The Beast's Possession

**Aife

pov**

Two words. Just two words was enough for Bane to turn my world upside down.

Was right wrong now? Was black white? Was everything I thought as the truth suddenly a lie?

As his words echoed in my mind, unwilling to leave me at peace, my eyes kept widening. At one point, I had to try and stop, otherwise I would look like a bug.

"I'm sorry," he repeated again, this time, his voice was softer.

The initial shock slowly wore down, but that did nothing but leave me with more questions. Was the apology genuine? And if it was, what for?

Bane had more things to apologize for than I could count, surely he could specify what it was that he suddenly regretted.

Plus, since he wasn't looking at me while he spoke, there was no way I could know if the words were genuine or just another of his shows.

"I'm sorry," he repeated again, louder.

Sucking in a sharp breath, I tried to pull my hand away from him and escape the situation. There were so many things I wanted to say and do to this man, but any of those could trigger a chain reaction. Slapping Bane across his face was something I dreamt of doing, and yet, if I did, I would kill any chance of getting out of here.

"I'm not done yet, sit still," he grumbled.

"I can do this. You've been drinking," my voice came out weak, barely audible.

Someone like Bane wouldn't know, but this supposed 'worry and attention' from him were nothing but a dagger to one's self-respect.

I was more than capable of taking care of myself. I didn't need my tormentor to tend to my wounds.

If Bane wanted to be helpful, he could have stayed wherever he was, drinking himself to death.

That would be the best scenario. Without him around, no one could hold me back from running away from this dump.

God, even in my thoughts I sounded miserable. How Bane managed to turn me into a shell of a person I once was, was beyond me.

Slowly, Bane lifted his head until his gaze met mine. I had to be wrong, but it looked like tears welled up in his eyes. If it was true, they had to sting and he really was fighting to hold them back.

Wait, since when did I care? Right, I didn't. Bane was a beast. He was a man, who did nothing but take, take and take. No questions asked.

"Please," he whispered. "Let me finish so you can get some rest. I won't do anything to hurt you." A dark chuckle left his lips, "guess I already did."

The lump in my throat grew to the size of a grapefruit. I couldn't swallow around it.

"It is my fault that you got hurt... again," he muttered the last part so quietly, I barely caught on the word.

Looking for any excuse to get away from him, I blurted out the first thing that appeared in my mind, "there's still a lot of cleaning to do. I promised to help them." Bane shook his head. "No."

"But," I gasped. "But there's so much to do, it's unfair they have to do everything on their own, without any help." I argued.

The corner of his lips twitched as Bane tilted his head. "You do realize they are getting paid overtime to do that, right?"

Although I wasn't sure if this was another lie or not, one thing was clear - there were a few people who weren't getting paid at all.

"How about the women? Are they getting paid overtime as well? Or paid at all?"

The questions were reasonable, nothing to be ashamed of, but once they hung in the air, I visibly flinched away from him, expecting a blow... That never came. Instead, Bane hummed and almost smiled. "As a matter of fact, yeah. They do get paid for the work they are doing around the pack."

Why, just why those words had to come at me like a dagger to the heart? Did Bane realize he kept giving out just how differently I was treated around here? Starting from how I ended up here to getting paid and many more details. Why was he doing this to me? Why couldn't he let me leave and be done with this? "Okay," was all I could mutter as my gaze focused on the floor and shoulders slagged.

It didn't matter, not anymore. Focusing on these things would keep dragging me down and holding me back from everything that mattered.

I had to learn how to ignore the injustice. Besides, I was the only one who was targeted by it, so it had to be a 'me' problem.

Thankfully, Bane didn't seem to notice the wheels turning in my head and let me be. There was a possibility he chose to ignore it, and if that was true, I owed him a moment of silence for letting go of the matter.

Slowly, my mind sunk back into the abyss of thoughts and questions. Lately, I had grown fond of the place I used to avoid at all costs. After all, it was my only escape.

I had no idea how much time had passed. I also hadn't noticed Bane putting everything in places and cleaning up after himself until he thrust a cup of warm tea in my bandaged hands.

"That's the only one I could find here. The packaging said it's good for nerves and some other shit," Bane muttered, concentrating on looking anywhere but at me. "Wow, I really did a number on this place," he muttered, somewhat amused.

I knew he was trying to change the topic, so I let him and just sipped the tea he made me. Stupid, yes, but I felt like I needed it. I could worry about what Bane added to it later, when the consequences would catch up with me. "Drink all of it," he ordered as if I wasn't sipping the boiling hot drink fast enough.

"It's hot," I pointed out the obvious. Honestly, I didn't think it had to be done, but the look of impatience on his face told otherwise.

"Shoot," he hissed under his breath and rushed to the refrigerator.

I watched Bane move around, and honestly, I found the view amusing. He acted like an elephant in a china shop, on top of looking uncomfortable and worried.

Bane grabbed a few ice cubes and tossed them in my tea with a victorious smile across his lips. "There, problem solved. Drink."

A little vary, I did as I was told and downed the tea in a few gulps. When I was done, he snatched the cup from me and washed it, muttering something under his breath.

Bane smelled like a barrel of whiskey, but despite how much I thought he had drunk and what Zion told me, he appeared relatively sober. He was easy on his feet and didn't slur his speech.

Turning around to face me, Bane took a moment to look me up and down. "This won't do," he suddenly announced and walked straight towards me.

I wanted to move away, but my body froze and refused to cooperate with me. The next moment, he was right in front of me, wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me off the counter. Except, when I thought he would let me walk away - he didn't.

Instead, Bane carried me out of the kitchen bridal style and headed for the main door.

"W-where are you taking me?" I asked, silently cursing my inability to hide the fear that surged through me.

"To the main building. I have a bedroom there, no one will bother you, so don't overreact. This place isn't good anymore. Until I fix what I broke, you're staying somewhere safe." As Bane spoke, for some reason, it felt like he was talking about more than just the house.noveldrama

And a moment later, he proved my suspicions were true. "I keep claiming you as Luna of this pack, suppose it's about time I start treating you as one."