~Celine~
“We should take her to the hospital!” I cried behind those who rushed Betty into one of the rooms. She was bleeding seriously and was hardly breathing.
“We can’t take her to the hospital, Celine. It will draw attention to our pack and we don’t want that. We have a very good doctor, she’ll be fine.” Kilhan uttered, holding me back from entering the room they took her in.
“I need to be with her,” I mumbled in tears, trying to loosen Kilhan’s grip from my arm.
“Celine, I need you to tell me what happened, okay? They will take good care of her.” Kilhan added, pulling me to his chambers.
“What happened?” He asked, sitting me down on his bed.
“We…” I stuttered, cleaning the tears in my eyes. “I was attacked by a man. My father happened to have killed his brother and somehow, he knew I was Gomez’s daughter.” I muttered and broke into tears again.
I could clearly remember how terrified I was.
“What happened after that?” He further asked softly, cleaning my tears with his hand.
“I was so scared. He hit my face and I fell to the floor. But then… then, Betty intervened. He asked her to back off that they had no issues with her. But, she didn’t listen to him.” I mumbled and raised my head to look at him.
“Betty told me to stand behind her, and she said ‘You’d have to kill me first’. Kilhan, she saved my life. She fought so hard before you guys showed up. I watched them hit and beat her. She protected me like her life depended on it. I didn’t deserve that, I didn’t…”
“Celine.”
“I didn’t deserve that, Kilhan. I have done nothing to deserve that and now I owe her my life. I should have done something…”
“If you didn’t hide like she said you should, they’d have hurt you.”
“But Betty wasn’t supposed to get hurt. I was the one they wanted:” I added, shivering.
“Celine, enough, okay? You are her Luna. That is what she’s supposed to do. You need to get used to this. Betty is a Beta, she’ll heal fast.”
“What if she died? Her blood would be on my neck.”
“Betty isn’t so easy to get rid of and you know this, Celine. She’ll be fine, okay? I promise.” He pulled me in, planting kisses on my head as I tried to stop fidgeting and crying.
I cleaned my teary eyes and melted into his arms, waiting to hear whatever the doctor had to say. As we waited, I couldn’t help but replay the scenes of Betty fighting with her life to protect me, over and over again in my head.
‘I owe her my life.’
I couldn’t begin to imagine what would have happened if she hadn’t intervened. They’d have killed me before the pack arrived.
‘I should have trusted her. I should have never doubted her loyalty to me.’
Now I know she wasn’t pretending to like me. She actually meant it. Who pretends when they’re on the verge of death? No one.
Kilhan didn’t grow tired of cuddling me up. He kept patting and planting lots of kisses all over my head.
Just then, there was a knock on the door and I instantly sprang to my feet. “Doctor?” I called, rushing to the door.
“Celine,” Kilhan called from behind me, but I ignored him. I opened the door to see that it wasn’t the doctor, but one of the guards.
“Luna. Alpha Kilhan. A man is here to see you. He goes by the name Charles Gomez.”
“Charles?” I raised my eyebrows as soon as I heard his name. “It’s my brother,” I uttered, turning to look at Kilhan. He nodded and dismissed the guard.
“He must have heard about what happened,” I uttered, heading out of the room. Kilhan followed behind me, not saying a word until we got to the living room, where Charles was waiting.
“Charles?” I called, and he hastily turned to look at me.
“Oh my… Celine!” He called, running to me and embracing me tightly. “Are you alright?” He asked as he disengaged from the hug, cupping my face and looking into my eyes.
I nodded with tears in my eyes and he embraced me again. “I’m so glad you’re okay. Immediately the news got to me, I headed down here.” He uttered, while my head was still buried in his chest.
“Charles, thanks for coming.” I heard Kilhan say and they shook hands.
“I had to. I knew my sister needed me.” He answered, brushing my hair with his hand.
“I wasn’t hurt because Betty, my friend, took the fall for me. She fought so hard with them until Kilhan and the others showed up to help us.” I narrated.
“They escaped though,” Kilhan added, and Charles nodded.
“I am aware. He didn’t escape for so long though. He has been apprehended, he and the others with him. They are in my custody as we speak.” Charles uttered, and I looked at his face in awe.
