Taken and Trained ✔️

Chapter 10

A tear slipped past Lilia's eye without her permission, and Lev noticed immediately. He changed his position until he was laying on Lilia, staring at her face, his wolf-eyes staring down into her own.

"I really wish you could shift," she whispered, more tears streaming down her face. Lev began to whine, nudging her face until she pushed him away and rolled over, facing away from him.

"Lev," it was the doctor coming into the den, "we need you outside, one minute." Lev growled in response and the doctor quickly made his way to the exit.

"Don't leave," Lilia whispered. She made no move to turn back over because she was trying to hide her fear of the strange, cruel man. Lilia never wanted to see that man again.

He didn't have a choice. If he didn't leave, he would be punished, but he couldn't tell her that. He wanted to stay there, so, so badly, but he didn't know what was going on, or why he was so close to this woman.

If he left, maybe Roman would have answers.

A few seconds later, he left, ignoring the sound of sniffles coming from his den. He met Roman in the same room his mate was just in. He was laying on a bed, bandages covering his neck, and Lev found himself wincing in fear as he left the room.

"Lev," Roman's voice was cold, but Lev stood strong. He would take his punishment like the strong warrior he was. "You dare attack your savior?"

Lev lifted his neck to the side to show his submission before rolling onto his back to beg for forgiveness.

"I don't think the process room will help you, Lev. If you cannot control yourself, you do not belong as one of my warriors." Roman was threatening Lev mildly, but the wolf on the floor found his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

What punishment could it be if it was not in the process room? The process room contained all of the tools one would need to torture a human, wolf, or any other species.

"Get the girl," Roman told the warrior guarding the door. He gave his leader a simple nod, then slipped out of the room. The girl? What girl?

Did he mean...did he mean that girl? Lev couldn't think of any other female in the compound.

Shrieking sounded from down the hall and Lev scrambled to get up.

"Stay," Roman commanded, and Lev found his body freezing in place. The screaming continued to get closer and closer until the warrior was throwing the female on the floor. She fell with a sob, and Lev tensed every single one of his muscles to stop from moving.

"Stand up, Lilia." Lev turned his head towards Roman, scrunching up his face, confused. How did he know her name?

Lilia stood on shaking legs, covering her stomach and thighs from all of the men's views. She sniffled, drool dripping from her mouth as she sobbed, and looked at Roman.

"Lev?" Roman looked at Lev, silently commanding him to stand. "Do you remember me mentioning the word "mate"?" Lev chuffed in response.

"Mate is short for soulmate, Lev, and they are supposed to be your lifelong partner. This girl, Lilia, is your mate. You only get one of them. Do you have any feelings for her?"

Lev was confused by the entire explanation. None of that made sense. Soulmate? What was a soulmate? He took a step back in confusion. The female—Lilia was still crying and standing in the middle of the room.

For the first time in a very long time, Lev felt like he was losing control of the wolf inside of him. He had been trained in precision and control since he was a child and this was a foreign feeling. It didn't feel good at all.

Roman seemed to be able to tell Lev was losing control, his eyes widened until they couldn't any more and his mouth gaped open. Lev's wolf took full control, snarling at anyone and everyone in the room except for his mate.

Lilia stood still, shaking and crying in the middle of the room. Lev's wolf was quick to jump in front of her and let out a loud roar that had the warrior that dragged her in running from the room. Roman took a step back.

Lev made a noise at the back of his throat, and strangely, Lilia understood what he meant. She shifted into her wolf form so he could pick her up, and he took her back to his den without so much as one more look at Roman.

Lilia didn't shift back until they had arrived back at the pile of cloth.

"Please," she sobbed, still crying, "please shift." Lev didn't know how, and he wished he could tell her, but he would probably never be able to. They spent the night in the den, Lev leaving for a few moments to hunt for food, but the mostly just sat in silence.

Lilia was starting to regret coming with her mate. The bond was not strengthening nor decreasing and it was driving her mad. This wasn't how it was normally supposed to go for mates. She was supposed to be marked already, and maybe be in love, but it looked like that was never happening.

Lilia sat up and rubbed her eyes, coughing a little. Lev stood and curled around her to keep her warm but was pushed away two seconds later. She sniffled and pointed across the room, and without even telling him, Lev moved over and plopped down.

"Shift," Lilia put as much authority into her voice as she could, "please. For me." Lev still didn't really understand the concept of mates and wasn't sure what she meant. He could feel his wolf begin to pace in his mind.

"Okay, okay," Lilia trailed off, "I'm not going to make any sense with this, but..."

She paused for what seemed like forever, and Lev moved closer until she held a hand up.

"Picture your human side, I know you've never really seen it, but just picture legs...legs like mine, arms like mine, but picture them on your body. Please." At this point, Lilia didn't know if she was begging Lev or the Moon Goddess, but it would be great if both of them could help.

Lev couldn't picture legs...what did that even mean? His mind stayed focused on her body, and her focused on his, then he shook his head no. He didn't understand.

For the next few nights, Lilia stayed wrapped deep within the cloths, only coming out for the necessities—which included trying to get her mate to shift. That was definitely a necessity.

She was trying to keep track of how much time passed in the den, but it was difficult with no windows and no way out. Weeks upon weeks upon weeks passed until she made progress with her mate.

After they had already eaten dinner and cuddled to lay together, she decided to try again.

Focusing just on the legs and no other body part, her mate was able to transition one leg into a human limb for about ten seconds. Lilia started crying and Lev started panicking—what could be wrong?

"You did it," she said, leaping into his arms, "we can work with this."

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I love them :(