In my shocked state I fumble with my footing and trip on my ass, the pain returns in my lower belly but I get back onto my two feet and continue sprinting through the woods trying to get away from any danger. Trees and branches are smacking into my body and I trip a couple times but the adrenaline in my shocked form keeps me running for about an hour. I don’t know how far I am or where I am but I need to get somewhere safe. The only safe place I can think of is Johnny’s pack house and even though I’m aware they are also wolves, I know they would never hurt me. Drake has hurt me before and I can’t imagine what he could do to me in his wolf form. The thought makes me tremble with fear.
I stop running but continue to walk fast trying to catch my breath. The woods are dark and scary and the only sounds that can be heard above my heavy breathing are the sounds of wildlife and the small breeze making the leaves of the trees move.
I look at my phone for their number, I call Johnny’s phone…
“Angel? What’s wrong?” Johnny asks me.
“Johnny! Please come get me please!” I say crying, my breathing is heavy from trying to catch my breath. My legs are shaking beneath me but I carry on walking as fast as I can, looking back every now and then.
“What’s wrong Angel? Where are you?” he says in a concerned voice.
“They’re all wolves!” I say through sobs then I hear howls in the distance, I start sprinting again.
“PLEASE they’re going to find me, I don’t know where I am, I’m in the woods…I’m scared Johnny PLEASE come get me!” I cry out again.
“The twins are already out following your scent, I’m coming my baby girl, we’re on our way…” Johnny starts breaking up and my phone starts beeping.
“Shit the batteries dying, Johnny please! hurry!” I yell out and the phone goes dead.
I carry on running because I’m pretty sure my life depends on it. I know Jax and Ron would never hurt me but I just don’t know how they would be in their wolf form. They looked so angry and vicious when Drake and Jax were fighting and I had to get away, they were too dangerous.
I don’t know how the rest of their pack will react to me knowing their secret and this makes me tremble harder with fear. I carry on running with my one hand just above my hip where the stitches are. The cut from the frame is rather large and about ten centimeters long. It’s starting to hurt and my legs are starting to quiver as they get weaker, I can feel it but continue to run with all the energy I have left.
My pajamas have been torn and I can feel cuts all over my body from the branches and bush that I have been running through. My clothes are thin and I’m freezing, it’s cold tonight and even though running helps me warm up...it’s not enough. I hear branches breaking behind me and I hear dogs panting, they are close. I pick up my speed even though it hurts so badly and continue running as fast as I can. I look behind me and see two white wolves near me and I trip over a rock. I fall down a small slope but hit my weak body against the trunk of a tree, it whips the air out my lungs leaving my gasping and wheezing for air. There’s a sharp pain in my chest and I’m battling to breath, I can feel my shirt is now soaked in blood where my cut is but I don’t give up, I shiver as I try to get up, every footstep I take is unstable and weak but I continue to run as fast as I can. After a few more limping steps my body simply can’t take it anymore and gives up, I collapse on the floor in sobs trying to pull my body behind a bush so I can hide from whatever is behind me.
“Angel Stop! It’s only us! Don’t be scared!” I hear Talon’s out of breath gruff voice and he appears naked in front of me. I block my eyes and curl into a ball when I hear more hurried footsteps over the leaves.
“You find her? Where is she?” I hear Johnny’s frantic voice.
Oh God please be wearing clothes.
“Oh my God, baby girl are you okay?” He says when he finds me curled on the floor near the bush that I didn’t reach. I can’t reply apart from crying harder and my body is shaking because of the cold and fear that is still rushing through me.
“Alpha I smell blood!” Tyler says.
“It’s my stitches I think they came loose, it hurts ….so bad…” I cough and wheeze trying to get a breath and the hand that was covering my mouth is covered in blood.
“My mouth’s bleeding?” I say out loud avoiding Tyler’s naked form and looking at Johnny’s scared face noticing he’s luckily fully clothed.
