Treacherous

26.

unedited

i feel like i owe you guys another chapter. so here it is! :)

░ Chapter 26░

"She's not waking up! She stopped breathing—" The voices trembled around me and suddenly, I felt alive. The pain was back and everything started falling back into my chest. Gravity was tying me back to the ground; the pain was centering around me and my mistakes were falling back on my shoulders with their burden never leaving.

 

I gasped for air, trying to free myself, but I realized I was still tied down in chains in the prison underneath the Big House. I turned around until I see Daisy holding me. Nathan was beside her, but he wasn't looking at me. How was I alive? How the fuck was I still alive? I should be dead from all of that.

 

"Thank the Moon Goddess Lyra. You spend—you were—I was sure you were dead. You weren't breathing. You weren't—"

 

"Fine." My voice croaked. Just as I turned to my side I realized Daisy had covered me in endless bandages to stop the blood. But how could she have done with without the Alpha's permission? He probably gave the permission, I realized. He probably asked Daisy to let me live so he could come back the next day to torture me.  After all, he needed me to watch Atlas die. I was becoming Prometheus I realized. For the rest of my life, I would be cured everyday only to be tortured the next day.

 

I wanted to get the fuck out of here.

 

Daisy helped me up, but I realized my wrists were still chained to the wall behind me. Every inch of my body was hurting, and I knew my energy was low. Even a wolf can handle only so much pain. I closed my eyes, and stared at my brother. I saw the darkness under his eyes, and I knew he was here every day beside me with Daisy. I imagined apologizing, but what would that do? It wouldn't change anything.

 

Instead, I say, "Thank you."

 

Nathan doesn't say anything, instead, he turns away from me. I had betrayed him, and betrayal comes with a price.

 

"I didn't mean any of it." I started, trying to find my explanation. "He was my mate, and I was naïve and stupid. I thought things could change if we were mates. I thought if our packs realized this, they would stop this cycle of killing—"

 

"They killed our mother!" Nathan hissed. "How could you ever forget that? They took away the love inside our father—How could you forget any of that?"

 

"Every few days, another wolf of our packs die, Nathan. We keep creating vengeance as the only solution, but—I thought we could create peace—"

 

"Is that the lie you made to justify your actions?" This time it was Daisy who sounded hurt. The anger in her voice hurt even more.

 

This wasn't a lie, I wanted to tell her, but it was obvious, she already assumed it was. She quickly turned away, but not before I caught the tear on her cheek. I stared at my brother, then at Daisy, and then at my hands and my quivering body. Everything hurt. It was excruciating—everything, physically and mentally. They didn't want to hear my explanation. The only thing they could see was Atlas next to me, his mark in my skin. That was all they saw, not the hopes we—I had.