Chapter Fifty - One
Michael
Life has shown me the worst in the past few days. I had lost my father, lost half of my pack, almost lost my brother and had gone through a roller coaster of emotions.
I had almost stopped trusting the grace of the Moon Goddess. I had thought that whether she was angry with us and left us all alone to deal with this mess ourselves or she was too busy helping others that she could not even pay attention to us.
I had given up any hope of her helping us or showing us any mercy but then a miracle happened.
"Adan is here with the rest of the people." The bodyguard announced, making all of us freeze in shock. It was hard to believe. After all, we did not hear about him or even get a hint of his location for a long time. Leaving us wondering where he was. And now he was here with the rest of the people.
Just like that?
Not a word was spoken again as we rushed to where the guard was leading us. We half walked and half ran, following after the guard. I was pretty sure that everyone's heart was pounding just like mine.
We walked until we reached the hallway. The door was thrown open and I saw them. All of them. There were all the elders, women and children, that I thought were murdered, standing very much alive and living.
All of them reacted at once, recognizing our presence. Some of them started to cheer at the sight of us, some started crying, while some did nothing. They were frozen, like time had stopped for them. Maybe because they were numb from the pain of losing half of their clan which included their relatives, friends and family.
James, Elijah and I, all reacted in the same way. We all greeted them. Consoling them and muttering the words of comfort. I didn't even give attention when Janet left our side to meet her family. The reunion with our family pack was very emotional. They praised us for fighting and winning against the enemy. Which only made me die in shame inside. We did nothing.
I did nothing.
If Elijah or other Alphas had not come for our help then we would have been dead and certainly would not be standing here. It felt as if I did not deserve the title of Alpha.
However, I could also feel the negative energy from some of our people. They thought that we were the reason why we lost so many men from our clan. Perhaps, they thought that we might still have the rest of our people if our dad was still in our power. They all loved him but I couldn't say the same about us. They blamed us especially because our MATE had betrayed us. One that we put first. Our mate caused the ultimate betrayal of all time.
This whole damn fight was our fault because she was OUR mate. That single thing made it. That was the only reason we were hated. Or more, who knew?
Along with Adan, I had sent five more guards. All of them were standing apart from the crowd.
And there was Adan.
I looked at him and he saw us too. He walked over to us, his head hung a little.
"Alpha Elijah. Alpha Michael. Alpha James. I could not complete my duties. I brought shame to our clan. I apologise for that." He confessed before bowing his head and showing his way of respect that he once showed to our father.
He was standing there apologising for something that he did not even do. His duties were to protect the rest of the people from packs who were vulnerable from any sort of attack and who were unable to defend themselves, and he had performed that duty really well. He had saved them, protecting them like he was supposed to.
For the very first time in my life, I pulled him in a brotherly hug. I was proud of him. Especially as a man of our pack. James pulled him in a hug too.
"Anyone missing or dead?" Elijah asked with his hands in his pockets. His voice held a hint of superiority that was meant to emphasise that he was The Alpha and he should pay him more respect then he already had.
Adan oblige his unspoken demand and bow down his head. He straightened and shook his head and looked at us. For a few seconds, his eyes roamed over us and then he spoke.
"Linda saved us." He told us.
"She saved us from getting massacred from her own group." He swallowed subtly and told us in a mortified voice.
James, Elijah and I looked at him like he had lost his fucking brain.
"What?" I asked him.
"Not here." Elijah warned us through a mind link.
Elijah cleared his throat and led us to his office, where Adan told us everything.
He told us that he had gotten our message to take all the people that were not supposed to fight, in a hideout. He and other guards collected everyone and went straight into the hideout. During the time, when they were guarding the gates, they were attacked. Around twenty people from hunters had found their hideout place.
Then there was a fight. Without thinking, all the guards dived right in. However, they were outnumbered.
Adan told us that even after trying their best, they were losing the battle. One of the hunters managed to get into the opening of their hideout and pulled out a kid when Linda jumped in. She grabbed the hunter off the kid and tore him apart. It shocked them and everyone around them and gave them time to attack. In mere seconds, they with the help of Linda killed their attackers.
"She killed people from her own clan!" Adan emphasised.
Linda helped them to hide in a different place, gave directions on how to get into another safe place and sent on our way, instructing them to do as he said. But not before she told us to wait as long as we felt the danger was still there.
"I could not even say thank you." Adan told us.
His story sent a shiver down my spine. If he was right, that meant Linda went against her master and helped our pack. Which was entirely contradicting the fact that she tried to kill the owner of the pack.
Us. James and I.
What was she doing?
So many questions swirled around in my head. It was not something that I was expecting from her. Looking at her, I could not understand why she did what she did. At one point, she was trying to kill everyone in our pack while on the other hand, she fought her own clan to save people from our pack? Whose side was she on? Not ours, that was certain but then she did not even behave like she was on their side. Her actions spoke otherwise.
When Elijah told us that he was going to talk to Linda, I tensed. I did not want him to return to her and force her to answer. I saw the result when he tried it for the first time. She freaking lost a finger. So, I suggested he let us do the talking while he should go and inform the Alpha Council that everyone missing from our pack had returned and to stop the search group that they had sent.
At first, Elijah was reluctant but then he complied with a smirk on his face. I understood the reason behind his ugly smirk. Before we had to keep Linda alive because she held the information about the rest of the pack, which we needed. However, now there was no reason for him to stop himself.
His reaction only irked me to get answers myself from Linda. As soon as possible. If she had any chance of surviving then she needed to answer our questions. She needs to spit everything out and let us help her.
Discussion with Linda did not go the way I hoped it would. By the looks of her at that moment, I had thought that she might be truthful for once and would actually answer. And she did open a little when she told us that she was not trying to save them but she was trying to save herself. However, things took a drastic turn and everyone went downhill when she fainted. All the while she laid on the hospital bed, I begged the moon goddess. I begged her to wake up but she did not.
I didn't even realise when I fell asleep, until I was woken up by her.
When I looked at her, I realised that she was not only beautiful and graceful but she carried the charisma of the moon goddess herself. Even bruised and beaten, she was strong. She gave out the vibes of a Queen. I could not resist touching her, so I did. I graced my knuckles on her cheek softly and looked at her gently. She was looking at me like I was someone different. Someone nicer. And it felt good.
"It's decided." Elijah's voice boomed around the room and our moment broke.
James and I both knew what he was talking about. One look at our face and even Linda knew. Everybody knew what was going to happen.
The door was thrown open and in walked Elijah. He gave Linda a once over. Linda's expressions turned blank as she guarded them. Elijah smirked at her.
"You are alive. Humm. But not for long." He taunted her. I stood up and so did James.
"Alpha Elijah. Not here. Outside." I told him through a mind - link.
"Yeah. He is right. We should not disclose anything in front of her." James suggested.
"It does not matter. She is going to hear it soon. Our decision won't change, but you are right. Let's go outside." He told us and disconnected the link. He gave Linda a hard look before he turned in his heels and walked out. We followed him to his room but not before instructing the guards to keep an eye on her.
Closing the door, we faced Elijah. He crossed his arms around his chest and told us the decision that I was dreading to hear.
"She will be given the death sentence."