Mine to Protect Chapter 148: ETHEREAL CHAT

*Hazel*

What should I do? Do I forgive him? We have lost many today, and we will have to be more united in the future if we want to maintain the peace and avoid something like this happening again. He came to help, and now he’s offering an olive branch, even if he still has an arrogant prick attitude, I guess I should give him the benefit of the doubt, and try to work things out with him, for the good of everyone.

So, I step closer, extending my hand in front of me, for him to shake. He smiles widely, takes a step closer, grabs my hand in his, and then unexpectedly pulls me towards him, I feel a needle pinch my lower belly, the pressure applied to the syringe, a moment of shock, of stillness, before my body starts burning from the inside, like I have been put on fire, but at the same time, I am completely frozen, I can’t move, not even to talk, and breathing is becoming difficult too, my throat is closing off.

Everything happens in a matter of seconds. Unable to do anything, I am thrown back towards a hard wall behind me, Derek; while falling, I see Jackson run towards his men, while Derek catches me before I reach the ground, eyes wide in surprise and horror, Cindy and Lukas are close too, trying to understand what is happening to me.

“Attack! Make them surrender, and if they don’t, kill them all!” I hear Jackson command loudly to his men.

He played us, he used the situation to get close to us, to get on our pack lands, and to attack us now that we are at our weakest.

I chose wrong, I gave him the opportunity, and now he’s going to kill us all, he wants to rule over all the packs. I am so sorry; I have made the wrong decision.

I can’t breathe, I cannot get enough air in my lungs, and they are burning painfully.

Now I am in Derek’s arms, he’s taking me inside, screaming for the pack doctor to hurry, to help. I see the desperation in his eyes, and I want to comfort him, but it’s taking my whole to stay awake, and not succumb to the burning pain and lack of oxygen.

Derek puts me on a sofa and kneels beside me, he takes my face firmly in his hands and places his lips on mine, but not to kiss me, to push air into my lungs, he’s trying to keep me breathing.

The doctor finally arrives, and he moves back, giving him space. The doctor placed an oxygen mask on my face, and although it works better, I preferred Derek’s lips and his warm closeness.

The doctor applies a series of devices on me, and then starts shouting, “Her vitals are crushing, her organs are shutting down. Bring me a crash cart and vials, now!”

Derek has his hands in his air, and looks devastated, I hate seeing him like this, and all because of my mistake. Why am I always so stupid? So reckless!

“Kitten, stay with me, please, don’t leave me,” Derek pleads through the link, and I want to reassure him that I am not going anywhere, but I don’t seem able to use the mind-link.

Damon appears near Derek, his eyes wide too, not understanding what is happening.

“What the fuck happened?”

“That son of a bitch of Jackson poisoned her. Derek shouts, his claws coming out and teeth elongating. Stay here with her, I need to kill him.”

Damon nods, but the doctor grabs Derek by his shoulder before he can leave.

“Alpha, you should stay here, in case Luna…” he trails off without saying the words, but we all know what he is hinting at, in case Luna dies.

This seems to cool Derek down, he becomes human again, his lips slightly parted, his eyes lucid with tears that are not daring to fall.

“You can’t let her die, you must save her, I order you to save her!” he shouts with his Alpha command, as if he could order death itself not to take me away.

Damon in the meantime storms out of the room, with the sole aim of killing Jackson, I am sure, I just hope he won’t be stupid enough to confront him alone.

Derek is again by my side, his fingers ghosting along my cheek, I wish I could feel the sweet tingles that usually accompany his touch, the touch of my mate, but I am so weak that I can’t sense anything. My vision is darkening too, and I know that soon, oblivion will take me into his cold grasp, and I don’t know if I will ever wake up from it again.

I don’t want to leave him, as much as he doesn’t want to let me go; and it is so unfair that now that we have finally defeated our enemy, that we could spend time together like a normal couple, without constantly been attacked, now that we could let our love flourish, create our own family, now we must part ways in the most cruel way.

Derek doesn’t deserve this nth heartbreak, he’s already lost so much, please Goddess, be kind to him, to us.

Also, am I not your blessed wolf? Shouldn’t I be entitled to some kind of favoritism? I have been working my ass off to keep those creeps at bay, to save the were-kind, and I don’t even get a small prize for it?

All I got in return is dead parents, mind-controlled friends, and hundreds of lives lost on my conscience. Shouldn’t I get at least a small amount of happiness in return?

Everything around me is dark and quiet now, this is it, the end I was dreading, the final goodbye I wasn’t prepared for, and I didn’t even manage to say a few last words to Derek, stupidly lost in my head, pondering on the unfairness of life.

Well, goodbye Derek, goodbye Damon, Lukas, Cindy, Amanda, Alice, Rose, Hugo, Ryder, Derrick, Dylan and everyone else I didn’t mention, even goodbye to that shameless exploiter of my ex-boss; damn I am pathetic, I can practically count the people I know on the fingers of my hands.

In the next life I don’t want to be a white wolf anymore, I want to have many friends, have fun, and don’t have to kill anyone, and possibly not see anyone killed.

Are you listening, Moon Goddess?

Silence. Dark.

Is death supposed to be this boring?

There’s only me. I am completely alone.

Maybe I am too boring, that’s the problem, other people can find comfort and fun in their own company. So probably it’s my fault if my life sucked so much, there must be something wrong with me, I am flawed.

I wanted to be brave, at least at my end, but now I just feel like I want to cry. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to be alone. I want Derek. I want to be by his side, until we are all old, wrinkled and grumpy. I bet Derek is going to be handsome even as a grandad.

It’s over, now that the waterworks have broken, I am never going to stop crying.

“Desire granted,” an ethereal voice resonates in my head.

Who’s that?

“Who do you think?”

My wolf?

“No. Try again.”

I am not really into playing games right now. If you haven’t noticed, I was busy crying in my misery.

“Yeah, I noticed, and you are an awfully loud weeper.”

Hey!

“Just stating the facts, honey. Anyway, as I said, I granted you your wish, you can go back and spend the rest of your life with your mate, until you are old and wrinkled.”

Really?

“Really.”

So, you are the Moon Goddess?

“I am.”

And, I can go back, just like that? No need to prove myself, or go on some impossible quest?

“No.”

This sounds like a trick to me.

“It is no trick, dear. In reality, I never intended on ending your life today, I just needed your mate to think you were dead, so he would unleash his full wrath on Alpha Jackson, and defeat him one and for all. Now that the job is done, I am giving you back to him. Plus, your mental bubbling already gave me a serious headache, I don’t know how you can stand to stay all day in your head, it’s just exhausting.”

I guess I am used to it, ah ah.

If what you say is true, send me back, please, I don’t want to let Derek suffer more.

“Bye, child, we’ll meet again.”

Goodbye.