Chapter 37- A Bad Mark

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A/N- I just finished writing my latest novel and posted the last few chapters over on Patreon. That story ended up being a lot longer than I expected it to be, and it took up so much time these last couple of weeks that I know I haven't been posting on schedule here. Now that the other story is done that should definitely change. But to make up for last week I'll post more than one chapter today! I hope you enjoy them! 

Emery opened her eyes. Or she tried to at least, but they were nearly swollen shut. If she had thought that she was in pain before, it was nothing compared to how she felt now. Her entire body was on fire, but it wasn't the fire of heat.

No, this was different. A shudder passed through her body as she began to shake. If the shackles on her arms hadn't been so tight she would have brought her hand up to touch her neck, because it seemed that that was the place that all of the pain she was in was focused on. The epicenter of whatever it was that was happening to her body.

"Luna? Luna?" Forcing her eyes open she could see light, but so couldn't move her head much and she was only able to make out more than vague shapes and faint colors. With a great deal of effort she thought back, forcing her mind to remember how she had come to be in this situation.

That fucking Alpha had marked her. That's why she was in so much pain. His mark must have gone wrong somehow. It was festering, poisoning her, as her body rejected what should have been a pledge of love. She had never heard of anything like that happening, but what other explanation was there?

It wasn't his voice that was speaking to her, out of the blurred grey dungeon she was being held in. It had to be the other prisoner. His third in command, the man held in the cage, whose name she didn't know, or if she had, she couldn't remember it now.

"Yes?' She managed to choke out the word, her voice cracking as she spoke.

"By the Goddess, I thought you were dead. He came down and put some ointment on your neck and tried to get you to drink, but you were unconscious. He was worried though. He doesn't need you dead, that's for sure."

Emery was too weak to respond. Alpha Cadman couldn't care too much about what happened to her. If he was willing to mark another Alpha's mate, especially Alpha Vos' mate, then he was willing to take his life in his hands, risking death for whatever goal it was that he had in mind. 

Her mate would kill him for marking her just the same as he would kill the man if she died from the mark. He was dead either way and either way she knew her mate would make his death slow and painful. He had crossed lines that should never be crossed and if he was caught by any Alpha he would find himself jailed and ultimately executed. Emery had no doubt that he knew that.

And that thought was rather terrifying. Even with her thoughts blurred by fever she knew that much. This man, Alpha Cadman had nothing to lose. If he lost the dangerous game that he was playing, he was dead. But how on earth could he think he could win? Didn't he know that her mate had inexhaustible resources?

A bit of fear took hold of the part of mind that was still free of the fever. What if his mind was so affected by his use of half shifts that he no longer could fully reason through the consequences of what he was doing? It would explain much of what he'd done these past few weeks, starting with lying about Alice's pregnancy, for if that was a lie, it was sure to be uncovered. Lying to the Council was a ridiculously bad idea, and he'd followed it up by kidnapping her and then marking her and holding her here.

She didn't hear the door swing open somewhere above her, and wasn't even conscious of the two sets of footsteps until they were right in front of her.

"I don't know what you were thinking to begin with, Son. This time, you've bitten off more trouble than you can chew. Unchain the poor girl and get her into the guest bedroom on the second floor. She needs clean sheets and I need room to work. I'm going to have to work hard if I'm going to save her. It's dangerous enough marking a woman who's resisting your mark, who already bears the mark of another, especially her Goddess given mate. But did you do this during a half shift?"

Emery didn't hear Alpha Cadman answer and she heard the woman mutter something about having never met an Alpha who wouldn't stand by his decisions and own them. A thread of fear ran through the Luna's body, for the woman's voice sounded old and she half expected to hear Alpha Cadman lash out, but the woman's scolding tone was met only with silence.

"You're going to have to go back to my cottage after we get her settled. I'm going to do my best to draw out the toxins but I had no idea how bad this was and I'm going to need more of my things. If we're going to win her back from death it's going to be a long week."

