Chapter 20
"Alpha!" Cobie screamed, his hands shaking the iron bars.
He has no idea how long he's been here, it has been dark and there were no window. His breath were coming out in laboured pants and he could hear his heartbeat loud in his ears. His skin was taut, the cold sipping through his open pours.
"PLEASE!" he screamed again. He couldn't hold himself up anymore and slid to the ground. He couldn't see it but he was skinny. He had dark heavy circles under his eyes, his skin was stretched tight against his wrist and ribs. The shirt he had on was torn in a lot of places and should be considered a rag. He had tons of injuries all over his body.
Those he could feel.
There were a couple of cuts on his forehead, cuts that were bleeding and stinging. Swallowing was hard, he had been screaming for hours and now, whenever he swallows it felt like something sharp was sliding down his throat. His eyelids felt heavy and he was finding it hard to keep his eyes open.
"Alpha please..." he whispered, his words coming out jagged and quiet.
Everywhere was silent, he couldn't even hear crickets. The floor was cold and uncomfortable and he needed to sleep but the fear wouldn't let him. It takes him a couple of seconds before he could hear it. The footsteps were quiet but they still echoed. This discovery makes Cobie confused. When had he been moved? He hasn't slept for days. The last place he had been smelt like nothing and was nothing short of a dungeon of sorts. No sound echoed there, so he had definitely been moved.
"Boy..."
Cobie looked up quickly at that. He tries to stand but didn't have enough strength to lift himself up. He couldn't speak, everything hurt. He goes on his knees and rubbed his hands together. He was begging.
"Begging is useless." The Alpha says and that's when the lights come on.
If Cobie could gasp, he would have. It looked like a clinic. The walls were white, there was a single bed at the centre of the room and he was not in a dungeon. He was locked up in a cage. Like he was some kind of a wild dog. He scrambles backwards into the cage but there was nowhere else to go. Yes, it was a tall cage but it was still small.
He shook with fear as the Alpha squats in front of the cage and tuts.
"Your eyes. I need your eyes." the Alpha says. "So you have two options. Be by my side or I'll gouge them out. I've given you a month to think this through, this s your last chance." The Alpha takes a deep breath and let it out. "Yes or no."
Cobie couldn't. Cobie wouldn't. This man in front of him had killed him! This man in front of him had caused the fire that killed him. Cobie knew he wasn't strong but the last thing he'd ever do was stand by an Alpha like this. So no. He couldn't speak but he could shake his head. The Alpha let out a loud growl, his eyes flashing red. Cobie's eyes must have changed colour because the Alpha stops.
"I AM A STRONG ALPHA, AN ABLE LEADER AND I HAVE WHAT HAS TO BE THE LARGEST PACK IN THE WORLD. I AM THE ONE SPOKEN OF IN THE PROPHECY!" the Alpha roars. "IF YOU DON'T GIVE ME WHAT I WANT, I WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET IT!"
In the blink of an eye, a couple of people walk into the room while someone pushed in a huge cart. None of them were wearing those white hospital coats and that just heightened Cobie's fear. These people weren't doctors. His vision was a bit blurry but he could see it. Their pointed ears, sharp filed teeth and wrinkled skin. They were Cast-Outs. In simpler words, they were rogue Goblins.
They grabbed Cobie and dragged him out of the cage. They ignored his weak attempts to free himself and settled him onto the bed. He was spread out like a starfish, his hands and legs were tied and ball was strapped onto his mouth.
"So, baby boy, we are going to pull out one of your eyes today then I'm going to leave you here for a week before I introduce you to my pack. You don't need both eyes to see. They won't care about what you look like either." The Alpha says. He moves closer to the bed and softly strokes Cobie's cheek as he continued to speak. "I want them to see you standing beside me as my groom, one of colour as the prophecy says! I want them to know I am their king! So since you don't want to do this the easy way, we're going to do it the hard way."
The Alpha stared at Cobie. "If I pull out an eye, the other would still be able to change colour. My pack just need to see that, after that you're of no use to me." He says. He looks at one of the Goblins and nods. "Pull it out cleanly, I want to keep it as a memoir."
