9 Chapter Nine

Groaning, she turned to the side only to freeze. Pain shot through her body.

"What the hell?" her voice was hoarse. She could barely recognize the sound of her own voice.

The humidity was heavy in the air, she was still by the hot spring.

"How the-"

Then the memories started to come back. She released a choking gasp as the images flashed through her mind, she tried to sit up only to cry out in pain. She clutched her midsection as she slowly moved to sit up.

Dry blood and something else coated her inner thighs. Rina's eyes widened in recognition of what the substance was. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks as she painfully crawled towards the hotspring. She carefully cleaned the evidence of what happened to her away.

The side of her neck throbbed as she settled against the edge of the spring. The throb turned into searing pain when she placed her fingers over the open wound. Gasping she clenched her fists willing the pain to go away. Pure energy engulfed her hand before she held it over her wounded neck.

Panting she slumped back in exhaustion. Conflicting thoughts passed through her mind. She flinched as the thought of pleasure she felt from the Western Lord came up. It was something that she shouldn't have enjoyed. She had betrayed Tristen's trust. How could she go back to him knowing that she enjoyed his brother's touch. At first she did not accept Damiens advance but his skilled hands took her will away. She lost herself in the pleasure of a full demon, her purity was taken and now she didn't know what to do.

Rina put her shaky hand over her womb, it glowed a blue hue and healed any damage caused by Damien's intrusion. Her thighs clenched as the phantom feeling of his fingers stretching her came back. She shook her head.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" her hand glided over her throat wiping away the raspiness caused by her encounter with Damien's inner beast. A shudder passed through her.

Rina found the energy to pull herself out of the hot spring and dried herself off. She pulled her clothes on. Every brush and graze from the fabric brought different memories up. She couldn't think straight, she had to leave the area. She needed to get away from everyone, she couldn't face her friends let alone Tristen. Her chest clenched at the thought of his reaction. The only place she could think of was home.

Rina ran as fast as she could in the opposite direction of the campsite. She ran until she faced the portal leading to her territory, she trembled as she approached it. Signing Rina walked through the opening, a sense of calmness washed over her.

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He woke up with a start. A thin sheet of sweat covered his body. Damien noticed he was in his chamber but couldn't remember how he got there.

His eyes narrowed once he remembered what led him to this point. His beast had taken control of his body, something that hadn't happened since he was a small pup. His beast growled in satisfaction in the back of his mind but Damien didn't know why. The last time he went into blood rage he was covered in blood when he came back to his senses. But this time there was no blood but the smell of water, soil and blossoms. He was utterly confused.

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She trembled as she leaned against the other side of the portal. Her priestess powers flickered to life. The symbol of a seal appeared over the surface of the entrance. As heir to the throne she was never removed from having the authority to authorize an exile. Her uncle may rule in place until her brother grew into a man, but she still retained the power to command what her parents created.

She mumbled Sarah and Tristens name, they would no longer be able to have access to her territory. She couldn't face them right now, maybe later when she felt ready. Michael lived in her territory, she would block him from entering the city she dwelled in. She would make sure he would hear nothing of what happened to her. She knew full well that Tristen would come through the portal ranting why she left.

"Now you can't…" Rina whispered as more tears streamed down her flushed cheeks.

She quietly walked to her car and drove to her house. Rina noticed a note on the kitchen counter. Her breath hitched when she finished reading the letter, it was from her mother. They wouldn't be back for another three weeks. She normally spent two weeks in the glory forest so her family went away as well. The house was empty; there would be no servants to see the aftermath of her experience.

"Great…just what I need." she said as she crumpled the letter throwing it to the floor. The day she needed her mothers guidance, she was not there for her. She numbly walked up the stairs to her bedroom dropping the bag holding her toiletries on the floor before she sank into her bed. She flipped over facing the ceiling, she gently laid a hand on her stomach.

'What will I tell mama? How could he do this to me?'