Chapter 76 Seventy-Six

Chapter 76 Seventy-Six
Amber
The wind felt like a feathery brush against my cheek, almost tickling it. My heart made a thump, then another, and soon I felt the slow rhythm of my heartbeat gently hitting against my chest. It felt so potent as it gave my lifeless body energy again.
I felt myself coming back slowly, and I could feel the bruises in my body as they healed one by one. It felt as if I was sleeping. I could hear murmurs around me, but the words weren’t distinct. I felt different, too, as if my body no longer belonged to me.
The blood in my veins wasn’t the same either, and everything felt heightened. My nerves sensed everything around me, from the sound of people moving around to the very moisture of the air itself. I had no idea what happened to me, and so I tried to focus my senses. As I listened, I heard male voices, and soon, their words became more apparent.
The first voice I recognized was Max’s. I didn’t quite hear what he said clearly, but as I tried to listen closer, I realized that he wasn’t alone. And that’s when I heard my mate.
The minute Drew spoke, I tried to move again to pull him to me and rest in his arms forever, but I could barely move an inch as if my body was still in sleep paralysis. I knew something had definitely changed in my body. I could feel it from my toes to even the ends of my hair. I was never able to feel my hair, nor were my senses this focused, and what concerned me the most was that I wasn’t even fully awake yet.
My wolf was also off, as if she were adjusting to make space for another person in my mind. But as I tried to move again, the only limb that flinched was my finger.
I then felt my body being rested against the cold concrete, and I protested in my mind for Drew to hold me again. I could feel my body reforming into something—something different. I grew scared, especially as my wolf got antsy.
I tried to remember the last thing that happened before I fell asleep, and then it came rushing back like a flood. Dageian killed me. He snapped my neck.
So, how was I still alive?
It took a while for me to figure it out, and when I did, I felt my entire body come alive as a rush of adrenaline surged through my veins, and I snapped my eyes open. The first thing I saw was the moon, shining down at me like a welcome to the realm of the living again.
There was a gasp beside me as I gently tilted my head, and my vision cleared. Everything looked different. It seemed as if I could see more colors and the depths of the atmosphere to a greater extent, but it wasn’t in a bad way.
I raised my hand in front of my face, still puzzled about everything. I still had five fingers, and my complexion didn’t change. I sat up, and there wasn’t a hint of pain in my body as I expected. I noticed that I was on the balcony of my room, and my throat was parched.
A warm hand rested on my thigh, and though there was no evidence of the bond in my mind anymore, the instant connection I felt told me that it was Drew. I met his eyes almost instantly, searching for an answer to what had happened and who I now was. But I only found utter relief and awe. He gazed at me in such longing that I wondered if I’d been dead for longer than I suspected.
The thought pained me. So, without another word, I flung myself into his arms, feeling utterly guilty for probably causing him pain, even though I didn’t kill myself.
“You’re alive,” he mumbled in complete awe. It didn’t seem to bother him that our link no longer existed or that I was evidently different. He was only stunned by my miraculous resurrection. If I were being honest with myself, I was surprised about it too.
Without hesitation, I wrapped my arms tighter around him too, and the sudden tenseness in his body from my firm grip caused me to pull away. My eyes widened as I gazed at his face. I didn’t even attempt to hold him that tight, yet it felt as if I was about to break a few bones.
However, he didn’t seem to mind one bit. Instead, he beamed brightly at me with a slight chuckle as he gently caressed my cheek.
“You gotta take it easy for a few days,” he said with a chuckle as Max and Mason joined in on their humor. I was still stunned, but their relieved and happy smiles caused me to relax a bit as each of them gave me a short hug too.
I could see Elma on the other side of the balcony, and though I had yet to speak, it was as if she understood my silent question. She offered me a small smile with a nod as she rose from her seated position and joined us.
“I am not upset, Amber,” she said. “The only thing I regret is arriving too late when Dageian had already killed you… But I am glad you are back, and I will not bother hybrids anymore because I can finally live knowing that that monster is gone.”
This caused me to open my eyes wider as I darted them from person to person. “He’s gone? Gone where?” My voice was groggy, and my throat contracted against its corners as the dryness gave me no relief.
“Yes, baby,” Drew whispered as he brushed my hair away from my face. “We killed him. We all did.”
For some reason, I felt disappointed. I wanted to be there to sink the dagger in his chest myself for all he did. But the look on Drew’s face made it all better. It showed that he did it for both of us, even though he didn’t know I’d be back. I then noticed that he was hurt, and our bodies were covered in his blood. Frowning, I ran my fingers over his sore chest, though it was already healing, and met his eyes again in sadness.
Dageian almost killed him, too. However, they beat him in what must’ve been the break of time, and I was absolutely relieved.
Drew kissed my frown away as he helped me to my feet. They were stronger than I anticipated, and as I looked around, I saw the evident battlefield that had occurred on my balcony. I tried to walk, but my feet moved at inhumane speed, and I was across the space in a second, clutching onto my balcony glass door.
I searched for Drew with wide eyes, and luckily, he was beside me not too long after. But that’s when I saw my eyes. They were almost shining in the glass of my balcony door, like gold. They definitely weren’t my usual amber-gold, and they weren’t red either. I gulped, deeming it a mistake as the dryness made itself even more known, yet I didn’t shift my gaze away from my reflection.
One of my hands reached up to clench my parched throat while the other traced my eyelids. Drew hovered behind me as I took a while to register, as the others lingered a few feet away. I could hear the distant but distinct mumbles of people outside my room door, and I could feel…everything.
“Do you know what happened to you?” Drew asked, his voice careful.
I slowly nodded.
“Say it,” he probed, but as I opened my mouth, nothing came out. “Say it, Amber,” he added.
“I’m a hybrid.”