It all felt like a deja vú.
Just that the second time felt more heartbreaking than the first. Stabbing his chest and gouging his heart out was nothing compared to the pain of seeing her lying in her own pool of blood.
No one needed to tell him who did it. Unfortunately and thankfully, Jordan tagged along when he went in search for her. When they saw her close to the grass field, he had told him to hurry her back to the pack while he went after the fading scent of whoever attacked her.
He was filled with rage and couldn't help breaking his legs before dragging him to the pack. He didn't deserve a quick death. Rex wanted to torture the fucking life out of him. He confessed and said a vampire ordered him but that didn't help in soothing the ache in his chest. If anything, his ache and anger only multiplied.
The rouge was in his cell, breathing fine even if he Rex had sent him to hell and back while his mate laid on the bed, unmoving for the past two days. Whenever his heart got heavy from seeing her lying unconscious, he'd vent his anger on the rouge. Sometimes, he'd cut his thighs open and would let him bleed for hours before telling someone to treat him. As much as he wanted to take his life, he didn't want him to die just yet. So whenever Rex injured him and gave him a taste of death, he'd surge him back to life and let him rot in agony then give him another taste of death.
He knew Raven was the mastermind but he was too weak to go after her. Weak in the sense that he didn't want to leave Avice's side. Raven was a sly bitch and she could be anywhere and he didn't want to leave Avice for more than two hours in the name of searching for her.
He was letting Raven do whatever she wanted for as long as his mate was unconscious. But swearing with everything he had, she'd be dead as soon as Avice opened her eyes.
"She'll wake up anytime soon". Adeline said as she entered the room. "She was brought back to her room for a reason. Simaya said there's nothing wrong with her. Eliana has always been lazy so she's probably taking her time". She set the water and napkin on the floor.
Rex tore his gaze from the body on the bed and flashed Adeline a glance. She was just as worked up as he was and he didn't know he had been staring at Avice for over twenty minutes until he saw the small clock on the wall. It was forty minutes past nine at night.
Adeline was still up tight with him and he didn't mind that a bit considering what he put her sister through. Anyone would doubt his sudden genuinity.
"To be honest, I want her to sleep for three more days". She sighed out, her eyes lost in space as she crouched next to the bowl of water. For a long moment, she didn't seem to be aware of the thought she voiced out until her head snapped out of its daze. She shot upright and quickly added. "I'm not saying she can't fight Crane. We all know her wolf is stronger, I'm just trying to save her the trouble of dueling when she's been going into coma lately". Her cheeks flushed as she tried to cover up for Avice, avoiding his gaze she spoke.
Rex didn't need her eyes to know she was lying, her rapid heartbeat was enough and she appreciated that she was covering up for Avice.
A part of him also wanted her to sleep past that day and another part of him wanted her to wake up so he could feel her in his arms again. He had missed every part of her and he just needed her voice to silence the waging storm in him.
"I want to see the man who did this to her. Why won't you let me see him?" She asked for the hundredth time. Rex didn't tell her Raven was behind it. Telling her Raven injured Avice would generate too much questions he wouldn't want to answer.
There was nothing she could do anyway.
"There's nothing you want to do to him that I haven't done". He replied, his eyes not leaving Avice.
"But—"
"Just drop it, Adeline. You can't see him". He cut her off and she forced out a sigh, knowing he wouldn't budge even if she pushed.
"Fine". She said defeatedly and bent to drop the napkin in the bowl of water.
Rex turned and walked out of the room to his own room, leaving Adeline to clean up Avice. He had tried convincing the Alphas coming. He had told them his mate was in coma and wouldn't be able to participate in the game but they kept going on and on about a fucking deal with Crane. What in the world did the fucker strike with them? What weakness did he use against them?
Since the pack was Rex's territory, he would have commanded the Alphas off but the situation was beyond Alpha and territory. The five men coming including Eliana's father who died years ago weren't just Alphas. They were heartless bloodsucking motherfuckers who deserved nothing but hell.
And Rex couldn't reject them because of the decision his father made years ago. The decision his father made just to save him.
Crane was a cunny man and Rex was never going to let him touch Avice. If biting his dick off would make him cancel the silly game that day, he'd do it.
☆
Next Day
☆
Avice! Avice! AVICE!
Shooting up from her bed immediately, she drew a long deep air into her lungs in response to her name before heaving out, sweating like she had just finished a marathon and came last.
Avice glanced around the room, trying to gather her six senses as she scratched her ear. Someone definitely called her name and the voice had surged her out of wherever she was. With the way her body ached, she knew she probably went into coma again for the third time in a month.
Seriously?
Swinging her dainty legs off the bed, she stretched and massaged them before standing up while guessing the number of days she was in coma. It couldn't have been long, considering the minimum ache in her body, besides, the energy soaring in her veins was too much for someone who went into coma.
But hold on....
What about the game? She didn't sleep past the day, did she? Ambling for her phone, she switched it on when she found it and realised she woke up a day early.
Dang it!
It was six in the evening and fifteen hours to the game. Was the game still on or was it cancelled because of her coma? What if it was still on? Then she would have to fight Crane?
Hell no.
Rushing back to her bed to continue her coma, she laid down and closed her eyes, intertwining her fingers on her stomach, hoping she'd stay that way for fifteen hours.
'Will you stand the fuck up?'
Avice's eyes snapped open, a second passing before she jumped out of her bed in horror. It was the voice!
