Chapter Sixty-Seven
Fear was like a chain, it was like a knife slowly being twisted inside your gut, it was like a constant hammer on your head. However, it didn't have to be negative, there was a reason and purpose for fear, it was a biological mechanism to keep you safe. It's part of your intuition, once you're fearful your brain will search for a solution to remove the cause of said fear.
Fear wasn't a constant feeling though, it came in like crashing waves. The cold water void of any warmth and sending chills to the core. Just as you manage to adapt to the cold, it comes again and again and again.
Fear gripped me all night like a tight, suffocating hand. It's hold was unforgivable and relentless. There were times I could feel myself give into the darkness and obliviousness of sleep but each time I inched closer and closer to it, fear would get a hold of my body and shake it awake.
Cami, on the other hand, slept like a baby. Once she had said she was going to sleep, she was out in minutes. Fear, stress or anxiety clearly were not plaguing her mind like it was with me.
How could she sleep so peacefully knowing what was to come the next day?
The whole night was spent staring mindlessly at either the ceiling or my carefree sister snoring away. I tried to come up with ideas on what to do, however, my mind kept coming up blank and after a while it was too tired to think of anything but not tired enough to switch off.
Have you experienced that before? Where you're so mentally and physically tired yet there's something holding you back from giving in to the darkness?
As the hours ticked by and as I tossed and turned on the bed, praying for an answer or some sleep, my eyes wandered over to the windows that were covered by the dark curtains.
Would it be possible to jump out of the window and escape? Where could we escape to? I couldn't think of one place where we could go that Alpha Alessandro wouldn't find us.
As dawn approached, I slowly got out of bed, wary of waking Cami up and made my way over to the window. Pulling the curtain to the side slightly, I stand in front of the window and before pulling the curtain behind me so no light snuck into the room.
Closing my eyes, I bathed in the rosy glow of the sun, feeling its heat on my face. Placing my hand on the window, I imagine the feeling of the cool, crisp air around my fingers, the way the wind would play with my hair.
How many times had I seen the sun rise and took it for granted? Would this be the last time I would ever see it? What else have I now done for the last time?
I stepped back, moving the curtain with me so that the white rays shone through into the room. Everything it touched, it lit up, showing the beauty of the colours in the room.
It reached Cami's face causing her to scrunch it up slightly, I was tempted to wake her up, to beg her to see the beauty of dawn, the beauty of life but as I stared at my little sister's face I knew I couldn't do that.
I let her sleep in bliss and forget the pains and trauma of her life and dream of the most wonderful things. Reality was a nightmare and sleep was the only escape from it. If only I could have been afforded the same luxury, the same escape from reality.
Once Cami was awake, we slowly got ready for the day, neither of us silent but neither of us actually talking to one another. It was small talk, the polite chit chat you have with strangers acquaintances.
Cami felt like a stranger, before this I thought I knew her well, knew what she was thinking but now I had no idea what was going on inside her head.
Staring at the reflection in the mirror, I winced at what was staring back at me. My eyes had sunken into its socket and dark panda like circles encased them.
I didn't dwell too much on my face, my eyes flickering down to my neck. My neck that now contained the mark of Alpha Alessandro.
Using my fingers, I brushed my hair and covered the mark. The last thing I needed was Cami seeing the mark and doing something even more irrational. Before I covered my neck with my curly hair, I softly grazed the mark and closed my eyes as tingles erupted through my body. Would it always feel like this?
Clenching my jaws, I removed my hand and opened my eyes. Would the man who gave me this mark still be angry and refuse to help us? Had he calmed down enough to realise that I hadn't tricked him into marking me?
I had told him that I wanted to mate with him because I thought it would increase the chances of Cami and I remaining alive. If Alpha Alessandro had agreed to the mating I knew it would take time before it actually happened, crucial and valuable time that would have allowed me to think of something to save us.
If in that extra time I didn't find a solution to our problem I would have gone through with the mating and begged him to protect Cami. By mating we would have secured and completed the bond, whatever feelings he had for me, if any, would be amplified and his need to protect me would increase by tenfold.
I was confident that he would have protected Cami for me, to keep me happy. His 'Wolf' and his inner conscious wouldn't have allowed him to do anything that would hurt me physically or emotionally- not intentionally anyway.
