Chapter Twenty — Three
Michael POV
I woke up with a pillow thrown at my face. I jerked awake and blinked open my eyes. Right before, I was struck with another pillow. It fell on my lap. A low growl escaped from my throat.
“Who dared to...”
“What did you do to me?” I heard a sweet and familiar voice scream at me. My eyes found the source of the attack and the loud voice.
Linda stood at the edge of the corner of the bed while panting and seething with rage. Her hair was frizzy and wild. Her hands were clenched on her sides in fists as she threw daggers at me with her eyes. But what surprised me the most was what she was wearing. It was my t — shirt.
I did not want to, but a smirk creeped up on my face at the sight of her in my clothes.
Which was a wrong thing to do because it triggered Linda even more. She threw another pillow at my face. I groaned.
From the side of the bed, someone stirred beside me. James sat up with a rusty groan. His hairs were messy, and he looked like he had been hit by a train. He and I were both wearing robes that we had put on last night. He rubbed his neck.
“What is going on?” He asked with his eyes still closed. As he said that a pillow landed on his face. And then on mine.
“What happened last night?” Linda asked us, shouting. She looked wild with anger. Her fists were clenched on her sides. But for some reason, she looked even more alive and brighter with her anger.
Maybe it was because we had mated and the mate bond had changed.
Even though James saw how angry Linda was, he let out a chuckle.
Again, wrong move.
I had expected Linda to throw more pillows at us but this time the result was bad. I saw her eyes filled with tears.
Honestly, I would have joined James' little teasing but when I saw that she was crying it made me realize how severe the situation was. Especially for Linda.
I slid off the bed and moved towards her to comfort her, but her words had me stopping me in my tracks.
“Did you both rape me?” She asked. Her voice trembled, but her words were firm.
“Linda, we...” James started but was cut off. Linda gathered all of her hairs and pushed them behind her shoulders.
Exposing her necks to us.
Which was marked with teeth. On both sides of her neck. Our bites had left a very bright red and purplish marks on her neck.
I winced at the sight of the bruise, even though I knew that it was not on my neck. It looked bad. I did not realize that we were so harsh on her last night.
James and I looked at each other and then back to her. I swallowed hard. Now that I was seeing how bad it was for Linda, all humor left my mind.
Linda was still glaring at us hard, which I deserved, but what made it worse was the tears that escaped her eyes.
“I am asking again. One last time. Did you both raped me last night?” She asked in a hard voice.
Hearing her say that I felt all of my doubts and fears came true. This was the situation that I was dreading to face. Not only did she think that we raped her but also that we marked her without her consent. In which, the latter one was true.
“No. We did not rape you. You initiated it yourself last night.” I said. Her eyes turned feral and she shook with rage.
“You bloody...” She started speaking, but I held my hands up in surrender and stopped her before speaking.
“Hear us out first. About what happened last night. Then make your decision. But please. First… just hear us out.” I said. When Linda did not say anything else, I took that as a permission for us to explain everything to her.
We told her everything.
We told her, how, last night, she was drugged by a random person who used that drug to most probably, rape or assault her. How Mr. Moore told us about her situation and also the solution he gave us to deal with the problem. About the doubts we had about the suggested solution. How we searched for alternatives and when we could not find one, we decided to take up on Dr. Moore's suggestions. And how, before we even started anything, SHE initiated it first by kissing James. And how we took care of it after that.
Throughout our explanation, Linda did not say anything. She did not even move a little. She just stood there, frozen on spot while she absorbed the given details.
After we explained everything to her, a heavy silence descended over us. James and I waited for Linda to react. To give us some sort of expressions, so that we could figure out what she was feeling.
Finally, she moved. She raised her head and looked at us dead in the eyes before speaking.
“So this is my fault, huh?” She asked in a deep, heavy voice which was filled with emotions.
“It is my fault that I was drugged by a psycho stranger who might have wanted to rape me? And it is my fault that my so-called savior, who wanted to save me from getting raped, ended up attempting the same crime with my body? It is my fault that instead of doing the right thing and taking me to the hospital, my damn savior thought that it must be the great time to claim me as your mate while I was under the influence of a drug, that was MADE to increase my sexual drive. It is my fault, that being under the influence of a drug that heightened my sexual desire, I made a MOVE on YOU?” She asked. With every question her voice increased.
“It is my damn fault that I am standing in the situation because, basically, I invited you to rape me?” She yelled.
My wolf roared at being yelled at, even from my own mate but my concise told me that I deserved it.
“Linda, we only meant to help you...” I said but again was cut off by Linda.
“Help me? Really Michael, help me?” She asked me. Her question shut me up. She shook her head.
“No. You were not helping me, Michael. None of you were helping me. You were only helping yourself. By convincing yourself that it was okay to MATE with me and also to MARK me as yours when I was not in my right mind, because you knew that I might never agree to do this with any of you when I am in my right mind.” Linda shouted.
Now, she went too far. I could not bear to take on the blame I did not deserve.
“Really Linda? Because, last night it definitely did not feel like that. You took on a very active part in our little mating.” I said.
“You know, when we were inside you, you were asking us for more? You were telling me how good it felt? You know that? It did not feel like you were under the influence of some sort of drug. I think you wanted it.” I mocked her.
“Michael, enough!” James snapped at me. By this time my anger had started to churn up inside me.
“That's it. I want to go home.” Linda announced. Like hell, she would.
“Linda, you are not going anywhere.” James said. Shooting us a fierce glare, she turned around on her heels and walked out of the room. Slamming the door behind her. I wanted to follow after her, but James stopped me. He stared right at one spot without blinking then he turned to me.
“She is not going anywhere. I had, mind — linked Logan to keep an eye on her and to make sure she doesn't disappear.” He said.
“Leave her alone. She needs time to adjust. Let her come back on it on her own terms.” James told me.
I scowled at him. Not because I wanted to punch him but because he was behaving like me right now. Like a mature and calm person, who thinks before acting. It was like he had taken up my role.
“Why did you ask Cary to look after her and not Adan?” I asked him. He shrugged.
“In the last few incidents, Adan had not been proved sufficiently trustworthy. Plus, Adan is with Dad right now.” He told me. I doubted that Cary was the right person to give this sort of job, but whatever.
The door of the room banged open and Logan entered. He eyed James before speaking.
“We found the guy who drugged your mate. But he is not the real culprit.”