Chapter 36
"You like me?" I asked again as I was trying to confirm If I had misheard him because I would hate for him to actually mean it.
"Yes I do. '' He replied and I could swear I was starting to hear my heart racing faster than it was.
"Oh okay, " I said and an awkward silence filled the tent for some time.
"I like you because of who you are, you know when it's first saw you I saw something different in you and you didn't prove me wrong."
"I had asked you the reason why you left and you were honest with me, most wolves would have lied but you had pain in your eyes and I know the feeling of not being with your mate so I decided to help you" He said and I didn't know how I released a heavy breath that I never knew i was holding.
"Oh, that " I awkwardly said and he nodded his head. I suddenly felt guilty for having to over think about it and most of all to think he'd be anywhere near Alaric. He was just a broken and hurt Alpha but at least he knew how to treat a woman.
"But I'm not being completely honest here" He sighed as he stared at me with his hazel eyes that always seemed to capture me.
"What's left to say?"
"The main reason I had treated you differently at first was because of your striking resemblance with my mate. You looked like her and you had almost the same features. "
"You were as gentle as her and made me remember how I first met her too. She wasn't a member of the Red moon pack but had successfully escaped from her pack because it was being raided by a really powerful lycan " He said and everything became clear to me.
I looked like his late mate and that was why he wanted me to be around him in hopes of it bringing good memories to him.
We remained seated for some while without saying any words to each other and the only thing we did was to sip from our cup of coffee until we suddenly heard a loud scream coming from the pack house.
"What's happening?" I asked in fear as the sound wasn't reducing but was only increasing. He also seemed confused and didn't understand what was going on until his eyes suddenly changed its color from its original hazel eyes to a very red eye.
"Let go!" He growled as he took my hands and ran into the rain with me.
I could sense something wasn't right somewhere, I could feel it in my bones that bad things were happening back in the pack house and my suspicions were confirmed when I took a hint of the smell of fresh wolf blood.
I turned to look at Jika's face and he seemed to have also noticed the smell of blood as he increased in his pace and I found myself matching his pace.
We finally got to the pack house but on getting there, there was no living person outside, not even the guards and the only thing we could see and smell was the dead guards on the floor covered in their pool of blood.
I could feel Jika's muscles tensing as he tried to shield me by coming before me and protecting me with his body and arms while I whimpered behind him.
His pack was definitely attacked and by the looks of it the invaders had the upper hands and it made me even more scared.
Fiona and Cole are both in the house and I hope something bad hasn't happened to them yet. I was getting scared as I could feel my knees trembling but even though we were in the middle of a rough situation, I felt Jika's thumb caressing my arms and telling me I'll be fine.
I tried to stay strong so as not to be a burden as we proceeded to enter the pack house.
On opening the huge door, my head was bowed in fear and I wished I hadn't bowed my head as I spotted Eddy's lifeless body laying on the ground.
I could hear my heart being shattered as I couldn't control the flood of water from my eyes.
I wasn't even going to stop myself from crying as worries built up in me. I hope Fiona was hiding somewhere safe with Cole. I really do hope so.
The more I got closer to the middle of the pack house, the more something seemed off and I was quick to snap back to my memory.
I had been having fun with Jika all these while that I had totally forgotten about Alaric, I had forgotten about how cruel he could be and the extreme lengths he could take to hold me captive once again.
On realising Alaric was behind all of these things, I froze on the spot and perceiving his strong smell and aura made it all worse for me.
"Run, run, Jika run!" I yelled at the top of my lungs as I tried to drag his arms away from the house but he was too big for me to drag and he wasn't willing to follow me with the confused expression on his face.
"You can never run from me, " Alaric's voice echoed through the room, sending immediate shivers down my spine and I didn't seem like the only one who was shocked as I could feel the same thing in Jika's aura only that he was trying to cover up.
"We meet again and my second meeting always ends with one person dying but unfortunately it'll be you dying!" Alaric threatened and I realised that the two of them must have known each other before now.
They had met before and were on bad terms but I have just made everything worse for Jika by coming here and being ignorant to the fact that Alaric would eventually track me down.
I hadn't expected him to find me so soon and I thought it was going to take him forever and perhaps he would eventually forget about me.
"Stay behind me, Lenora" Jika whispered and it broke me even more to see that he was trying to protect me from my own mess and would risk his life.
I needed to let him know I lied to him from the start and that I had actually ran away from Alaric too because I was tired of him treating me badly. Even if he would never forgive me, he deserves to know the truth.
"I need to tell you something Jika" my voice came out rather broken as I cried.
