56- Mistake or Murder?

The party was in full swing as they walked ahead to the main area. Immediately they found Hailey coming towards them with a happy smile on her face. Her hand was wrapped around Liam's while her six inched heels clad feet and ivory gown clad body shimmied towards them excitedly.

Her eyes met Eva's and halted for a moment before going back to Rush as she squealed, "You came exactly on the right time! Thank you!!"

Rush grinned and hugged her, wishing her a happy birthday. Once he pulled back, Eva did the same and wished her.

Eva's eyes met Liam's for a second and found him looking down at her with a small smile. As soon as her gaze met his, he cleared his throat in embarrassment and looked away.

For some reason it immediately made her laugh that she had to cover with a loud cough as well, bringing the eyes of everyone standing around to herself.

Hailey excitedly chatted with Rush and Liam before a couple of friends of hers came to come with them.

She instantly grabbed Liam's arm once again and dragged him along with her. Eva's fingers clenched tight as she watched them walk away, her eyes . Liam turned to look at her over his shoulder a couple of times before he was completely out of sight.

"There are no adults here," Rush bent down and whispered in Eva's ear, "Feels so surreal seeing so many young kids with no one to keep an eye out."

She giggled and slid her fingers in his waist, hugging him from the front halfway and trying to stand on her tiptoe to match his eyes, "oh really, grandpa?"

"You are a grandma!" Rush laughed and grabbed her head, shaking it a bit and messing her hair which made her swat his hand away in mock irritation.

"You are the one talking like we are not the young people." Eva grinned and teased, "how old are you? Five thousand years?"

"Eighty five, actually." Rush winked.

Eva's mouth dropped open in shock,

"Oh my god," she exclaimed dramatically, "I am literally marrying an oldie! My sex life is going to be disastrous. I feel like this is the time I should be crying."

Rush glared at her and pinched her hip, making a loud yelp to escape her lips and meet his eyes.

"Wanna bet otherwise?" Rush said proudly and took a threatening step inside her personal space, making her gulp down in nervousness, "I could show you right now, in any dark corner where there is no one to hear you scream."

Eva immediately looked away as a red hue covered her cheek. The thumping of the dance floor with music covered the loud banging sound that her heart made against her chest.

"Uncle Rush," Hailey's voice suddenly interrupted them, Eva took a step back and turned around as her eyes met Hailey's, and surprisingly, this time anger was clear as day on her face.

"Yeah?"

At Rush's question, Hailey's gaze immediately snapped to him and the anger that was there just a second ago disappeared like magic. Instead, a sweet smile took its place as she chirped,

"Uncle Liam is looking for you in the main hall. He said he has someone that he wants to introduce you to."

Rush's gaze came back to me for a second, his eyes promising me the continuation of our talk later before he nodded his head and walked away towards the main hall. His head turned two times to look at me before he finally made it to the door and disappeared. His actions really made me hide my smile. He could be so childish so many times. It was cute.

"Do you really think he is in love with you and going to waste his whole life on you?" Hailey's dry comment made me turn my head to her as I tried to accept that she had really said this out loud to me.

"what?"

Hailey gave a mocking smirk while stepping forward, I was up against the thigh- high rails of the ship as she leaned her face forward and hissed in a low voice,

"You are just a fucking play thing they are enjoying for a while. I know what you are doing, I am not a fool who can not see the honey trap that you have laid out thinking they are going to worship the ground that you will walk on!"

Fury consumed me and I was ready to snap at her, but she beat me to it and gritted her teeth in anger, and I instantly stopped and shut my mouth because Hailey's complete demeanor had changed and her eyes were shining bright silver, her fangs clearly bare to me while her hands clenched in tight fists on her side,

"You are a fucking human who can not even live long enough to match the life of our pack or even give birth to a fucking baby. You are going to die before you werewolves cross their adulting completely. Do you really fucking think you are worth the time of life Rush and Liam are wasting on you?"

"That does not have anything to do with you." I mumbled and tried to find something to hold on to behind my back, "I know that you are trying to scare me thinking Rush and Liam are going to fall in love with you when I am not around, and marry you and then you are going to live happily ever after..." I gulped as her eyes shined more brightly in the dark of the night, clearly showing the fury that was running through her veins. My eyes slid sideways in hope that someone was staring at us, but unfortunately, everyone was busy and the sound of loud music did not help at all in snatching anyone's attention to us. I did not want to fall back accidentally. I did not know how to fucking swim!

"I know you are young and you have a crush on them," I whispered gently, like trying to make sense to a child, "but you need to understand that I am mated to them. I am their forever and probably you will find the one for yourself in the future too."

I tried to give her a smile to not appear as freaked out as I actually was, but sadly my panic won over my sense of strong will. And her furious gaze glaring down at me did not help at all.

"Well..." she gave me a weak smile while looking around herself for a brief second and saying, "I am not here to threaten you actually."

My eyebrows scrunched up in confusion at her statement. Before I could say anything, she leaned near my shoulders as her hands grabbed my waist and she whispered,

"I am here to kill you."