“Shit, we gotta get her to the house now!” Johnny says as he picks me up and runs through the bushes with me against his chest. We step out of the bushes coming to Jacobs large black SUV, I was so close to the main road but I couldn’t see it from inside the woods.
He puts me in the backseat and now a fully clothed Tyler and Talon sit on either side of me. Jacob, Johnny’s Beta is in the driving seat already racing the car down the main road with Johnny in the front seat.
Talon pulls me onto his lap and wraps his arms around me, Tyler pulls my feet to his lap and takes my hand so he’s holding it tight. He brings it to his lips and kisses it. Finally I feel safe and my eyes start to get drowsy. Just when I feel like I could rest my body starts having a seizure in Talons arms. I can’t control the movements but I can hear everyone shouting.
“Talon! Keep holding her, it will pass, she’s in shock.” Johnny’s loud voice echoes through the car.
“We’re nearly there little Angel, we’re going to help you…” Tyler says leaning over my shaking body and kissing my forehead. I can feel the tears falling from my eyes and my body is exhausted, I can’t stop the seizure and I’m panicking.
Talon is whispering loving words in my ear and I can feel his tears joining the very ones that are falling from my eyes. The seizure starts to calm and my head falls back to Talons chest exhausted and that’s when I notice his once white shirt is now covered in my blood.
The sound of his beating heart is the lullaby pulling me into a familiar numbing sleep…
“No! Wake up! Don’t leave us!” I hear Talon’s sad voice yell before darkness consumes me.
CHAPTER 23:
RONNY POV
“STOP!” I hear Alpha Frankie yell and we all immediately stop fighting each other. We have no choice but to obey our Alpha. Our parents all run inside the theatre that is now basically destroyed because of us.
“Shift RIGHT NOW!” He yells again and we all shift and grab nearby blankets to cover our bare bodies, not that we haven’t seen each other naked before but we cover ourselves to show respect to our elders. Nakedness in the wolf world doesn’t really faze us.
“Ronny tell me what's going on here?” He asks me.
This man is so scary. Star, my wolf tells me. No shit, I reply.
“Drake was going to hurt Lexi again and Jax stopped him before he could hit her. Drake you are so lucky Jax stepped in. I would’ve killed you!” I yell as I jump for Drake earning me a growl from him but my dad pulls me back.
“What do you mean hurt her again?” Alpha says looking confused, I can smell the anger coming from him as well as from some of the parents.
“It was a mistake, I didn’t mean-”Drake yells but is interrupted by his mother slapping his face.
“Don’t you EVER hit a woman again! I didn’t raise you like that Drake! Lexi is so small AND human for God sake! You could have damn well killed her just like her mother nearly did! What is wrong with you?” Alice yells and I can see she is fighting her wolf for control over the situation. Star can feel Alice’s wolf wants to give their son a big ass whooping! It’s amusing to see small Alice belittling her rather large son but Drake just stands there and took everything his mom was saying. Regret covering his face.
“I know… I’m sorry mom. I never meant to hurt her. Sometimes I just can’t control my anger when I’m around her and when I saw that she was lying to us, Sebastian wanted to teach her a lesson. I never intentionally meant to hurt her …Oh God…” he trails off and I can see tears fall down his face.
“All of our wolves are like that with our woman,
they always need to show them who’s in charge but we don’t all act on it. You need to control your wolf Drake! You need to show your WOLF who’s in charge!” Alpha yells at Drake.
“Drake what did I tell you last time? I said if you couldn’t handle your wolf you can’t be with her but you didn’t listen and you said you could handle it. Drake you nearly slapped her and you called her a bitch! How can you speak to her like that? She doesn’t deserve this!” Jax yells at him and Drake's shoulders slump submitting to his soon to be Alpha.
I look around the room, but something’s missing… Lexi.
Rachel comes running into the room frantically. ”What did you guys do? Lexi ran out, she was petrified, I tried following her but I don’t know where she went? I can't pick up her scent.”