Turning three sixty degrees a few times, she stopped when her room began to spin. Her stomach rumbled and she clutched it, groaning a little from the dizziness and hunger.
Who the hell was that? Was a ghost in her room or was she starting to hear things?
As she was about to sit her ass on the bed, the voice came again, making her jump.
'Let me out'.
"Where the fuck are you?" Avice whispered, she didn't know why but she whispered. Probably because the voice seemed to be coming from her head rather than her room. Though she had never given a shit about the medical field but since when did going into coma three times a month cause auditory hallucination?
'In you. I'm Trisha but call me Trish. I can't explain anything right now. I'm weak and need a run'.
Avice paused, allowing the wave of emotions to rush through her, leaving goosebumps and causing her fingers to shake from the lack of words. She blinked a few times, trying to comprehend the voice in her head, at the same time telling herself it wasn't real. It couldn't be!
Heck!
"Is that...are you my wolf?" She asked as she pointed to herself, letting the euphoria hang in her throat because she didn't want to raise her hopes up.
'Yes and I've been stuck for too long. I need a long run first'. The voice became weaker.
"R—run? Oh my—" Avice paced in her room, urging herself to stay still instead of jumping out of the door to scream to every living soul that her wolf was back. She couldn't refrain from bouncing on her feet though, and her heartbeat seemed to be getting louder as the seconds ticked.
She wanted to be quiet, she didn't want to scream even if she was practically jumping on one spot with her hands over her mouth. She didn't know what to feel, she didn't even know how to feel.
Damn, how could she be back at the right time? And there she was, thinking her fate was created with the wrong recipes.
'Can you think later?' Trish almost snapped.
"Oh sorry—uh right, shift". She whispered and stopped jumping. "Hold on, how do you do that?" She asked as she started walking to the bathroom, excitement bubbling in her tummy. She had been out for almost three days and she needed a bath.
'It's very simple. But it will be hard now because you haven't shifted in a month'.
''Not my fault. You disappeared on me. Why?"
'I didn't. I told you I'll explain everything, let me out first unless you want to start feeling the ache in your bones which is going to register soon if you don't let me out'.
"Okay, okay, just need a quick bath". She whispered as she tossed the clothes, dancing into the shower on her toes.
Minutes later, she was out of the shower and in the closet, searching for the clothes Trish mentioned. Trish didn't want anyone to know Avice had woken up. She said it'd only create unnecessary inconvenience and waste more time. She was on the verge of breaking out and Avice was starting to feel the pain in her body.
Trish just wanted to run through the woods, everything other thing didn't matter.
"Done". Avice said after throwing the big black hood over her ponytail. Stepping out of her closet, she glanced down at her sweatpants and then at the window. It was starting to get dark and the feeling of running through the woods thrilled her and scared her at the same time.
'Don't let anyone see you. Let's shift in the woods'. Trish said, sounding weaker.
"Okay". Carefully, she walked to her door and poked her head outside to survey before stepping out and hurrying down the stairs. She had no idea why she was following Trish's order instead of telling Adeline she had woken up and so had Trish. But she guessed Trish needed immediate help and her body too was starting to ache.
Adeline can wait.
Successfully walking past everyone without having them turn their heads, she dashed into the darkness calling her name and stopped when she was certain no soul could see her from the pack.
'Take off your clothes' Trish voice came.
"What?!"
'Do you want to rip them apart? You won't want to walk back to the pack naked'.
"Oh". Avice muttered before pulling down her sweatpants along with her shoes, hanging them with her hoodie on a tree branch instead of dropping them on the ground. The night air grazed her delicate skin immediately, her nipples hardening in acknowledgement. "Okay, girl. I guess I'm ready". She said more to herself than Trish.
Never in her life had a thought of shifting into an animal crossed her mind. And honestly, it'd have scared the shit out of her if Trish had told her to shift a month ago. At first, she was glad she didn't have a wolf and wouldn't have to shift. But more than anything now, she wanted to shift and she was more excited than scared.
'You have to brace yourself. This is your first time and this body hasn't shifted in a while'.
"What? Are you trying to scare me now?"
'If breaking, reforming and organising your bones including your organs isn't scary, then we have nothing to worry about, Avice'.
"Wa—wait, what?" Avice stammered, the excitement in her body taking the nearest bus out of her. "W–what do you mean organs? Why are you making it sound very painful?"
She laughed. 'Because it is. But you won't notice your organs shifting. Just your bones and you won't even notice anymore once you're done shifting. You just have to make it through the process'.
Avice shook her head, her mouth gaping as she moved to grab her clothes from the branch. "I ain't doing this with you, Trish".
"Put those clothes back. Do you want to fight Crane tomorrow or not?'
Avice gasped. "You know about that?"
'I know what's been going on, Avice. And I know you might not feel it because you've never experienced it but believe me, there's a stronger bond between us'.
"Stronger bond? What do you mean?" Avice asked, moving away from the tree.
'I'm saying, the strength your soul possess is much more powerful than Eliana's soul. And there's a better connection between us'. She explained.
Avice twisted her lips, ignoring the thrill in her stomach. "So...what are you trying to say?"
Trish sighed and Avice could already feel the impending bomb that was about to drop on her. "Oh, goddess. I'm saying your soul fits better with me. You own me, slow poke. Now try to shift, I'm dying'.
Avice smiled, not knowing she'd find comfort in the distress of a subconscious voice.