Chapter 61 The choice

Chapter 61 The choice

Thallyne's POV
A little girl was running around a field, with a young boy chasing after her. The view was very warm, the flowers that were in bloom swayed according to the direction of the wind, butterflies could be found everywhere you turned.
There was laughter coming from the mouths of the two children. “Stop chasing me, I would tell mum.” The young girl said between giggles as she ran, glancing behind her a few times to ensure that the boy had not caught up to her.
“Stop running, we have to go home soon.” It was obvious that the boy intentionally stayed a few steps behind her, ensuring that he didn't go behind her to keep up with the chase nor did he stay far behind so he wouldn't lose sight of her.
“Just a few minutes- ouch!” While she had been running, she didn't look ahead of her, therefore she lost her footing in the process, falling to the ground.
Seeing his younger sister fall to the ground, the young boy gave up on the chase, and increased his pace until he arrived beside her. The girl sat up, her sundress was already dusty and there was a big bruise on her knees. She cried out in pain.
“Shh, don't cry anymore.” The boy did his best to console her including rocking her, blowing on her injury but nothing he did made her calm down.
It was only until he promised to sneak away some cookies from the cookie jar that was placed high up on the shelf, did the girl calm down. “Come on, let's go back now so that dad would be able to heal you then it won't leave a bruise.”
The girl gave her brother a sweet smile before nodding in agreement. While she wasn't looking, the boy let out a huge sigh of relief.
I suddenly opened my eyes, I was still in a daze but my eyes carefully scanned the room while letting out a small yawn. The events of the past few hours rushed into my mind, causing my mood to sink.
“I am safe, there is nobody here but me.” From first glance, it was obvious I was the only one in the room. I slowly came down from the bed, heading to the bathroom to do my business. To be honest, I was very scared that when I opened the door, I carefully surveyed the empty bathroom before walking in, not shutting the door behind me… just in case.
After I was done, I washed my hands, my face involuntarily finding the mirror. I started at my reflection for a few minutes, leaving the water rushing.
To my biggest surprise, the strange dream popped into my mind once again, but this time when I tried to recall the faces of the kids, it seemed that there was a kind of mist that blocked their faces from my mind's eye.
I touched the side of my neck, confirming that I had not been marked by that alpha which meant that I didn't imagine Luther and Lucas coming to rescue me and Axel showing up after.
“Axel.” I called out his name in a whisper. I wasn't sure how to face him after what happened, I wasn't even sure of my safety any more.
I can't blame him.
I couldn't help but blame him too, he is the Alpha, he should have been there to rescue me. The first time I had to use my wits to escape, the second time, I had help that didn't come from him.
“He should have showed up.” I turned on the shower to the maximum while the tears began to flow from my cheeks. I increased it so that it would drown out the sound of my voice.
I leaned on the door and slid to the ground, my hand holding a fistful of my hair as I cried.
I cried for losing my mate who was supposed to be my protector,
I cried for my wolf who was supposed to be my partner and best friend,
I cried because I was weak and could barely do anything to save myself.
And lastly, I cried for myself .
I stayed there for a very long time until the tears no longer came, then I stood up, wiped my now puffy eyes, then washed my face. There was no doubt that someone would instantly realize that something was wrong if they saw me but that was the least of my problems.
I was still wearing the shirt Luther had placed on me, but I felt a bit energized. I walked out of the bathroom, and towards the door of the room. I couldn't stay in the room any longer.
When I got out of the room, I instantly recognized where I was as Axel's private pack house and the room I was in as a guest room. Recalling the routes, I soon arrived before a very large living room.
Four pairs of eyes suddenly looked in my direction as I appeared. Luther and Lucas' eyes were filled with excitement while Jake and Axel's were filled with surprise and relief respectively.
Luther rushed towards me, pulling me into his arms for a bone crushing hug and suddenly a loud growl reverberated in the room, coming from Axel….. “LET GO OF HER!”
Luther hugged me for a few more seconds before he let go of me, not before whispering. “I'm glad you are feeling better.”
“Thank you.” I smiled at him as I whispered.
Lucas just smiled at me, from the other side of the room and even though I wanted to rush over and hug him, I had to respect that Axel was still in the room and there was still the rule of not getting close to any male.
His eyes were fixed on me so I turned my face to meet his gaze, even forcing out a reassuring smile.
He had an expressionless face.
“Now that she's here, there's something I'll like to discuss with you. Alpha Axel.” I noticed how there seemed to be fear in Luther's eyes which wasn't present before. It seemed to be six parts respect and the other four parts fear…
I knew that Axel was scary and even the rumors about him have been turned to bedtime stories to scare kids into sleeping but I've never seen the fear in Luther's eyes before.
“Go on, I'm listening.” Goddess, even his voice was cold and emotionless.
I began to feel a bit worried for Luther, hoping that his words did nothing to rile up the big boss in the room.
“I was thinking if Thallyne could come with us back to our pack-”
“Denied.” Axel interrupted him.
“What?!” Luther was supposed, it looked like he hadn't been expecting such a straightforward answer.
“You heard what I said. And if you didn't, I'll have to repeat it to you. Read my lips, YOUR, REQUEST IS DENIED. Now I'm grateful that you could rescue her and save my son's life but your request is presumptuous.”
“What do you mean by my request being denied!” Luther blurted out without thinking as his eyes instantly widened after he spoke.
“Do you really want to find out what I mean?” A bone chilling smile crept up on Axel's face, the pressure in the room dropped and it seemed as if winter suddenly appeared.
“But-” With a smile on his face and a glance in my direction, Lucas began to speak. “I'm sure this decision should be made by Hazel here. So Thallyne, what do you think? Would you like to go back to our pack with Luther and I. I can guarantee that you would be mistreated there.
Axel's eyes fell on me again, it instantly softened. I looked away, feeling guilt creep into my heart. Before the situation with the Alpha, I was so sure that I wanted to be here but now… not so much.
Everyone stared at me, they were waiting for my response.
I simply looked at my hand, twirled it around one another while I tried to think of what to say without offending anyone or getting anyone hurt in the process.
After a moment of silence, Axel spoke up
“There is no need to worry your mind over it,” When he turned to look at Lucas and Luther, the smile that he had given him disappeared, replaced with one of frigid annoyance. “I am her Alpha, you don't have any right to poach a pack member from me. We might be allies but there are certain lines that must not be crossed.”
“Alpha Axel,” The smile on Lucas' face also disappeared, meaning that he was starting to get serious. “I would like it if Thallyne would make this decision on her own. I'm not trying to get her to switch loyalties but I feel like after all she's been through, she needs a new scenery.”