The Forbidden Heiress At The All Male Alpha Academy-Chapter 193: The Wrong Kind Of Help
Twenty-five days, three hours and eleven minutes
Twelve
Thirteen... ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐๐๐.๐๐ ๐
Thatโs how long sheโs been married to Cain Pendragon, and the number of days sheโs begun her training all over again.
The Obsidian Claw training grounds lay in a wide basin carved directly into black stone, ringed with iron posts and weapon racks scarred from decades of use.
The air was cold enough to sting her lungs, and the earth packed hard and unforgiving beneath her boots. Torches burned low at the edges, just enough to see a little.
Itโs been weeks since she last slept, and her eyes were heavy with grief and pain. Instead, she spent all her night here at the training grounds.
She wore fitted black training leathers stripped of the Packโs insignia - one she has ripped off herself. The sleeves were torn short at the shoulders, and the fabric darkened with sweat. Her hair was braided tightly down her back, already damp, strands escaping to cling to her neck.
She had no gloves on, and her knuckles were bleeding.
Theo lunged forward, vaulted a stone barrier, rolled hard across the ground, and came up on one knee without pausing. Her breath tore from her chest with every move and her muscles screamed even more.
Everywhere screamed at her to stop.
She did not stop.
She ran the obstacle course again.
And again.
The wall was slick with frost when she scaled it. Her fingers slipped, and her skin tore open. She gritted her teeth and hauled herself over anyway, landing badly on her ankle and barely breaking stride.
She dragged a weighted chain across the yard until her arms trembled violently, then dragged it back. She struck a practice dummy until the padding split and the metal beneath cracked.
There was no wolf strength behind her blows.
No regeneration.
Every injury stayed.
Seraphina was still weak. Whatever had happened to her wolf that night she had tried to absorb Zekeโs darkness and trap it in her the same way she did her demon, seemed to not be going.
By the time the sky began to pale, her body was a map of damage again. Bruises blooming dark and ugly along her ribs, overlapping the old ones. There was a reopened wound on her shoulders, and her clothes were even more ripped than they were yesterday, catching fresh and dried blood.
Pain grounded her.
Pain reminded her she was still here.
When the first pack of warriors arrived, the sound of boots and voices carried across the yard. Cainโs beta led the training for them today, his eyes constantly shifting to her direction every five seconds as though she would suddenly vanish.
The whispers began almost immediately they arrived, the same way itโs been for the last twenty-five days.
"She trains like sheโs trying to kill herself."
"No wolf. Whatโs the point?"
"When is she going to give it up?"
"I sort of feel bad for her. The Alpha just finds all this amusing,"
Theo didnโt look at them. She lifted a blade and ran drills alone, her movements precise and merciless. Every strike was clean, and she kept moving till her vision blurred.
And as always, she ignored the stares.
She always did.
The training grounds filled quickly, male warriors spreading out in clusters, stretching, sparring, and also watching her from the corners of their eyes. Some looked curious, and some were openly contemptuous.
She moved past them like they werenโt there.
Then she heard someone laugh and she turned.
He was standing by the metal dummy, arms crossed. He looked at her once, then at his friend who was trying to break the dummy with punches that echoed through the grounds, "I kind of see how she survived at Gravemont now. I could almost pity her when I heard her mates were Cainโs son and they were killed in front of her. Serves Zeke right. Heโs always been an asshole,"
Theoโs grip tightened so hard the blade in her hand bit into her palm.
Heat flared behind her eyes, ready to unleash it on him. She wanted to strike, to make someone bleed for calling his name. But she forced it down.
She did not turn.
She finished the drill.
About an hour after the males arrived, Theo finished up and started to leave. She was limping on her bad leg, a bandage going around her head to stop the wound she kept incurring on herself.
As she walked down to the massive gates of the grounds, the males parted without meaning to, making a path she didnโt ask for. She didnโt look back at them as she walked out.
The Pack house loomed ahead, painted with red and black. It was almost like a castle, the type where those ancient kings and Queens lived, but this one was more modern.
Inside, servants froze when they saw her. No one spoke to her as though theyโd been ordered not to, and the whispers only followed once she was gone. She climbed the stairs alone, leaving faint streaks of blood along the bannister.
Her room was silent when she closed the door behind her. It was so much bigger than the one she had back home, like one of those fantasy bedrooms that were surreal, only this time, there was no happy ending.
Eventually, Cain would come visiting.
Which sheโd been lucky enough that he hadnโt come all this time to consummate the marriage yet. She hadnโt seen him much since she arrived in the east. He was probably somewhere plotting the death of his next victims.
Theo leaned her forehead against the wood for a moment, breathing hard with her eyes closed. Her reflection stared back at her from the mirror across the room. She was wide-eyed, battered and surviving.
She stripped off the ruined leathers and stood there, injuries fully visible. Then, she walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. The hot steam hitting her open skin stung, and she welcomed the pain again.
She had gotten used to it. Pain was her closest friend these days. Along with its partner she called emptiness.
Speaking of partners,
*Are you asleep?!* Theo asked softly.
*Iโm here* Seraphina answered weakly. Every day it was almost as if she got even weaker. It was scaring Theo badly.
*Iโm glad you are* Theo uttered, her eyes soft, *How long do you think youโre going to remain like this?*
*I donโt know* Sera replied, *Itโs quite hard to tell when my condition is not getting any better*
*Did I absorb that much of Zekeโs darkness that night?*
*A little,* She answered.
*Iโm sorry youโre in this condition because of me. I just wish there was someone who could...help us* Theo sighed, *Someone who knows about demons and wolves, apart from Cain. Someone who might know how to heal a weak, silver wolf,*
A light bulb went on in Theoโs head, and her eyes sharpened with realisation.
There was! There was someone!
She turned off the shower.
*What?* Seraphina asked as Theo suddenly rushed out of the bathroom.
*Sera, is there a way for me to tap into the pendantโs power? You know...reach out to the Demon? Maybe she can help us....if we ask nicely,*
She heard Seraphina groan, *Hell, no! She managed in a cry, *Thatโs not gonna work. That thing inside of you, sheโs not gonna help. Letโs think of something else,*
*What else is there?* Theo shook her head in disagreement, *Itโs been almost a month, Sera. A month of you in this condition, and Iโm afraid Iโm gonna wake up one morning, and youโre gone. We have to explore whatever little option we can come up with,*
*Anything but her!*
*I know you canโt tolerate her, but I canโt just watch you like this. Itโs breaking me. So please, if you know of a way to tap into the pendant and speak to her...tell me how,*
The way Seraphina groaned even louder indicated how much she hated this idea entirely. If she could roar right now, Theoโs head would be torn apart by the monstrous, frustrated noise.
*Come on, tell me,* Theo whispered, a towel now wrapped around her head and chest.
Seraphina made another sound again.
*Please,*
She heard her wolf take a deep breath, then she heard canines grinding in an attempt to steady her emotions.
Then, the answer came.
*As long as thereโs a mark on your neck, her voice spills through the pendantโs powers, meaning... youโve always been able to talk to her ever since Zeke marked you,*
