Chapter 263
Chapter 263
With that, Asher left. He stationed the guard by my tent, so I had no way to escape.
I sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, carefully pulling the ring off my finger. My skin ached where the silver rubbed against it, but otherwise, I felt okay. My belly had stopped hurting, and I laid my hand on it.
“Is everything alright?” I asked my wolf. I could still feel her gentle energy wrapping around the fetus, protecting it.
“The baby is fine. Got a little bruised from your fall, but it’ll be okay p>
I nodded to myself, relieved. Despite everything, my baby was my top priority. I’d never realized just how badly I wanted one until now, but I knew I couldn’t let anything happen to him or her. Even if protecting my child meant not being able to use my wolf’s strength to shift, that wouldn’t change.
I wasn’t alone for long before the tent flap pushed open again. Deirdre strode in, flanked by two women with chains around their ankles. Slaves. They were each carrying two buckets of water.
Deirdre grinned nastily and held up a rough loofah. “Time to get you all cleaned up p>
“I’m fine,” I said, but it didn’t matter. The slaves poured the water into the tub, and Deirdre roughly grabbed my wrist, pulling me to my feet. I shoved her off and undressed myself, then stepped into the tub
The water was ice cold.
“This is cold,” I pointed out,
Deirdre stared at me. “Get in, or I’ll force you to get in p>
I rolled my eyes and sank into the tub. The icy water made the muscles in my stomach contract again, but I drew in a deep breath. Deirdre stomped over to the side of the tub and scooped one of the buckets into the water, then dumped it over my head.
“H-Hey!” I sputtered, coughing. Water filled my eyes, my nose, my mouth. I pushed my wet hair out of the way and glared at her. “What was that for p>
“Just something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time now.” She dunked the loofah into the tub and grabbed my arm, which she began scrubbing hard. The fibers were still partially dry, and the pressure made my skin sting.
“You’re scrubbing my skin raw!” I pulled my arm away and looked down. My skin
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Chapter 203
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was already red from where she’d been raking the partially dry loofah over it.
“Quit complaining,” she hissed, grabbing my arm again. “Unless you want one of us to shut you up instead p>
I looked up at the two slaves. They were standing quietly off to the side, clearly a little uncomfortable, but I knew they wouldn’t help. Deirdre began scrubbing with more gusto, then reached for a bar of soap that smelled like black ash and lye. The chemicals immediately burned my raw flesh, and I slapped her hand away.
“Don’t touch me. I’m still your Luna, whether you like it or not p>
Deirdre’s upper lip pulled back to reveal a hateful sneer and partially extended fangs. “You’re not a Luna anymore. Just the Rogue King’s slave.” She grabbed my hair, yanking my head to the side hard enough to make tears prick my eyes, and began scrubbing my neck.
I snapped. Without hesitating, I wrenched myself free and stood, water sloshing everywhere. I lifted my chin and glared at her, letting my wolf’s
power shine through my eyes. In the full-length mirror that stood behind her, I could see myself -naked, skin dripping, irises red as coals.
“I am no slave,” I snarled.
Deirdre didn’t respond. She didn’t cower. She didn’t even apologize.
She just pulled her hand back and slapped me.
Hard.
I fell, doubling over the side of the tub. The wood dug into my belly on the way down, and pain shot through my abdomen. I crumpled onto the rug and clutched my stomach as a wave of nausea wracked my body.
The cramps started a moment later, Cramps in my lower belly that felt an awful lot like the onset of my period.
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