The Gift chronicles novel Chapter 2

Book 2 Chapter 9

 

"AGHHHH!" I screamed as I awoke. Whoever says that they come out of comas calmly is a goddamn liar, because all I felt was fear when I woke up from mine.

Adrenaline raced through my body as I frantically looked around the room, trying to understand where I was and what happened.

A figure quickly raced into the room and in my confusion, I began screaming again until a hand was placed over my mouth. I concentrated hard to understand who the figure was, and when I felt the sparks, I knew.

"Thane," I said in relief. Well, actually, tried to say. He still had his hand over my mouth which made it sort of hard to enunciate.

"If I take my hand off your mouth will you scream again?" His mouth quirked to the side, even though I could sense his anxiety.

I shook my head, and he started talking again. "What happened?" He asked, stroking my cheek with his hand. Subconsciously, I leaned into his hand.

My confusion deepened. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

Thane's eyebrows furrowed. "You don't remember where you've been or what happened to you?"

My expression mirrored his confused visage as I tried to recall the last events I remembered. "The last thing I remember was... I was training with... with Clover... I ran out... Attacked the guard... Sorry, guard..." My voice trailed off.

"Is that all you remember?" Thane's distressed look deepened as shadows overtook his face.

I concentrated harder, even though the action made my head spin. "Oh, God. I'm going to yak." I leaned over the bed.

"Yak? What the fuck does that me—" Thane began to ask, but my vomit answered his question before I could.

My body shook as I continued to throw up over the side of the bed. To Thane's credit, he didn't run out of the room gagging. Instead, he held my hair back as my body rejected everything in it. Mostly fluids.

When liquid stopped coming out, I dry heaved for a couple more minutes as I tried to get my head to stop spinning like I was on a merry—go—round on crack.

"It means to throw up," I answered, wiping my mouth when I was done.

Thane looked bewildered, either being very impressed with the word, or very disturbed by all of the vomiting. Probably the latter, if I had to guess.

"What the hell was that?" He asked, concern etched all over this face. It was bizarre to see any emotion on his typically stoic expression.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. Shouldn't you know the answer to that since I'm the one who's been unconscious for who knows how long?"

Thane frowned. "You were missing for about five hours. My men and I searched every inch of the woods on our territory, and just when I was about to go into uncharted territory to look for you, my Beta, Leo, said that when he was leaving the pack house, you were on the front porch."

"I was on the porch..." I repeated slowly, trying to see if my memory would resurface.

Thane's frown deepened. "You don't remember how you got there? Onyx, if you are trying to scare me to get back at me for not telling you about the Luna challenge, this prank is going too far—"

I interrupted him angrily. "Are you accusing me of faking this? I get freaking kidnapped by a g—". Suddenly, a flashback overtook my mind. All I saw were piercing green eyes looking down at me as the man pulled me in closer.

"Onyx, what do you remember? Who took you?" Thane shook my shoulders as he tried to pull me out of the memory.

I shook my head, trying to clear my mind. "Umm, a man. He hit me with a rock," Thane growled at this. "His eyes were so green... He picked me up, said that this was going to hurt... but I wouldn't remember it..." My voice trailed off as I couldn't remember anything that came after.

Thane's voice was low and hoarse when he spoke after a moment of silence. "Did he hurt you?"

I furrowed my brows. "Besides the initial rock hitting, I don't think so. I remember feeling... safe with him..." I left out that I was extremely attracted to the man, not wanting to make Thane more angry.

"The pack doctor checked you for wounds. Besides dried blood on your head, he couldn't find any signs of injury," Thane sounded stoic as usual, even though I could see his inner turmoil in his eyes.

"Why did he kidnap me, if he didn't hurt me and planned on returning me a few hours later?" I whispered in confusion. "Did... Did he rape me?" I choked out.

Thane's expression turned into a combination of shock and horror. "Oh, sweet little mate," Thane quickly climbed into the bed next to me and held my shaking frame in his chest. "No, he didn't. I would have been able to feel through the mate bond if someone had done that to you."

I exhaled in relief, trying to calm myself. "Then why would he kidnap me? It doesn't make any sense."

Thane frowned and stroked my matted hair, and sighed. "The truth is, I don't really know. I would have expected someone who kidnapped you to have made demands and threatened to kill you if I didn't acquiesce. The fact that the individual responsible just returned you after a few hours leads me to believe that it may have been a warning..."

"A warning? For what?" I asked, confused.

Thane sighed. "It's a long story, Onyx." I just stared at him expectantly, and he continued after a moment. "In summary, a bad man really hurt the Blood Alpha's mate, and I've been searching for him ever since. He's very powerful and has a lot of connections, so I'm sure this incident has something to do with him."

I digested his words. "But why are you looking for the man instead of the Blood Alpha? I have a hard time believing that the Blood Alpha wouldn't want to get revenge for his mate himself."

"He made a very powerful oath not to, in order to save his mate. Luckily, I made no such oath, so I offered to look for him myself," Thane explained, still stroking my hair.

"Is that why you were looking in the woods when you found me?" I asked, and Thane nodded. We sat in silence for a few minutes, and I'm sure he was struggling to find words, just as I was. Until I remembered.

"Why didn't you tell me about the challenge for the Luna position?" My tone was harsh and accusatory.