrawing from me; the more you fight the bond, the more it will hurt, so do us both a favor and stop fighting it.” he purrs, and I push off his chest as he drags me closer.

“So damn stubborn,” he snarls, shutting the water off. He pulls me from the shower and grabs a towel, draping it over me. I collapse on the side of the bathtub, my legs feeling like jelly.

“You know where I will be when you stop lying to yourself,” he snaps, grabbing himself a towel and walking out. I watch him leave and disappear out the door.

Yet, the waves continue. It’s almost as if now that he has touched me, my body recognizes him as the antidote, or maybe he used his vampire side and I only think he is? I want to believe that, however, I am unable to deny how instantly the pain sweeps back over me.

“You wanna be worth this torment, wolf,” I growl, wondering if she can hear me.

I used to be so excited about getting my wolf, yet Dion has stolen even her from me now, knowing when she comes she could be my undoing.

Pushing to my feet, I wander out of the bathroom to find Dion has changed the bed linen, and it now sits in a pile by the bedroom door.

He flicks his lamp off going back to bed and I wander over to the closet, stopping at the door.

“Try going out that door, and you won’t like the consequences,” Dion warns me, and I glance at the bedroom door.

He’d catch me if I tried, so why would I?

Not that I would get far in this state. I reach for one of his shirts when I pause, glancing at the bed, knowing the pain will only return.

Cursing, I drop the towel and move toward his side, stopping beside him.

His eyes burn brightly in the darkness, peering up at me expectantly. “You won’t ask for my help, yet you expect it?” he shakes his head, rolling onto his back and tossing the blanket back.

“Well?” I huff, annoyed that he is finding me entertaining. I climb into bed and drop on top of him before becoming a face down dead weight starfish, hoping I crush him. He grunts, pulling the blanket over us.

“Don’t think I don’t know your knee was aiming for my balls,” he growls.

“I’m letting you hug me, aren’t I?” I tell him and he scoffs.

“Oh, I should feel so privileged?” he laughs. I nod, enjoying the sedative he is.

Reaching for his arm, I pull it around me.

“Now you’re just being a brat,” he tells me, but I wriggle higher, burying my face in his neck when his hand moves, trailing up my spine softly.

“This changes nothing, I still don’t like you,” I remind him.

“Hmm,” he answers, and I feel my eyes growing heavy.

“You can hate me, Emery. But you’ll also learn to love me,” he murmurs just before sleep takes me.