What a shameless man
Liyah’s POV
I bit down hard on my bottom lip, my mind replaying the events that had occured in the past few hours. How could I have been so stupid? I wondered. I was so angry with myself that tears threatened to spill out of my eyes. I should have known. The urgency in that lady’s tone when she had ordered me up to heal one of them. I should have known from the worry and anger on their faces when they watched the man who lay in the bed.
If I had an inkling that he was my captor, only the Goddess knows I would not have laid a finger on him. My chest swelled as I thought about it. Would I really have had the courage to stand them to all those wolves? They would tear me into pieces before the words were out of my mouth.
But the fact that he would have died would have been reason enough. At least we would both die and stop all this torture. That would have been far better. A tear dropped from my eye. I was tired, disgusted. What a shameless man. He kidnapped me for reasons I still don’t know about, tortured me, starved me, made me a slave in his home, and had already begun to plan my execution. But what did he do when he was on his death bed? Shamelessly make his people force me to heal him. Okay, fine. It was all good. But then he awakened, fine, fit and healthy. And still, he was ungrateful. He tosses me back in here to rot and threatens to kill me.
I wiped my bruised face with the back of my hand, gasping when some of the tears leaked into my wounds. As I readjusted my position on the floor, the wooden door swung open and I saw the older woman from before step in, a satchel in her hand. She made her way through, past the guard and bent to be able to face me. She discreetly pushed the satchel in my direction, toward the wall where it would be hidden in the shadows. My eyes followed it but I didn’t make any move to pick it up.
“How are you doing?” She asked, observing me.Exclusive content from NôvelDrama.Org.
For some reason her gesture hit a nerve. I just wanted to be okay. I was tired. So tired…
“Please, I beg you. Just leave me alone. I’m sick and tired of getting into trouble. Please… just go.”
She didn’t budge. Instead she placed a warm hand on my arm, much to my surprise, giving me a reassuring squeeze. “I’m sorry about what happened earlier. You’re going through a lot and still you’re trying your best. And that isn’t something that should ever be taken for granted.” The warmth in her voice was so soothing that I felt my heart begin to melt, coupled with the fact that she reminded me so much of Nanny Maria. It made me realize how much I missed her.
“I just…” My voice shook. “I don’t know what wrong I committed. I-I never hurt anyone. I just want to be okay…” I brushed my tears away, angry with myself. I was so tired of crying.
The woman never took down the reassuring grip on my arm. “I don’t want you to get into trouble.” I said, remembering how the Alpha had flared up when he saw me. To my surprise she only waved it away.
“No need to worry about that, child.”
As I parted my lips to ask, the door flew open. I jumped up in fear expecting to see the Alpha. But instead the second guard walked in. He paused when he saw the woman crouched beside me. After shooting Elyan a sharp glare, he faced us.
“What the hell is going on here?!” He growled, making me shrink back into the wall.
The woman turned. “I am here to see her. Is there a problem?” She asked sharply.
I saw the guard eye her, his hands beginning to form fists. “No one is allowed to see the prisoner. If you were an actual member of the pack you would know,” He spat. “Now move, or I move you.”
“Have some respect!” I heard her shout.
“Respect for who?” He scoffed. “You are just an ordinary healer. Old and good for nothing. Now get out.”
I shook with fear as I watched him begin to roll up his sleeves. He was transforming.
My fingers gripped the hem of her dress. “Thank you for your kindness, but please leave now. I was trying to avoid this.”
I had seen how brutal werewolves could be. And the last thing I wanted was to watch the only person who genuinely cared about my wellbeing in this place get hurt.
But she had already charged at him, transforming and letting her dress fall to the floor. I gasped at the impressive ginger shade of her wolf.
I almost let out a small scream as the guard pushed her roughly to the floor, flailing his hand to launch a scratch which she avoided. In no time she had stood and I couldn’t help but be shocked at her agility. In one swift second she had reached out to claw at his chest, sending him falling backwards in pain. I grimaced as I watch the guard let out a piercing howl as she locked her jaws on his left hand. He fell to the floor squirming as he transformed to his human form.
I watched in awe as she shifted, spotting two human fingers out of her mouth. I couldn’t believe it. She looked to be around fifty years old, but then again I knew werewolves stopped aging at some point. I knew then that she was definitely a higher ranked she-wolf. I riveted my gaze as she stood boldly in her nakedness and soon pulled on her dress.
“Sorry, I just had to take care of it,” She uttered, her voice surprisingly calm, as though she had not just bitten out two fingers of the man who lay writhing in pain.
“How old are you?” I asked still in awe.
She laughed, sending an amused smile my way. “About a hundred years?” I guessed.
The smirk on her face told me she was older. I shuddered. “I don’t even want to know.”
She chuckled. “Go on, get some rest. I’ll see you later.”
I nodded. “I hope you won’t get into trouble…?”
“Don’t worry about me,” She sent me one last smile, and then she was gone.
I glanced at Elyan who hadn’t made a single move through all that went on. No wonder he hadn’t said a word when she’d come in before.
Tearing my gaze away from him and the naked man on the floor, I reached for the satchel. The sight of fried chicken and a large piece of cake made my mouth water and without thinking twice, I dug in.