20. Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Nineteen
Briar
My body was a shivering mess as I waited in the darkness.
I should be relieved that they left me, but that old feeling of being abandoned took hold of me again.
I really should’ve predicted my father was behind all of this, but some na?ve part of me still hoped he wasn’t as bad as I remembered him to be.
I had only myself to blame as the cold, damp ground seeped into my behind, reminding me just how careless and foolish I’d been.
Had I truly thought I could save Sin? That weak little me would be able to just show up here and make everything right?
I almost scoffed loudly at myself. I wasn’t the savior type.
I was the one who needed saving, and because I’d forgotten that, my poor Hal must now be worried out of his mind.
Gods… what if he couldn’t forgive me for this?
I’d run away, going against his wishes. I’d gone behind his back and abandoned him, well-knowing that being left behind was still an open wound from his past. What if he showed up here only to tell me he could never forgive me?
That I was too selfish. That I only took and never gave.
I held my arms around my legs, silently crying in the dark.
If I made it safely out of here, I’d grovel at my alpha’s feet.
I’d never leave his sight ever again. I would be the best omega, everything Hal deserved and more. Because without Hal…
The door upstairs suddenly slammed open, silencing a sob in my throat. Heavy footsteps pounded on top of me, then the latch was torn open, spilling just the tiniest amount of light into my confinement.
“Briar!” Father whisper-shouted.
Had he come to save me? Was this all a big misunderstanding? It had to be; why else would he be whispering and clearly helping me escape. I crawled as fast as I could to the opening, then accepted his hand as he pulled me out of the darkness.
Once I was standing on the floor next to him, he grabbed my arm and started dragging me toward the door.
Not once did he meet my eyes, making me rethink the whole saving thing.
Everything happened so quickly that my mind had trouble keeping up.
Father’s grip around my wrist was bordering on painful, and I wished he’d look at me just once. Then he’d see how frightened I was.
Before we reached the open door, two guards rushed inside, making Father halt his steps.
“Stay away!” he shouted, his nails biting into my skin. My mind was all fuzzy. I recognized the guards from the palace, and then I felt it: something cold and hard against my throat, gracing my skin.
I gasped as I looked down and saw Father’s hand wrapped tightly around a wooden handle.
I couldn’t see the rest, but I knew what I felt.
I had a knife to my throat. My own father held me in a tight grip, and it finally resonated that he’d never cared about me, not even once.
It saddened me to know with full confidence that he wouldn’t hesitate to slice my throat if it meant saving his own ass.
“Don’t!” a deep voice thundered through the cottage.
That voice. My knees buckled with relief. My alpha.
“Hal,” I whispered, my vision blurring when my mate appeared between the two guards, looking furious as all hell. Gods, my mate was magnificent in all his glorious strength and bulging muscles. He looked like a god risen from the darkness, ready to snap my father in half.
Hal’s intense gaze roamed me from my head to my toes, softening a little. “Are you hurt, sweetness?” he rasped.
I shook my head as little as possible, not willing to risk cutting myself. “No. I’m alright. I love you,” I mouthed, needing him to know if things ended badly for me. He needed to know that even with a knife to my throat, my love for him was the only thing on my mind, in my heart.
“Release him!” the guard to the left demanded, taking a step forward. He was at least the same size as Hal, and truly intimidating.
Father’s hold on me tightened, the blade sliding against my skin.
“Not until I’m promised no harm will come to me!
” Father hissed, his voice cold. “I need a written parchment from King Sebastian, promising me my job and safety, before I’ll release Briar.
” I grew cold to the bone at my father’s words.
That was truly all I was to him. Something to bargain with, a mere means to an end.
Something grew in me then, not just anger, but fearlessness, too. Staring into my alpha’s eyes, seeing Hal’s unconditional love for me, I rose above the fear and felt more powerful than ever. I was a damn god, too, risen from the hurt and abuse I’d suffered, coming to finally claim my voice.
“Don’t do it!” I yelled. “Don’t agree to anything he says.”
For a second, my father’s hold on me weakened. I knew he hadn’t expected this, but I was done. Hal’s love had set me free. I was no longer a pawn in my father’s games.
