Sylvia's Torment (Enforcers and Coterie Book 2) by Veronica Del Rosa
Authors: Veronica Del Rosa
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Ten
The hospital room was cheery and impersonal. The walls gleamed a light yellow, the sheets were a crisp white and a swinging lamp sat on the fake walnut nightstand next to the bed. Machines lightly beeped and recorded Sylvia’s stats. While nicer than her last place of residence, it wasn’t home. All this poking and prodding was beginning to irritate her.
Sure, the doctors were nicer than the scientists, and – added bonus – they didn’t break any of her bones. Didn’t mean she was enjoying her stay here. In the past twenty-four hours, they’d taken her blood, examined every inch of her, woken her on a regular basis to run tests and just generally driven her crazy. She was ready to scream in frustration.
The door swung open, and she tensed.
Don’t be another damn doctor or nurse. Please, no more tests , she thought, wanting to be left alone to lick her wounds in peace.
“Sylvia.” The deep rumble relaxed her, and she smiled.
One of the few men she ever looked up to, physically and mentally, Derek towered over her bed. A huge man with delicious muscles in all the right places.
When they’d first met decades ago, she’d had fantasies about licking every inch of his dark chocolate skin, running her fingers through his short black hair and claiming his body as hers.
A coil of desire unfurled in her stomach, reacting to her thoughts, and she squashed it. He was her Alpha, and that’s all he’d ever be. He’d never given her any indication he wanted her attention or desired her that way.
Anyway, she’d made her decision to not pursue a relationship with Derek years ago. Her attraction to him had never waned, but it was time to get past her crush on him. She was a grown woman, no longer the young pup who idolized the man before her.
“Hello, Derek.” Her voice didn’t betray her inner turmoil while her mind was a chaotic mess.
It was hard to believe she was free, that this wasn’t a cruel dream and she wouldn’t wake up back in her small prison. The urge to scream and laugh and cry all at the same time rolled through her.
She wanted Derek to hold her tight and tell her everything would be okay, but she knew it was a lie. The world was no longer a safe place. They’d stolen her.
A party full of people hadn’t stopped them. Taken, held against her will, helpless to stop it. How could she protect herself from them? Would they come for her, finish her off? What about her pack? How could she protect them when she’d proved useless against abduction?
As a Beta, she was second in rank to the Alpha. Zmitro was on par with her, the other Beta in Derek’s pack, while the Deltas held a rank one below hers. If anything happened to Derek outside of a challenge, it fell to her and Zmitro to run the pack until a new Alpha was chosen.
Most packs had one Beta with three to five Deltas. Derek’s position as Top Alpha for Ontario meant he ruled almost a hundred smaller packs. He needed more in the dominant positions to protect the Lesser Alphas and their packs. Strong werewolves to protect the weak.
But she wasn’t strong anymore, was she? A victim of circumstance and cruel bastards playing at creation.
Through sheer determination, she pushed those self-defeating thoughts away, refusing to let them grow roots and suffocate her mind. She focused on Derek and saw his lips moving.
His words had no impact on her. Her mind couldn’t grasp the meaning.
“I’m sorry, what?” Weariness seeped into her bones, and she leaned back against the raised bed. Her fingers twisted in the bed sheets, and she thought of her own bed with soft cotton sheets. She needed the normalcy of her own home.
“The doctors are releasing you today. They said there’s no lasting trauma and you’re physically healed. They’ve recommended you seek therapy to cope with your abduction. You’ll come home with me and stay at my place for the next little while. I’ve brought you some clothes,” he repeated himself, patient and
The hospital room was cheery and impersonal. The walls gleamed a light yellow, the sheets were a crisp white and a swinging lamp sat on the fake walnut nightstand next to the bed. Machines lightly beeped and recorded Sylvia’s stats. While nicer than her last place of residence, it wasn’t home. All this poking and prodding was beginning to irritate her.
Sure, the doctors were nicer than the scientists, and – added bonus – they didn’t break any of her bones. Didn’t mean she was enjoying her stay here. In the past twenty-four hours, they’d taken her blood, examined every inch of her, woken her on a regular basis to run tests and just generally driven her crazy. She was ready to scream in frustration.
The door swung open, and she tensed.
Don’t be another damn doctor or nurse. Please, no more tests , she thought, wanting to be left alone to lick her wounds in peace.
“Sylvia.” The deep rumble relaxed her, and she smiled.
One of the few men she ever looked up to, physically and mentally, Derek towered over her bed. A huge man with delicious muscles in all the right places.
When they’d first met decades ago, she’d had fantasies about licking every inch of his dark chocolate skin, running her fingers through his short black hair and claiming his body as hers.
A coil of desire unfurled in her stomach, reacting to her thoughts, and she squashed it. He was her Alpha, and that’s all he’d ever be. He’d never given her any indication he wanted her attention or desired her that way.
Anyway, she’d made her decision to not pursue a relationship with Derek years ago. Her attraction to him had never waned, but it was time to get past her crush on him. She was a grown woman, no longer the young pup who idolized the man before her.
“Hello, Derek.” Her voice didn’t betray her inner turmoil while her mind was a chaotic mess.
It was hard to believe she was free, that this wasn’t a cruel dream and she wouldn’t wake up back in her small prison. The urge to scream and laugh and cry all at the same time rolled through her.
She wanted Derek to hold her tight and tell her everything would be okay, but she knew it was a lie. The world was no longer a safe place. They’d stolen her.
A party full of people hadn’t stopped them. Taken, held against her will, helpless to stop it. How could she protect herself from them? Would they come for her, finish her off? What about her pack? How could she protect them when she’d proved useless against abduction?
As a Beta, she was second in rank to the Alpha. Zmitro was on par with her, the other Beta in Derek’s pack, while the Deltas held a rank one below hers. If anything happened to Derek outside of a challenge, it fell to her and Zmitro to run the pack until a new Alpha was chosen.
Most packs had one Beta with three to five Deltas. Derek’s position as Top Alpha for Ontario meant he ruled almost a hundred smaller packs. He needed more in the dominant positions to protect the Lesser Alphas and their packs. Strong werewolves to protect the weak.
But she wasn’t strong anymore, was she? A victim of circumstance and cruel bastards playing at creation.
Through sheer determination, she pushed those self-defeating thoughts away, refusing to let them grow roots and suffocate her mind. She focused on Derek and saw his lips moving.
His words had no impact on her. Her mind couldn’t grasp the meaning.
“I’m sorry, what?” Weariness seeped into her bones, and she leaned back against the raised bed. Her fingers twisted in the bed sheets, and she thought of her own bed with soft cotton sheets. She needed the normalcy of her own home.
“The doctors are releasing you today. They said there’s no lasting trauma and you’re physically healed. They’ve recommended you seek therapy to cope with your abduction. You’ll come home with me and stay at my place for the next little while. I’ve brought you some clothes,” he repeated himself, patient and
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