Ella’s POV
“You knew I was going to come see you?” I asked, eyeing him carefully. I tried not to be repulsed by his appearance, but it couldn’t be helped. He looked awful and it turned my stomach.
“I had hope,” he said in a barely audible tone.
I could tell that speaking hurt him; his lungs must have been punctured. My father and Colton seriously did a number on him. I didn’t understand why he couldn’t just talk to them and end his misery. All they wanted to know was who sent him and where he came from.
“Why did you hope I’d see you?” I found myself asking, completely forgetting about the questions I wanted to ask him.
I needed to get to the point; I only had 5 minutes with him.
“You’re a smart girl—” he began to say but was stopped as a gross hacking cough escaped his lips and blood splattered to the ground.
“Did you call for me in my sleep?” I asked him, ignoring the pounding of my heart. “Is that why I had that dream?”
He narrowed his eyes at me and assessed my face for a moment.
“You tell me,” he said in return.
I shook my head at him.
“I don’t have time for this Xander,” I snapped, growing aggravated. “In my dream, you said I was in danger. My father thought you were threatening me but I’m starting to think it wasn’t a threat, it was an actual warning. What were you warning me about?”
I felt my father tensing from beside me and his eyes snapped to the side of my face.
A laugh escaped Xander's lips.
“If I could tell you that, do you think I’d be here right now?”
“Why can’t you tell me?” I asked, stepping toward the cell.
Colton grabbed the back of my shirt like I was a child about to run into the middle of the street.
“Because it can get into your mind. If it knows what you know… a lot of people will die,” he said through his teeth.
“Wait, what?” My father asked, now looking at him. “What do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what I said, Alpha,” he said, laying his head back on the ground.
“Who sent you?” My father asked, glaring at him.
“I can’t tell you that either. So, you might as well finish the job and kill me.”
My stomach clenched as I stared at him.
“I knew it…” I breathed, more to myself than to him. “You were trying to warn me about something. You can’t tell us what it is, but you are trying to prepare me for something. What are you trying to prepare me for, Xander? Why can’t you tell us so we can be ready?”
He pressed his lips firmly together and looked directly at the wall. He wasn’t going to talk, that much was obvious.
“Xander,” I nearly shouted.
“Time is up,” Colton said firmly, grabbing my arm. “That’s all the questions.”
“I’m not done,” I said, snapping him a look.
“He’s not going to say anything more, Ella. I told you, 5 minutes. It’s over. I’m getting you out of here.”
I wanted to argue some more, but I knew there was no use so sighed and looked back at Xander.
‘”f you can tell us anything that’ll help…I’ll make sure your pain ends,” I told him, lowering my voice.
I stared at him for a moment longer and when I figured he wasn’t going to speak, I sighed again and turned away with Colton and we began to leave the dungeon.
“Ella…” I heard my name coming from Xander.
I paused at the door and looked at him.
“It gets into your head and if it knows who’s an enemy, it won’t stop until they are all dead.”
His warning sent a chill down my spine; my father stood frozen as well, staring down at Xander with dismay written all over his face and then he met my eyes. I knew my father had questions too but he wasn’t even sure where to begin.
Colton grabbed my arm again and pulled me along with him.
When we got back upstairs and into the front room of the packhouse, I felt like I could finally breathe again.
I took greedy gulps of the clean air and shivered.
“Did you get what you needed?” He asked, narrowing his eyes at me.
I stared up at him and nodded.
“I think I did,” I told him honestly. “I was right; Xander was trying to warn me about something without actually warning me. If he told me the truth, whatever he’s so afraid of will get into my head and kill everyone I love. Or maybe everyone he loves… or both….”
I shook my head at the thought.
“It’s all very confusing,” I continued. “But it’s a start. Can you tell my father to allow him to heal? I don’t think he’s the enemy we need to watch out for.”
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