Chapter 12
Compromising Position
Lilian.
"Lilian!" I heard my name being called, despite the bulk of emotions I was going through.
It was Hailey.
I was both surprised and relieved as I ran into her arms and broke down completely. Hailey was a lot healthier than I was, as she started being an Omega recently.
She pulled my bony frame into her arms and hugged me tightly.
"I can't, Hailey. I can't…" I sobbed into her chest. "He doesn't want me. My parents are dead. He is the reason they are both dead."
I let myself feel all the pain, anger, and hatred that I kept bottled up for the past few years.
"I'm deeply sorry, Lilian." She mustered as she rubbed the small of my back gently. "Everything will turn out well, Lilian, I promise." She tried to be optimistic and cheer me up, but I could feel her hands trembling.
Something was wrong.
"Hailey?" I said in a small voice, pulling away from her to assess her. "Is everything okay?"
"I'm sorry, Lilian." She apologized with furious tears streaming down her eyes, and voice quaking, she said, "Alpha Blackthorn said he would release my parents to me if I successfully bring you to him before the day is over."
"But, I'm on my way…" I didn't complete my sentence as I felt a sudden stab against my ribs, and all my soon blurry vision could see was a teary Hailey who had her hands slapped over her mouth.
My body felt light and weak as my knees sank to the ground. The last thing I heard was a whispered "Thank you."
*
"She has to reject him!" I heard the hushed whispers of two male voices in my hazy mind.
"No! Damien, think about it!" I heard the second voice retort. "Her stay here will keep us safe. The fact that she hasn't rejected him yet will make him want to protect her at all costs, even if it means protecting the pack as well."
"..."
"The Teldon and the Crimson packs have been our low-key enemy for the last ten years, the stay of the predator in here will be the perfect excuse to attack our pack. We have already lost a lot of our warriors to the Predator. No one will be able to defend this pack if they come together." He paused. "Only the predator can protect us if he thinks they are coming for his mate."
"It's still risky." There was uncertainty in the other man's voice. "What if he turns against us? He could have killed everyone back then in the hall. He is unpredictable."
"His mate subdued him! We can always use her as leverage against him. Can't you see how docile and calm he has been around her?"
"I still don't support this idea. Have her to either reject or accept him so we know where we stand! If you can, persuade her to reject him because even if she does reject him, he would still keep the pack safe… He wouldn't let go of her that easily."
I scoffed under my breath. They didn't know, did they? They didn't know he had already let go of me.
"I'm not comfortable with his presence in this pack. The lives of everyone here is at stake. One swift change in emotion, a little rampage from him will tear this pack down forever."
I was beginning to feel the blood rushing back into my body, the numbness was beginning to fade. Trying to adjust and move my body around, I felt my body come in contact with wood. Feeling around, as my limbs now had mobility, I was stunned. Was I in a box?
"What was that sound?" The panicked grainy voice came in.
"Remember, I said we needed leverage." The other man said. "I had to capture her to convince her somehow or use her against him." Finally out of the haziness, I recognized the voice as Alpha Blackthorn's voice.
"Capture? Are you insane? Do you know the people who are with the Predator right now? It won't be him coming for her, it will be them coming for her!" The other voice, the Alpha King, was filled with rage. "Are you so reckless to put the entire pack in danger? Why didn't you do this amicably? What are you playing at, Thorn?"
"Relax. This won't take so long if she makes it easier."
There were some seconds of silence before the box was opened, and I squinted as light spilled into the box, and Alpha Blackthorn's face peered over me.
"I guess you've already heard all we've been discussing, and quite frankly, I don't have the patience and energy to repeat myself. It's time for you to be used for good in this pack."
"No. No. No." The Alpha King came forward this time. "It won't work that way. It's time to reject that thing you call a mate and let's get our lives over with."
"Why are you all acting like you've not wronged me by taking my family from me?" My voice was low, a stark contrast to the anger that was bubbling within me. "Why do you want to still use me even after years of using me for the cause."
"There's no time for all these…" Alpha Blackthorn shook his head as he continued. "You deserve everything that is coming to you. You have been at the center of it all since you were a child, Lilian. Everything that comes to you is just a taste of how your whole life would soon be. So, are you ready to be our leverage against that thing you call a mate?" He spat out.
"The same thing you think will protect this pack from your cowardliness of you and your people?" My tone was vile. "Do you think people will still respect you and want you as Alpha even after all you have done?"
"You'll be here to watch things play out," His eyes sparkled with mischief in them. "You'll watch how they will still turn against you no matter what. I will make it happen. So, are you doing it or not?"
The Alpha King shook his head at the scene and slowly turned away from us, leaving the small office.
"I will do that on one condition."
"Condition or no condition, Lilian, you will still do anything I ask of you. But, let's hear what you have to say."
"Tell me the truth about my birth parents, not my foster parents. Who were they?"
Alpha Blackthorn froze in his position, not moving. His eyes met mine in fear. "Never ask that question again, Lilian." His voice became low and dead serious for the first time.
"Why not?" I was getting more curious about everyone's reactions to questions about my family. "Touchy subject? They …"
"Shut up, Lilian!" He commanded. "Your birth parents…"
He didn't complete the statement when the glass window behind us shattered, and in a blur of motion, I watched in horror as an arrow went straight for Alpha Blackthorn's heart.
We all reacted too late. Much too late because Blackthorn's eyes widened in shock, he was yet to process how he was going to die.
But something caught my eye…
The white paper that accompanied the arrow. I didn't know what I was doing until I found myself kneeling over Alpha Blackthorn's body, trying to pull out the arrow to see what the paper was.
I successfully pulled it out and opened the folded paper.
"Stop asking questions, Lilian!"
The message was written boldly, even with the blood stains that covered the paper. The door suddenly opened and people rushed in.
"Alpha, we heard a noise. Is everything okay…"
There was a long pause in the room and I realized how compromis
ing my position looked. The arrow in one hand, a letter in the other and both hands covered with blood.