CHAPTER 21. Wounded
**— VITA.**
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A face I haven’t seen in years is in front of me now, and I blink a few times in confusion, sure that I’m hallucinating because there’s no way he’s barging into this room with large steps, advancing on Mr. Raven, who lets go of me in surprise.
“Who are you-” Mr. Raven can’t finish his question because a big and strong fist strikes his chin, causing him to bite his tongue and let out a painful grunt.
The heavy punch makes the man stagger backward, putting his hand to his face in surprise... There’s shock and confusion all over his face, but yet Mr. Raven manages to say, “What are you doing? Who do you think you are to barge in here so suddenly? Do you imagine who you are messing with?”
I finally take a breath, filling my lungs to the max when I realize I’m not dreaming or anything — that familiar blond hair and brown eyes are still exactly the same… which is funny, considering it’s been five years since I’ve seen him...
“Frank?” The name escapes my lips with an incredulous sigh, and that attracts his attention.
A discreet smile lifts to his beautiful smile, which is also the same, even if there’s a very discreet beard now that’s a little darker than his straight hair.
“Oh, so you two know each other? Must be another one of the men you’ve seduced-”
Frank lunges at Mr. Raven again, his heavy fist striking hard once more, this time hitting his jaw hard enough to rattle Mr. Raven’s brain.
The man’s legs wobble, and he falls unconscious for a moment, his head hitting the ground. I give a strangled shout, covering my mouth and taking a step back, surprised by the sound of the skull hitting the wooden floor. It makes me sick, and my own wound hurts.
My reaction seems to cause some glimmer of awareness in Mr. Raven, who groans and tries to get up, confused and with no strength left in his body. He’s so affected by the impact that there’s saliva running down his open mouth, and his eyes are unfocused, almost rolling up. His muscles are also rigid as he contorts on the floor, making his fingers twist in odd ways.
Oh, my Goddess! He seems to be injured... what should I do?… Should I call someone to help him?…
“Vita!” Frank’s voice makes me gasp, and my desperate eyes search for his friendly face. He approaches quickly, removing his heavy brown coat to put it over my shoulders, and only then do I notice that there are hardly any clothes left... Mr. Raven probably undressed me while I was unconscious.
Once again, I try to remember what happened before I woke up here, forcing the memories to fit together until finally, something starts to become clear in this foggy mind of mine — the fact that I was actually finishing picking up my remaining things from WoodBar, and suddenly a very strong pain seized my senses. A blow to the head from behind knocked me out without any chance of resistance.
“Vita, are you all right?” Frank smooths his jacket over my small body, and his eyes widen as they inspect my marked ribs, the bones that protrude from my smooth skin that the underwear can’t cover. There is a discreet scar on the right side of my belly, a small gift I received in my first week as a convict in Wolf Jail. “What the hell have they done to you?”
I can feel the emotions in his watery eyes, the bitterness of his frowning lips that mutter something that, honestly, I can’t understand. The truth is, there are so many conflicting feelings also overflowing in me that I’m shaking like it’s freezing outside. But really, I can’t believe my eyes nor my trembling fingers that are reaching for him… Why is Frank here?
The last time I saw him, he was watching me say to the world that Derek and I were engaged. I was smiling so much, and I saw him there, also smiling, waving at me…
I grab his black shirt as if it were my lifeline... “Frank, is that you?” That’s all I manage to say, my eyelashes already wet with tears.
“Of course, it’s me.” He says with a soft voice and eyes that slowly soften. His sweet hand reaches for my face, and I find myself snuggling into his touch, searching for warmth. “I’m so sorry for leaving your side, Vita… If I’d know…”
“Frank, you...” I say with obvious emotion in my voice, my throat tightening and almost stopping the words from escaping. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, I overheard some women talking on my path. One cunning fox was proudly saying how persistence is the key to victory. She said something about how Mr. Raven had dragged an unconscious girl into the cursed room and that this had always been his goal: to have sex with a noblewoman, even though she had impure blood. She even said that it was well-deserved — that thanks to that murderess, they’d lost their biggest client, and their pockets were empty, but that tonight might pay off a bit.”
The brief explanation stuns me even more. Does this mean that Foxy knew what this man was up to? And worse… was she planning to turn a blind eye to another tragedy in this room?
“Someone paid for this, Vita; we should get out of here.”
I nod, but my mind is still confused, and my fingers loosen from Frank’s shirt as intrusive thoughts take over my mind and bring up horrible things I wouldn’t want to think about... He’s not supposed to be here.
What is he doing here?
*Why* is he here?
Frank appeared suddenly, just now... why now? Is he extending his hand to me?
Why was he here? Frank, you...
“What are you doing here?” I ask in a shaky voice, unable to look at his expression.
“I told you, those women-”
“No, that’s not it!” I raise my shrill voice a little and am surprised by such a disproportionate reaction. I finally raise my eyes to meet his and find nothing but sadness and pity. “What are you doing in Loyalland?”
Frank left these lands five years ago, right after my engagement party.
He left me without looking back.
Not a goodbye, not an explanation — he just looked me in the eye, wished me all the happiness in the world and said he was proud of me. But the next day, he boarded a flight to another country, among humans like him.
“What are you doing here?” I ask with a little more urgency, afraid to surrender my trust, afraid to let down my defenses and get stabbed in the back again.
In this world, everyone I knew has turned against me. Everyone abandoned me and put me through so much suffering that I broke into a million pieces and lost half of them.
I’m broken, hurt, and confused.
A real wounded animal.
But the way Frank looks at me, with such empathy and affection, makes me hold my breath.
Suddenly, he moves closer again, decreasing the distance between our bodies, and puts his hand on the top of my head, messing up my hair like he used to when we were kids... like an older brother.
“Vita, I-” Frank begins, his voice as soft as his eyes...
But a harsh, high, and slightly alcohol-soaked voice cuts through his words, tearing the peace that had taken hold of me, “What have we here, huh?”
I wince, gripping the edges of Frank’s coat, taking a few steps back, trying to get as far as possible from the door where Derek is standing, holding a half-empty bottle of whisky. His messy hair, dark as night, reminds me of his imposing fur, even if his cold eyes don’t glow an intense yellow this time.
Derek looks a mess, with deep dark circles under his puffy, tired eyes. He also has low, rigid eyebrows and an unshaven beard. His white shirt with a few buttons allows me to see his muscular neck with veins loping out and a bit of his chest and tanned skin.
And even though his posture remains serious, worthy of an alpha... He looks seriously drunk.
Seeing him here is like being punched in the stomach... Did Derek really order that man to attack me? Would he really allow something so cruel to happen to me?
“Frank Ryan.” He unrolls the name like it were bitter, then gives a sarcastic smile that lacks a single trace of amusement. “I could say that this is a good surprise, but I’m not one to lie... But I need to say, it’s really curious to meet you after so long.”
“Derek,” Frank says slowly, with the name sounding strange in his voice... It sends me chills because I can smell the Alpha’s pheromones getting more intense. “Don’t worry, I’m not here to please you, anyway.”
“Oh, no? So tell me... What the hell are you doing here in my lands, human?”