Chapter 40: Chapter 40

Chapter Forty

James POV

This time when I opened my eyes I knew where I was even before I opened my eyes. Knew what I was doing here. Realized what had happened. And what will happen.

I remembered everything.

Someone groaned from beside me. I pushed myself up from the ground and forced myself to sit straight.

Another groan echoed from beside me.

My eyes ceased into a frown when I heard the groan again. Although this time, I also heard the pain it carried.

I took a deep breath to feel alive. It felt like a train had run over me. When another grunt sounded from beside me, my eyes shot open. I recognized the voice.

My head snapped beside me, my eyes darting to the person whom I knew very well.

“Michael...” I whispered to the crumpled form beside me. Michael was lying in an awkward position. His hands were tied behind his back like mine and his legs were folded inwards. In addition to that, he was making pained noises. Lying there like an injured animal.

“Michael? Are you okay?” I asked him. He groaned in response. I would have snorted if I was not feeling like I fish without water.

“Michael, we had to find a way to get out of here. It was a trap. To lure both of us here.” I told him in a hoarse voice. My voice was so groggy that even I could not recognize it. It was like I was speaking after years and years of silence. My throat burned when I spoke. Thus, I had to clear my throat.

“Michael...” I said his name to get his attention but the way his head was hung down, I felt that he was not even aware that I was speaking to him. I had to get his attention. Not only that, but I was about to nudge him with my foot when a voice boomed around the empty place and my attention was shifted.

“I'm glad that you figured it out. It would be a shame if you still did not get it by now. It would. Wouldn't it James?” Someone said in a mocking voice. I raised my head and followed the voice, trying to figure out where it was coming from.

It was coming from deeper inside the passageway.

Who was it?

I thought I recognized the voice. If only my mind was collected then I would have known who was behind this voice. My frustration doubled with the fact that I was still not collected.

At first, I saw nothing. Though soon as my haze began to fade away, it gave way to the dark silhouette of a person. It was a man.

“Who are you?” I asked. The question came out stupid. I was about to harden my voice and speak again with a more authoritative voice but stopped when another person appeared in sight from behind him.

I felt her presence before I saw her. Likewise, I caught the scent of her very being before I smelled her. I felt her even before I touched her. My heart started beating faster. My blood started flowing in my head. Desire ran through my veins making me seek her warmth. All just by mere feeling her.

Her.

Linda.

My wolf sprang to life just by the feeling of her presence around me.

At last, her form became clear. She walked forward and stood beside the man. Her arms were folded around her waist. She looked deadly but gorgeous. She wore an emotionless face that gave me a dark, cold look.

“You.” I said without any context. Not really knowing how I should react to the sight of her standing there.

Safe and sound.

Unscathed and unharmed even though I saw her earlier fighting the wolf's triple size.

“Hello James. We meet again.” She said out loud. Addressing me like I was a stranger. Her voice purposely blank, devoid of any emotion.

Looking at her now, I noticed how much she had changed in just one day. Her face was Stoic and emotionless. She did not give off any happy vibes like she usually did. Her whole persona had changed, turning her into a completely different person.

She was the same girl I had met on the street running away from those four guys. Frightened and scared for her life. But in some way I knew she was not that same girl anymore.

My facial features hardened at the sound of her voice. I had to remind myself that she was not from our side. She was the reason that people from our pack had died.

“Yes. We meet again.” I said in just as cold a voice as she did. Although not in the circumstances that I probably had wanted.

Beside me, I sensed Michael trying to sit up but unable to do so. He was withering and groaning too much to sit up. Finally, he gathered enough strength in his arms and succeeded in sitting up straight like me with a heavy thump sound. He was panting. Like he was struggling to breathe or struggling with an immense pain that just did not go away.

I could understand his pain. I was feeling exactly the same.

Linda smirked at Michael's attempt to sit up straight. It was a cruel smile. Like she was finding the situation funny or thinking Michael's attempt pathetic.

“Hello Linda. Honestly, I was hoping to see you dead. What a shame.” Michael told her. Looking at her with pure hatred. A streak of blood was rushing down from his head. The blood was a dark red color. It looked like his head was cut open with a sharp knife with the intention to split it open.

Michael was actually brave. To be looking like a damn mess and still managing to pull a nasty face to look at her like this. Linda let out a humorless chuckle at his words.

“No one in your pack was born with enough guts to kill me, Michael. Not even your father. So it will only remain a fantasy of yours, to see me dead.” She replied in a cold voice.

She came forward and looked at with so much disdain on her face like she truly hated us with every being of her existence.