That's what all my research suggested and I was 99% sure it was accurate and would apply to us. The 1% of doubt was due to Alpha Alessandro behaviour and past. His indifference to human life and his hatred didn't exactly make me think he would automatically be willing to do anything and everything for his human mate, not to mention the multiple times he had hurt and threatened to hurt me.
Now we will never know if my proposition would have worked. While he may have marked me and completed half the mating process I knew love and protectiveness were at the bottom of the list of emotions he was feeling for me, I'm pretty sure that anger and hatred were at the top of the list.
The emotions that filled my body right now were fear, desperation and hopelessness. However, there was another emotion that filled a part of me, it was a very tiny part of me, but nonetheless it was still there and that emotion was relief.
A small part of me felt slightly relieved that it was all coming to an end now, whether we'd come out of this alive or not, it would finally be over. The constant feeling of anxiousness, paranoia and fear had taken its toll on me and I just wanted a moment where I didn't have to think about the possible things that could go wrong and the ways I could resolve them.
Giving myself one last look in the mirror, I walked out of the bathroom to find Cami sitting on the bed waiting for me. A small, sad smile graced her face as she saw me and my heart tightened as I stared back at my little sister.
"Beta Kieran came by while you were in the bathroom." Cami softly informed me as she got up from the bed.
"What did he want?" I asked her, my voice equally as soft and quiet as hers. I already knew the answer to the question I had asked but I was hoping her response would be different.
"It's time for me to go."
Swallowing the bile that was threatening to spew out of me, I closed my eyes and nodded. "Okay."
"It's going to be okay, Nala." Cami told me causing me to snap my eyes open.
I stared into the eyes of my delusional sister. How on earth could she think it was going to be okay? Death was waiting for us and the only thing we could hope for now was that it was a quick and painless one.
"You don't have to do this." I knew my attempts to change her mind would be futile but I still had to try, I had to try one last time.
"No." Cami grabbed my hands and gave it a squeeze. "I have to do this."
"You don't have to do this. Please Cami, just think about what you're about to do for a minute. It won't end well."
Cami opened her mouth to respond but before she could there was a knock on the door. We both turned to look at it and after a few seconds of neither of us responding the door opened.
Beta Kieran walked into the room, his eyes and face void of any emotions. "Time to go."
"Can you give us a minute?" I whispered as I prayed that a minute was enough to get Cami to change her mind.
"No. Alpha Alessandro and the Head Alpha are waiting for Cami."
My heart began to pound as Cami nodded. "I'm ready." She told us as she took in a deep breath.
"Wait!" Both Beta Kieran and Cami turned to look at me. "Beta Kieran, can I speak to you for a second?"
Beta Kieran looked like he was about to refuse so I quickly added the next part. "It's important and will only a couple of seconds. We'll leave after that, I promise."
After a few seconds of deliberation Beta Kieran nodded and I almost jumped up in joy. "Can we talk outside?"
"Nala, what are you doing?" Cami called after us but I ignored her as we left the room. I had limited time with the Beta and I wasn't going to waste any of it explaining my actions or reassuring Cami.
"Did you manage to get a hold of Teresa?" The question left my mouth as soon the door shut behind us.
Beta Kieran nodded.
"Is she here? Can you get her to come to the meeting with the Head Alpha?" The eagerness and hope was very prominent in my tone.
"She's not here but she's in town."
"You need to tell her to come here, it's urgent." I spoke quickly, hoping she would make it before things got too complicated at the meeting.
"We can't keep Alpha Alessandro and his father waiting, let's go." Beta Kieran said as he reached over to the door, completely ignoring my request.
Without thinking I grabbed his hand to stop him from opening the door. "You need to get her here now!"
Beta Kieran's eyes flickered down to where I was still holding him. "I suggest you remove your hand."
His tone implied that it wasn't a simple suggestion and that there would be consequences if I didn't listen to him but I was too desperate to care. "You need to listen to me, ge-"
Beta Kieran yanked his hand away from mine. "I don't need to listen to you. Who do you think you are?"
"Your Luna."
Pushing my hair away from my neck, I titled my neck so he could get a good view of what was there.
"I'm your Luna and you're going to do what I tell you to do."
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A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter
Nala is using her status as Luna. What do you think her plan is?
Let me know what you think is going to happen next
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Thank you for reading :)
-Kayy xx