“Really? What are you going to do to them?”
“What else? I’ll make sure they pay for what they did to you and your friend.”
“You’re not going to kill him, are you? It was all father’s fault. He killed his brother and when he saw me, he was consumed by rage.” I further uttered, and he looked at me.
“I don’t care. He shouldn’t have taken it out on you. You’re not Darius. He should have come for me instead, not a woman. He’s a coward.” He answered angrily.
“But…”
“You shouldn’t worry about that, okay? You should worry about keeping yourself safe. Now that this has happened, you shouldn’t go out anymore, and if it’s a must, there should be enough guards around you. I can appoint some if you need me…”
“No, you don’t have to. This would be the first and last time something like this happened to her. I will be here to protect her.” Kilhan answered.
“Like you did today?” Charles butted in.
“Charles, please. It’s not Kilhan’s fault. He wanted to assign guards but we refused. He is my protector, okay?” I added with a deep breath, and they both sighed too.
I hated the tension in the air, but I couldn’t get rid of it. Not when Betty was still fighting for her life in that room.
“Where’s your room?” Charles asked.
“She’s been attended to by a doctor. She was injured pretty badly.” I mumbled sadly.
“I should thank her. Please let me know when she’s fully healed. I’d love to show my appreciation.” He responded, and I bobbed.
“Also…” He held my hand and slowly pulled me to a corner with him. “I want to keep an eye on you. I mean, watch and monitor anything and everything watchable from outside your gates. I believe Kilhan can take care of the inside.
“After what happened at that market, we can’t afford to be careless and relaxed. I need your permission to do this.” He said to me.
“My permission?” I furrowed my brows.
“Celine, this was exactly what father did to you too. He kept watching you but he didn’t get your permission. I don’t want to be like him, especially after finding out more things he did when he was alive. I want to do things differently.” He uttered, and I nodded in agreement.
“You’re right, and you have my permission. I trust you to tell me if anything goes wrong.” I smiled faintly, and he reciprocated.
“Take care of yourself.” He embraced me again, brushing my hair with his hand. “I need to head back now. I have some things to attend to at the house. Please call me anytime you want, okay?”
I bobbed and embraced him tightly. I didn’t want him to leave, but I had to let him go. He was now taking care of some of father’s businesses.
“I love you, big sister.” He whispered, kissing my head for the last time.
“I love you, brother.”
He headed out of the house and I watched until I couldn’t see him anymore. While I stood at the door, Kilhan hugged me from behind.
“He’s changed.” He said.
“Hmm.”
“He’s become stronger and fierce. Your father must have done a lot to him.” He added while I rested my head on his chest, letting out a deep sigh.
“Luna Celine! Alpha Kilhan, she’s awake!” We heard Drex announce from the hallway and instantly, we ran to the room where she was laid.
“Betty?” I called as I ran into the room. She was covered in bandages and plasters.
“Hey, are you alright?” She asked, looking at me.
“Betty, you got hurt, not me. I should be asking you that.” I answered with a faint smile, sitting next to her on the bed.
“As you can see, I’m doing great myself.” She teased, causing me to chuckle softly.
“How long would she have this bandages on, Doctor?” Kilhan asked.
“Just a day. The cuts were pretty severe, but she’s a very strong lady too. She’s healing faster than I expected. She should be back on her feet in two days.” The doctor answered.
“You hear that? I’m stronger than you think. Now, stop worrying.” Betty replied with a soft grin.
I nodded with a smile as I felt my eyes heat up. I didn’t know how to express my gratitude to her, and so I just cried.
“Thank you so much, Betty. Thank you…”
“Shhh!” She cut me short. “I was just doing my job, Luna.” She answered with a wink.
“You could have been killed, Betty. You didn’t have to do that.”
“A friend in need is a friend indeed, isn’t that how the saying goes? Plus, I’m so difficult to get rid of. You have nothing to worry about.” She uttered with another chuckle.
I pursued my lips, trying to push back the cry that threatened to break out of my throat.
“Can I hug you? Would it hurt?” I asked, and she chuckled and opened her arms.
“I wouldn’t mind. Bring it in.”