Chapter Sixty-Eight

Cassandra's POV

"It's a madhouse out there!" Mitch mumbled and closed the door to the small room we were hiding in.

"We need to get out of here before they-" Intense heat flared in me and I gasped mid-sentence. My jaw locked as I bit my bottom lip harshly to keep from crying out.

When Mitch touched my upper arm to steady me, I had to jerk away from his. This heat wanted me to finish the mating process. I would not do that with anyone that wasn't my fated mate. I'd rather suffer than let another man touch me that way.

"Hey, I'm only trying to help. But if you don't want that, then I'll let them know where you ran off to." He used his thumb to point behind him at the door.

"I'm sorry," I said after a moment.

"If you tell me what's wrong, then I may be able to help, " He offered.

"You can't. It's a werewolf problem."

"I may be a meathead, but I'm not stupid. There's obviously something wrong with you. I know this because you werewolves don't get sick, and as long as you've been here you've had a fever, as well as constant pain. So tell me what I can do to help." he told me while crossing his arms over his chest.

I let out a whimper and looked up at him. I understand he's trying to help, but I didn't trust him. "It's my mate mark, the distance between me and Levi is making me sick." I lied. There's no way he knows as much as he says he knows about my kind. Otherwise, he would have known I was in heat.

His hard features softened a bit. "Oh, well-" a loud blast cut him off and shook the windows. Then an alarm went off, causing a red light to start blinking. I could see it underneath the door as it blinked brightly outside in the hallway.

"Shit!" Mitch cursed, coming over to me. He looked me over and cursed again. "Can you walk?" I nodded.

"What's happening?" I asked, scared. My heart was pounding frantically in my chest.

"Not sure, but those alarms are in case a fire starts." he glanced around the dark room. "Can you shift? I stopped giving you wolfsbane last night. I'm not sure if it's completely out of your system considering how much you have been given, but I'm hoping it was long enough to trigger your wolf."

I can't shift even if I want to while I'm in full-blown heat. Maybe if I was at the start like I was when they took me, but now it's too late. So I shook my head, tears wanting to form.

"Okay, damn uhh…" he looked up behind my head. "There, the window. Do you think you can meet?"

I turned to look at the window and my eyes narrowed. "I'm not a fucking stick." I was insulted by him, assuming I could fit just by my looks.

"No, but you haven't exactly eaten shit while here. So do you think you can fit? If you get out, then I can come around through the front and get you."

"I don't trust you! You'll lead your brother and Vernon to where I'm at." I stared at him wearily. 

"And I don't trust your kind. Your mate killed my wife." he grunted, and my eyes widened again.

"What?" I whispered in disbelief. If Katie was his wife, then why is he helping me?

"I'm a good man. Always have been. But Katie and her family have a hold on me that cannot be broken. The last time I tried to leave they went after Theo. They are the reason he's half blind."

"I'm sorry." I couldn't help but feel some type of guilt.

"Don't worry about it. Now up." he ordered. He helped me stand on the desk I was sitting on. I reached for the window and used what little strength I had to push the small window open. I inhaled the fresh air as it hit me, I even blinked a bit due to the sun that was going down in the distance. I didn't think it was this late, I thought it was still midmorning. How long were we here?

My face must've showed a bit of confusion shown, so Mitch spoke. "Angie has been lying to you about the times. She would go into your room often and lied saying it was evening when In reality it would be the next morning. Sometimes it would be a whole day before someone would bring you food, and you were so out of it that you just went along with it."

I was horrified. I thought I was going crazy with the hours upon hours I spent in the room with no light or food. Not that I would have eaten anything they gave me, but still. And let's not mention that song that has been on repeat since leaving said room. Even without it playing, I could still hear it as if I was still there. In the dark. "How long have I been here?" I was afraid to know.

"Eleven days!" I swallowed, hard. I thought it was longer. It sure felt like I was here for a few weeks not under two. I nodded and looked back out the window.

"Hurry up, I can stall as best I can. But that doesn't mean that Vernon is stupid. Hell eventually sees through my facade."

