Chapter 54 Betrayal

Betrayal

Avalyn

I forced my eyes to open. I can't let him win.

Suddenly, like a surge of power had burst through me, I flicked my head to the side, tearing off the man's head to fall off his shoulder and roll to the side.

"Ava..." Dimitri whispered, his voice in unimaginable pain.

Tears flowed down my cheeks as I crawled to where he lay on the floor.

There was a huge hole in his chest. I could see all of his insides. He will bleed out before his wolf will be able to heal him. I need to help him.

I concentrated on healing him but my entire body ached and my head throbbed. I couldn't concentrate. Not anymore.

I had used all of my energy to kill the vampire.

"F-focus." He coughed out blood.

I sobbed seeing his condition and forced myself to focus. My head felt like it was going to burst now.

I saw that there was no improvement to his wound. I could hear his heartbeat slowing.

He is dying...

"I can't." I cried.

"Ava." I heard Nikolai's voice and my head snapped up.

Everything was blurred but my eyes somehow focused on Nik.

In a second he was kneeling on another side of Dimitri and examining the wound.

"Heal him," Nik said, his voice urgent.

"I -I can't." I cried. "Head hurts...I -I got hurt." I said, my tears not stopping.

Nik's nostrils flared and his eyes darkened when he registered blood on me.

"Fuck." Nik swore.

"Avalyn, close your eyes." Master's voice snapped.

My eyes automatically closed.

"Focus on your head. Where it hurts. Heal it. Imagine its healing. Imagine the pain-reducing." I heard his voice.

I did as he told me. Slowly, the throbbing stopped and the pain subsided.

I sighed in relief.

"Open your eyes." I snapped them open and saw Dimitri.

Tears sprung in my eyes at his condition. His eyes were blank but his heart was beating. Barely but it was beating.

Heal. Heal. Heal.

Oh god.

He is bleeding so much.

Please. Heal.

Stop the blood.

"Avalyn stop." Master snapped. "Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Do exactly what I tell you now."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I can do what he tells me. It's the one thing I do best.

"Imagine all of Dimitri's arteries and veins healing."

I concentrated on the arteries and veins and imagined their healing.

My head throbbed.

"Focus. Clear all the internal bleeding. Heal it all."

I focused on cleaning the bleeding.

"Yes. Good girl. Imagine his lungs healing."

I imagined the lung besides his heart healing. Coming back to his normal position.

"Very good. Now focus on the ribs. Imagine all the bones connected. The entire ribcage is healed. No fractures."

I focused on the ribs. Ribs protect the heart and lungs. I imagined them in perfect condition. Without any cracks and fractures.

"Very good. Clean the internal bleeding."

I focused on the extra blood and cleaned it. I imagined all the blood where it is supposed to be.

"Good girl. Now his muscles. Heal the muscles."

I healed the muscles. I imagined them all the way they were.

"Perfect. Now the skin."

I concentrated on the skin that would come on top. Smooth and without any scars. Plain free. Just as it was before.

"His heartbeat is still slow. He has lost a lot of blood. Imagine the blood in his body increasing. And that his heart is beating normally."

I focused on increasing the blood in his body and his heart beating at the normal rate.

"Good girl. Open your eyes, Ava." I heard Master's soft voice.

My eyes fluttered open and I saw Nik give me a crooked smile. I looked down at Dimitri and saw him blink once before his eyes focused on me.

He cracked a smile before his hand rose and he wiped the tears off my cheek. "A Queen shouldn't cry." He murmured.

A laugh and a cry wretched out of my throat as I hugged him. Only Dimitri would say something like that after almost dying.

"I thought you would die." I cried in his neck. "And I wouldn't be able to help you."

"Hey-hey!" His arm came around my back. "What did I say about crying?"

"Shut up." I sobbed. "For a second I thought I lost you." I would never forget the scene. It was stored in my mind like a photograph. The vampire holding Dimitri's heart in his hand.

I shuddered at that thought.

"Alright, that's enough." Nik pulled me off, Dimitri. "I've seen enough of my half-naked mate sprawled on my brother." He grumbled.

I giggled through my tears as Nik circled his arms around me and hugged me tightly.

"Are you okay?" He whispered. I nodded against his chest. His scent calmed my senses.

"I want to go home, Nikolai. I don't like it here." I can't see my family getting hurt like this. First the attack at our quarters and now this.

How many more attacks till someone dies?

