Page 46 of Forgotten Arcane (Broken Ashes #6)

Neith

“I told everyone to wait in the clearing and not leave until River gave the order to go back to the pack house,” Logan says.

River grins, “Good thinking, man. Come on, let’s get this sorted out.”

Asher grins, “Finally, a proper fucking alpha.”

A sound by the entrance to the room has us all turning to look.

“Shit, Morana,” Amari says. She glances at River and whispers quietly, “Her mind is incredibly fragile, broken. If you use your alpha voice on her, it could break her completely, and she could never heal.”

River nods, “I won’t use it then.”

Asher and Amari smile and look relieved that River’s not going to use his voice. It’s not Morana’s fault that she’s been through what she has, and has had her mind so warped and distorted by the evil that was Derek. I know that River feels the same way that I do, and if we can help her, we will.

The woman is barely able to stand, swaying on her feet, one of her eyes swollen shut, and from what I can see, the rest of her body is completely covered in cuts and bruises. One of her arms looks to be broken, along with her fingers on the same side.

Sadness and anger war for dominance inside me, this poor fucking woman.

“You took him from me,” she says. Her voice is like a robot's.

We all move forward cautiously. This is not a stable woman that we’re dealing with, and we need to handle this incredibly delicately.

As we walk, I automatically move to the front to walk beside River, and he glances down at me, giving me a quick smile.

“Stay back,” she threatens, shakily holding up a silver knife.

Fantastic, she’s armed.

We all stop, and watch her cautiously, the tunnel stretching behind her, and our only way out to freedom.

Calmly, and with my hands held up, say, “It’s okay now. You’re safe, he can’t hurt you anymore.”

There’s a flicker in her eyes that gives me hope that she hasn’t been completely broken, although she’s really fucking close.

That flicker of life goes out as she seems to automatically repeat words that have been repeated to her over and over again, “I deserve it. If I was a better mate, then he wouldn’t have hurt me.”

“Oh sweetheart,” I say, my heart breaking for her.

“You did everything that you could do to be a good mate, and even if you didn’t, he had no right to hurt you.

He never should have raised a fist to you.

” Her eyes flicker again. I point to my men on either side of me, “You see these men, they’re mine, and they would rather die than hurt me. ”

Her gaze travels over them, and they all nod.

She shakes her head rapidly from side to side, “No, no, no, no, no.” Her eyes fill with confusion and fury, and I know that I’ve lost her, but at least there is hope. She growls, looking at River, and she screams with pure rage, “You killed him!”

In a shock move, she launches the knife, and my hand snaps up, catching the hilt, the knife mere centimeters away from hitting River in his forehead. It would have killed him.

I repress the anger and the growl that wants to escape me.

“Fucking hell, that was fast,” River mutters, looking down at me.

My focus is on Morana though.

She stares wide-eyed at me, panic rushing through her. She’s going to bolt, and if she bolts, she could hurt someone else or herself.

I can’t let that happen.

I shove the knife I caught in River’s direction, and he scrambles to take it as my gaze stays locked on Morana. She spins on her heel and starts to take off, and I launch myself after her. Hoping that I’m fast enough to catch her.

“Neith!” Griff yells after me.

“For fuck sake,” Evander says, not sounding surprised at all that I’m running after a dangerous wolf who has just tried to kill River.

I don’t think any of them are.

Morana looks over her shoulder with pure terror in her eyes.

I would tell her that I’m not going to hurt her, but there isn’t any point.

Not while I’m chasing her. She’s not going to believe me, and if anything, it could just frighten her more.

Memories try to push forward, but I refuse to let them.

This isn’t about me. If I get pulled into memories now, I’m not going to be able to help her.

Finally, I get close enough that I can tackle her, and I try to wrap myself around her in a way that means I absorb most of the impact. I don’t want to hurt her any more than she already is.

She fights me when we land, and I hold on tight. I know that if I let go now, she is going to try to hurt herself because she thinks that she’s in trouble.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” she yells. “Don’t hurt me.”

Holding her gently but firmly, I start to stroke her hair, “Shh, Morana. I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.”

She freezes, and I continue to gently stroke her hair, letting her get used to the fact that I’m not hurting her.

Finally, in a shaky voice that sounds exhausted, but thankfully not her robot voice, she says, “You’re not going to hurt me?”

“Nope. I just want to make sure that you don’t hurt yourself,” I reply.

“But I threw a knife at the alpha?” she questions, and I feel her tense up.

