Page 11 of Resurgent

"I'm an Alpha, Little Faren," Tyr laughs, "Even if that didn't guarantee that I'd be taken care of, dragons always take care of each other. I wasn't leaving you, so they made sure to bring me anything I needed."

"Such a fancy Alpha that other dragons wait on him, you sure you want to give that up for me?" I tease.

I'm thankful when Tyr sends me a memory of us, until I realize it's one of the times I crashed to the ground trying to climb up his leg.

"I'll get you back for that."

"How long have I been out? Where are we? Catch me up on everything I don’t know," I push, forcing myself to refocus on my situation.

Sasha’s face blanches as Matt gives me a little squeeze.

“I’ll let you all talk alone. I’ll be in the kitchen making some lunch if you need anything,” Korr tells us. But before he leaves, a pitying expression flashes across his face as he takes one last look at me.

I'm immediately on edge, and Sasha scooting closer to hold my hand doesn't help that.

Once she's settled, she shoots Matt an unreadable look, and I feel him tense beneath me before nodding back at her.

"Annalise…" her voice trails off as tears begin to fill her eyes. "What do you remember about your attack? About Matt and Korr finding you."

My head snaps up to Matt, tears filling his eyes as he squeezes me harder, and I rack my memory, trying to remember seeing him. Memories of the horror Platt and Web put me through instantly consume my every thought…the monstrous faces they made as they got off hurting me, the things they still planned to do…

"Here's some coffee. The heat will help your throat," Korr says, pulling me from my nauseating spiral I was on as he passes a mug to me before retreating back out of the room.

Taking my first sip in what feels like forever, I groan as the warm liquid fills my mouth.

"Seriously, he has got to be a mind reader!" I whisper-shout. "How does he know exactly how I like my coffee?"

Matt's lips lift a little. "That would be me, actually. I knew you'd kill us if we didn't give you coffee as soon as you woke up, so I brought everything over a few days ago with written instructions on how to make it if I wasn't here to do it myself."

"Oh…I guess that makes more sense."

"So…about what you remember…" Sasha pushes gently, getting me back on my miserable track.

"Land Navigation started normally enough. We were all spread out looking for any food supplies and trying to look for berries while we used our maps and compasses to pinpoint where we were based on terrain.

"We were only a few miles away from Scion when Platt snuck up behind me and tried to strangle me. I thought he was trying to kill me, but after getting tackled to the ground by Web, it became clear they were solely focused on trying to subdue me and tie me up."

Sasha's mouth is already wide open, and I regret everything else I have to tell her before the words even come out.

"After fighting for what felt like forever—fists and boots colliding with every inch of my body—they finally knocked me out."

I take a deep breath, knowing she's asking for medical purposes, but still not able to relive every horrific moment again.

"I woke up in a cave I had gone to with Aiden when we were paired up in Ghost Walking for that first mission. They said they'd been following me for a long time, so I assume they had followed us out there, but either way, that's where I was, tied up and stripped of my weapons.

"Web got back shortly after I woke up, and they started…tormenting me. They cut my clothes…cut me…" A line of heat spreads over my chest as the memory of Platt's tongue licking up the blood from the wound he'd just given me, making me feel like I'm back there—

"You are NOT there, Little Faren. Take a deep breath and open your eyes. I'm right here."

Thundering steps rattle my forgotten mug on the nightstand, coffee sloshing over the sides as Tyr's shadow turns the already curtained-off room almost pitch black.

"Please stay," I beg, as the humming bond releases some of the pressure off my chest.

"Forever."

Calmed with the knowledge that neither of my friends can see my face anymore, I continue, my voice shaking, "They planned to…rape me. But since they thought no one would be looking for me, they said they wanted to take their time. That they wanted to…make me feel good first."

Matt inhales sharply, and I'm sure if he wasn't holding me right now, he would be headed to the gym to hit something.