Chapter 16 Chapter 16
The owner of the hand pivoted me, covering my mouth again, making my screams almost silent.
"It's me." The deepness of her voice scared me even more. "Please don't shout." Kim removed the piece of cloth from my mouth, shoving it into the pocket of her black sweatpant. She still had her dark aura, dressed in a black sweater, black sweatpants, and black boots, but her bold eyeliner wasn't there, making her eyes shine and look less gothic.
"Why are you here? What do you want from me?" I panted to catch my breath, glancing at the door and calculating how long it'll take to run to the door.
"Please don't run." Like she could read my mind. " I'm deeply sorry for leaving you in the forest and running away. I was very scared. I promise you I'm not that bad as a person. I'd never leave someone that's not an enemy to be in danger." As much as I didn't want to trust her, the calmness and sincerity in her tone seemed genuine.
"Why did you run away? I was attacked by a rogue." I frowned, still trying to catch my breath.
"Yes, I know."
"You know?" My eyes widened. "Was it your plan?" I started moving backwards, attempting to run away again.
"Wait." She grasped my shoulder. "It wasn't my plan, I promise. I don't expect you to trust me; however, it's important you do. "I was running off in panic that something had happened to you till I jerked back to my senses. When I was going back for you, I was attacked. The attack made me figure out something, a very deep secret related to both of us and our packs."
"What do you mean?" I squinted my eyes in skepticism.
"It's a secret, and I want to tell only you. Lives might be in danger." Her chest was rising and falling at a pace a little faster than normal as she fidgeted with her fingers.
"If it has to do with people's lives, why can't you return to your pack to tell them? Why me? What does it have to do with me?" oanic settled in me again.
"I can't return to the pack. I've now been declared a member with traitor motives. If I r3turn, I might even be killed for being a criminal or having the probability to stab the pack in the back, according to the pack law."
"What sort of stupid law is that?"
"That's how it works in our pack. That's not important right now. What is important is what I need to tell you. Please come to the pack garden tonight at Eleven pm sharp. I'll tell you everything."
"Why not now?" I lifted a brow at her, stealthily taking a step back.
"No, it can't be now. This restaurant belongs to the pack. Information can be spread and there can even be cameras in here. I can't take such risks. I followed you all the way here till you're alone. I don't want anyone else to find out yet. I have a gut feeling that I can trust you and my wolf agrees to trust you. Please just come to the pack garden by Eleven. Don't tell anyone. It's information that can help us all."
"Why shouldn't I tell anyone?"
"No one should find out yet. Plus, they'll raise an alarm about my presence. Please," she joined her palms together, her forehead was creased with fear and worry ringing in her eyes, "just do as I've instructed. I promise you I have no bad intentions. I'm just scared for my life. Will you come?"
"I don't-"
"I promise with my whole life that I mean no harm and it'll help both of us out. I don't need anything from you. I just can't keep this to myself, and sorry to say, you're a weak person, you'll understand better.
"Go to the pack library, you'll find the map in one of the bookshelves; you'll find the normal route and the secret passageway to the garden, Mike Stone Garden. I'll see you at Eleven. Please don't disappoint me. You can come with a knife or anything to protect yourself, I don't mind. Just don't let anyone know. Bye, I'm spending too much time here already." She wore sunglasses, covered her head with a black hat, and left the bathroom.
At this point, I was puzzled. What was I supposed to do now? Could I actually trust her? Who could I tell?
I hurried with cleaning the stain off my dress and returned to the restaurant whilst fiddling with the side of my dress. I felt like everyone was staring at me, so I kept my gaze to my feet till I sat down.
"Why did you take forever?" Alpha Keegan asked, furrowing his forehead.
"Nothing!" I quickly added, tittering.
"What's wrong with you?" He lifted an eyebrow at me.
"Nothing." I shook my head, staring around till I grabbed my fork and resumed eating. I tried to avoid his gaze but he didn't take his eyes off me. I was forced to look at him. "Why aren't you eating, Alpha?" I wondered.
"That has nothing to do with you." He placed his hand on the table to grab his fork. A gasp left my lips when I noticed the blood on his knuckles and fingers as well as tiny cuts. "Oh my gosh, Alpha, what happened?" I dropped my fork and grabbed his hand.
"Don't touch me." He pulled his hand from my grip.
"I'll help you treat it. I know a natural remedy." I rose to my feet and stood beside him, grabbing his hand without permission, both out of concern and Chloe's advice to touch him.
"What are you doing?" He frowned harder at my touch.
"Please come." I gently tugged his hand till he rose up. I was surprised as he followed me out of the restaurant. "What are you up to?"
"I take care of my injuries on my own. Please sit." I made him sit on the bench by the roadside, glad he didn't argue. "I'll be back." I quickly scurried out of sight and searched around till I spotted the leaves, cut them, and ran back to Alpha Keegan, glad he was still seated on the bench. I sat beside him and placed the leaf on his knuckles.