Cobie tried to pull his hands free but they were tightly secure and so were his legs. The gag in his mouth was making things even more harder. He tried to twist and turn but his body screamed at him. He stops when a thought pops into his mind. Why was he fighting this? What does he have to live for? He has no one.
Tears slid down the side of his face as he stared at the ceiling. He should just let go and let them have their way with him. What was the use? There was no hope. He hadn't even noticed the Alpha had stepped out of the room. He didn't notice when one of the Goblins grabbed a long slim knife. However, when it was pressed against the side of his face, he does feel it. He tries to move and the Goblins hiss. He watched with freight as one of them grabbed a large hammer, it gave Cobie a wicked smile, all his pointy teeth on display before bringing down the hammer hard against his hand. Cobie arched off the bed as he screamed, the sound muffled by the gag, his tears pouring out more. He had been so distracted by that pain that he doesn't feel it when the knife was plunged into his left eye.
--
It's been a week since the nightmare began and Cobie couldn't sleep. He'd spend the time staring out the window in his room, his phone opened to the ebook reader installed on it. Each day he couldn't sleep, Erik would always come in to check up on him and he'd pretend he was too caught up in his latest book to sleep.
It's been a week and he knows Erik had stopped believing his lies three days in. It's ten in the morning, Cobie had sent an email to Toby telling him work would resume in a day and now all that was left was for him to tell Erik he was going back home. He felt physically and emotionally drained. All his memories were coming back to him in his sleep and that was the last thing he wanted. It had taken years to push past the barrier those memories had created in his mind, it had taken him years to get to the point he was at today. Healthy, strong and able to live life without feeling like he was littered with scars, scars that people could see despite all of them being healed. His skin was a smooth as silk, well, except his face. Sometimes zits would pop out overnight and they'd be on his face like they were having a planned party.
He walks around the house, said hi to the people he met. He had asked one of the kids where Erik was and he had just pointed towards the direction of the clinic. Cobie made his way there, his thoughts still ringing loud in his head.
"He's my son too, Randall!" Cobie hears Se Ju scream.
The urge to stay and press his ear against the door was strong. He knew the moment he entered the room, the discussion would be put on hold. He just really wanted to know what was going on between Randall and Se Ju. He doesn't stand outside for too long because he's a hundred percent sure they could feel his presence, heck, they could smell him too. So instead of standing outside like a creep, he knocks three times before pushing the door open.
They all turn to face him. He gives them a smile and a wave. "Hiyah."
"Precious, how are you?" Erik asks as he makes his way towards Cobie. There was a small but noticeable frown on his face.
"I'm really sorry for interrupting but I needed to see Erik." Cobie says. "And you too, Doctor."
"Is something wrong?" Erik asks and Cobie shakes his head.
"No. I just wanted to ask if it'd be okay if I move back to my place? I've been here for too long and I feel like I'm overstaying my welcome." Cobie says. He avoided eye contact with the three wolves in the room and instead stared at the walls as he spoke. Since when were walls so tall and sturdy?
"What do you mean move? Did someone say something to you? Tell me who it was and I'd rip whoever it is a new hide." Erik growls. Cobie rolls his eyes at the Alpha, he's tempted to say, down boy but he thinks it was just going to make him even more angrier. How does he tell Erik he wants to move home so he doesn't have to stay awake with him every night? How does he tell Erik about his nightmares when he knew nothing about Cobie's past or what he truly was? How does he tell Erik that he was constantly drawing him in? That everday felt like a gift whenever he was with him? That he finally understands what Baz from Rainbow Rowell's Carry On was feeling when he said, sharing a room with the person you want most is like sharing a room with an open fire. He's constantly drawing you n and you're constantly stepping too close.
The constant need to be within a close distance of Erik was ever growing, the need to just spill everything and tell Erik to please save him was growing greater with each day he doesn't sleep well. It was quite maddening. The last thing he wants is to hurt Erik in any way. So if distance was going to help save Erik and the Silver Moon pack then he's gonna have to work with that.
