War Claim (The Claim: Book 3)

Chapter 15 - Animkii (Part 1)

A bolt like lightning struck him in his lower abdomen and groin. Thunder reverberated in his chest as he bent forward in the shower with the warm water spraying down his back.

It was different this time. Stronger in intensity.

He noticed that it started an hour earlier than usual, at ten o'clock in the morning. The foreign sensations within him began like mild cramps that he brushed aside as he scanned the perimeter of the territory for the hundredth time. When the cramps increased in severity within a few minutes, he couldn't ignore them anymore and turned to head back to the cabin. He barely arrived when the cramping had him gritting his teeth and clutching his stomach, almost doubled over.

He had hoped that the warm shower would relax the muscles, only to be struck savagely from an unknown, unseen monster trying to tear him down.

He could feel that the attack was different this time. It struck his abdomen before hitting his groin, whereas the past assaults struck the groin first and foremost in its severity.

What was the bastard doing to his mate this time?

The pain lasted only a few moments and he gasped for air as he turned the water off. The clenching and twisting of the abdominal muscles continued as he struggled to dry himself off with a towel, but it was less of a shooting pain and more of a constricting ache.

He hobbled out of the bathroom and barely made it to his dresser to grab some clean clothes when another stroke of pain seized him. Turning, he collapsed on the bed a few feet across from the dresser. He gritted his teeth as he writhed on his bed, his nails extended and tore through the mattress. Snarls ripped through him as his wolf rose to the surface of his flesh, pressing against the invisible enemy attempting to overpower and dominate him through torture.

He didn't know how long it lasted, maybe only a few minutes, but it felt like fifteen minutes of agony—as if someone had electrocuted his abdomen.

Panting, he grappled for his phone on his bedside table and weakly lifted it to his face and stared at the screen, debating on whether he should call his parents. The pain had stopped, though a deep-rooted ache continued to constrict his organs.

What the fuck was going on? What could he do to stop it? Was there anything he could do?

He set his phone down to catch his breath. A fresh coat of sweat covered his flesh. Cramps still twisted and churched within for several minutes as he slowed his breathing and tried to ease the pounding of his heart. Fear gripped him and he prayed Madison was okay. That she was strong and would survive this—whatever this was that was being done to her. Tears gathered in his eyes as he prayed and begged the Moon Goddess to please help his mate. To save her somehow. To have mercy and end this torture being inflicted on her.

The cramping wasn't subsiding. He could feel them starting to build in strength again. He lifted his phone up feebly and called his parents as another bolt of pain struck him. He cried out as his mother answered and all he could do was scream.

She hung up and pressed into his mind but the pain was so powerful, he couldn't let her in.

It struck his abdomen again and spread out, up to his chest, out his arms, and down his legs. His chest exploded in pain and he couldn't cry out any longer. Silently screaming, his body seized up, his ears began to ring and his vision dimmed. He couldn't breathe.

The ringing faded to silences as his mother barged into the cabin, screaming as she ran to him as darkness engulfed him.

His world snapped in two and one half fell away as the pain abruptly ended. A high-pitched ringing filled his head as the darkness lifted little by little. Stripped of his strength, he lay there hallow and empty as his mother's face above slowly came into focus and her voice broke through the ringing that began to fade.