The Beast's Possession

**Kala

pov**

The knife broke my skin before I could suck in a breath. I felt the heavy, metallic stench of blood fill my nostrils a second later and nearly instantly, I got sick to my stomach.

Pregnancy was weird. I craved odd things, mixed foods that weren't supposed to go together and got sick from the smells that didn't fit the baby's liking. Blood, for example. The stench had never bothered me before, but now, all of a sudden, I felt like I had to empty my stomach or else it would get worse.

"Look at what we have here, a pretty little rat, is she?" The woman snarled as she ran her tongue over the cut on my throat, lapping up the blood. "Not a rat, a kitty she is." She hummed and pulled away the knife.

I couldn't believe she could tell who I was based on the taste of my blood, but from what I already saw, it was clear this woman wasn't any other, regular human. She had to be a witch or something.

"I prefer sorceress, but if your simpleton mind can't comprehend the meaning behind the word, go with a witch. Who cares? Anyway, who did you take with you? Who is making those sounds?"

She sounded so unbothered, I couldn't get past the initial shock. Just a moment ago, she was holding a blade to my throat, clearly ready and willing to kill me on the spot, but now she spoke as if we were long-lost friends, not complete strangers.

My hand shook as I slowly brought it up to my neck to cover the cut and check the damage, but I stopped before I could cover the cut due to her hissing at me.

"Don't touch, you will ruin it. It's healing already, I know my stuff, so unless you want an ugly scar, you won't touch it," she scolded me.

Eyes wide, I looked at her, unable to grasp the level of her delusions and blurted out, "I'm pregnant and the stench of blood makes me sick to my stomach. I need to wipe it off."

Now I wasn't the only one who was shocked. Her eyes grew just as wide as mine as she hurried towards me and carefully wiped the blood off my neck. "Shit, I'm sorry, if I had known, I would have never done that. I might come across as a monster since you probably saw what I did there, but I'm not that bad. I would never attack a woman who carries another life under her heart, at least not on purpose. That shithead over there deserved what he got, you didn't. I'm sorry." Gulping, I nodded, seeing how I had no idea how to get out of this situation, away from this weird woman and her accomplices. As I remembered that she wasn't alone, I glanced over her shoulder and frowned. There was no one in sight, even the body was gone.

"Don't bother, those two are like rats, they'll leave the ship first at the mere rumor of possible sinking. Only I stayed behind and now that you know that I don't plan to hurt you, there's nothing to worry about," she muttered, still dabbing at my neck.

"Okay," I breathed out and looked anywhere but at her.

As if sensing my reluctance to talk, she sighed and stepped away. "You do know that I'm not allowed to touch you, right? Like, what I did, although a mistake, it's sort of illegal." My eyes found her the moment her mouth closed. How was touching me illegal now? What was she on about?

Her eyebrow arched as she tilted her head and grinned. "You have a witch's rune on you. You're not a witch yourself, that much is clear, but someone has marked you as their property." She immediately threw her hands up, as if surrendering, and started babbling, "I didn't mean like property - property thing. I mean, it's more of a protection thing, obviously, to let others know you're off limits. I'm not claiming someone owns you like a pet or something."

This was the weirdest reminder of the existence of my old life, if I was being honest. While I had no idea about this rune she was describing, I knew the coven had placed protection on me.

"Anyway," she waved her hand and let out a forced giggle. "That doesn't matter. Tell me, who's making those sounds over there? It's not often that someone roams around here and since you're the only newcomer, I dare to assume it's your companion. Clearly, whoever it is, it's following you."

The grin that spread across her lips reminded me of that cat character from a cartoon I once watched. Just as wide and creepy-looking. I had to hide my discomfort by clearing my throat.

"I don't know. Okay, I might have a suspicion who it might be, but I don't want to share details. For now, it's still far away, so I need to get out of here and find a shelter before he catches up with me." I made sure to look past her as I explained the little bit I was willing to share.

The reality was that I didn't know this woman. I didn't trust her either, no matter how hard she tried to come across as friendly and harmless. She already attacked me, damn it, on purpose or not - it didn't matter. And, for the record, the attack was intentional, her excuses didn't slide.

"Dangerous, huh?" She asked, some weird spark shining in her eyes.

"Would you mind if I just left? I won't tell anyone what I saw, all that matters to me personally is that I get out of here before he catches up with me. I promise I won't cause any trouble to you or anyone I could run into down here." Sadly, she wasn't buying my words. If anything, she looked annoyed and ready to strike again. The hand that held the knife was clutching it so tight, I honestly worried that she might cut herself if she wasn't careful enough.

"I need the name. Give me the damn name of whoever is after you or you're not leaving this place fucking alive. You brought him here, I can't let you leave just like that. No way. If the guy poses any danger to those who roam these tunnels, I have to do everything in my power to protect the innocent."

Funny how her demeanor changed so quickly again, right? One moment she promised no harm just to go back on her words and threaten me the other.

Sadly, I didn't have much choice here, so I gave in. "I don't know if you have heard about him, but there's this very angry Alpha named Bane. I think he's following me here and you're kind of in my way right now. All I want is to leave, nothing else. Also, don't forget about the rune you mentioned - you can't threaten to kill me if I'm protected by one of your sisters." I added the last part for good measure, fully aware that it might piss her off even more.

As I barely turned to look at her, I was forced against the wall, her knife once again pressed against my throat. What was this bipolar bullshit behavior now?

"Bane? You brought the fucking Alpha Bane down here? Are you mental, girl? Do you have any idea what he will do to you? What he will do to us?" She screamed in my face.

"Let me go," I tried to fight against her, but even my words came out as a mere whisper.

"No way in hell. In fact, that's exactly where I'll see you again - in hell. Keep the place warm for me, will you?" She snarled and pulled the knife back, positioning it in a way it was clear she was about to kill me.

Except, she couldn't. Before she could plunge the knife in my heart, she was attacked, ripped away from me and forced into the other wall by a massive, panting man. At first, I didn't understand who it was, but once I did, I couldn't stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks. Zion. He found me.