From Here to Ecstasy
Chapter 95 - Prisoner of Pain

Dedicated to my favorite people, oddball, PenumbraMINE, Tisha Peru, and last but not least, N.Y.O.B. I really appreciate your comments. They lift my spirits as well as make a better writer. Thank you.

Recap

I watched as he walked into the cell, trying to fight my order. I growled and slammed the cell door shut and locked it. I knew the cells were silver and I was getting strange looks from my warriors but I didn’t care.

I felt Windy walk up to me as her warrior walked behind her. She laid her hand on my arm, calming me instantly. We both sealed the door on his cell as well as the walls and ceiling, our magic being the strongest it had ever been. We spelled Dean from talking or calling out to his daughter.

I turned around and looked at the warriors. I could tell something wasn’t right. About six of them were staring off into the cells to our right. “What’s going on?”

Sonny’s POV

“This is where this bastard put our relatives who wouldn’t conform to his will. He took our families as insurance to keep us in line,” Darla explained. But, it wasn’t who caught my attention it was Windy.

She sniffed the air and growled again. “Bastard has my mate down here,” she growled as she took off to the cells he was in, Darla following behind her.

When Darla saw who her mate was she gasped. “Oh, Goddess, please help my cousin. I know he’s only human but it doesn’t matter to me one whit. Please hear my plea.”

“I heard,” my grandmother said, causing Darla to jump and then bow. “Don’t bow to family, my child.”

“Family?” Darla asked as she looked around.

“Yes, your Royal King and Royal Beta are my grandchildren,” the Moon Goddess distractedly answered. Darla’s eyes widened but she didn’t question the Moon Goddess again.

I walked into the cell and almost gagged. The shit had whipped him and didn’t attend to his wounds. They were festered with green coming out of them. He had them all over his body and not just on his back. It wasn’t a pretty sight to see. We needed to help him as quickly as we could or he wouldn’t make it.

Windy’s POV

I followed Sonny and the warriors to the cells, my wolf going nuts. I kept pushing her back but she was adamant about getting out. The only thing that saved me was Darla asking if she was going to be put in the cells, too. I assured her she wasn’t in trouble and took her on as my protection. I wanted to laugh at the idea but I knew she needed to get over the feeling of being controlled. I was happy to get a sparring partner, hopefully, she won’t be afraid to come at me. If so I knew I could order her to but I didn’t want to order her, not after what she had been through.

I stopped when Sonny ordered Dean to walk into the cell and never leave. I loved the part of him telling Dean not to come out of the cells even if they were on fire. I could help with the fire part but knew Sonny would never allow me to set him on fire.

I helped Sonny spell the cells, walls, and the ceiling. My wolf was trying to tell me something as we walked out of the cells but I was caught up in a spell of smell. It rolled over me and inside me leaving me wanting to chase the smell down. My body felt more alive than it ever felt before.

“Mate!” My wolf, Star, yelled as she jumped up and down in joy.

I ran down the cells until I found the smell I was looking for. I stopped in my tracks, my heart falling to my feet, my breath no longer coming to me. I hurt. My heart hurt but didn’t come close to how my mate was hurt. I opened the cell and ran inside to my mate. I was afraid to touch him, I didn’t want to hurt him even more. I could hear my wolf howling out for him.

I heard Darla gasp. “Oh, Goddess, please help my cousin. I know he’s only human but it doesn’t matter to me one whit. Please hear my plea.”

I focused back on my mate and took the only good hand he had and cried silently. He couldn’t die. I wouldn’t allow it. It would take a lot to heal him but I was going to help as much as I could. I wouldn’t let his injuries take him from me. I tried healing him but I had used too much magic making sure the cells were spelled.

Why wasn’t my grandmother helping my mate heal? Did she think he was not good enough for me? She had helped the others to heal but something was wrong. I didn’t feel her as if she didn’t like him, on the contrary, she looked at him lovingly. So why didn’t she heal him?

I cocked my head to the side, a silent question trapped in my head. I watched her as she looked around and bowed her head to a dark corner. Only after she bowed could I see the wolf sitting there. I watched as my grandmother laid her hand on my mate and healed most of his injuries. It wasn’t a moment more before the wolf jumped at my mate. I heard Darla gasp as she tried to get to her cousin but Sonny grabbed her and held her still. It didn’t take me too long to realize what was happening. The wolf was a Royal wolf to my Royal wolf.

I sank to my knees and watched as man and wolf merged. My mate gasped and opened his eyes, his beautiful green eyes. He smiled at me and gasped again. “Don’t fight it, mate. I was human too until a few days ago. Let your wolf merge with you. You will shift and, yes, it will hurt but only if you fight the change. Please don’t fight it. I can’t lose you,” I explained, hoping he would take my words to heart.

He closed his eyes and nodded. I didn’t want him to close his eyes to me but I knew it would be easier to concentrate. I felt the wind whip around us and looked up to see we were in the woods instead of the cells - to which I was grateful for. It was only me, Darla and my mate, thank the Goddess.

It was hard watching him go through the pain of shifting into a wolf. I wanted to help in any way I could. I was trying to contain my tears, but they were akin to a trickling faucet falling down my face steadily. I would murmur in his ear, telling him to relax into his wolf. He was going to be a beautiful wolf and we would replace a pond for him to see his reflection in it. It only took thirty minutes but it felt more like three hours - three hours of howls and whining, not sure if we both howled or whined, but I didn't care. He was a beautiful black wolf with green eyes, the eyes of his human form, too.

He jumped at me and Darla screamed out a warning...

A/N: Yep, I didn't again. Don't worry there won't be too man cliffhangers. Who am I kidding? Of course, there would be cliffhangers but there will some chapters of explanation. Thanks for all the comments.