43. Forty-Three
FORTY-THREE
H arley
The moment the knife slid into my hand, I started cutting. I’m not sure who’s behind me at this point. I don’t even know if the entire pack is here. All I know is that Jax is still in his wolf form and his body has completely given out. My scream filled the air when he collapsed. Alongside that were low growls from each wolf in the room.
My mother stands in the doorway, a gun in each hand pointed at who I believe is Quinton and Jace. Arthur has two guns aimed just over my head and to the left of me. My father’s gun is still trained on Jax, and the sinister smile plastered on his face makes my hatred for him burn red hot. He’ll pay for pulling that trigger with his life.
The ropes give out and I waste no time in my plan. Before I even stand, I throw the knife at my mother. She doesn’t have time to react. It lodges in the center of her neck, puncturing her windpipe. For a split second, shock pulses through my veins. By all means, I should’ve missed the mark. Instead, I managed to hit right where I was aiming. My mothers eyes go wide and she drops one of the guns to the floor. As she reaches up to the knife protruding from her throat, she coughs. An overwhelming sense of relief slams into me as her knees hit the floor.
“Natalie!” Arthur screams.
Blood spits out of her mouth, her wide eyes locked on mine. Her disbelief mirrors my own as Arthur lowers himself to the floor with her in his arms. With Arthur’s attention diverted, the pack moves in unison. Whoever was behind me tackles my father to the floor. I hear the low growl as soon as my father’s sadistic laughter meets my ears.
I grab another knife off the floor and barely manage to stalk toward where he’s being held down by two large chocolate colored paws. When I lock my gaze with a pair of amber eyes, I breathe a sigh of relief.
I lower myself to my knees, my entire body shaking from the pain. The only thing keeping me going is adrenaline. Bringing my face in front of my father's, I slide the knife beneath his chin.
“How could you?” I hiss.
“We’re better than them. They’re creatures. All we do is protect our future children from the likes of them,” he says venomously.
“Your daughter needed protection from you and her mother,” I say through clenched teeth. “This pack of wolves has treated me with more kindness than either of you have my entire life.”
“They’re feral beasts,” he snaps at me.
Pressing the tip of the knife into his skin, I say, “They’re nothing like you. You didn’t win tonight.”
He just smiles. Pure joy written all over his face. “I did win, Harley. I completed the set,” he breathes.
Looking up into Alicia’s angry eyes, I drive the knife through the bottom of his chin. Scanning the room, I find Arthur holding my mother in his lap. Rage pulses through my veins at the sight of him cradling her limp body. Reaching over my father, I grab the gun he still holds in his limp hand.
Alicia helps me to my feet. She supports my weight, helping me walk across the room. My head throbs and the room continues to spin. But I refuse to let anyone walk out of this room that doesn’t deserve to.
Stopping in front of Arthur, I point the gun at his head. My hand shakes and tears burn my eyes. “I trusted you,” I whisper.
He looks up at me, his eyes growing glassy. “I know.”
“That’s all you have to say? You know? You know that I trusted you?” My face contorts with anger as the tears start to rapidly fall. “You saw how they treated me. All these years, you stood back and watched. Why?”
The rising sun starts to peek through the broken window. It casts the softest glow over Arthur. I can’t wrap my hand around the person he turned out to be. The image of him standing above me is nothing compared to seeing him hold onto my mother with everything he has.
“She was different behind closed doors,” he says softly. “You wouldn’t understand the person she had to be. It was all a charade. She didn’t have a choice.”
The gun shakes in my hand as I scream, “She had a fucking choice! She didn’t have to treat me like a doormat!”
“Harley,” he whispers, his voice shaking. “Please try to understand.”
“Fuck you, Arthur. You chose the wrong fucking side,” I mutter before pulling the trigger.
The bullet lands right between his eyes. His body slumps over, arms still wrapped around my mother’s shoulders. Silence fills the room, the reality of what I just did immediately sinking in.
Alicia’s body brushes up beside me, trying to catch me as I fall to my knees. But all I can think about is Jax. I turn back to where his body lies mere feet from my chair. When I can’t push myself back to my feet, I crawl the distance.
It’s not too late. I won’t survive if it is.
“Zayden,” I say on a choked sob.
I drag my hand through his fur, stopping over his ribs. Tears stream down my cheeks as I apply the smallest amount of pressure to his ribcage. Just one breath, one heartbeat, anything.
“Harley,” Alicia whispers, her hand brushing my arm. “Honey, we need to go.”
“Not without Zayden,” I insist.
“I’ve got him,” Quinton says quietly, his voice shaking.
“No!” I shout.
“Harley, he’s gone,” Alicia tells me, tears streaming down her own cheeks.
I shake my head, tears falling into his fur as I drag myself into him. This can’t be how it ends. I can’t lose him . Squeezing my eyes shut, I try to think of anything that can be done.
Lifting my head, I look up into the eyes of Declan. “Get me a knife.”
His hard stare holds mine before he bends to his left and grabs a knife from the floor. “Jace, go find us some clothes.”
“What are you going to do?” Alicia asks, crouching down next to me.
“A hail mary,” I mutter, bringing the tip of the blade to my wrist.
Pressing the blade in deep enough to create a steady drip, I pull Jax’s head into my lap. I hold my wrist over his snout and pull down on his jaw. I watch as my blood drips into his mouth and runs down the length of his tongue. My fingers stroke his fur gently as I beg the universe to bring him back to me.
It has to work.
“What are you doing?” Alicia asks me.
“He marked me,” I say, feeling my head spin. “My blood can save him.”
“Harley, you’ve lost more blood than all of us tonight. You don’t have the blood to spare,” she says in a low growl.
My body sways before she grips both my shoulders. “I know.”
“You have to stop!” she hisses in my ear.
“Once he wakes up, you’ll have to get me to the hospital. It’ll be fine. As long as he lives, nothing else matters.”
“Harley, this won’t?—”
Her words cut off as Jax’s body slowly shifts from wolf, back to man. I smile to myself, staring down at his face. My whole body is about to give out. The paralytic in my blood might make it hard for Jax to wake up.
The minutes tick by excruciatingly slow. Despite his body shifting back to his human form, nothing else happens. With my wrist pressed to his lips, I curl myself around him. I let the tears fall without pause. Each one falls onto his chest, blending in with the ink etched on his skin.
I can survive killing my parents. I can survive Arthur’s betrayal. As long as Zayden Jax Stone comes back to me, I can survive anything this life throws my way.
It can’t have been for nothing. Everything I’ve done to get to this point in my life has to mean something. And I’ll die trying to save him if I have to.
Alicia’s panicked voice fills my ears. “Declan, she's losing too much blood. We need to stop this!”
“Just a little longer,” I say weakly.
“We don’t have a little longer, Harley!” she cries. “You’re killing yourself for nothing! He’s not coming back!”
But when I feel his chest rise, I know I made the right decision.