The moon was shining full and bright as we walked to the front steps of the mansion. Simon waited there, and I gripped Shannon's hand hard, my heart pounding. Ethan and Samuel flanked him as usual, with James standing on Samuel's other side. None of them looked pleased, and I felt Aoife stiffen beside me as we lined up.
"Well, you at least have the good sense to know when to obey," Simon remarked. "But now you really will be obedient - whether you like it or not. I'm not just going to link with you; I'm going to go inside. You won't be able to hide anything from me - all your thoughts, desires, wants, needs, and feelings will belong to me, as will you." He smiled. It wasn't a very nice smile. "Once I've linked with you, all of you will be subject to my will. I will control your every thought, action, feeling, and even when you eat and sleep. Of course, when I choose to exercise my will is completely up to my discretion, so don't even think for a moment that you'll be safe.
"Begin."
One by one, we walked over, and, one by one, I watched my friends falls screaming to the ground, writhing in agony. Samuel barely flinched as his charges were transferred over to Simon's will; in fact, I think he enjoyed it. Ethan, on the other hand, grimaced every time one of his charges were subjected to the linking, and I felt like throwing up.
Then it was my turn. I gave Shannon's hand a squeeze before letting go, and Simon's face darkened. I didn't quite understand why he looked so angry - not until he seized my head in his hands and the world went white.
By the time I could see again, Aoife was holding me, and I sobbed into her chest, clinging on to her like a lifeline. She held me just as tightly, but that didn't quite muffle Shannon's scream as he was linked, and fresh tears fell as I understood now why Simon had looked so angry. It was clear he wanted me for himself, and Shannon was getting in the way. I suspected he'd made our linking a bit more painful on purpose, and judging by Aoife's angry expression as she helped me to my feet, she thought the same. I shuddered.
"Get up," Simon ordered, and those of us still on the ground stood, shaking. "Now, all of you, move away from each other."
I already knew it was pointless to resist; we moved as if driven by a will not our own, until we all stood far enough for Simon's satisfaction. "Good," he said. "You're learning. Compliance will get you far. Disobedience will get your wolf killed. Never forget that. Now. This is how it is going to be. From now on, you will not talk to each other. You will not gather together. And you will never, ever let your thoughts stray to each other. You will still work together, but there will be no communication of any kind. I will supply all the resources you require from now on, because I want this place in the same condition in which it was first built, but you will not have anything to do with each other outside the times when you are working together. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Alpha," we chorused.
Simon nodded. "Good," he said. "Go to bed, all of you. You have only a few hours, and I will be waking you up at dawn. And you will only rest and eat when I deem you have earned the right to do so. If that means you pass out from either hunger or lack of sleep because you have not done what I wished, well, that's your fault. Not mine. Yours."
I felt even more ill as we all went our separate ways, and I could already feel my hard-won happiness slipping away. How things had changed so drastically in the last twenty-four hours left my head spinning, but as I made my way to a bedroom on the second floor, well away from everyone else, I knew there was one, small part of me that Simon couldn't claim. So long as I had that core of self-awareness I'd discovered earlier in the pool, then a small part of me remained free. That was enough to put a smile on my face as I fell into an exhausted sleep.
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