All Chapters of BOUGHT BY THE BEAST: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The nausea hit three days after Baltimore.I woke up at dawn with my stomach churning, barely made it to the bathroom before I was throwing up everything I'd eaten the night before. And then some.Caspian appeared in the doorway, shirtless and concerned. "You okay?""Fine. Just something I ate probably." I rinsed my mouth, trying to ignore the way my hands shook. "I'm fine."Through the bond, I felt his doubt. He knew I was lying. Could feel the nausea and fatigue rolling through me like a physical thing.But he didn't push. Just handed me a towel and left without a word.That hurt worse than if he'd yelled.We'd barely spoken since he saw those medical records. He slept on the opposite side of the bed, careful not to touch me. Answered questions in monosyllables. The bond was still there, still connecting us, but he'd built walls around his emotions that I couldn't break through.It was like being bonded to a ghost.I brushed my teeth and stared at my reflection. I looked like shit. D

Caspian didn't come back that night.I felt him through the bond, running through the woods surrounding the safe house, pushing his body to exhaustion in a desperate attempt to outrun emotions he couldn't control.It didn't work. I felt every spike of rage, every wave of self-loathing, every moment he hated himself for not being able to accept what I couldn't change.By dawn, I was exhausted from a sleepless night and another round of violent nausea that left me shaking on the bathroom floor.David found me there."He's still out there," he said quietly, sitting beside me. "Been running all night. His wolf is close to the surface. Not good.""Nothing about this is good.""No. It's not." David handed me a damp washcloth. "But it's also not sustainable. You two can't keep doing this. The bond won't allow it.""The bond doesn't seem to care what it allows. It just keeps torturing us both.""Bonds don't torture. People do." He paused. "And right now, you're both torturing each other by no

David had been taken to an abandoned factory on the edge of werewolf territory.Marcus wasn't even trying to hide. He wanted us to come. Wanted the confrontation."It's a trap," I said, staring at the building through binoculars."Obviously." Caspian was loading weapons with methodical efficiency. "But we're going anyway.""We could call for backup. You have people, right? Lycans who answer to you?"He paused. "I do. But they're three hours away. David doesn't have three hours."Through the bond, I felt his conflict. His guilt that David had been taken because of us. His determination to get him back regardless of cost."Then we go in smart," I said. "Not stupid.""I'm always smart.""You literally walked into a warehouse full of hunters two days ago.""That was calculated risk. This is rescue mission. Different strategy." He finished loading and looked at me. "You're staying in the car.""Like hell I am.""Rielle--""David got taken protecting us. Protecting me. I'm not sitting in a

The next morning, I woke up sore.Not the bad kind of sore. The kind that came from Caspian proving, repeatedly, that he was very happy about me agreeing to be his queen.Worth it.I stretched, felt muscles protest, and immediately decided I didn't care.Caspian was already awake, sitting shirtless at the edge of the bed, staring at his phone with an expression that made my stomach drop."What's wrong?" I asked.He looked up. Smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Nothing's wrong. Just... a lot of messages from the Council. Arrangements for our arrival. Protocol. Expectations.""That sounds fun.""It's a nightmare." He set the phone down. "They want us there in three days. Not thirty. Apparently Ezra convinced them that waiting is dangerous. Too much time for rival factions to organize."Three days.Shit."Can they do that? Just change the timeline?""They're the Council. They can do whatever they want if enough of them agree." He ran his hands through his hair. "Which means we need to

The hall erupted.Voices shouting. Some supporting Morgessa's challenge. Others protesting. The noise was deafening.Caspian's rage exploded through the bond so violently I actually stumbled."No." His voice cut through the chaos like a blade. "Absolutely not.""You cannot refuse a formal challenge, Your Majesty." Morgessa's smile was vicious. "It's tradition. Written into our laws. Any member of the court can challenge the worthiness of a potential queen through trial by combat.""That law hasn't been invoked in three hundred years," Ezra said from beside us. He actually looked pissed. "For good reason. It's barbaric.""It's our way." Morgessa turned to the assembled crowd. "Or has our king grown so soft with his werewolf pet that he's forgotten lycan tradition?"Shit.She was backing Caspian into a corner. If he refused, he looked weak. Like he was protecting me because I couldn't handle myself. If he accepted, I had to fight a sorceress who'd been alive for two hundred years and cou