I continue to stroke her hair since that seems to be calming her the most, “It’s okay, I caught it. He’s not mad either, we understand. Don’t we?” I look at River.

He wisely stays where he is, but crouches down so that she can see his expression.

“We understand, Morana,” River says gently. “You’re safe, and no one will hurt you.”

Morana looks up at me, by this point, I’m just cuddling her, she’s not restrained in any way, “He’s really gone? He’s not coming back? He can’t hurt me anymore?”

“He can never hurt you again,” I say to her. I add, “Would you like to see the body? You will know for sure then that he’s dead.”

Everyone watching the interaction tenses, but my gaze stays locked on Morana.

I know that my offer may seem strange to them, but I’ve been severely abused, not by someone that I loved, but if I hadn’t seen him torn to shreds, and his body burned to ash by Dimitri’s hellfire, I would have forever been looking over my shoulder and waiting for him to appear and take me back to that hellhole.

I briefly lift my gaze and meet Coen’s, understanding is in his eyes, and he smiles proudly. He knows exactly why I asked her that.

Morana nods, and swallows hard, that flicker of life, of fight, hasn’t died again yet, and I’m hoping that this time it stays permanently.

“I need to see that he’s dead,” she confirms with strength in her voice.

I grin, “I thought you might say that. We can burn him to ash, too, if you would like?”

A spark of anger lights her eyes, and I smile proudly as she replies, “That’s the least that he fucking deserves.”

“There she is,” I grin.

“I’m sorry that I tried to kill the alpha,” she apologizes, her voice clear and stronger than it was.

“I’ve been in survival mode for so long, being told all of these horrific things, that I buried the real me, and became a shell.

She’s been buried for so long that I couldn’t reach her anymore, even when I wanted to. ”

I nod, “Have you got a good grip on her now?”

Morana’s smile is full of hope as she nods, “Yes, and I won’t let go again.”

I nod, “That’s right. You hold onto her as tight as you fucking can, and don’t let go. You’re strong enough to heal, and don’t be mistaken, healing takes a hell of a lot of strength, and it will be hard, but you can do this.”

Fire lights her eyes, and I breathe a sigh of relief. She’s going to be okay. She’s probably the strongest woman I have ever fucking met. She’s pulled herself back from the brink of nothingness.

“I won’t let go,” she vows.

“Good,” I reply. “Do you want to move?”

She nods, and then grins, “Not that I’m not enjoying the hug, it’s been a long time since I’ve felt a gentle touch.”

“It’s strange, isn’t it? And then it’s strange that it’s strange,” I reply. I know too well how she feels.

She studies me closely and then squeezes my hand, “I’m so sorry.”

Swallowing thickly, I nod and, squeezing her hand back, reply, “Me too.”

Apparently, she’s as comfortable with emotion as I am because she changes the subject, “Erm, as much as I would like to move, I don’t think I can. It would appear that when I buried the real me and made myself numb, I also buried the pain.”

Doc moves forward, his troubled gaze meeting mine before he looks at Morana and smiles. He crouches down so he’s not towering over her and stays at quite a distance away, but still Morana tenses.

“It’s okay, he’s a healer and he’s mine. He won’t hurt you,” I say quietly.

Morana takes a deep breath and sits up straighter, pulling on some inner strength that I am certain the majority of people wouldn’t have after everything that she’s been through.

Doc smiles encouragingly, “In case you hadn’t guessed from my nickname, I’m a healer, and if you allow me to, I can heal you.” He adds, “All I have to do is hold your hand.”

Amari steps forward, concern and pride in her eyes as she looks over Morana, “It’s true, he healed me that way.”

Morana holds her hand out to Doc, and since she’s still sitting in my lap, I gently squeeze her, not wanting to hurt her, but unable to do anything else because she only has one good hand, and she gave that one to Doc.

“It’s not going to hurt, but if at any point you want me to stop, just say the word and I will, okay?” Doc tells her.

She nods.

Doc gently takes her hand, and she tenses again, but relaxes as his healing magic gently washes over her.

When he pulls back, she stands up, and then she looks at him with pure wonder, “I can feel her!”

She pulls me up from the ground and into a big hug that I’m more than happy to return.

“Who can you feel?” I ask her curiously as she pulls back, her expression pain-free and her eyes sparkling.

“My wolf,” she says. She looks at Doc, “I don’t know how to thank you.”

Doc smiles, “Don’t let go of her again.”