My horrified gaze turned to her. I could barely breathe before I felt a sharp pressure on the side of my waist, and pain engulfed me, and then before I could even blink, she pushed me hard, throwing me in the depths of the water.

A loud scream had left my lips but it got drowned under the sound of ear banging music. There was no one who witnessed my fall and as I fell into the cold, merciless waves of the water, I realized this was probably going to be the last day of my life.

*******



I could barely take any gulp of breathe as the harsh waves sucked me inside the deep ocean mercilessly. I tried to scream for help, but no sound left my mouth. I was struggling to even stay afloat, and it had not been even a minute since I fell. My gaze went up to look for someone, to see if anyone had witnessed my fall, but there was no one.

I cried out in pain and anguish and water filled my lungs completely, and I got submerged with it, my body sinking inside the darkness, my eyes fell close.

As the feeling of getting crushed covered my chest, I coughed out loud and spat out water. I was not feeling any weight on myself anymore, this felt light and nice and although the water was filling my nose, making it harder for me to take a breath in, I could actually breathe through my mouth at least.

I opened my eyes, the blinding lights made it harder for me to keep them open but I tried again harder and blinked multiple times.

"Eva!" someone was shaking me hard, while slapping my back hard, "Eva! Are you alright now? Are you able to breathe?"

The voice was of Liam's that I recognized after a while. His scent was covering me as his body hugged my wet one and his hand pushed in the back of my head, caressing softly as he stopping slapping my back.

I stopped coughing and opened my eyes finally.

"Hey..." a gentle voice asked me before Rush's face came in front of my eyes and he continued, "are you feeling any pain? Feel anything is broken or hurting badly?"

I tried to breathe through my mouth harder to take in the much needed oxygen and nodded my head in a no. Panic and fear were clear as day on Rush's face. His breaths coming out harsher while his eyes shined bright yellow, giving me a hint of his wolf hovering over the surface of his emotional breakdown.

"I am okay." I reassured him in a soft voice, "I am alright now. It was hard to breathe a few minutes ago. I... I do not know how to swim actually."

"That is not the problem here, baby." I heard Liam's voice in my ears before he gently pulled back and yellow eyes of his wolf looked at me, "how did you even fall in the water? I don't think you fancied for a swim in your fancy dress when you do not even know how to swim?"

His words instantly made me laugh that I instantly regretted because it turned into a water filled cough immediately. When I stopped coughing, I shook my head in no and looked around. Hailey was standing right behind Rush looking down at me. Her gaze was of one who had just gotten her cat killed and did not want to tell people that she was the one who killed it.

As soon as my gaze met with hers, she dramatically threw her hands in the air and rushed to bent down near me while sobbing, "Oh my gosh, aunty Eva, are you alright?! This is my birthday party today. I would have hated to celebrate it for the rest of my life if anything had happened to you!"

"You are the one..." I started saying with a weak voice, but she beat me to it and sobbed harder,

"I am so sorry! This is all my fault! If only I was not trying to become closer to you as friends and talking to you closely, you would not have slipped and fallen into the water! I am literally feeling so freaked out and humiliated right now!"

My brain could not fathom her words as my mouth dropped open in shock at her white lie. How she could say the words straight to my face without flinching twice at such young age baffled me.

"You are the one who pushed me in the water!" I spat out the words and pushed her away from me, "are you out of your mind right now?"

Rush and Liam instantly looked at me with shocked expressions while Hailey once again let out a loud cry and burst out into tears, "Yes. I am so sorry, aunty! It is all my fault. I know I am in the wrong here. I should not have come to talk to you and leaned in so close to say the words. But the music was so loud and I was afraid you will not be able to hear me. So that is why I leaned close to you. I am so sorry aunty! I do not have enough words to apologize right now."

"Are you kidding me?" I shouted furiously but instead started coughing. The water was still filling up my lungs and it was hard to speak any word that came out of my mouth.

As I started coughing, Rush stood up on his feet while Liam took off his jacket and covered me with it to stop me from feeling the chill air of the night.

"Alright, stop this right now!" he shouted at Hailey while his hand clutched her arm to take her a step away from me,

"Hailey, Eva is not feeling good right now. Please go and celebrate your birthday. Rush and I need to take her back home. You should not ruin your day and celebrate it with your friends. Come back home when the party is over, alright?"

Hailey looked at him with an innocent gaze and nodded her head obediently. She looked down at me one more time before she extended her hands and pulled Rush in a tight hug. Her eyes dripped down with tears as she said, "Please take care of aunty Eva and let me know if you need anything. I am scared and worried for her uncle Rush."

I wanted to barf my guts out at her acting. I did not know how Rush and Liam could not see how bad her acting was but it had been clear as day to me from day one. I could not believe how she was able to grasp keep up the act so openly in front of the person that she had just tried to kill. Was not she even afraid of the consequences?

I stayed silent at that moment and decided against saying anything. I did not want to be branded as a screaming, crazy bitch in front of so many people at the party. And honestly, I did not even have the strength to say anything.

