82.

-HER-

A wave of terror washes over me as soon as my mind starts to replay all the veil things that had happened. I couldn’t believe that I was so close to dying. It was truly a nightmare which I had happened to survived.

“I am so sorry, Cybele,” Jake’s voice is laced with guilt and remorse as he adds, “I couldn’t keep you safe in my own pack,” Self-loathing is evident in his eyes and I feel the same on his part through the bond. It makes me feel worse.

I take a moment to collect my thoughts before I tell him, “It’s my fault,” His eyes widen at my words but before he could say anything else, I add, “I shouldn’t have believed the wolf and must have known better,”

My words throw him in bewilderment but I tell him all the things that I happen to remember before losing consciousness due to the blows to my head. He looks raged and it only makes me wonder how would he react once he gets to know that Tiffany was behind all of this.

I don’t think he would let her get away with it.

“What happened after that, Cybele?” He asks gently but still, there’s this edge to his voice that is unmistakable. I know that he and his wolf are on the edge. I can feel their ire through the bond and it’s starting to scare me slowly.

I gulp before I tell him, “I remember waking up around this weird place and those wolves were there,” I take a pause before adding, “They were talking about it being my last time,” His hold instantly tighten at my words as a wave of rage washes over me through the bond.

“Did you hear them say each other’s name?” Jake asks very calmly. It’s almost scaring. I look at him anxiously before I shake my head at him lightly. His body instantly grows tense and this makes me ever scared because I know that he’ll definitely not like what I am going to tell him next.

“I suppose the bodies we found near you belong to the wolves you’re talking about,” He speaks stiffly and I nod before he asks, “Who did that to them?”

His question leaves me in a dilemma. Should I tell him about Arles? Would he believe me?

Sensing my hesitancy through the bond, he tells me, “Cybele, please tell me everything. You know how I feel about this right now. The only thing keeping me from setting this place on fire is you,” The guttural look on his face is the one I have never seen before. It scares me more because I still have a lot to tell him and I don’t know how exactly he’s going to react to it.

“This is the hardest part,” I mumble as I drop my gaze. The intensity of his gaze is too much for me to handle right now. There’s a lump building in my throat and it’s threatening to strangle my words.

“Cybele, please…” He pleads again but with more urgency. I close my eyes and rest my head against his chest while I ponder over the whole incident. I don’t know how to tell him and where to start.

Silence drenches the room while I sink deeper and deeper into my thoughts. Soon, I realize how tired I am. I want to go to sleep with him spooning me but before that, I must have this conversation with him.

“They were about to throw me in the water when someone interfered them. It was a tall hooded figure and it was scary. It turned into this huge wolf and charged towards them. I listened to it tearing them apart,” I mumbled, holding the sob that threatened to escape my lips.

“When the tearing and growling stopped, I thought it would come for me but it didn’t,” Silence follows my words as he takes his time to absorb my words.

“What happened next, Cybele?” He asks. I lift my head to look at him. His fervent eyes are trained on me possessively. He’s my mate. I know he’ll believe my words. With a deep breath, I tell him about my encounter with Arles.

He listens to me with wide eyes all the while. He seems to be in shock after I am done telling him. I wait for him to ask me if what I saw was real or if it was a dream but he never did. Instead, he nods at me pensively.

“Do you believe me?” I ask him after a long pause of silence.

“Yes, I believe you, Cybele,” He tells me truthfully. I couldn’t hold my tears back at this and throw my arms around his neck. He holds me and pats my back lightly as I cry silently.

“I am sorry for not being able to keep you safe, Cybele,” I hear him speak while I cry. I have to stop at this time and tell him that it had nothing to do with him but he doesn’t really seem to be changing his mind soon. This makes me aware that I am still keeping a piece of very important information from him and I must tell it to him soon.

“Jake,” I breathe after he seems to be hellbent on deeming himself responsible for this, “I have something else to tell you,”

Hearing the grimness in my voice, he asks urgently, “What is it, Cybele?”

Even though he seems to be calm and in control at this moment, it’s still hard for me to predict how he’d react to the news that I am going to give him. So, I take his face in my hands and ask him instead, “First, promise me that you wouldn’t react irrationally to this,”

“What is it about, Cybele?” He asks instead. Now, his urgency is accompanied by anger as well. I have to fight hard not to pace palm, “Jake, promise to me you wouldn’t rea-“

“Stop it, Cybele and tell me what is it already,” He interrupts me with a growl. The intensity of rage in him that I feel through the bond is capable of causing destruction if he converts it into anything physical. His eyes have already turned dark with rage.

“Jake, please,” I whine in annoyance. He presses his lips in a thin line and gazes at me with annoyance before promising that he wouldn’t react very badly. After making sure that he is in control, I finally break it to him.

“I heard those wolves talking about her while they tied me,”

“Who?” His eyebrows come together as he asks. I look at him longer than necessary, finding it hard to believe that he could be so clueless.

“Tiffany,” I breathe. His growl follows but before he could leap out of bed and rush out of the room to look for the she-wolf I just named, I remind him, “Jake you promised,”

His body is tensed as he glares at me. I could feel the immense anger on his part through the bond. Without thinking much, I find myself pressing my lips against his. He remains unresponsive while I move my lips against him.

Although he is soon taking over me by flipping me under him and deepening the kiss. I moan in his mouth at the intensity of his kiss but he swallows it before shoving his tongue into my mouth and tasting me hungrily. His fingers are digging into the mattress while his body hovers over me. Though we are soon being interrupted when Agatha walks into the room again.

“I SAID SHE NEEDED REST!”