30| The Manipulated

CEDAR BLAKE 

I felt myself floating, weightless, as if invisible hands were carrying me back from the edge of death. My mind woke first, restless and sharp, before my eyes finally fluttered open. For a long moment, I just lay there, listening.

Silence.

Not the comforting kind of silence you hear when you’re safe at home, but the kind that creeps over your skin and makes your heart beat faster. The kind that tells you at once you are not in a hospital, not in your pack’s grounds, not anywhere near people who care about you.

I pushed myself up slowly from the soft bed beneath me, fighting the heavy pull of dizziness. My gaze moved around the unfamiliar room, trying to catch details, trying to piece together where I was. Snippets of memory started flashing back like broken glass…Dominus, the blood binding ritual, his mouth drinking from me, my body reacting, the disappearance of the sun and then nothing but darkness.

Whipping my head around too fast, I regretted it immediately. A sharp pain tore through my skull, stabbing from behind my eyes to the back of my head as if someone had shoved a knife clean through. My vision swam, spots of light dancing before me. I pressed a hand against my temple, groaning, feeling weak and unsteady.

Where am I? Who brought me here?

The last thing I remembered clearly was the ritual. Dominus had been feeding, too greedy, too reckless, and I remembered hearing the roar of the twin alphas... But this… this wasn’t Crystal Moon. This place felt wrong, foreign, like I had crossed into another world.

So how the hell am I here?

As if summoned by the question in my mind, the door opposite me opened with a soft creak. A woman walked in. She moved with regal grace, like a servant who had been trained all her life to follow the strict rules of a royal household. Her spine was straight, her steps careful.

“You’re awake,” she said, almost in relief. It wasn’t really a question, more like an announcement.

She closed the door gently behind her and stood still, her hands folded in front of her, staring at me like she was waiting for my permission to come closer. Her careful distance told me she didn’t want to scare me more than I already was.

“You’re in the Guardian’s Palace,” she continued softly. “You don’t have to be scared. Your friend, the handsome man who brought you with the three Guardians, is paying his respects to the king.”

Her words made me blink hard. Guardian’s Palace? Friend?

My lips parted, confusion spilling from me. “Who brought me here? And where exactly is the Guardian’s Palace? I don’t understand what you mean.” My brows furrowed as I tried to hold my head steady, but another jolt of pain shot through me, making me wince and clutch at the sheets.

“You…” she began, but her words were cut short by a sudden knock on the door.

She turned, smiling faintly at me, before moving to open it. “He’s here,” she said reassuringly. “I think he’ll explain everything better.” She stepped aside as the door opened wider, letting the person outside enter. Then she slipped out quietly, closing the door behind her.

My breath caught.

Deklan.

I tried to stand immediately, but he was quicker, crossing the space in two long strides. His strong hands pressed gently on my shoulders, guiding me back onto the bed before I could wobble or fall. Then he wrapped me in a warm embrace, his scent surrounding me, grounding me.

“It was you,” I whispered against his chest, relief flooding through me. My body softened into his arms. “What happened? I don’t remember seeing you before I passed out.”

“I knew Dominus would get out of hand,” he said, his voice calm, smoother than I’d ever heard it. “He was ready to start a war with the twin alphas. That fight would have exposed you to even greater danger. I couldn’t risk it, so I pulled you out of the heat before it was too late.”

His tone carried no hesitation, no regret. He had done it with full intent.

I tilted my head back, trying to get a better look at him. Relief warmed my chest, knowing he had been the one to save me, but that didn’t erase the storm of questions pounding in my mind. His eyes caught mine, dark yet twinkling faintly as if there was something unspoken dancing behind them. They carried that same aura I always saw in him, dark, endless, like a bottomless pit. His sharp jaw framed his lips, which curled into a small, amused smile when he noticed how closely I was staring.

“I’m still the same, Cedar,” he scowled playfully, though his voice was low and teasing. “Stop looking at me like you want to eat me.”

Heat rushed up my neck, and I forced out a laugh to mask it. “I wanted to say thank you, but you definitely don’t deserve it.” My tone came out snippy, but my heart wasn’t as steady as I pretended. “I keep owing you, Deklan. I don’t even know if I can repay you in this lifetime.”

“You could,” he said smoothly, his voice dipping with wicked humor. His eyes flicked to my lips, burning me with their intensity. “Because you look edible right now. And I know you’re thinking exactly what I am thinking.”

I froze, staring at him, realizing how close he was, how dangerous it felt. I snapped myself out of the spell, shifting back slightly. I can’t… I can’t allow this to start when I don't even know where I am.

“Where are we, Deklan?” I asked quickly, trying to redirect the moment. “I have to go back to Crystal Moon.”

His brows furrowed, concern flashing across his face. “Why would you wish to go back there? It’s not safe for you to leave now.”

“It’s safer than anywhere else if I want to escape Dominus,” I argued firmly, my voice low but steady. “The twins are my mates. I found out I was betrothed to them as a pup. That bond ties me to them, they won’t kill me, not now. I’m important to them, even if I don’t fully understand why. They don’t want to steal from me the way Dominus does. Going back to them might be my only chance of breaking free from the contract’s hold on me.”

I rose to my feet, ignoring the dizziness pulling at me, and walked toward a wooden-framed window. I pushed the thin curtains slightly and stared out, seeing a quiet pond glistening under faint light. For a second, its calm surface mocked the storm inside me. Where's this place?

Deklan followed silently, his presence a shadow against my back. Then his hands slipped around my waist, his arms tightening as he held me from behind.

“You can come with me instead,” he whispered against my hair. “I know I can’t promise the safest life, but I swear I’d never put you in danger on purpose. Not you.”

I shook my head slowly. “I can’t…”

“Are you sure?” His voice softened further as he turned me gently to face him. His lips trailed a line of kisses from my neck to the edge of my cleavage, slow and deliberate. My breath caught in my throat, shivers sparking down my spine.

“You’re…”

“You’ll be safe with me, Cedar,” he murmured, his teeth grazing my bottom lip before pulling back just slightly. “I’m ready to give up everything if it means I can take you far away. You already know what will happen if you stay with either pack.”

My heart thudded violently, torn between the truth in his words and the trap I feared was hiding behind them. His touch was too much, his voice too persuasive. Something in him felt… different.

“Why does it feel like you’re acting strange?” I whispered shakily, searching his face. “You’re the last person I’d expect to…”

The door burst open with a loud crash.

Deklan’s hands dropped from my waist as we both turned sharply. My heart slammed against my ribs, my breath hitching when I saw who stood there.

Another Deklan.

His piercing eyes locked onto mine, then flicked to the man standing beside me. His face hardened instantly.

“What is going on here?” I gasped, my eyes darting between them. One Deklan stood beside me, his hand still grazing my hip. The other stood in the doorway, his expression fierce, confusion carved deep into his face.

“Who are you?” the Deklan in the doorway demanded, his voice sharp as his teeth bared, a low growl vibrating in his chest.

“I should be asking you the same,” the Deklan beside me snapped, his brows furrowing as he stepped protectively closer to me.

My mouth fell open.

You’ve got to be freaking kidding me!