Chapter 19
Delilah
When we get to the Alpha’s house, there’s a heavy tension in the air as we all gather in a large office-like room with a massive table.
At least twenty chairs surround it, most of which are empty.
Quil sits beside Coal, and on the other side of the table are Dean and Matteo.
There are a couple more Wolves here that I don’t recognize that look about my age.
They must also be from the Academy. I tug at my chokers which feel as if they tighten by the second.
There’s a fireplace on one wall which is behind the seat I assume belongs to Michael.
Above it hangs the skin of a bear. It’s such an odd sight.
Shifters are apex predators, seeing as they have the intelligence of a Human and the strength of a Wolf.
How is hanging a bear's skin on the wall considered anything other than pathetic?
Like, good for you, Michael, you killed an animal for no fucking reason. Just because you can. Then you hang its dead body on your wall. It’s not as if he’s using the furs for warmth. We don’t eat bear meat because of how rare they are in this area. Killing that animal served no purpose.
I think that says a lot about the kind of Wolf Michael is.
The longer I stand here, the worse the room smells, but I can’t figure out why. It’s almost like… old blood? I squint at the bearskin. Maybe it wasn’t cleaned properly, and it's rotting.
Quil’s shoulders are tense, Matteo looks ready to toss me over his shoulder and bolt out the door, while Dean looks ready for a fucking war.
The fire casts a soft glow against his dark features, and I’m reminded of pictures I once saw of brave warriors.
Dean might be a teddy bear on the inside, but outside?
He’s all beast. I bite my lip because right now is not the time to be getting lusty.
I would rather chop all my toes off with a spoon than have Michael walk in and scent me.
I stand closely behind Coal’s chair which is to the right of the unoccupied end chair saved for the Alpha. Quil sits beside his best friend, not even glancing at me once, but I can sense the barely veiled anger vibrating off of him in waves.
I keep my head down, focusing on my shoes which are killing my feet already. Why are heels even a thing? So painful. Inconspicuous torture devices.
Alpha Michael enters, and I suck in a breath. The air changes, and I nearly gag on the smell of his sweat and body odor. Oh, that is foul.
I was expecting blood and chaos, but he just sits at the head of the table and addresses the Wolves. He looks nothing like Coal who takes after his mother entirely. Michael has gray hair that was once brown, a crooked nose, and thin lips with squinty eyes that look dead inside.
He radiates menacing power and evil. His body is relaxed, but that doesn’t make me feel any better. He’s a ticking bomb, ready to explode at any moment.
They speak for a while, and I zone out. My feet are killing me, and I really want to sit. Or just kick these damn things off. It made for a good distraction from my fear of the Alpha, though.
“No, the issue will be rectified right now! Headmaster Evans never should have allowed another Wolf to claim a Human you had already Avowed!” When the Alpha shouts, my blood runs cold, and I freeze, all my attention focused on Michael once again.
“Yes, Father,” Coal says in a low tone that is so unlike him. It’s submissive and filled with defeat. “I will let Headmaster Evans know his mistake will not be excused. The Human is mine. Dean will have no issue relinquishing his claim.”
Dean rumbles a low growl at Coal’s words but doesn’t object.
Alpha Michael snaps his fingers, and my gaze jumps to them; he gives me a come here motion.
“Come here, now!” he growls, making me swallow hard.
“Human trash…” he grumbles. I move to stand beside his chair, my back facing Coal.
“Mmm, she’s grown. Perhaps I’ll just dissolve both claims and use her for my own needs.
” Michael's words cause Coal to jump to his feet.
The sudden movement startles me, and I look over at him.
Quil whimpers, watching Coal with wide terrified eyes.
My heart rate spikes. The men I spent so much time fearing, are scared? This is bad…
“No!” Coal snaps loudly and then clears his throat when his father glares, teeth bared. “What I mean to say is that I’ve been using her for my own needs for years, Father, you don’t want her…”
“Nonsense. You may claim another Human as your Avowed.” Alpha Michael waves a hand in the air.
I snap my attention back to the older Wolf.
“Take her, clean her, and put her in my room. Your mother was a submissive whore, let’s see how you compare.
” I don’t have to see his face to know his grin is evil.