"Don't say anything, you'll be fine okay?" He cooed as reassures me that I'll be saved but hell, I was more concerned about him than I was for myself. I didn't want anything bad to have to happen to him because of me.
Eddy had already died and both Fiona and Cole are both where to ve seen. I can't continue with this and it'll be better if Alaric kills just me and saves the kind hearted people here.
"No you really need to hear me out, Jika ''I cried again but this time he wasn't going to listen to me as I could feel his bones cracking and it was obvious that he was going to fight with Alaric as he was already turning into a wolf.
I knew Jika was a strong man but Alaric was much stronger and from royal lycan blood. He would not stand a match against Alaric and I can't let this happen.
"Please stop!" I yelled but it was too late as he had already transformed into his wolf form and was ready to pounce on Alaric who was standing at the far edge of the hall with blood stains all over his body.
"I've been lying to you!" I yelled but it was already too late as he was not able to even make it close to Alaric before he fell flat on the floor still In his wolf form.
Without straining a muscle,Alaric had somehow slit Jika's throat with his claws.
"Jika!" I yelled at the top of my lungs as I ran to his body, he was still breathing but I knew there was no way he would make it because his head was almost ripped out of his body.
"Jika I'm so sorry " I cried on his body as I brought his head to mine. His hazel eyes were looking straight into my eyes and I could see the sadness in those eyes for the first time ever.
"I had lied to you, I'm so sorry, this is all my fault!" I rushed my words out as the salty tears never stopped flowing down my cheeks.
With the last strength In him, he lifted his paw to my cheeks, caressing it slowly and I held it with my hands with guilt filling my heart.
"I'm so sorry!" I cried again but this time I wasn't sure if he could hear me as his paws suddenly turned cold on my cheeks.
I have never felt this way and at this point I really hate myself for being the cause of his death. Only if I had been honest with him from the start, then I wouldn't have to sit by his lifeless body on the floor in a stormy weather.
"That's enough, get up and let's go back to the pack. I'll deal with you later" Alaric sighed like he had not just taken the life of a very good man. Only if he was the one who died instead.
I wanted to pour out my anger on him and snap because I was done with the way he treated me like I was some kind of toy or object he could use anyhow he pleased. I tried to keep my thoughts to myself but my anger spoke too quickly,
"In case no one has ever told you this then listen carefully Alaric, I'm not the cause of the miserable life you have, that has been causing you to kill innocent people. No one would ever want you to be near them not because they fear you but because you're worthless and you bring nothing but sadness wherever you go to!" I yelled without any feeling of remorse.
If he was going to kill me anyway then he might as well carry on because death would be far better than having to see his wretched face every time .
After saying those words,I could feel the change of aura in the room as it wasn't laced with pride and anger anymore but a tint of sadness.
If those words have gotten to him then I deserve a pat on the back for a job well done.
The room became dead silent with only my sobs being heard as I still sat on the floor beside Jika's lifeless body, until I heard a loud cry coming from the staircase and I looked up to see Fiona and Cole being dragged by Jenny.
Cole was badly injured and bruised but Fiona seemed to only have some scratches on her, it took a while for their eyes to drift to me and the lifeless Alpha on the floor as Cole howled in pain and I felt that.
Fiona was shocked as she stood with her eyes wide open in awe and I could spot some tears falling from her eyes.
"I found these two hiding In the basement " Jenny said as she was focused on Alaric before her face drifted to mine and I could tell she wasn't happy to see me.
"Heyyyyy, you're finally here " she screeched but even a toddler could tell that it was fake but she was not my concern at the moment.
"I wanted to get rid of them but the wolf here was begging for me to save his wolverine and I thought there wouldn't be much fun in that so I brought them to you "
"Apparently, the Beta wolf claims that his wolverine mate was pregnant and expecting so I hadn't really touched her" Jenny said without feeling any bit of remorse like it was a normal thing to do and say.
"What do you think I should do,should I kill both of them or just the Beta so you could as well take over this pack...."
"Shut up!" Alaric growled at her and his lycan aura made it even scarier as I found myself baring my neck in submission.
Without saying any more words, Alaric started to walk towards me and my heart felt like it was about to rip itself from my chest until he got to where I was and forcefully dragged my wrist away from the ground.
"We're going!" He growled with a thick voice as I found myself being dragged away from Jika's body.
"Wait for me" Jenny yelled behind us as she ran to meet Alaric.
I couldn't seem to take my eyes off of Jika's body but on lifting my eyes, I could see that I was not the only one as the couples stood on the same spot frozen and shocked to the bones.