“Get patrol and find her!” Alpha yells at Drakes father who is our Beta.
“Poor Lexi must be startled out of her mind!” Scarlet says trembling at her husband’s side.
“If anything has happened to her I will fucking kill you!” Jax screams at Drake before turning into his wolf and sprinting out.
I glare at Drake before he shifts then I follow them out the house.
DRAKE POV
I don’t know what is wrong with my wolf, he is so possessive when he sees our woman defying us that he wants to put her in her place. Sebastian finally got through the rage when Jax attacked him and he saw what he was about to do to our girl and how badly he’s been treating her, he regrets his actions.
When my mother slapped me and I saw the disappointed in all their faces, It killed me and my wolf.
Rachel came in and told us about Lexi running passed her frightened, I knew it was all my fault and I needed to find her. My poor girl is scared, we should’ve explained to her what we were and not just jump out in front of her like that. I need to get to her and make everything better.
I saw the truth and hatred in Jax eyes when he said he would kill me if anything happened to Lexi, I would kill myself if anything happened to her. I need to find her and make this right.
Alpha had all the wolves searching for her, her scent was so distinct….like fresh berries and if you get really close to her she has this smell of caramel, its rather weird but I think the smell just adapted to her because she’s always sucking on those damn caramel flavored sweets.
Jax, Ron and I were following her scent, it starting fading due to the breeze that was going through the woods. She was quite a distance ahead of us. Her scent started to get diluted by a distinct metallic smell…Blood.
Our girl was bleeding, her stitches probably came loose and it was a cold night according to humans, since we didn’t feel the cold it didn’t affect us but she must have been freezing and she didn’t even have warm clothes on. I panic and run faster leaving my friends behind me.
We need to find our girl! I have to apologize! Sebastian howls when he sees a bigger puddle of blood with leaves tinted red.
After a while of following her scent Jax spoke to us through our mind link. “How is it possible for her to run this far and that fast? She’s a human!”
“Do you smell that?” Ronny says growling.
“Other wolves have been here. Look! There’s more blood.” I tell them looking at the blood covered leaves and branches on a flat patch on the ground. “She must have been lying here her trace still lingers.”
“The smell is much stronger here. I smell at least three different male scents.” Ronny growls leading us through the bushes, we end up near the main road where the smell stops, including Lexi’s trace.
Jax tackles me and I submit, he growls in my face. “They took her! This is all your fucking fault! She’s gone because of YOU!!”
“Don’t you think I know that Jax! I fucking hate myself and my wolf for what we did, I need to find her!” I bark at him.
I’m so sorry Drake, I swear when we find our girl I will never hurt her again. I love her as much as you do. I’m sorry… my wolf cries inside me.
ALEX POV
About two hours after Angel went home on Sunday we still hadn’t received a message from her telling us she was home safe. I sent her a message to find out if everything was okay but we didn’t get a reply. We let it be because we knew she was supposed to spend time with her friends, so she probably was busy. On Wednesday the twins came and asked us if we heard anything from Lexi and we knew then something was wrong. We tried calling and calling, we left messages but she didn’t answer her phone the whole pack could sense the uneasiness and Johnny had to order the boys from not going over to find her because they just wanted to go over into the other packs territory and make sure she’s safe.
Johnny was worse than I, he was miserable and taking it out on everyone. We weren’t sure if we might have scared her with the surprise party we threw for her on Saturday and maybe she needed space so we let her be but by the time Friday came Johnny couldn’t take it anymore. He needed to find her and make sure she’s okay. He got the eager twins and his Beta, they were going to go looking for her even if they had to go into another packs territory, we had just found her and he wasn’t going to let her go. I felt the same.
