23. Chapter Twenty-One
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
MAE
I don’t know how much time has passed since Michael mind inked me. Has it been half the day? Only a couple of minutes? Several hours?
It’s so hard to tell with all the trees and tents surrounding us. There’s no direct sunlight to us, which means it’s harder to tell what time of day it is.
Looking over at Peter, I give him an encouraging smile. It must have been hours because they gave him another dosage of wolfsbane not too long ago. I didn’t have to hear the screams to know it was bad. The way his face contorted in pain as it went through his body said it all. The rogues had to hold him still as he tried to fight from getting injected.
Peter smiles back and tries to relax against the pole he’s tied to. I feel so bad for him. He looks so uncomfortable, and here I am not tied to anything and just sitting comfortably.
I wish I could communicate with him somehow. Tell him help’s on the way, that they should be here any second. But I can’t do it easily or safely. Sure, I could try and write it on the ground, but rogues are patrolling everywhere, and I don’t want him to get hurt any more than he has to.
Peter has already been through enough.
Any time the rogues get close to me, Peter always says something, and they go beat on him. I try making noises, but I have no clue if I even make a sound. It also doesn’t stop Peter from saying things to them. Any time they even get close to me, he says something. I know he’s trying to protect me, but each time his skin ends up being even more black and blue than before, never fully healing because of the wolfsbane.
I don’t want that.
But no matter what, he always gets them away from me whenever he’s awake.
They did slap and kick me several times when they knocked him out, but that was just a couple of times.
I watch as his eyes begin to look curious. I look around, trying to figure out what’s wrong. Nobody’s near us. What’s happening?
I look back at Peter, he’s trying to say something to me, but I can’t make out any words he’s saying. Is everything okay? Why’s he looking at me with a panicked expression?
He keeps trying to talk to me, but I can’t make out what he’s trying to say. Peter yanks at the restraints multiple times, trying to get out of them, but they won’t budge.
Taking several deep breaths to keep me calm, I try looking around again but can’t see anything. There’s no way to see anything unless I get up and move around.
Are the rogues still here? Did they just leave us here? I haven’t seen one walk past us in a while, which has to mean something’s happening or did happen.
Before I know it, I feel an arm wrap around me, picking me up. Their hands immediately move to my neck and hold me in place. I look at Peter, terrified. He’s trying to break free from his restraints.
A cold, sharp point touches my neck, and my whole body becomes rigid. I am going to die. There’s no way out of this mess now. I don’t know how to escape from someone that has a knife up against my neck. One wrong move, and he could cut a major artery and make me bleed everywhere.
I breathe as deep as I can without moving too much, trying to calm myself down. This is why I wanted to tell Michael I love him. Deep down, I knew, I had a feeling that something wasn’t going to go right.
I try to mind link Michael one last time, but it’s like I’m blocked. Did he have the feeling before as well?
Peter tries desperately to get out of the rope his hands are bound with, but he isn’t getting anywhere. Tears flow over my eyelids and roll down my cheeks. I’m not ready to die yet. I still have my whole life in front of me. I’m so ready to spend the rest of my life with Michael.
I was finally in a happy place after losing my whole pack, and now it’s being taken away from me. Will Michael be sad when he finds out I’m dead? Will he be able to feel the tie break like I felt with my parents and old pack members?
For his sake, I hope he doesn’t have to feel it. It was excruciating and felt like part of me was dying.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see movement. Xavier and a person I don’t know step out from behind one of the tents. Where’s Michael? Is he close by? Part of me wants to see him before I die so I can tell him I love him one last time.
Xavier and the other warrior’s faces are emotionless. What’s going on? Are they just worried about the situation Peter and I are in or are they going to allow me to die and just grab Peter?
I don’t know if Xavier truly likes me. He accepted me into the pack, but he could have done that for Michael’s sake. He didn’t have to like me to accept me into the pack. He could just tolerate me.
As they walk closer, the guy holding me tightens his grip, pushing the knife into my neck but not breaking the skin. I close my eyes for a brief second and pray Michael isn’t around to watch me die. He doesn’t need to have that image playing in his head over and over again.
When I open my eyes, Xavier and the other guy are standing in front of us, several feet away. I can no longer see Peter. At least he’s going to be okay. I have no clue if he has a mate.
Xavier’s talking, and I feel the guy’s chest vibrating, talking back to Xavier. This is another instance I so badly want to be able to hear what’s being said.
“ You’re okay.” Michael whispers in my head. “ They know what they’re doing. Trust Xavier.”
My eyes dart around, trying to find Michael, but I don’t see him anywhere.
“ Don’t panic. Everything’s going to be okay. Just hold on for a few more minutes.”
Hope fills me as he speaks to me. I’m not going to die.
“ When I tell you to move to the right, you move to the right immediately,” Michael says.
What? What’s he talking about?
“ Now!”
I don’t move. My brain was too slow to send signals to my body to move, and I feel the man tilt forward. Panic flows through me as I see the ground getting closer and closer. Everything seems like it’s happening in slow motion. If I’m not going to die by the knife and blood loss, I’m going to die from the weight of this man falling on top of me.
Pain lights up my whole body as I land on the hard ground, the man’s weight crushing me. My lungs constrict as I can’t get any air in, making me panic even more.
Death by suffocation.
Not how I imagined I would die.
Slow, warm liquid drips onto my neck as the seconds tick by. How many seconds have I been under this man? How much longer is it going to take me to die?
“ Mae!” Michael mind links me.