Page 38 of Alpha's Claim

“But the hemophilia?”

Matthias shakes his head. “You don’t have hemophilia. I gave you a dose of a medicine I compound here that promotes rapid healing. It will help the effects of the poison wear off quickly, and then time will tell. I suspect you will return to perfect health.”

I consider myself strong. I’ve had to be for Wren. I don’t ever waste time crying or feeling sorry for myself. But my vision goes wavy with tears of rage at this fresh betrayal.

“I…I’m not sick? I never was sick?” The little cabin is suddenly too hot and stuffy for me.

I lose a hot tear down my cheek before I can blink it back.

Darius bands his thick forearm around my waist, holding me up from behind.

I push him off, though. I’m too mad for anyone to touch me right now. “I need–” I look around desperately.

Darius studies me with concern. “What do you need, princess? Whatever it is, it’s yours.”

I’m so tired of feeling trapped. “I need to get out–to go for a walk.”

“Of course. Let’s find you some pants.” Darius reaches for my hand, then wisely lets it drop to his side as he heads back to the bedroom. I follow.

“I would suggest rest, food, and fluids, but fresh air makes sense, too,” Matthias says mildly to our backs.

In the bedroom, Darius pulls open drawers, making grumbling noises as he roots through the clothes.

“Is this Matthias’ house?”

Darius pulls out a long pair of sweatpants. “No. It’s the spare cabin.”

“It’s your cabin, brother,” Matthias calls from the living room. Apparently, sound carries despite the thick log walls.

Darius gives an irritated shake of his head. “This isn’t my home,” he calls back. He holds out the sweatpants. “These will be way too long, but there’s a drawstring to keep the waist up. We can walk over to Teddy’s, so you can borrow something of Lana’s.”

I yank on the sweatpants, still itchy as hell to get outside. “Who’s Lana?” I demand, as if Darius is the bad guy, keeping secrets from me.

I know he’s not. I know I can trust him, but after finding out Thom has been poisoning me for years, I feel the need to arm myself with agency, information, and independence. The time for playing captured maiden is over. I’m the marauding warrior now, and I’m going after Thom Thompson for everything he’s done to me.

“My sister-in-law.”

“So Teddy’s your brother.”

“Yeah.”

“You have two brothers?”

“Seven.”

I look up from knotting the drawstring in surprise. “Wow. Your poor parents. I’ll bet it was rowdy around here when you were young.”

“Just a mom. She adopted all eight of us. And yeah–rowdy is an understatement.”

I’m already calming down just hearing about Darius’ family. Just from his steadying presence in the room.

He hands me two thick pairs of woolen socks. “I’m not sure my hiking boots are going to stay on your feet, but we can try.”

I sit on the bed and pull on both pairs of socks, then stuff my feet in the giant boots he set at my feet. My foot comes out the moment I take a step. “Screw it,” I say, and march out in the doubled up wool socks. They will keep my feet warm and protected. If I don’t get outside, I’m going to burst.

Darius trails me out the front cabin door and drapes a huge puffy coat around my shoulders. I tug it on as I march off the wooden porch. I stop once I’m in the woods, stop to gaze up at the towering pine trees. The air smells crisp and clean. Heavenly.

A chill bites my cheeks, but even that feels good. I’m not trapped. Darius isn’t holding me prisoner. I’m in the woods under a cool blue sky.