A sick feeling washes over me as my mind fills with horrifying possibilities.
My eyes fly around the room, looking for whoever is about to grab me, so I can attack as soon as they get near.
I’d rather die. I’ll fight him until my last breath. He’ll have to kill me…
He’ll beat me, rape me, make me wish I was dead. No. No, I won't let him destroy me. I’ll fight with everything I have, even if it means I die right here in this room.
My thoughts are spiraling, my heart racing, and my muscles tensing for a fight, which is probably why Coal’s protesting yells don’t register until I feel a piercing bite clamp down on my neck.
I yell out at the pain and then moan as the pain turns to pleasure. Blood rushes in my ears as adrenaline pumps through my veins, and my fight-or-flight kicks off full force.
A link snaps into place in my mind, and I hear a voice that isn’t my own.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…” He’s panicking. Terror fills my chest as the new bond sends his emotions slamming into me. “Fuck, flower. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Oh my goddess, Coal. Coal is in my head. Coal bit me.
“Holy fucking shit! Coal just gave me a mate mark!” I practically scream in my head when Coal releases me. What the ever-loving fuck was he thinking? This will kill me, it will kill us both! Blood drips down my shoulder as a burning pain spreads from the mark through my body. “I’m already dying…”
“Out!” Alpha Michael screams. Everyone, except Coal and I, is forced out of the room.
“You fool!” Michael backhands Coal so hard that he slams into the floor, the sound so unnerving, I’m sure he just broke his son's jaw. I reach my hand up, covering the bite, and flinch when it stings. Blood drips down my hand and makes me light-headed. Michael’s angry glare lands on me, and I keep my eyes on Coal, who is already getting back up.
“A Human mate! You fucking fool, if she dies, you will too! The son of an Alpha mated to a fucking Human! Disgusting!” he roars in anger.
“They’ll all laugh at me for this! My son dead, because of a whore! ”
“Everyone in this room saw me give her my mate mark. If you murder her, before she dies from my mark, they’ll turn against you.
Shadow Moon and Black Moon will not stand for it,” Coal rasps through a mouthful of blood, smiling up at his father.
“Shadow Moon claimed her. They won’t take her death lightly.
They’ll want proof her death wasn’t a result of your anger, because if there is any chance she’ll survive, we’ll have to prove the bond was formed.
I can already feel her,” Coal punches his fist against his chest, punctuating his words.
“Mate, he’s my mate. Oh god, I’m going to die… How long does it take for a Human to die after the mate mark is made? Do I have time to say goodbye to my mother? What about Matteo and Dean? What will happen to my body…”
Coal’s father slams his fist into Coal’s face with such force that it makes me ill, even though Coal tries to shield his pain from the bond. Shifting his hand and raising it, Michael snarls. My eyes widen. What the fuck? He’s just going to kill us both, here and now.
“On your knees!” Coal does as his father says, kneeling before him, with no protest. I step forward, attempting to put myself between the two men. A force stronger than my self-preservation moving me.
“Don’t touch him!” I cry, but as Michael lashes out against Coal, the pain is so strong that I fall to my knees. Screaming as I watch Coal’s father brutally attack his back. “No,” I sob. This is what he had been protecting me from. This is why he couldn’t let things between us change.
“I thought my claim would be enough. I thought he’d lose interest…” Coal's inner thoughts are projected through the bond, the pain too much for him to control.
I used to think Coal’s anger was so similar to his father's, but where Coal can look harsh and cruel, his father is a raving madman, spitting vile hatred. He’s completely unhinged.
It feels as if the claws are carving into my skin and not Coal’s. I reach up, trying to feel for blood, but my skin isn’t cut. It’s all Coal’s pain.
“Delilah, just think of Delilah, her heavenly honeysuckle scent, her smile, think of your mate. Don’t focus on the pain; it will pass. She’s so strong. Be strong like Delilah.” Coal is trying to talk himself down and projecting every thought to me as his father nearly kills him.
As pain explodes across my skin, the world spins and my vision blurs. Poor Coal. “My poor Coal.”
Michael violently slashes away at Coal nine more times, all over his back, and by the time he’s done, I’m screaming in pain on the ground.
