Chapter 52: Chapter 52

Chapter Fifty - Two

James

"She will be given the death sentence." Elijah announced to us. My whole body tensed and my wolf let out the loudest growl. I actually snarled at Elijah in real, not realising how disrespectful I was being. I got to know about it when I was thrown on the other side of the wall.

"She and her so - called master almost eradicated your whole damn pack and you're growling at me?!" He shouted and took another threatening step in my direction, where I laid on the floor, but was stopped by Michael as he stepped in his way.

"He did not mean that." He told Elijah.

Elijah's eyes blazed, going from sharp green to black, over and over again. He closed his eyes tightly and when he opened them back again, it was back to normal.

He pointed a finger at me.

"Don't ever disrespect me for her. Never. Do you understand that?" He asked. Swallowing my anger down, I nodded in a yes. His nostrils flared but he backed away.

"I don't want to see any of you right now. Leave. Get out!" He barked at us. Michael and I exchanged looks but did what he asked us to do. We got out of that place.

We walked side by side when I connected him with the mind link.

"We need to find answers. It's the only way we have to get her out of the situation." I told him.

"Yeah, I know." He said. Even though we were speaking through a mind link, I could feel his biting tone.

"Hey. I didn't mean to growl at Elijah. It just happened. I could not control myself." I told him. I was pretty sure that the way I behaved with Elijah, was the reason for his annoyance. Michael shook his head.

"If you had not done that then I would have. It was just a matter of moments. It was just that your reaction was faster than mine. Otherwise, we're reaction would have been the same." He told me. And I relaxed at his answer.

We did what we needed to do at that moment. We headed straight towards Linda. We needed answers. And this time, we needed it for real. For her sake and for ours.

What the hell was happening? What was the purpose behind everything she was doing? It was almost impossible for me to gauge her or the reason behind her decisions. Once, it felt like she was against us but then she went on to help our pack members. What was wrong with her? What?

We walked until we reached her room and told the bodyguard to guard the door from afar and not let anyone in while we were talking to her. He obliged obediently and moved away along everyone that was guarding it.

We entered inside and saw Linda looking at the floor with her head on her hand, lost in her thoughts. She did not even look up or even acknowledge our presence. It was like she did not notice that anyone had entered the room.

"We want answers. And this time nothing will stop us from getting it out of you." I told her. She slowly moved her eyes from the floor to us like she knew that we were standing there all along.

"What makes you think that you would get answers out of me when you couldn't get it out of me before?" She asked. Her expressions and voice, completely blank.

"Because this time..." Michael said before sighing loudly.

"Because this time we are here as your mates. One that promised, while you were standing in front of the Council Room, to stand with you no matter what situation." He told her. Something shifted in Linda's eyes.

"Your mates that took an oath to protect, love and honour you. One that told you we would go through hell for you. The one who told you that we would go through hardship and the worst phase of life together." I told her. Linda continued to stare at us but I can see it on her face, the way her walls were breaking down.

"And most of all, because we want to know the real you, Linda. I know there is a reason behind everything that you did and still are doing." Michael said.

Suddenly, Linda's look shifted.

She looked vulnerable. Like a kid who was weak and desperate and needed protection. It fired up my protectiveness for her. Both Michael and I moved towards her in a flash.

Without asking for her permission, we both cradled her. At first, I thought that she would resist me. On the contrary, Linda turned towards me, buried her face in my chest and started sobbing. While she clutched Michael's hand to her chest.

Her sobbing was not normal. It held a deep, gutted pain. A pain that maybe I never heard in anyone's voice. She shook uncontrollably, and her tears dampened my shirt.

I stroked her hair over and over again. Michael shifted a little on the bed and pulled her into his chest, his arms coming around her in a protective layer. Linda was half lied to me and half on Michael. We held her for a long time like that. Letting her vent all of her emotions.

After a while, Linda calmed down. Her sobbing, recessed to sniffing and then she fell completely silent. For a while none of them spoke or even moved. Then I heard her low, throaty voice. It was rusty from her crying.

"When I was kid, your pack attacked our clan. The one was led by your father." She said.

My stunned eyes met Michael's, who returned my expression with his own.

"They killed everyone. Including my parents. They died in that massacre. " She said in a hushed tone. Linda closed her eyes and swallowed hard. I rubbed her arm soothingly.

"Some tried to escape but they were caught. Including me. I was thrown into one of the cells. One, that was made for your kids to practice torture in. So they could toughen themselves up and sharpen their skills." She told us.

My heart started thudding inside my chest. A sudden rush of guilt passed through me. I was one of those kids who used to practice my killing skills on prisoners. However, one question popped inside my head.