She thought she heard Alpha Cadman give a frustrated sigh and then someone was shoving a key into one of the locks at her wrists to undo the shackles. The next thing she knew the pain in her neck felt even sharper as she tried to turn her head towards the sounds, and then the vague shapes and colors faded to darkness once again.

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"Luna Emery Vos, I've heard so many stories about you, but I never expected to meet you face to face and I definitely never expected to be given a chance to save your life." Emery's eyes opened and this time she could actually see out of them. She didn't feel good, not by a long shot, but she didn't feel like she was dying either and that was something.

Her eyes traveled around the room. As far as she could tell she was still inside the log cabin, in a twin bed, with a small window. She realized immediately that she still had a shackle on one arm that was connected to the thick frame of the bed. When she tugged it, it clanged loudly and the woman made a hissing sound before standing and closing the door.

"He isn't home yet from wherever he went today, but he will be soon. And it might be better if he doesn't know that you're awake, just yet. Unless you'd like him to know, Luna?" Emery's eyes focused on the woman beside her for the first time. She was human by her scent, or at least, she wasn't a wolf, or any other kind of animal shifter, and she was probably in her fifties, if Emery had to guess. She had long grey hair that she wore in a braid down her back, and her eyes were a bright, intelligent hazel that watched Emery's every move.

Emery took another deep breath before she smelled the magic that just barely surrounded the woman. It wasn't so strong that it dripped off of her, but it was there all the same.

"You're a witch?" Emery asked, her voice raspy and hoarse when she finally spoke.

"I am," the woman answered, her lips curving into a smile. "And I'm thankful that Alpha Cadman thought to call me. He barely got me here in time. If he'd waited another hour I don't think that you would have made it. I could see the streaks of the toxin going from his mark and they'd nearly reached your heart. It wasn't a pretty picture. If it had made it all the way down, you would not have survived."

"Did you manage to remove it all?" Emery's voice shook as she asked the question.

"I'm not sure. That's part of why I'm still here. I'm going to keep treating you until I am sure that my magic has found every trace of the darkness that was hiding in your blood and stamped it out. But there's another reason that I couldn't leave you, Sweet Girl."

If the situation hadn't been so perilous Emery would have laughed. As a mother of six children it had been ages since anyone had called her a girl, except maybe her husband. "Why is that?" she asked in a soft voice.

"Once I've removed the toxins, you will go into heat, probably within a few days. And he is the one who marked you." The witch shook her head. "It's wrong. What he's doing is against every part of who he is and who the Goddess created your kind to be. It's evil." 

"Years ago he came to me and asked me to do something wicked because he believed his mate was too weak and he wanted another man's mate. I denied him then. Yet he's kept trying. I swear he'll burn the world down with his greed and lust. I thought I convinced him then to go home to his wife, but a year later I saw that she was dead and so was the other woman, along with a large number of others in the pack. I still can't prove that it's related, but I've felt sick ever since."

Emery felt sick too.

"I never had proof. And besides, werewolves don't usually like witches. I knew if I came forward I wouldn't be believed. But when I sent him to my cottage I had him bring the ingredients so that I could make you a mixture that will keep your heat from coming on. Just take two drops of this under your tongue every morning. As long as you do it should prevent it from coming. It will last for at least six months. I've put a good deal of magic into ensuring it works, along with the herbs that help make it effective. You need both for it to work."

"May the Goddess bless you for this. What is your name?"

"Lena," the woman murmured. "I just wish I could do more." She shook her head. "The more young women come through that door, smiling and flirting with him the more I worry about what's going to happen next. I feel like a disaster is hurtling towards all of us, but only you and I know about it."  

A/N- I hope you are enjoying this story! If you are I'd love it if you'd comment and click that little star button to vote for it.

This is Chapter Thirty-Seven and I will continue posting weekly updates here until the entire novel is finished. You can now read the entire novel, all sixty chapters, on Patreon! And for those of you who want more stories, long and short, right this second and who want to read Patreon exclusive short stories, you may also want to check out the link below:

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