“I was really hoping that I would get a chance to kill you with my own hands but my master forbade me to do so. He wanted to have a face to face talk with you first. So you both will know who defeated the greatest pack of all time.” She told us before stepping back and letting her so-called Master come forward.

He was wearing a mask. When he took his mask off and revealed his face, I had to double-check what I was seeing.

His half face was completely disfigured. He did not have one eye while his lips were swollen and had stitches over them. It may only mark off those stitches, although I could not tell. The most unrealistic thing was his nose which was half gone. His cheeks skin was dead and black. Like it was burnt with fire. His side of the face was a complete disaster. It was clear that it was the mark of torture. Not a recent one though. It looked ancient.

All in all, he looked ugly.

The master ran his fingers on the side of his face. Looking like he was recalling how he got it. His eyes were distant and his lips were parted a little.

By the look of his face, I could imagine that he once had a very handsome face. His scars gave him a barbarian look. He looked savage. However, it was very much possible that his scars had nothing to do with the way he looked. He probably was a Barbarian. For some reason, I felt that even a guy like Elijah, who was as ugly as one could go, would look good in front of him.

He appeared to be more than sixty year old but still I could not confirm it. Hunters and Wolves, almost every supernatural being looked way younger than they usually were. Thus, I certainly could not say.

“I have gotten used to that look by now.” The guy beside Linda said. He sent a sneer my way. Beside me, I sensed Michael snarling at him openly.

“Your father had given me the same look. The same look of disdain and disgust. Even though the reason for this face was his own father.” He told us before letting out a humorless chuckle. How dare that bastard bring grandfather and father into this conversation?

“What would happen if I did the same to his kids? I wish he could see that for himself.” He said and smirked at us. I growled at him, but the doubt brewed in the back of my mind. Was my grandfather really behind this state?

“My grandfather did this to you?” I asked in a demeaning voice. His eyes sparkled in the darkness. By now, my haze had been cleared. So I could clearly see his expressions. And hers.

“Oh yeah. You do not know. Do you?” He asked. I scowled at him.

“Know what?” Michael barked at him. The guy slowly pushed his hand down and looked at both of us.

“About our history together? When and why did all this fight start?” He questioned us. Michael did not reply to him. Choosing to glare at him instead.

“No? That is what I thought. Anyway, I would not waste my time explaining things to any of you now. It doesn't matter anymore. You could listen to everything from your grandfather or father himself.” He said and grinned at my angry expression.

Suddenly, his eyes glinted. He turned to his side and touched Linda's cheek with the back of his hand. Michael and I let out a growl collectively. Possessiveness washing over me even though I knew what she had done. That she was never with us on her own will, and she was just playing on our feelings the whole time.

At our growl, that guy's eyes darted towards us like he knew that he had pinched a weak nerve in us. His lip tucked up, grinning like an ugly idiot, and he retreated his hand.

“I must say that, my dear Linda, had made me so proud. After all she managed to make a fool out of, not just one but two of the strongest Alphas, in this pack.” His words felt like punches on my gut. I was furious and vengeful because he was right. She did manage to make a fool out of both of us. And yet, still, beneath all those emotions I felt, there was hurt. Hurt by the betrayal from a person that I had started to love, care and feel a bond from. Who managed to get to the deepest part of my heart and managed to tear it like paper. From whom I showed my all concern and still got nothing in return except getting stabbed in the back.

My eyes met Linda's and I saw nothing. Not a hint of guilt at what she had done to me, to us and actually being the very reason that both Michael and I were in this place. I felt like a wimp to let someone weaker than me have control over me. Linda's eyes met mine but looked away from me soon and smiled at her master.

He was looking our way. Probably seeing the weak idiot in me.

He grinned in an arrogant way.

“Hate me all you want because that's all you can do now. You and your pack have lost this game, and we have won it.” He said and laughed out loud.

“It's time to execute the last step of this game and end it.” He announced.

“Linda.” He said. Linda took a step forward. And all of a sudden, four guys appeared on my and Michael's side. Two grabbed my arms and another two caught Michael's.

It was time. They were going to kill us.

No, She was going to kill us.

Linda walked forward until she was only a step away from me. She stared down at me and something flickered in her eyes. It was gone in a second, before I could catch the meaning of it.

“Goodbye, James.” She whispered in a low voice. A whisper that was lost in the air. Her hands touched my cheek and I closed my eyes. For some awful reason, I found it exceptionally peaceful to die with the hands of my soul mate.

Her hands stroked my cheek for a second. Then her hands took their position. One hand went to my jaw and second on the back of my head. My head was about to be twisted.

Everything was quiet and calm and only my racing heart and heavy breathing could be heard.

And then, a sudden crack of leave.