"Wait. So that must be before we were born. Because as long as I remember, I have never been in such a fight. Or even seen like one. And if that's true, then it must mean that you are older than us. How old are you really?" I asked her. Linda looked at me, still hidden in Michael's arms.

"I'm seven years older than both of you." She answered. My eyes widened in shock as I realised that she actually was older than us. Michael and I exchanged looks. He squeezed her a little to get her attention. She gazed up at him.

"What happened next?" He asked. Linda's expressions returned to the sad one.

"More than a month, I was a thing to be experimented with. Every single kid and grown ups took their turns to sharpen their torture technique on me. But I held on through it all." She said. Heaving out a big sigh, she continued.

"Then one day, someone was thrown inside the same chamber that I was in. He was my master. His face was half burned. And he was majorly bruised. At first, he snarled at me. I was scared, so I backed away. However, his injuries seemed way worse than mine. So I asked him if he needed any help. Even though I had nothing, I wanted to tend to his injuries." She explained. Linda squirmed out of Michael's arms and nestled in mine. This time I pulled my arms around her, feeling her warmth and seeping in me, making me and my wolf sigh happily inside me before settling down. Linda pulled Michael on her side, grabbed his hand and entwined her fingers. Michael rubbed her cheek gently before asking her to go on.

"I did help him. I tended his wounds with everything I have. Cleaned them with water, fed him my portion of meal and comforted him when he was in pain. Next time when one of the grown person walked inside the cell to torture me, master provoked him. He did it on purpose so that he could let that intruder channelise all his anger on him and leave me alone. From then on, all of my beatings were beard by him. He told me that before he entered this place, he was tortured by your father. Blood Moon Pack's leader. Your father told him that he wanted to eradicate every last hunter from this earth. And that he will not stop until he has killed every single one of them. Us." Her words raged a fire inside me. I did not know anything like that had happened.

Maybe she was lying again.

"But, how could we believe you Linda? You had lied to us from the start, in the very beginning and betrayed us in the worst possible way." I accused her. Linda tensed in my arms. She pushed out of my arms and looked at me with her eyes blazing.

"Because no one can take these things out of me without me not wanting to tell them. Did you not remember that you lied to me in the beginning too? To keep me here? And look at you now, actually acting like a lover." She retorted. Her question shut me up. She was right. Not only, we had lied to her but we had also hidden stuff from her as well.

"Right. Why did you run away then? When you escaped through the window. I never got the real reason." Michael questioned.

"I had to provide information to my master. That's why." Linda replied curtly.

"And anyway, it is not like that lying to you would get me anywhere. I'm given the death sentence, right?" She asked. My insides turned acid when those words left her mouth.

"How does she know?" I asked Michael through a mind link.

"I don't..." Michael was replying to me when Linda cut his sentence.

"I know it because there is no other way to punish a traitor other than killing them. Especially the one who had helped the enemy to kill half of your pack." She said.

Michael and I exchanged looks. How did she know what we were asking in our heads? Is it possible that she could read our mind links too?

"It is written all over your face. That's how I know what you were thinking." She answered our unasked question.

"After that what happened?" I asked her in an attempt to change the direction of the question. Linda gave me a knowing smile like she knew what I did there, before she continued.

"We got a chance to escape and so we did. After living with him for almost a month, we became close. He treated me like his daughter. Together, we gathered all the stray and willing hunters that we could, and raised a clan. A clan that was loyal to him. And that's how I came into the picture." She explained. Linda ran her hand through her hair and looked at the wall.

"When they found out that we were mates, he decided to use it against your father. He used me to take revenge on your father. And he did." Linda told us.

"What happened to Cary?" Michael asked, out of the blue. I completely forgot about Cary. Michael's best friend was still missing. Michael's voice was clipped, maybe because he was dreading to hear that answer.

"How do you think we knew about the hidden passageway?" Linda asked Michael. Michael's jaw clenched and he looked away with his nostrils flaring.

"He knew about every entry and exit point. So we tortured him until we got the information before killing him. And I helped them." Linda confessed. Michael stood up suddenly, looking like he wanted to kill her and at the same time protect her from his own self.

"How could you... He was innocent." Michael told her. Linda smiled with her head bowed and shook her head.

"There is no innocent one in this game Michael. We all are sinners." Linda replied.

"If that is true then why did you save our people?!" Michael screamed.

"Because I saw history repeating itself when I saw one of our fighters taking one of your kids. I saw myself in that kid. I was kidnapped and pushed into something that I've never wanted to do. Something as awful as I faced. That's why!" Linda screamed back. She was panting and looked like she might go crazy. Instead, she shook her head and visibly forced herself to calm down.

"It doesn't matter anymore. I am going to die soon. On what day will I be given the death sentence?" She asked.

"Tomorrow."