The Beast's Possession

**Zion

pov**

I kept on coming in and out of consciousness as the man carried me away from Kala and I was pretty sure Aife too.

Once my mind processed that we were out of that awful tunnel and the surroundings were safe, my body finally gave in.

Maybe I was dreaming about meeting Aife, but while I knew it was very shitty of me, I didn't really care. What plagued my mind was Kala, her safety and the safety of our baby.

“Please, stop moving and squirming, you're heavy as hell, it's hard to carry you as it is." The man grumbled, tossed me up a little and repositioned me over his shoulder, "you do appear way skinnier than the last time I saw you. What kind of diet are you on, Beta Zion? Torture and no food until you turn into a skeleton? No offense, but that's exactly how you look. Also, if my opinion matters at all, the diet sounds like shit scenario."

As he kept talking, I realized I knew the voice. This wasn't the first time we had met. Also, since he knew my name and title, it was clear this man knew who I was.

"Who the fuck are you?" I managed to choke out, instantly silencing myself with a coughing fit, even accidentally spitting some blood on his perfectly white shirt. "Sorry."

I wasn't apologizing for being rude, not in the slightest. Ruining the neat-looking shirt? Yeah, that was the only thing I could apologize for.

"No offense taken," he chuckled.

Of course, the dumbass had to take my apology in a completely different context than it was intended, but oh well, I had to suck it up until I got better.

"As for who I am, Beta Zion, you offend me. Do you tend to forget every man you once shook hands with or is it only me? I suppose I could write the question down to your delirious state, but it still doesn't make me feel any better. Oh, poor, poor ol' me."

Why he decided to mock me was beyond me. Truth be told, I barely remained conscious so the last thing I wanted was to think about who this guy was.

With a loud grunt, I tried to make myself a little more comfortable, which proved to be impossible since everything hurt nevertheless. No matter what, I was pretty sure even my hair hurt.

"Shit," the man hissed under his breath. "My apologies, I didn't think.. In the state you are in right now, there's no way you could focus on my silly teasing. Again, it's my fault and I am sorry for behaving in such a careless manner. I suppose spending time around Miss Aife has made me softer than I usually am. But all that aside, I'm Jonathan, Alpha Killian's personal driver. We have met before, plenty of times."

At first, I couldn't believe my own ears. What was Aife doing with one of Killian's men? But as the silence between us dragged in and I started to think, I came to a realization that it made perfect sense.

No matter what Killian's intentions were, the last thing he wanted was to see Aife get hurt. Even if the fuckface did this for his own benefit, he would move heaven and earth to keep her safe. This was a good thing. In a way, it really was. "I mean no harm to Aife, if that's what you're wondering. The main reason for my presence here is to keep her safe, so let's get this question off our minds now and focus on getting you to the house so I can check your injuries." Jonathan announced, sounding like he was speaking with a grin plastered on his lips.

That smug asshole.

Just for the sake of it, I decided to act like a true dick and spat back, "it's Luna Aife to you. She's not Miss or just Aife, she is the Luna of my pack and you will address her as such." Jonathan just laughed at my weak outburst, but he didn't protest even a bit. Instead, very unlike any Killian's men, he agreed nearly instantly.

"Yes, you're right, she is the Luna of your pack," he muttered and started walking a little faster once we reached the forest line. "However, if I still want her Beta to survive, I need to focus on more important things than some titles. We can argue about those once you get better, okay?"

He didn't need my answer to know I didn't mind avoiding the argument. If anything, what I really wanted was to close my eyes and sleep, but the smug asshole kept shouting at me not to close my eyes.

"As if I could sleep around someone as nosy as you, damn it," I muttered, making him laugh.

Great that at least one of us found this situation amusing, right?

"Is my mate safe back in the forest? I don't see her following us and, no offense, I still don't trust your ass or judgment. She's expecting a baby, I don't want her to get hurt in there."

While I had no idea why I literally handed an enemy a valuable piece of information on a silver platter, I did feel like a weight finally fell off my shoulders. If he wanted to, he could use his new knowledge to manipulate and blackmail me, but if that happened.. Well, I didn't believe he was stupid enough to really try to play that game.

"Both her and Luna Aife are safe there. The creatures that guard this place are very fond of your Luna ever since she shared a slice of cake with them. Trust me on this one, Beta, neither of those girls could ever be as safe around us both as they are with those creatures."

It sucked that I didn't know what creatures he was talking about, but the knowledge about them both being safe around those did ease my mind a little.

So much so that I nearly fell asleep, but of course, the asswipe had to ruin the moment for me by shouting again. "We're nearly there, just a couple more steps, don't you dare to close your eyes!"

"Fine!" I shot back and focused on his shoes to have at least something to look at.

In no time, the shitty gravel road was replaced by steps and then, floors. Jonathan carried me inside the house and carefully laid me down on the couch in the small living room.

I watched him run around like his ass was on fire until he found the first aid kit and finally focused on his task. Time slowed as he kept talking, explaining everything he used and every injury on my body as if I was a toddler that was throwing a tantrum.

Kala and Aife entered the house before Jonathan finished cleaning my wounds, so I encouraged my mate to focus on getting some food with Aife. It was bad enough that she had seen me beated, bruised and covered in blood while I was dressed, I didn't want her to see how bad it really was without clothes covering the damage.

"Come on, I'll help you to shower, carefully wash you off and give you some clean clothes," Jonathan whispered once he was done.

"Hell to the n-" I didn't get to finish the protest as he slapped a hand over my mouth and pinned me with his gaze.

"Hell to the yes, thank you for helping me, Jonathan. The last thing I need is for my pregnant mate and Luna to see me in this state." As the words fell from his lips, his eyes widened in realization, as if he had told me more than he was supposed to. Then, he added, "you know nothing about Luna Aife, got it? She will share the news once she's ready, but up until that point, you're in the dark. Keep in mind that I'm just as good at stiching up people as I am at cutting them."