I felt Liam's hand slipping under my thighs and shoulders before I was lifted up, bridal style in his arms and he started carrying me towards the boat that Rush and I had come in. Rush also followed us silently. His eyes set upon me solely, and his hand coming around to rest on the top of my head. And then at that moment I realized, it was shivering. And I knew that it was in fear that he had almost lost me, not because of the cold of the night.

*****

"Let's go in the bedroom directly. No need to sit in the living room. She is all wet. She needs to be stripped off of these clothes." Liam said as he carried me towards the bedroom that Rush and I slept in. I rolled my eyes at him and grumbled, " I can walk! I am not feeling sick anymore."

Liam's yellow eyes dropped down at me with a sharp look, instantly shutting me up. I pouted and looked away. He was being super scary and at the same time over protective right now. Giving me goosebumps and fast heart beats once again that I knew were definitely dangerous for my defense system against him.

He carried me inside the room and then made me sit on the bed. I tried to get up to get my clothes but he grabbed my shoulders and pushed me down again, "What are you doing?" he asked.

"The bed is getting all wet." I complained and tried to remove his unflinching but gentle grip from my shoulders, "I need to change out of these clothes."

Liam's eyes cut to Rush who was already moving towards the cupboard and grabbing things off the hanger. His hands quickly grabbed a top and a cotton short before coming towards me.

I stood up, ready to grab the clothes from his hands and go to the washroom, but Liam bent down in front of me, and then before I knew what was happening, his hands grabbed the hem of my dress and pulled it right off of my body.

"HEY!" I shouted, "What are you, a pervert!"

"Shut up," he said blatantly and grabbed the t shirt out of Rush's hand, pulling it over my head and then covering my upper body. His bare hands slid over my naked flesh and over the tips of my rigid nipples, make me blush and shiver at the same time.

His fingers grasped the edge of my panty ready to take it off but I instantly freaked out and shouted,

"what the hell are you doing?! I can do it myself!"

"For the love of God, Eva." he said heavily through clenched teeth and breathed, "do not create any drama today. I am literally at the edge of leaving my sanity. I have already seen you naked and there is nothing specific new that you have suddenly grown that I have never seen before."

"You are being a maniac!" I hissed and turned my head to Rush, "Rush, help me get this freak out of my room right fucking now."

Rush stared at me with blank expressions before extending his hand towards Liam. His hand holding the cotton shorts in a handing out manner.

Liam took advantage of my distracted gaze and pulled my panties off in a swift move down till my feet, and then easily lifted each foot one by one until he had removed it completely.

"I hate you!"

I clenched my teeth and huffed out in frustration. But without giving me another look, he proceeded to snatch the shorts out of Rush's hand and bending down again to pull my legs over them.

"I need panties!" I glared at Rush.

"Tonight you do not," Liam answered for him and pulled the cloth up to my waist, making sure the elastic was resting right below my navel.

"Did you eat anything at the party?" he asked me.

I thought of bickering with him for what he had just done, but then I remembered the fact that he had just seen me almost die, and I would be the worst kind of person if I fought with him right now. After all, I knew that despite going through everything in the past, he had loved me through all. Even when he had tried to get married to Aster. And if I were in his place and I had seen him or Rush almost die in front of my eyes, I would have been crying my eyes out right now, instead of standing in front of them with strong will and glaring eyes, which I think, was their way of dealing with the situation that had happened tonight.

I shoot my head in denial. His question had made me realize that even though I had gulped down literally ocean size water, I was starving.

"How about eggs and bacon?" Rush asked and pushed his hand in the back of my head, pushing aside my wet tangles, "There is nothing else in the fridge, I am afraid."

"Order from a restaurant," I ordered, "I want something spicy. My night has already been a hellish one. No need to ruin it more with eggs and bacon please."

Unexpectedly Rush's lips got covered in a soft smile. He took a step closer and kissed my temple sweetly.

"Will order right now."

He turned around and then walked away with his phone in his hand. Halfway to the hall, he had already started talking to someone on the phone and telling the order.

"Look at me."

Liam's voice brought my eyes back to him while his hand grabbed my chin, turning it to face him.

His voice was gruff, and his eyes still yellow. Rush had calmed down a bit because his eyes had already gone back to his human side.

"What?" I asked when his eyes did not move away and kept staring down at me. His other hand had the hold of my waist and his thumb was rubbing gentle circles there, I think he was trying to assure his wolf that I was alive and standing in front of him still.

"I was scared, Eva." he whispered and his head dropped down at the side of my neck, inhaling deep while his voice shook a little, "I was so fucking scared. If anything had happened to you tonight... I... I do not think I would have been able to live anymore."

"Liam..." I tried to say but he cut me off,

"I know I did wrong things to you. But if you had gotten hurt tonight and I knew that you never forgave me for what I made you go through, I would never have been able to live with myself. I am... I am so fucking upset and scared right now. Can you feel it? Can you feel me inside you? The bond that you and I had made. Is there anything left inside your heart telling you I am honest as hell right now?"