Chapter 50: Chapter 50

Chapter Fifty

Linda

My whole body throbbed, aching from so many places that I could not even decide which place had hit worse.

The finger that Elijah had chopped off from his sharp blade was losing blood. And I was pretty sure that, by the way it was losing blood from different cuts across my body, I would die soon.

The worst had happened. Elijah had tried his best to get the words out of my mouth but did not succeed. He did not get anything. Same goes for the twins.

I let out a low laugh. It was the best feeling. Proving someone wrong. Especially a cocky, arrogant and self — absorbed person.

I remembered Elijah's face when he mocked me, provoked me, beat me, cut me, trying his utter best to get some sort of response out of me but was unable to get one. I remembered how he had gotten so angry, realizing that he was failing his task, that he cut my finger off and walked out.

And I remembered the twins.

And I remembered the Hurt.

The hurt of seeing them with someone else. Especially that someone else's being Janet. How the hell did she survive, anyway? She was one of the she — wolves who were taught to fight in the field with the rest of the people.

I could actually feel like I was cut open when they were touching her like they touched me once. It felt so wrong. I didn't even know why I felt the way I did. But it was as clear as day that it was the mating bond that made me the way I reacted.

I closed my eyes, getting angry at myself. Why the heck I could not control my reaction? Why did I show any sign of weakness? If anything I was good at then it was being able to hold and morphed my reactions. Then why?

Headache started blooming behind the back of my head.

My eyes flew open when I caught the distant sound of footsteps. They kept coming closer and closer. Even over the buzzing sound of my own damn ears, I could comprehend that it was more than one pair of footsteps.

I let out a sigh of defeat.

They were here. People from the Alpha council were here. They were here.

It was the time that I was dreading to see and wanted to delay it, but I knew that it was inevitable.

I was still thinking about all of this when the scent of twins and one another scent hit my nostrils and I realized that twins were here too.

Finally, three muscular figure's shadows filled the space and I realized who they were.

My eyes shut again.

The hurt made its way to the front, in full force. Memories of them touching her came into my mind.

'Get a grip on yourself.' I instructed myself inside my head.

I swallowed hard to drink back my emotions. Trying to shove back the betrayal that I had caused on my clan.

When I opened my eyes, I saw three people lined up in front of me.

Adan, Michael and James.

They all looked at me with the same look.

Of knowingness.

They knew that I had saved a section of their pack from my own clan, my own damn family, and helped them hide from the assassination. I had saved them from facing the fate they all deserved.

"You know very well, why are we here?" Michael asked and I clenched my jaw.

"Why did you save me, Linda? Why did you save our people?" Adan questioned.

Yeah, why?

I asked myself the same question. For a long time.

"I was not trying to save you." I replied. I was trying to save myself. Images flashed in the back of my mind.

Run. Run. Run. Run.

Run. Or they will get you.

"I was trying to save myself." I said them out loud as I closed my eyes.

Right as the words left my mouth, there was a pin drop silence. It was not like it wasn't quiet before, but now it felt as if everything was frozen in their spot. There was no voice and no movement. I thought no one even breathed after the words I spoke.

"You were trying to save yourself?" Adan asked me. Sounding a bit incredulous.

I swallowed hard and reminded myself of the oath that I took for my clan.

Die but do not open your mouth.

"Linda, what do you mean by that?" Michael questioned me. There was a note of urgency in his voice.

"What did you mean by, you were trying to save yourself? What happened to you, Linda?" James bombarded me with his questions.

I opened my eyes and looked at my Mates.

All of a sudden, my vision blurred, everything started to sway in my mind and in front of my eyes. Twins shaped shifted, and I realized that I was losing consciousness. I felt myself falling forward, but two sets of arms captured me in my mid-fall. My head fell into the crook of someone's shoulder and neck.

"Linda? Linda!" Somebody said.

"Shit! She has lost too much blood. Why didn't anyone take care of her injuries?" Someone among them shouted. There were some blurred voices. I heard what they were saying but could not comprehend the meaning of it. What was happening?

My eyes fell shut on their own and I could no longer feel the pain. I was starting to feel calm and the ache I was feeling, faded away. And I blacked out.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

A rhythmic noise woke me up. I opened my eyes slowly. When I opened my eyes, the bright lights almost blinded me. Staying in the darkness for too long had made me sensitive to the lights.

Blinking, I looked around the room I was in. White covers, monitors, the smell of medicines, all of it screamed hospital. It was some sort of hospital wing room, except I knew for sure that I was not in the hospital.

I could not move my legs, they seemed numb. While my whole upper body was covered in white bandages. It was hard to turn or twist, because the bandages held me tight. A sigh slipped from my mouth.

It was then I realized that both of my hands were occupied.

Twins.

I sat up a little and saw that James was lying on the left side of the bed, while on the other hand Michael was on my right side. They were perched up on a chair.

A shiver ran through my whole body, causing both of them to stir awake. Instead of waking up normally, Michael literally leaped out of his seat and looked around frantically. Then his wild eyes settled on me.

And his eyes turned soft.

SOFT.

There was pain in his eyes too, but it was too subtle. He raised his hand slowly, like I would flinch or attack him if he went any faster, and stroked my cheek with the back of his hand. He swallowed before speaking.

"How are you feeling?" He asked me. I looked at him and my heart thumped against my chest once. Michael being nice to me? That was so unlikely of him.

A hand came out of nowhere and stroked my hair. I moved my head and saw a very gentle James.

"Are you still in pain?" He asked me. I stared among both of them. What was wrong with them? Few hours or days ago, I did not remember, they were ready to tear me open, and now they were asking me how I was.

"What...?" I started to question in a weak and throaty voice but stopped when I heard Elijah's voice.

"It's decided."