Chapter 42 42
Third Person POV
Hazel blinked twice just to be sure she didn't imagine what she just saw; she looked where Adrian was and couldn't see him anymore, like he had just vanished, the same way that wolf had.
"Noah, Adrian is gone!" she shouted from where she stood. Noah looked in their direction and looked at where Adrian was. Immediately he backed away from Draven, keeping the distance between them.
Draven seemed less violent, although he was being held back by something or someone invisible. Noah saw his chance and immediately melted into the shadow beside a tree, leaving Draven all by himself alone.
She looked around for Noah amongst the trees but couldn't find him. She suddenly heard someone breathing raggedly in her room.
She turned around and saw Noah sitting on the floor of her room, drenched in sweat and little bruises all over his body; his tattoos remained unchanged while the rest of him looked exhausted.
"Are you okay?" She asked, rushing towards Slayer Side. He simply nodded his head as he took in deep breaths. He began unfolding his sleeves, covering up his beautiful tattoos.
She had so many questions to ask but decided to keep them to herself. She remembered what he had said before jumping in to save Adrian.
"Adrian, I can't find him; he just disappeared," she said, her voice slightly panicked; she didn't know who or where he had been taken. Noah stood up and found his way towards the window.
He rested on the beam of the window for support as he watched Draven. Hazel followed behind him and watched what Draven was doing.
Draven simply stood there in his wolf form, as though he were restraining himself, unsure of what to do; he neither looked for people to kill nor walked around like a feral beast; rather, he looked as though he was conflicted.
"What's he doing?" Hazel asked, her voice a mix of fear and worry. She was bothered about the other wolves in the pack; if Draven left the forest and got into the pack, there would be bloodshed.
"He's trying to control it," Noah said as he watched Draven with a tight expression. "How? I thought he couldn't control himself in that state." Hazel asked.
"I don't know how he's doing it, but it's probably because the curse was weakened by the ritual but not gone; I felt it while we fought; he was definitely holding back against me," Noah spoke with certainty.
"He was holding back?" Hazel asked in shock; she couldn't believe that what she had seen was Draven holding back; she couldn't imagine what he would be like if he indeed decided to not hold back and go all out; the idea itself scared her.
"So what do we do now?" She asked expectantly; she didn't think sending anyone else down there was a good idea, especially when he was in that.
"We trust him; hopefully he'll be back before anyone understands what's going on." Noah said calmly; his words gave Hazel assurance, and she breathed out in relief.
Noah turned around; the expression on his face was as though he was lost in deep thoughts. "How did Adrian disappear?" He asked, and Hazel calmed herself down and began talking.
"It was a red wolf; it ran into my room and jumped; it landed just behind Draven while the both of you fought," she said. Noah looked even more confused.
"I didn't see any red wolf while I fought Alpha Draven, and my eyes were everywhere," he said.
"That's because the old disappeared as soon as it landed," Hazel said. She half expected Noah to laugh and call her stupid, but he didn't; he just looked at her with a serious face.
"Do you know who it might be?" She asked hopefully, but Noah shook his head; he couldn't think of anyone with traits such as that; he most likely wouldn't have believed Hazel.
But Adrian's missing body was proof enough that something had indeed happened to Adrian, something unnatural. He found it hard to believe that there were wolves that could teleport themselves.
But then again, he himself could move through shadows and teleport with them; why couldn't another of a different breed exist?
"A red wolf," he said to himself. While he spoke to himself, Hazel looked out the window again and saw the motionless body of Draven in his human form on the ground. He seemed unconscious, but he wasn't sure.
"Noah, he's back to normal," she said with happiness in her voice. Noah looked at the Alpha and nodded his head quietly. He left the window and began walking to the door.
"Wait, aren't you going to help him get up or something?" Hazel asked, feeling slightly alarmed; she thought he needed help, or at least to be carried away.
"Don't worry, Luna, the Alpha is awake; he's just lying there in thought," he said casually, as though he was so sure about it. "It would be best if you left him to himself for the time being," he finished and left the room quietly.
Hazel dropped her hands to her side in defeat. She walked to the window once more and looked at Draven. She tried imagining how he must have felt being locked in his own body while his wolf went on a rampage on his own sock he had sacrificed so much for.
While he was in thought, Draven stood up from the ground and dusted the dirt of his clothes. Both their eyes met; Hazel couldn't move, nor could she look away; rather, she said she wanted to.
Draven looked away from her and began walking into the forest alone.
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Slowly and carefully, Adrian tried opening his eyes, but he could feel his face had been bandaged tightly. He tried moving other parts of his body but couldn't, and in exchange, he felt pain unlike anything he had felt before.
He forced his eyes open and was met with darkness, just like the last thing he saw before he passed out—the darkness. He tried moving his head, but his entire body still hurt badly, and he couldn't forget the reason why.
His uncle, Alpha Draven, was much more of a beast than he could have ever imagined; he hadn't thought that he cousined his uncle in a fight, but he felt he could at least pose as a challenge or a threat to him.
But after that had happened, he felt more like a pest than his nephew; he couldn't believe how weak he was compared to his uncle. Adrian was completely lost in his thoughts.
He realized the reason why this fight had happened in the first place was because of him trying to save Hazel from the grasp of his uncle. He realized he could have tried to talk it out in a much more amiable manner.
But instead he lost his temper and attacked his father, completely forgetting the kind of man who was a man who never backed down from a challenge.
Adrian heard the sound of footsteps approaching him; although it was too dark for him to see, he used his sense of smell and hearing. He snigged carefully and caught the scent of a woman approaching him; he thought it would be either Thalia or Hazel.
He would be happy with either of the outcomes; he didn't bother trying to move or sit up anymore; he simply lay in bed, not wanting to give up the idea that he had woken up and had been lost in thought.
The door creaked open as the young lady stepped inside. She walked into the room and flipped on the light switch. Adrian, who had opened his eyes, immediately shrieked at the onslaught of light forcibly invading his pupils after trying to adjust to the darkness.
"Oohh, he's already awake." He heard the young woman talk; she had a really sweet voice with a certain scent about her. Adrian couldn't explain it; he could just feel it.
"Aaahh, the light, please," he complained, hoping she would dim it down a little bit. "He even has the strength to speak; what a monster," she said softly.
He turned his head in the direction he heard the voice from, trying to see who his savior was because the voice to be heard belonged to neither Hazel nor Thalia.
He held his breath as he saw her; she had bright red hair, too bright to be seen as natural, but somehow he believed it, and she was graciously beautiful, her face symmetrical in every way, her blue eyes contrasting the brightness of her hair.
"Who are you?" He managed to say after gaping at her fit what felt like eternity, she looked at him with a curious face.
"I'm the one that saved you from dying, and as for who I really am," she said with a pause. "It's none of your damn business," she spoke with finality.
"Alice, are you being rude to strangers again?" Adrian heard the voice of an older woman; the one sitting in front of him suddenly frowned as she heard the voice.
But something struck Adrian as odd; he knew the voice of the second woman all too well for him to ignore it. "Hello Adrian, I'm sure you remember me," Sara said as she swung the door open.