"Cobie?" Erik says, startling Cobie out of his thoughts. By the sound of his voice, this wasn't the first time they had tried to get his attention.
"I actually don't know if you leaving would be a great idea. The bond between you both have strengthened during your stay here and nothing in my research tells me what to do in this situation."
"Does this have something to do with you not being able to sleep?" Erik cuts in, he closes the distance between them and looks Cobie over. The vet wasn't injured, he would have been able to smell, he had felt it.
"I'm gonna go. I have to take care of a couple of things." Randall says, excusing himself from the room with Se Ju following behind. Cobie was slightly concerned about them and if it was any other situation he'd have followed them to make sure they don't get into a heated argument but for now, he had a scowling Alpha in front of him.
"I sleep."
"No you don't. Any time you do dose off though, you startle yourself awake and it gets my heart worked up. It felt like something was repeatedly stabbing it over and over again with a blunt knife." Erik said. "Please be honest with me so I can help."
Cobie took a step forward. He placed his hand on Erik's chest and felt every thump of his heart. He looks up at Erik and tried to find the right words to say.
"You want me to be honest?"
"Yes. I want the truth."
"I'm scared."
It comes out soft, it comes out quiet, it comes out raw. Cobie pulls his hand off Erik chest. He takes a couple of steps away from the Alpha and wraps his arms around himself.
"There are a lot of things you don't know and I don't know how to tell you or even where to start from." Cobie says. "I'm scared of a couple of things but what scares me the most is being a Luna. Gabriel called me that a week ago and it scared me so much."
"I won't know what to do or how to help until I know everything, Precious." Erik says, standing where he was. He was sacred that if he took as step forward Cobie might run. "You would make a good Luna. You were so brave during the fight that took place days ago. You stood your ground and ordered the guards around. You protected everyone who was that study with you, you calmed them down and told them not to worry. You don't have to decide anything now, all I know is, I want you by my side and I want to be by yours. I want to be the shoulder you lean on and a source of strength to you."
"Erik."
"Just give me something to work with here."
Cobie sighed and nods. "Someone's looking for me."
This grabs all of Erik's attention. "What do you mean?"
"Someone is looking for me. He's dangerous and he wants me." Cobie says. He feels like he should crumple to the ground and he would have if Erik hadn't gotten to him fast enough. He's taken to the nearest bed.
"Did something happen? Did you do something?"
Cobie shakes his head. "He wants me because of my eyes. He kept saying something about a prophecy. I am so so tired Erik, I can't sleep, the nightmares are there, the memories come alive in the night, they come alive in the dark and I am scared. I am so scared and at the same time I am tired of being scared." Cobie cries, he clung onto Erik, his breath coming out harshly. It felt like he couldn't breathe.
"Shh, calm down, Precious." Erik says softly, his hand rubbing Cobie's back. "I need you to inhale through your mouth and exhale out your nose. Can you do that for me? Just copy me." Erik says as he himself inhaled through his mouth and exhale out his nose. Cobie tries his best to do this. After his fourth try, it works. He feels himself calming down.
When he's calm, he realises he's lying on the bed with his head on Erik's lap, the Alpha stroking his hair softly. He doesn't say anything, he feels like he had said enough for the day.
"You okay, Cobie. You are safe here." Erik says as he strokes Cobie's hair. "You're not going anywhere, you're going to stay here with me, with the pack. We are your family, be it unofficially. If he wants you he's going to have to go through me and you know that won't be easy. It would be him against the entire Astir." Erik says, his eyes flashing red.
"I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me. Not again."
Erik was about to speak when he feels it. A sharp gnawing pain in his gum. He runs his tongue over it and tried not to wince otherwise Cobie would see it. It felt like something was trying to make it's way out of his gum. It stops as suddenly as it starts. If it had been any other time, he'd ponder over it but right now, his mate needed his full attention.
"Do you think you can take a nap right now? I'll be here with you."
Cobie shakes his head. "Not now, maybe later."
"I don't like seeing you this way."
"Then close your eyes, Scooby Doo."
"What have I said about the dog names?" Erik asks, still stroking Cobie's hair.
