Chapter 44: Chapter 44

Chapter Forty — Four

James POV

The time when we finally reached the end of the tunnel, I had lost any hope of survival. For my life and everything around it. There was no way for me to get out of this situation. So I accepted it the way it was.

My heart did not hammer in my chest, like it usually did when I knew that something bad was about to happen. My stomach did not lurch even a little when I realized that after we set a foot outside this tunnel, I would die. And my wolf did not try to fight for me as well.

It was so, un - Alpha like but everything that had happened tore me down.

For the last time in my life, I asked the moon goddess to give me a sign. Any sign that would tell me to fight this situation, fight for my survival, but I got none.

So I prepared myself mentally.

To hit the rock bottom.

I was ready to die.

And then, once again, something happened.

Something, completely unexpected.

Linda pressed her hand on a rock and opened the entrance. The door opened, and it gave way to the sunlight that entered the hidden tunnel little by little, chasing the darkness away.

The first thing that came into my mind was the fact that a lot of time had passed. The sun was bright and shining. It meant that we had fought more than twelve hours.

My thoughts vanished into thin air when the entrance gave a way to the outside world and I saw the face of a person that was standing in the middle of the way.

It was the smirking face of Elijah who was standing in the middle of the group of Alphas from Alpha Council. Kye and Eason were standing beside Elijah as well. Who had their arms folded around their chest and had a smirk face on like everyone else.

To say that I was surprised was an understatement. The sight of their clean and bright faces made my eyes widened in shock a bit.

The whole Alpha council.

A rush of adrenaline coursed through my body. Excitement filled my blood, making my fingertips cold.

My eyes skimmed over the crowd and saw all the familiar faces. I looked for Michael but he was not among them.

Did they not get him and save him? Where was he? I stopped myself from wandering over the other things and focused on the present situation.

Beside me, Linda had frozen like a rock as she took in the group of the strongest Alphas. Her eyes slowly skimmed over the group, around twenty members, that had clearly outnumbered us.

Linda a step and her eyes flickered to mine. I saw nervousness for a second which disappeared, just as suddenly that it had appeared.

Her expressions changed into one of her most experienced masks that I had gotten accustomed to in the last hours. A mask of a hard and cold expression.

It was her way of hiding her nerves and the cold chill fear that she felt. The same which I experienced just a few moments ago.

She knew very well, what was going to happen now. Even though I knew that she was scared from what was about to come now, probably her worst nightmare, I admired her for her bravery. The way she stood tall and proud, letting everyone know that she was not going to be easy to deal with, was an exciting sight.

I was pretty sure that she was not going to go easily and more so willingly, with them. She was going to put up a fight like before. A fight that she had in herself. The fire that burned through her veins would not let her kneel and give herself easily.

She was a fighter before she was a hunter or anything.

It was weird how much I had observed about her, then I did in all the time she lived with us under our very own roof.

I knew that she would strike. She would attack, all hard and fierce and make her every move count.

So the only thing that was left to see for me was now, what would be her course of action to save herself from this situation and escape it.

My wait did not last longer.

I was expecting it to come even though I was not ready for what actually happened next.

Like, most of the unexpected things that she had done before, her next move was just as unpredictable.

Linda moved like a snake, catching me by my tied hands from behind me, gripping them fast and pulling me in front of her.

From nowhere, she pulled out a knife and placed it on my neck.

“Step back or else I will slice his throat.” She ordered. She moved fast thus it took everyone a moment to realise what had happened. When everyone finally came to understand the situation, they all tensed. When nobody moved, Linda commanded in a loud voice again.

“Back off, Now!” She shouted over the crowd. Since, nobody was speaking, her voice sounded way louder than it actually was.

Even after listening to her demand, nobody made a move to back off.

Linda saw that nobody moved so she did.

Her hand tightened around my neck as she dug the knife, a silver knife I realized, harder into my skin. A sharp pain shot through me when the surface skin on my neck tore and a drop of blood trailed down, escaping beneath my shirt.

Watching me bleed, everyone growled. Their expressions turned ugly, more bloodthirsty. Their hatred towards Linda was palpable. It was so strong that I could actually feel the force of it.

Elijah's eyes darted to the blood trickling down my throat and his lips curled in anger.

Linda started backing up with me still clutching to me as her own private body shield.

“Wait for it.” A voice boomed in my head. I tried to figure out whose voice it was. When I did, I felt the joy filling my heart.

My own lips tucked up, and I gave Linda the evilest of my smile even though I knew that she could not see it behind me. I felt the delight and anticipated what was about to come.

And then it happened.

A shriek echoed in the tunnel and the weight of the person behind me fell off.

I turned around to see Linda lying on the ground, unconscious. I looked up and smirked at my brother.

Michael was here.

And he was alive and well.