Coal doesn’t make any sound, but he does drop his weight to his hands resting them against the floor as blood drips down his arms, pooling around him.
His hair is hiding his face from me, but I don’t need to see his eyes to know how badly he’s hurt.
Wolves heal quickly, but not instantly, and wounds made from an Alpha’s claws take even longer.
His pain is blinding me, but he just takes deep breaths.
He’s been through this so many times before; that’s clear at this moment.
For every second Coal is in pain, so am I. I thought I knew what it meant to be tortured and tormented, but this is unbearable. How did he endure this for so long?
I black out at some point; the pain too much for me to withstand and more than I can take. When I open my eyes again, I’m in Dean’s arms. Matteo has one of Coal’s arms wrapped around his neck, and Quil has the other as they carry us outside.
“We need to heal him,” Matteo sounds panicked, worried, confused.
Coal is walking, but not well. Most of his weight is being supported by Matteo and Quil, who are doing their best not to hold Coal by his bleeding wounds, but it’s hard. His entire back is wounded. Behind us, I hear Michael shouting as things break and glass shatters.
I start to lose consciousness again when I hear Coal’s voice in my head.
“I’m sorry, flower. Please forgive me…”
Coal’s voice is the last thing I hear before I black out.
Coal
“You have to go with her,” I grunt, as Matteo lays me in the grass before taking off after Dean and Delilah. Quil pulls a vial of healing potion out of his pocket, his expression grim. He already knew we’d need it. That I would need it.
“I’m staying with you,” Quil shakes his head, as his face crumbles with pain and sadness. When I’m like this, I try to keep Quil far away from me. He can’t handle my pain just like I can’t handle his. But we never leave each other, no matter how bad it gets.
“She needs you more,” I tell him, as he tips the bottle to my lips, and I drink it greedily. This will heal me almost completely, but unfortunately, the scars will remain.
“She needs you,” Quil insists, and I know he’s right, but I only have so much time before our fathers start hunting us down.
“I have to go retrieve her mother. I can feel her pain. She doesn’t understand what’s happening, and she needs all three of you.
I’ll be there as soon as I can, but her mother is not likely to listen to anyone else.
Please, Quil. I need you to choose her. To keep choosing her.
” The ache in my chest is caused by being so far from Delilah when our bond is so new, but also because I know Quil is torn.
He wants to go to Delilah, but he doesn’t know how to be the person she needs him to be.
He knows how to be mine, but not hers. Not yet.
“They can-”
“Quil. You’re enough. Not for me, but for Delilah.
You’re not what your father says you are.
You’re more than that. Go learn how to be the man she needs you to be.
I will always be here, but right now, my mate needs all of us.
” My strength is returning as the potion kicks in, so I jump to my feet, grab Quil by the throat, and kiss the fool.
“Go!” I shove him away, relief washing over me when he turns away and runs for our girl.
Quil
I follow Delilah’s honeysuckle scent, feeling like my heart is being torn in two. I can hear her screams, and my Wolf pushes me harder, wanting me to shift. Not yet.
Coal says I’m enough for Delilah, but after everything, how could she ever want me? When I thought she would be leaving us behind forever, I got reckless. I kissed her, touched her.
Now she’s Coal’s mate, and no matter what happens next, things will never be the same again.
What if she rejects me? What will I do if I lose my best friend, and the girl I love…
I’ll die. I couldn’t live without Delilah, any more than I could live without Coal. If Delilah doesn’t want me, if she only claims the other two…
I’ll wait until Coal is distracted and sneak away. I think I could easily kill my father in his sleep. Michael will likely be a greater challenge, but if I can wound him before he kills me, maybe the others will have a chance.
I pause mid-stride. From here I can see Delilah, but I look back over my shoulder. If I go now, when they’re least expecting me to return, can I catch them off guard? They’re distracted. Reckless. They won’t have their guards up against an attack if I go alone.
I turn away from Delilah, about to sprint back to the Alpha’s house, when I hear her scream. My head snaps back around, my Wolf howling in my mind. I whimper, unable to control myself at the sound of her pain.
I’ll make sure she’s okay, then I’ll kill Michael and my father.