For the first time in what feels like days, Cobie laughs. It's a small choked sound but it still sounded like music to Erik's ears. "You told me to continue. I think the words you used were I love it!"
Erik shook his head and playfully glared at his mate. "I don't think so."
"But you call me Precious."
"It's a term of endearment."
"Fine! No more dog names but don't complain any time I call you peaches." Cobie pouts. Erik laughed, he was about to speak when he was interrupted by his phone vibrating in his pocket. He lifts his ass up a little and slid the phone out of his pocket. His brows push up when he sees who was calling.
"Who is it?" Cobie asks.
Erik mouths, a friend, before clicking on the green button. He put the phone on speaker as he spoke. "Aetos..."
"Erik." A deep voice says on the other end. "Something of yours washed up near my home."
Erik frowns at that. "What do you mean?"
"You'll see. I'll be there in an hour."
"See you soon then." Erik says and the line goes dead.
Cobie sits up. He watched Erik who was still staring at his phone. He wonders what had washed up on Aetos' shores. Erik pockets his phone and turns to Cobie.
"Aetos is Pytor's ... brother." Erik says. "The vampire you met a couple of days ago."
"You mean the rude one that called me a bag of blood? Yeah, I remember him." Cobie says. He folds his legs criss cross applesauce and sits. He needed a distraction and it had come to him in front of Aetos.
"So he's a vampire?"
"Yup. He's older than Pytor and is the leader of a small clan of vampires." Erik says, running a hand through his hair. "He's pretty powerful, very old and is on the Vamphir Council."
"How old is he?"
"Older than both our ages combined that's for sure."
Cobie rolled his eyes at the Alpha seated next to him. He gets up from the bed and turns to Erik. "Can we go on a walk? I need fresh air."
--
Aetos arrives in an hour. He's led to Erik's study where the Alpha and Cobie were talking about their opinion on Matched by Ally Condie. The vampire simply knocks and walked into the room before Erik could say come in.
Cobie wasn't sure what he was expecting. All he knows is he wasn't prepared for the man who walked through the door with a big cooler bag in his hand. The vampire had a black hoodie on, his hair was shaved low on one side and the rest was falling over to the side in a neat wave, a trimmed beard and coal black eyes. He didn't look like he was centuries old, instead, he looked like he had just popped out of a fashion magazine.
"Greetings." Aetos says with a smile.
"Woah." Cobie blurts out. Erik narrowed his eyes at his mate. The urge to get a paper bag and drape it over Aetos face was getting stronger by the second. Instead of being petty, he clears his throat and gets up from the couch.
Cobie watched as Erik and Aetos do a complicated handshake and smile at each other.
"Aetos, this is Cobie Deckard, my mate." Erik says with a proud smile.
"You've finally took a mate. I'm happy for you, man." Aetos cheers. He smiles at Cobie who couldn't help but smile back. He stands up from the couch and makes his way to Aetos, he holds his hand out or a shake and Aetos obliged.
"He's my actual mate, Aetos."
Aetos eyebrows go up. "Like actual actual?"
"Yup." Erik says without adding more and Cobie chuckles. His eyes go from blue to a bright pink when Erik pressed a kiss to his cheek. Aetos' look of shock wears of and he just stared at them with an unexplainable glint in his eyes, he doesn't talk for a few minutes. And when he finally does, he says.
"One of colour and one of shall." The vampire says.
"What?"
Aetos shook his head. "It just makes sense." He says. "I am very happy for you both. I better get an invite to your wedding."
"W-What?" Cobie sputters.
Aetos waves his hand. He walks to Erik's desk and drops the cooler bag on it. "Okay, I've been distracted long enough, we'll talk about weddings later. Let's get to the real reason I'm here." The Vampire says. He beckons them closer and finally unzips the bag.
"One of my changelings found it and brought it to me. I thought you might want it back."
A cloud of smoke pour out of the bag when Aetos lifts the lid. Cobie and Erik blink one, two, three times before they could see it.
Resting on a lot of ice was a head with its eyes carved out and its mouth open -like the person was beheaded mid-scream. It wasn't just any head though.
It was Alpha Kaye's head.