Chapter Twenty Four

LUCY

Days passed by and I still hadn’t thought of what to do. Maverick hovered around, repeating the exact words he had said before about history repeating itself. No matter how I tried to make him spill the truth, he wouldn’t succumb. All he kept saying was time would reveal itself. When was time going to reveal itself? When Chris dies or what?

There was no way I would stand and watch anyone hurt my mate, not even Cade. I chose to see him in his pack, though it was risky. I had done it before so I could do it again.

That evening, I sneaked out of the pack to avoid the prying eyes of Cade and his men, whom I knew had been keeping close tabs on everything I’d been doing. Another person I tried to avoid was Maverick, who continuously gave me the creeps anytime we met. He was gradually becoming a psychopath, and everyone could attest to it.

As I journeyed to the pack, I noticed some unusual movement around me. The crunchy sounds from the leaves gave it away. I knew immediately that I was being followed by somebody or something. I turned to see what it was, but there was no sign of anyone behind.

Maybe I was thinking too much. I must’ve mistaken the rustling sound for something else, or so I thought. I continued my journey, but I still didn’t feel safe. The crunchy sound continued, and this time, it was getting closer.

My heart pounded, my head spun, my eyes saw nothing but darkness, and my ears filled with the sounds of the tiptap of their footsteps as they drew even closer. I had never in my life felt scared before. It felt like my heart would come out of my mouth. I turned again to see if I could figure out who they were, but the darkness made it impossible for me to see anything.

I overcame my fear and persisted in my journey because they did not scare me anymore and because I believed they couldn’t harm me. If they wanted to, they would have done so already. I believed they wouldn't harm me; maybe Cade sent them to keep an eye on me.

“Lucy!” I heard a voice call out to me. It was Chris.

Immediately I froze. He was the last person I was expecting to see on my way to his pack. This wasn’t how I imagined our meeting to be. This was not my plan. I had just led Cade’s men to him.

“Lucy, what are you doing here? I was about to go visit you,” he said, smiling.

If only he knew what was ahead of him, he wouldn't be smiling at me. He would be running for safety, far away from me.

“Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost? It’s me,” he said, looking confused. I was completely shaken, so he couldn't understand why.

“You need to leave. You’re not safe here,” I whispered.

“Why are you whispering? We’re the only ones here in the woods,” he said.

I shook my head. “We are not the only ones here. You need to go. It's not safe here for you,” I warned.

“If there are people out there, then it isn’t safe for you either,” he said.

I tried to convince him to leave at once, but he wouldn’t listen. Rather, he used his body as a shield as he sniffed around. I didn’t understand why he was doing that. Maybe it was an alpha thing, but it looked weird.

“I can sense three of them,” he said. “Stay here. There could be more of them.”

Before I could hold him back, he launched forward, showing off his shiny claws. Just like he said, three men came out from their hiding wearing a smirk on their faces. As I had predicted, they were Cade’s men. There was something about them that I couldn’t quite understand right from the moment Cade brought them into the pack. No one dared cross their path except me, of course, who was stubborn-headed and showed no fear.

Seeing them now, I had to admit I was really scared. They filled their aura with darkness and danger. They looked fearless as they faced Chris.

“How dare you try to betray your leader, Lucy?” one of them said. His husky voice sent chills down my spine.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I answer to no one, not even Cade nor your trio,” I said, trying to hide my fears.

“What are they talking about?” Chris asked.

“They asked me to lure you to the pack and kill you, but they knew I wasn’t going to do so they followed me here.”

“I’m sure Cade will be pleased to have the alpha’s head and yours alongside his,” one of them said as they all burst into laughter.

“The only head that’ll be rolling tonight will be yours,” Chris said.

He charged toward them with his claws. His movement was swift, like nothing I had ever seen before. Right before my eyes, he ripped the heart of one of them and threw it on the floor.

Chris was a different person. He was no longer the calm young man that tried to sway me off my feet; he was a beast now. A dreadful beast.

The others charged at him, shoving their claws at him, he dodged them both. In a split second, the head of the other man came rolling towards me; another man down. The third took to his heels, seeing how impossible it was to defeat Chris.

There was no way I was going to let him get away. If he did, it was the end for both me and my mother. I ran as fast as I could until I caught up with him. I tried to stop him but like a wave, his mighty hand shoved me aside. I fell backward, settling into a defensive stance. There was a pain in my leg and side from the push: I was wounded but not out of the fight yet. He growled at me, his teeth bared. If I didn’t stop him now, there’s no telling what would happen when he returned to the pack.

I charged at him once more with all the strength I could gather because he was bigger than me and I was no match for him. My claws tore at his face and I saw the rage when he saw his blood drip from his face.

“You traitor!” he yelled.

Before I knew what was happening, I felt his sharp claws dig deep into my flesh. I fell to the ground, whining in pain as I bled out. My sights were gradually deteriorating, maybe this was the end for me, maybe not but I was certain that I fought a good fight. I tried to keep him safe and I did.