Our Selection

Chapter 30

We reach the dining hall and a small spread of soup, bread, quiche and soft rolls have been placed on the table. Alex eyes them hungrily and Cameron laughs
"Help yourself, have as much as you want" He says and Alex moves to the table and piles his plate high, I watch him with a smile on my face when Cameron comes next to me and presses a piece of paper into the palm of my hand, I look at him then slip it into my bra and he snorts
"Thanks for all of this, it's great to see him again" I say softly and he gives me a warm smile
"It was my pleasure" He whispers before moving away and sitting down opposite Alex, I take the seat next to Alex and I watch him stuffing his face
"Slow down... Your going to choke" I laugh and he shoots me a look to say, shut the fuck up. I roll my eyes and shake my head
"Don't come running to me when you choke" I laugh but he ignores me and carries on eating
"You were like that you know... Before Silvia taught you how to eat properly" He says and rolls his eyes when he says the last part, I blush and kick him playfully under the table
"I was not THAT bad" I protest and he laughs
"She cleaned you up... Whipped you into shape as you may call it" He jokes and I smile. When he says that Alex stops eating and his cutlery clatters onto his plate
"Luca, oh my god how could I forget" He says angrily and puts his head in his hands, I give Cameron a confused look before turning to him,
"What do you mean... What happened to Luca" I say warily and pull my chair closer to him, tears start to well up in his eyes and I feel something clench in my stomach. If Alex is nearly crying it must be bad
"He went into town because umm... Well, Felix got whipped" He says quietly, his voice shakes and I take a sharp breath. Felix? He is 10?! Who could do that to a ten year old. I press my lips together to stop myself from asking questions and let him carry on
"He met a guy in town called... Umm... Hunter, he said he had met you before and that I had to tell you that he was coming for you, Luca took it the wrong way and started a fight with him, im not sure what happened but I found him lying in the middle of the square at 3 in the morning with a broken arm, wrist, leg and nose. He is in bad shape Wolf, we can't afford any treatment so his cuts are getting dirty and his bones aren't healing, Felix's lashes are infected and he has a fever 24/7... I don't think they can hold on much longer Wolf, they need you, Felix talks about you in his sleep and Dad is falling apart. We all need you back Wolf, we can't live without you" He says and by the time he is finished, tears are falling so quickly from his eyes that when he bushes them away, new ones replace them instantly.

I feel physically sick. Hunter is coming for me. Felix is ill, and Luca could possibly die. This is all too much information to take in at one time. I feel bile rising up in my throat and I push back my chair and run out the room, I hear Cameron chasing after me and shouting my name but I ignore him and run to the nearest bathroom. I shove the door open and vomit a sour tasting liquid into the sink, it burns my throat and I start to cough violently, it doesn't help combined with my tears and soon I am struggling to breathe, I slide down the wall and sit on the floor with my head in my hands, sobs wrack my body violently and the force of them hurts my neck but I can't seem to stop. I cry so hard that I feel sick again and I easily vomit up some more sour tasting liquid, I'm leaning over the sink when Cameron rushes in
"Oh my god Wolf... I'm so sorry" He says softly and hugs me, his arms are strong around me and I can feel the beating of his heart against mine, I put my arms around his neck and lean into it and let myself cry and get everything out of my system
"I know how they feel, I understand what their going though" I whisper and he rubs my back
"I know" He whispers back and I pull away
"You don't understand Cameron, I have been whipped and beaten up before. I have been left in the square bleeding and broken but no one EVER did anything to help, you don't know what it feels like to know that no one is coming to help you, no one knows where you are or what state your in, how close you are to death, the feeling is indescribable and I can't bear for them to go through it" I say, my voice so thick with emotion that it cracks. His eyes lose their brightness and his shoulders slump
"I suspected it Wolf, why didn't you just tell me, do you really not trust me?" He says sadly but quietly and it hurts too much so I look away when I say what I have too next
"I'm sorry Cameron, I have to leave, my family comes first and if their unhappy then I'm unhappy, I love them and I can't leave them to fend for themselves, they need me" I say quietly and look at the floor
"Wolf?"
"What?"
"Nothing" He smirks and closes the space between us in a second, before I know it his lips are against mine and I feel a rush of heat flow through my body, I kiss him back for a moment before pulling away
"Cameron..." I start but don't finish as he is kissing me again, his hand touches the small of my back and presses me closer to him until there is no space between us. In that moment all of my troubles melted away and left nothing but me and him I our own little bubble, reluctantly I pull away, put my hands on his chest and look into his eyes
"It was nice knowing you Cameron Schreave"
"Ditto to you Wolf Dallas"