"We never run away from a fight Ava. We will find who is doing all of this and then we will go back to our pack." He cupped my cheek and told me, looking deep into my eyes.

"Where were you?" I asked him. Dimitri had told him so why did it take him so much to come?

"I was in a meeting with Leikos and Darius. I left as soon as I could." He replied.

I nodded.

"Not to break your bubble but we need to go. We have a party to attend." Dimitri said as he loomed over us.

I took his hand as he helped me stand up. I stumbled because I was only wearing one heel. Nik picked me up and took me back to our quarters.

I healed my head some more so I wasn't in pain at all. The slaves helped me clean up all the blood and quickly shampooed my hair to take out all the blood. I quickly put on another dress after that and they redid my make-up and hair.

"Done?" Nik asked me, offering his arm.

I nodded and took it, pulling him out of the room.

"Are you sure you can come?" I asked Dimitri who was waiting for us in the living room.

"Yes, I feel completely fine. As if nothing happened at all." He said and stood up from the couch. He gave me his arm and I put my hand in his elbow.

Both the men led me to the Ballroom. Tension was rolling off of them in waves and no one spoke this time, their minds far away from here.

We entered the ballroom and then climbed down the stairs as everyone paused and looked at us.

Rhazien was the first one to approach us. "King Nikolai. Queen Avalyn. Hello Dimitri." He bowed. "You look beautiful." He smiled.

"Thank you." I smiled back. "Is the party going well?" Please tell me there are no attacks here.

"Everything is perfect. You just need to mingle with the people." He told us.

"Rhaz—" Jessica came and then her eyes fell on us. "King Nikolai. Queen Avalyn. Dimitri." She bowed.

"Hello, Jessica." I smiled at her. "How is your sister?" I asked about Tessa.

She lost her composure for a second before pasting a smile on her face. "She is doing okay."

"I hope she will be alright soon." I squeezed her hand.

"Thank you." She smiled.

Over the next two hours, people approached us and we talked to them. I could feel the shift in the air, they had lost their weariness and were warming up to us. They just needed to see who we were without the throne.

We were good people. Werewolves were good people. I was happy they were starting to see that.

Nikolai and Dimitri didn't leave my side throughout the night. I made most of the conversation and Nikolai and Dimitri chimed in between when they felt like it. I could still feel the tension rolling off of them. They were both on edge since the incident.

Nikolai asked me for a dance and I agreed.

"How are you holding up?" He asked me. I circled my arms around his neck and leaned against his chest, savoring the warmth and safety of his arms around me.

"Good," I replied. "Where are Vladimir and Sofiya?" I asked.

"Somewhere." He squeezed me into him more.

That's when I realized he was scared. It scared me. Scared that something would have happened to me while he was away. And something can happen to him and he won't be there by his side when the time comes.

I heard the thump of his heartbeat. "I'm fine, Nikolai," I said softly. "I am not weak anymore." I was proud of how I fought off the bad vampires in the hallway.

"I know." He simply said but I could feel him worrying for me. And I don't know how to make it go away.

"My turn." Dimitri tapped Nikolai's shoulder when the song ended. They both shared a look before Dimitri took my hand in his and placed the other on my back. I put my hand on his shoulder.

"What was that look like?" I asked.

"What look?" He looked confused.

"The look that you and Nikolai shared." I narrowed my eyes. They were hiding something from me.

"He was just being possessive." He waved it away. "And ya, don't blame me now if I don't charm any girl tonight. I'm on bodyguard duty."

"What is it, Dimitri?" I was not buying this act of his.

He spun me around and dipped me, shocking me, and then I was in his arms again. "The climax of this piece is great. Don't you think? What were we talking about again? I completely forgot! I'm sure it was nothing important. Or else I wouldn't have forgotten." He said and then quickly led me off the dance floor.

"We should go back to our quarters now. I'm completely exhausted. Maybe I'm not so well after all." He said and then pulled me out of the ballroom before I got a word in.

The guards immediately surrounded us as we walked back to the quarters.

"Are you not going to tell me?" I sighed. He is such a drama queen.

I realized that we took a turn that didn't lead to our apartment.

"This isn't the right way." I frowned.

"I know." He replied and continued walking. He looked like he knew where we were going so I didn't question him further.

He opened a door and then led me inside. It looked like someone's living quarters.

Who lived here?

Dimitri suddenly grasped my hand tightly, making sure I couldn't move.

"I've got her. Come out."