"Ew. What the heck is this?" he scrunched his face up.
"It's natural. I don't have access to a first aid box or free treatment in my pack. Since I never have money, I've sought to take care of myself by natural means. I've personally learnt a lot about herbs and leaves and their functions."
"How can I be certain these are the right leaves?"
"I'm experienced. I spotted them while we were coming in. It works really fast and well." "They make me feel stupid." He admitted and I burst into laughter.
"I'm sorry." I quickly added when he glared at me. We remained in silence while I counted the minutes passing in my head, ignoring the fact that he didn't stop staring at me with a blank expression.
I was constantly watching at the clock. Every passing minute took forever till it got to the next. It was almost 11pm. I had snuck into the pack library earlier today to grab the map. The Mike Stone garden was a long walk away from here through the normal route, but a shorter route through the secret passageway.
I tied my wavy ash hair into a ponytail and tucked the map into the band that secured my ponytail. By 10:45pm, I left for the kitchen and was grateful for finding a pocket knife. I kept wandering around the kitchen, having a mental debate with myself on whether I could trust Kim enough to go. I was curious to know what she had to say, but what if I was being stupid and drawing myself into unnecessary danger?
On the bright side, I had nothing to lose, right? The worst thing that could happen to me was death. If I died, no one would care. If I was abducted and my pack was asked to pay ransom for my freedom, no one would care either. I headed to the living room, clutching the knife in my hand really tight. It was 10:50pm already. Was I supposed to leave now?
I wanted to exit through the normal route rather than the passageway, so I waited for a while before I started walking towards the door.
"Oh no, what am I doing?" I murmured to myself, suddenly bumping into a hard figure and hit my head. "ouch." I groaned, rubbing my hand on forehead.
"What are you doing here?" Mason's gruff voice made panic fill my gut.
I hid the knife behind me and forced a smile at him. " Hey, Gamma."
For some reason, he was staring above my head. I prayed he didn't notice the map. How could I have been so stupid to place it there? "Why are you not in bed?"
"Oh nothing, I just... I just... uh... I was thirsty."
"And why are you heading in the direction of the door?"
"I wanted to receive the beautiful feeling of the night breeze." I tried not to stutter.
"Do you realize what time it is? You're not permitted to leave without the Alpha's permission. How am I supposed to trust that you don't want to run away?"
He folded his arms across his chest, staring down at me with a stern face.
"Run away? No way! I belong to Dark Stone pack and I always will." I wanted to brighten the mood with a smile, but this devil-looking Gamma didn't care a bit to relax his face muscles. "Go to bed. Now."
"Fine." I sighed and turned around while still hiding the knife from his view.
Now I had no other option than to take the secret passageway. It was already 10:57pm. Could I possibly make it to the garden by 11pm?
I still contemplated on whether or not I should go or just go to bed. When it was exactly 10:59pm, I succumbed to my growing curiosity. If I didn't go now, I was never going to find out whether or not it was the right decision to go. After grabbing a torch, I stealthily headed to the painting that led to the door of the secret passageway and covered it.
With the torch turned on, I took to my heels and slid the map out for direction.
It took about 10 minutes before I finally came out of the passageway, panting as my nostrils drew in fresh air again from the garden. "I'm here." I whispered, scanning around. This garden looked exactly like what was on the map. I took a few steps forward, scanning around for Kim. " Hello?" I called. "Kim?"
I squeaked when I felt someone jump behind me, my squeal was suppressed by a hand that covered my mouth.
"It's me." Kim whispered in my ear.
I turned to face her, my chest rising and falling really fast once again. She was wearing a hoodie and black pants, she had a bag with its straps crossed over her chest and shoulder.
"Stop sneaking up on me." I snarled. "I said Eleven pm. I just hope it isn't too late now."
That worry and fear were still present in her dark eyes.
"What do you have to say? I didn't come here for nothing."
"Yes, yes." She raked her hand in her bag and slipped out a piece of paper with a dark heart symbol behind it. Her hands were quivering, causing the paper to fall to the ground.
"Be calm and speak."
"I can't be calm. I have to show you this. Everyone is in danger, every single one, regardless of their status.
I was kidnapped..." she dug her hand into her bag again, rummaging in it like she was searching for something. "Shit! Where is it?' "Where is what?"
"Please be patient." She glanced at me, panting. "I kept it in here."
"JUST SPEAK!" I was getting impatient and pissed off.
"Please be patient. I need to show it to you. I even have the recording. I was kidnapped and I overheard their conversation."
"Whose conversation?"
"I have no idea who they are. I had the recording here and the papers I stole from them. Oh no, oh no. Where are they?" she look breathless and quivered so much, like she was being electrocuted.
"Kim?!" I growled. "I didn't come here for this. Just tell me."
"Great! Here it is." As she was taking out whatever it is she wanted to take out of her bag, the sound of a gunshot made Kim's eyes widen as she dropped to the floor and her eyes closed with blood flowing from her body.