He tried her number one last time and relief flooded through all our bodies when she answered, the air around us became lighter and it was like we could breathe again. I wanted to speak to her but I was crying too hard, Johnny told us she was in an accident and all the tension that fled came rushing back in. She said she was fine but Johnny said he could sense she was lying and she wasn’t telling us everything. She insisted that she will visit us soon and explain everything to us. About an hour and a half after the phone call Johnny, the twins , Jacob and I were sitting in the kitchen eating supper talking about Angel when I started to feel uneasy. As the time went on it got worse, when Johnny’s phone ran, we knew something was wrong.
Johnny put it on speaker and our Angels petrified voice came blaring through, she sounded out of breath like she was running. I burst out crying and Johnny held me close trying to soothe me. She was so scared and when she started crying hysterically Johnny went rigid beside me. I knew he was livid at whoever made her afraid like that and he would kill anyone that was in his way. I would too.
The twins ran out and shifted already in search for her. When her phone died on the other end Johnny raced out followed by Jacob. He ordered me to stay, I fought with him to go with but he said it was too dangerous.
I walked up to her room and sat on her bed surrounded by her scent, I was so worried about her but being in her room calmed me.
About a half an hour later Johnny comes through our mind link, “Alex get the pack doctor to the house NOW! She’s hurt real bad, it doesn’t look good.”
My heart starts beating really fast, I can feel the tears building up but I don’t have time to cry, I need to be strong for our baby girl.
I run to the doctors house, which is a few houses down and get him to come over since we have a room in the main pack house that has all the surgical equipment needed.
His wife helps him clean and set up various equipment, when I hear Jacobs’s car skidding down our gravel road I run outside and stand on the porch and wait for their car to appear in the clearing. The lights shine through the trees and they stop with tires screeching right in front of our house. I rush to the car and see Talon pull Lexi’s body out, he’s covered in her blood and Johnny has got some of her blood on his face and over his shirt.
Her face is whiter than usual and her small body is covered in cuts and bruises. They rush her past me to the doctor and I look at the leather car seat where Talon was holding her moments before, there’s a pool of blood.
Who could hurt our Angel like this! Sky, my wolf says from within me.
I put my hand over my mouth to hide the sobs coming through. I need to be strong, she needs me as well as Johnny. I run into the doctor’s room and I see Johnny sitting in the chair near the table where they’re working on Lexi with his head in his hands. The twins are sitting on the floor in the corner the same
way.
“I don’t think she’s going to make it.” Johnny whispers from next to me, I put my arms over his shoulders and look into his face; his eyes filled with unshed tears.
“Shhh Hun, she will make it…she will.” I try convincing him but he shakes his head.
“No Alexandria, you didn’t see the state she was in when we found her, she was petrified and in so much pain. She had a seizure in the car and I couldn’t do anything to stop the agony she was in…I never want to experience that again. NEVER!” Johnny says as the tears trail down his cheek.
Johnny is the strong one between us, I’m the emotional and weak one. I’ve only ever seen my mate cry one other time and that’s when Angel left us a long time ago. He’s the one that is always comforting me when I have my moments but tonight I have to be there for him and keep him strong.
“How is she David?” I ask the doctor who is frantically moving around Angel with his wife.
“I’m sorry Luna, I’m trying everything I can but her body has been through so much. It looks like she has internal bleeding from the recent wound, she has a large cut on her stomach near her hip. It was stitched up but the external as well as internal stitches have come loose. She’s cracked a few ribs too. Boy’s we need to get heaters in here, NOW!” The doctor tells the twins and they run out in search for heaters, he continues talking to me while working on her.
“Her body is freezing and she most likely could get pneumonia if we don’t get her warmed up. If she was a wolf, she would already be healing, her human body is trying very hard to fight but I’m not sure that’s going to be enough.”
“What do you mean, NOT ENOUGH?” Johnny’s wolf, Turner, growls from within Johnny.
“I don’t think she is going to make it, we are losing her slowly, her pulse is fading….” The doctor trails off.
Alexia Eden Page 17