Hal beamed at me with pride, then took a step forward, making Father also retreat one. The knife dug into my neck from the movement. I hissed from the pain, but it wasn’t enough to truly harm me, just enough to pierce my skin slightly.
Hal’s eyes sparked with fury as he watched my neck. Wetness gathered, and he growled like a beast as the scent of blood hit my nostrils.
Many things happened at once after that.
A loud crash sounded behind me, like glass being shattered, followed by a thud that made Father lose his grip on me.
Hal was there within seconds, pushing me out of the way, then throwing himself at my father.
A struggle broke out between them, the blade flickering, arms twisting, hands pulling.
Then the guards were there, pulling my father away from Hal, as the bloodied knife clattered to the ground.
I hadn’t even realized I was bleeding that much.
Leaping toward my Hal, I threw myself into his awaiting arms, then buried my face in my mate’s neck. I breathed in his familiar scent as I ignored the shouting next to us, my father’s curses, and the struggle ebbing out.
“My love,” I breathed as I clung to him. “I’m so sorry,” I cried. “Please don’t be mad at me.”
“Never,” Hal gritted, his voice strained. “Never, silly omega.”
I beamed at him, taking in his loving face. He blinked a couple of times, his eyes suddenly unfocused, his skin turning pale.
“Hal?” I grabbed him harder, but he was so heavy as he slumped against me, then collapsed on the floor. I dropped to my knees, screaming Hal’s name again and again as Father let out a desperate, ear-piercing scream.
Red. That was all I saw. An ocean of red pooled underneath my mate and me, threatening to pull us under. Blood. So much blood, the smell metallic and nauseating. Hal blinked at me, clutching his stomach, an agonizing whimper tearing from his lips as blood seeped through his fingers.
I screamed. The guards were there within seconds, more rushing through the door and joining us. Lips moved in front of me, but I had no idea what they said or who they belonged to. My eyes were glued to Hal on the floor as he slowly bled out.
This was all my fault.
“—he’s the town healer. We must go now!”
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled again and again as I was pulled out of the cottage that smelled like iron and felt like death.
“Please forgive me.” My eyes were locked onto my alpha as three guards carried him out.
The night was turning into morning; the first few rays of sun enough to light up the area.
At least twenty guards surrounded us, all from the palace, their stony faces watching in horror as Hal slowly faded away.
“Briar!” Seb’s voice broke through the fog in my mind, but with the sound of my friend’s voice also came the tears.
I fell to my knees and sobbed as Seb kneeled next to me.
I wanted him to hug me. To lie and tell me Hal would be alright.
I couldn’t, though; my tears were too brutal to let any words pass.
“Are you hurt?” Seb’s hands searched my chest, my stomach, for any wounds.
I shook my head, hiccupping as more tears fell.
My whole body shook with grief as I mourned my mate.
There was no way Hal would survive this, not with that amount of blood.
I stared at my hands, smeared with my mate’s blood.
It was all my fault. Hal would die because of me.
Not the way I’d expected, and yet, it was my fault.
In the end, I’d have his life on my conscience.
Everything after that was a nightmarish haze.
I was urged into a carriage with Hal, who was now unconscious.
I held his cold hand the entire time, my thigh throbbing with pain, like I’d been stabbed too.
Only, there was no blood, just a feeling of being torn apart from the inside.
My heart broke as I recalled how Hal had bitten me there, on my thigh, and how he’d beamed with pride and possessiveness, seeing his mark on me.
I was thrown back and forth between hope and despair.
My alpha was alive. For now. His breathing came out labored and pained, his forehead creased with agony even while unconscious.
I felt like I was a mere passenger in my body, the trauma and fear enough to stop the tears for the time being as I prayed to all the gods that Hal would survive.
“He’s going to be fine,” Seb said, and I could tell by the tone of his voice that it wasn’t the first time he’d said the words.
They still meant nothing to me. I’d seen the blood, felt Hal’s cold hand in mine, watched the life drain from his body.
He wouldn’t make it. I’d been foolish when I thought I could have love in my life.
However short my time had been with Hal, it’d been worth it.
I just wished I’d been the one bleeding out and not him.
I didn’t want to live without Hal. He’d given me life, purpose, and without him, there was nothing, just this pitch-black darkness staring back at me, threatening to consume me.