A Fate So Cruel

Chapter 8 - Red Room, White Room

The doctor fidgeted. "She's doing well. She awoke just a few moments ago. We sent for you immediately, of course." He hesitated. "As you can see we did have to give her a sedative. She was a bit...disoriented."

The Alpha's steely eyes flickered to me, raking over my form. "So I take it that's why she's restrained?"

The doctor cleared his throat nervously. "That was done as a precautionary measure to ensure her protection."

"Her...protection," the Alpha repeated dubiously.

The doctor paled. "Y-yes, you see we wanted to ensure she wasn't a danger to the safety of herself or others."

The Alpha's dark eyes narrowed, the only indication of displeasement on his iron mask devoid of emotion. "She's a malnourished human hopped up on morphine and Ativan with functional use of only one hand."

The doctor stumbled back a step under the Alpha's scrutiny, his face turned ashen. "I-I'm–I th-thought–"

The Alpha raised a hand, cutting him off and plunging the room into tense silence. Beside me, the nurses held their breath.

"Leave us," the Alpha ordered.

The moment the command left his lips, the doctor and nurses scurried toward the exit, the gentle thud of the door signaling the finish of their hasty retreat.

I was alone. Alone with the Alpha.

A quick moment passes before the Alpha stepped forward. Reflexively, my fingers curled into a weak fist.

The small action stopped him in his tracks. His eyes flickering to my hand before returning to my face. He took another step further, but slower this time, as if approaching a petrified animal.

"Don't be afraid, little one. I mean you no harm." His was still low and rough, but lacked the bite it had moments.

I held my breath as he closed the distance between us, his large frame crouching down to meet my eye level. His intense gaze lingered on me,

"You're so beautiful," the Alpha murmured. His fingers lifted to touch my face. I recoiled, then waited for the pain of punishment but when none came I lifted my gaze to find that the Lycan didn't seem offended or even vaguely concerned by my disrespect.

"Are you in pain?" He shocked me by asking.

I licked my lips, my mouth suddenly dry. Nerves quickened in my throat but the terror of angering the Alpha outweighed my fear of speaking.

"No, Alpha," I croaked, voice barely above a whisper.

"Emric," he corrected sharply. A dark shadow flitted across his features, the mask of pacificity briefly slipping before returning to stoicism. He paused before restating, "You call me Emric."

My stomach turned as I nodded helplessly. Maybe if I was compliant, I'd be safe.

He studied my face for a long moment before he said, "You know I'm an Alpha, then. What else?"

I swallowed thickly. His overwhelming proximity and the drugs I'd been given clouded my thoughts so that I was unable to reply

I could feel the weight of his eyes probing me as he waited for a response that never came as the words lodged themselves in my throat. He stood, looking down at me, with an unreadable expression.

"Do you know who I am to you?" He asked. His voice was unusually gentle. Caring, almost.

What a sick joke it had to be. The monster pretending to care about me. After all he had done. To me. To the human race. To Boston...

A sob strangled in my throat. Unable to swallow it down, it rose to the surface. A pathetic whimper escaped and tears filled my eyes but the ache in my chest made it impossible for me to care.

As the first tear dripped from my eye down my cheek, the Alpha straightened to his full height. Another whimper escaped as I pressed further into the bed as he did, but the Alpha didn't even spare me a second glance as he turned and proweled out of the room.

If I thought for a second that his departure was an act of kindness to allow me to grieve my world crumbling, I was quickly corrected when his presence was replaced by two of the nurses from earlier.

I watched through vision blurry with tears as they scurried to opposite sides of my bed. One injected another syringe of clear liquid into my IV port while the other pinned down my already restrained arms. I didn't fight them this time. Instead, I welcomed the dark embrace of unconsciousness as it engulfed me once again. 

_______________________

A/N: I hope you all enjoy!  Just as an FYI I did some light edits of chapters 1-7 (and will continue to make edits as I go).  These edits were relatively minor (ie: spelling, grammar, some inconsistencies, etc.) so you don't necessarily need to go back to read the previous chapters.  As I continue to sporadically edit, I'll let you guys know if there are any major changes to the story but I'm trying to minimize those!