"What facade?" I asked him.

"Once you're out the window, run towards the woods. I need to make this believable." I was confused again. My eyes widened when I looked back at him to see him holding a knife, and right when I went to ask him what he was doing, he plunged it into his upper thigh. He groaned and went down to the floor. "Go Cassandra."

When someone began banging on the door, I jumped. "Fucking go!" he ordered. I nodded and placed both my hands on the sides of the window and began pulling myself up. As much as I hate to say it, but he was right. I was just small enough to fit through the window. I didn't think my wide hips would fit, but thankfully they did.

I had just gotten all the way through the window when the door burst open. "She went out the window." I heard someone yell, but I was already running, so I didn't make out who said it.

My body began protesting the sudden movement and my belly cramped, urging me to stop and take a breather. But I couldn't do that. I had to keep going. I wanted to believe Mitch and take him at his word, but I couldn't. Not after the torment he and his brother put me through.

I pushed my legs faster when gunshots began going off. I had just got to the heavily wooded area when a sharp pain entered my shoulder, but the adrenaline pumping in my veins kept me from stopping, and I continued to run as fast as my legs could take me.

I could hear the shouting of men and women behind me, but I dared not look back to see if they were following me. I was scared that I would find Theo or Vernon chasing after me if I did.

So, with that, I ran faster, despite the pain running through me like acid on my skin.

After what felt like hours, which in reality were only twenty minutes to half an hour at most, I came to a stop. I leaned limply against a large tree to catch my breath. But I knew I couldn't stay here long. I needed someplace to hide.

I wiped my brow and looked around, frantically looking for a place I could hide without being found easily.

I hissed when my shoulder brushed the rough bark on the tree. I whimpered and placed my hand over the wound. It was still bleeding and if I wasn't weak and lightheaded before, I sure as hell was now.

I slid down the tree and sat on the big roots and leaned heavily against the tree. I can take a small break here. Once I catch my breath and regain my composure, I will find someplace to hide more easily.

I closed my eyes as I put pressure on the bleeding wound. But that wouldn't help much, since I couldn't apply that same pressure to the wound on the back of my shoulder. I would bleed out before it stopped bleeding. I needed to find a way to stop the bleeding, I just don't know how.

Opening my eyes once more, I wished I hadn't sat down to take a break. My vision is blurry now. And with the blurry figure I saw coming towards me, I was filled with dread. Dread because I can't get up to run away and hide.

Hands grabbed me and shook me. "Hey, hey, wake up" a familiar voice urged. I shook my head sharply to try and clear the blur before me, but that seemed to make it worse and made everything spin.

"Oh no, don't you dare pass out on me!" He pleaded before everything around me went dark. Hearing his curse and shaking me was the last thing I remember before it took me under completely.

*****

A scream woke me up from the darkness that enveloped me. As I sat up I found I was being pushed back down. "Sorry. But lay back down." he hummed. "Actually I need to get to the other side too. Roll to your side."

"What?" I asked, realizing it was Mitch who was with me.

"The gunshot, I need to cauterize the bleeding. Roll to your side so I can…" he lifted a knife that looked like he had placed it under fire. Looking around more, I saw that we were in a cave of some sort, and he had a fire going. So perhaps that was true.

"Why are you helping me?" I asked, unsure of his motives. I didn't trust him, and who knows what he was doing while I was out?

"Do you want to bleed out before I get you back home?" He asked me with a raised eyebrow.

"I still don't trust you." I told him, but rolled to my side like he asked. I couldn't help but notice he had taken the shirt off me and put a tank top on me, along with a pair of shorts.

"I don't trust you either. But I won't allow you to die just so your mate can kill me when I'm trying to help." He sighed. "This will hurt a bit." He warned, I didn't get time to prepare myself for it when he pressed the blade to my skin.

The pain was so intense that I had to cover my mouth and close my eyes tightly to keep from screaming again. I wasn't sure how safe we were and didn't want to chance it.