I entered our room and laid her on the bed, stroking her hair back before moving down and grabbing onto her ankle to remove her shoes because she is currently out of commission.
Although, she winced and jolted away at the contact, quiet whimpers and frightened, shaky breaths escaping her lips. My body went rigid immediately following and I froze, my eyes locking onto the purple scar around her ankle-the very ankle I just grabbed.
An enormous load of guilt crushed my chest.
Don’t hurt me, she whispered, her eyelids clenched closed and she curled into fetal position.
My heart shattered. The intensity of the pain I felt from three little words astounded me.
I was more than certain I didn’t do anything to make her suddenly feel unsafe with me, however, I am now entirely convinced that I did.
‘Alpha, there is something dire you need to know regarding the Luna. Come to the lab as soon as possible !’ Wayne’s voice suddenly entered my mind, filled with urgency.
Angelica Winter’s POV
The thoughts won’t stop.
Ever since I saw my father, my head won’t stop filling with terrible things.
It’s like I have no control over myself.
When I looked at him, all I saw was red, and I knew what I was doing, but I just couldn’t stop. I don’t even feel guilty. I think that’s the worst part of it all.
Hey, beautiful, I felt a hand cup my cheek and I opened my eyes, squinting up at the man before slowly realizing it was Axel, do you think you’ll be okay on your own ? I’ll only be gone twenty minutes at most.
I shook my head frantically, n-no ! He will hurt me, he’s going to hurt me, you can’t leave. Take me with you, I breathed, throwing myself into his hold.
*
Hey, sweetie, my mother smiled warmly, setting her keys down onto the hook and sliding her shoes off. She crouched down and I grinned up at her, closing the distance between us and throwing my arms around her with a giggle.
What did you and your dad do today ? She asked, squeezing me tightly then leaning back. She continued to smile, lightly pinching my cheek, did you have fun ?
I frowned at the reminder, shaking my head, he’s been in your guys’ room all day. I think he keeps hurting himself because he keeps making loud noises. I tried to check but the door was locked. I hope he’s okay.
Her eyebrows furrowed and her smile faltered, don’t worry, I’ll make sure he’s okay, alright ? She stood up and grabbed my hand, come on.
We walked down the hallway, nearing the bedroom where I heard my father groaning and grunting.
See, mommy ! He’s hurt ! I whimpered, looking up at her and her face turned cold.
That fucking bastard, she breathed, completely oblivious to my presence.
I felt her release my hand and stomp up to the door, kicking it in with a loud bang and revealing what was going on behind it.
My father was with a woman I’ve never seen before, and they were both under the covers shielding themselves.
Who the fuck is she ? What the fuck ? My mother screamed. I stood frozen in the hallway, watching my father grab his pants from the floor next to the bed and slip them on beneath the blankets.
What’s going on ?
He jumped out of bed and rushed up to my mother, halting in his tracks when she raised her hand and demanded him to stay away.
I just got home two days ago from overseas and this is how you welcome me ? Two days, Ryan ! How long have you been fucking her ? She spat, her words filled with so much more anger than I’ve ever heard.
He opened his mouth then closed it, and the woman wrapped the bedsheets around her body before dashing out the room. She passed me and stumbled, widening her eyes with a gasp upon seeing me hiding next to the doorway with teary eyes.
My mother has never screamed like this before.
I’m scared.
The woman looked guilty, her eyes lingering on me a moment longer, then she turned and left the house without a single word.
You fucking tell me how long this has been going on ! What did I ever-
A loud smack echoed the room and I cowered, watching as my father pinned her against the wall and slammed her head into it.
His hand uncovered her mouth and he shushed her, but she tried to scream at him again, which made him slap her twice as hard. Blood flowed down her nose and my lip quivered, my tears falling freely.
I’m so sorry… he whispered, his shaky hand stroking the side of her face while she cried.
*
I’ll protect you, just stay by my side. No wandering off, he said, placing me back on the bed then standing up. I clutched his shirt and quickly slid off the bed, stumbling to my feet and moving my hand to his with a tight squeeze.
He appeared skeptical about something as his eyes scanned me, but nothing was said on our way out the door.
It felt like an eternity by the time we reached outside and my nausea came back like a punch in the gut. My vision was straightening in bed, however, now that I’m standing up and moving it’s worsening again. I wanted to do nothing but cry in his arms.
Why do I feel so emotional right now ?
What did they do to me ?
Please, help me. I feel weird, I whimpered, my body drenching with sweat and I tightened my hold on his hand to keep my palm from slipping out of his.
It’s okay, you’re okay, he stopped and pulled me into his chest. Despite the fact I was now dripping with sweat, I snuggled into his embrace.
We can stop for a moment so you can catch your breath and calm down. There’s no rush, gorgeous. Your current health is my priority, he soothed, his gentle tone vanquishing my raising panic.
Alpha ! Thank goodness I sensed your were close ! There’s something you must see ! I heard Wayne’s frantic, breathless voice grow near alongside his footsteps.
I lifted my head and looked over, seeing multiple Wayne’s wave around multiple black and white images with a flustered expression. This made me dizzier and I groaned, hiding my face back into Axel’s chest.
His scent makes the urge to throw up fade.
I was running more tests with her x-rays to be sure nothing else was wrong, and I found something in her uterine images that I somehow missed the first time. Look, Wayne stood next to us and I peeked up, seeing them look down at the images.
You see these ? He used his finger and circled the paper, it’s all scar tissue, a lot of it, and it’s messing with her ovulation. This is the reason she’s infertile, and since it’s already healed tissue, it’s the reason why your blood cannot fix it. I knew she wasn’t ovulating by her blood work, now I understand why.
Axel opened his mouth to speak but Wayne flipped the pictures around and showed him a different one, keeping him silenced.
So I did more digging to figure out how this could happen seeing as she’s still so young. Her uterus should be in great condition and she should be highly fertile… he stated, tracing his finger over a part of the image, due to the scarring placement, I examined her lower abdomen and did in fact find a very faint, hardly visible, scar identical to the scarring in her uterus. When I looked into her records, there was nothing about her being emitted into any hospital for any type of uterine work…