His Rejection, page 18
“Try linking Maxon and I’ll try Alex.” I nodded. Totally forgetting that he could see me so instead I just focused on what she asked me to do. Hopefully, it would work.
Maxon, I linked him.
Nova? Baby are you OK? I knew he had to be worried. We had probably missed our hour deadline. I didn’t even know how long I was out for. Noni was awake before me so maybe she knew.
No. I’m in pain Maxon. A lot of pain. Help me, I cried. I had never felt so weak in my life. Maybe it was because I have never felt silver so potent before.
Usually, when human hunters caught a wolf, they would use silver, but it wouldn’t be pure silver. It was almost always had a copper alloy or something in it. But this, these chains now, they were pure silver and it really hurt. I could feel it cutting into my skin and burning its way to my bone. I couldn’t help the downpour of tears that came with the pain.
Nova, I’m coming baby, but you must hold on. Alex and I are coming right now. We are close, Maxon shouted in my head.
I don’t think I can Maxon. This is pure silver. My voice was weakening and I’m sure Maxon heard it. I could feel his fear for me radiating through our link. He could hear the weakness.
Hell, I couldn’t even feel my wolf I was so weak.
Oh, Fates. I’m coming, Nova. Just hold on OK. Do me that one favor and hold on, he coached. I would try, but I doubt that it would be of any use.
OK.
I love you, Nova. Just hold on.
I love you too Maxon, I told him closing the link. I couldn’t take any more of his fear and worry. It made me feel even worse about the situation I was in.
“Noni, did you talk to Alex,” I asked her. She sniffled, and I assumed she nodded her head. “Noni it’s still dark in here I can’t see you.”
She snorted a laugh and replied, “Yes. He and Maxon are on their way now. They are both worried about you. So am I.”
“There’s no reason to be. I am fine. Let’s just focus on who did this to us,” I told her.
“Marc did this. Alex told me. He wants to kill us. He wants revenge for what happened to Julia. He thinks it's our fault,” she explained.
“What? We were trying to save her. It was her fault! She thought she could deal with the hunters alone,” I all but shouted. In my mind, it felt like shouting, but I know that Noni could barely hear me.
“Yeah, well he thinks it’s our fault like we left her there to die or something. Alex and Maxon have been putting two and two together and they think all of this was Marc’s doing.”
“Everything,” I asked.
“Yep. Everything except for Natalie. She’s always been a fucking nuisance.”
I struggled to laugh. The pain was no longer just in my wrists and ankles but my whole body. I could feel me coughing up what smelled like blood. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could survive with this silver on me. It was draining my energy every second and talking wasn’t helping much.
“Nova? Are you sure you’re OK,” Noni asked. I could hear her worry too.
“I’m fine. I bet you wish you weren’t as strong as me now,” I said. I was supposed to laugh at the joke, but the laugh ended up sounding like a coughing fit, which was exactly what it turned into.
“You sound horrible Nova.”
“I feel that way too,” I told her.
“Use one of your many gifts Nova. Help us by helping yourself. We love you Nova and if you let yourself die think of what you will put us through. Me, Alex, and Maxon.”
“You know I want to Noni I just can’t. I’m too weak right now.”
“Try.”
I was trying to muster up enough energy to melt the silver when the lights flashed on making both Noni and myself scream from the brightness. We were in the same room that Maxon and I busted through when we came for Noni and Jezzy, except now there were no tables and there was blood and other stuff on the floor.
Two men walked into the room and grabbed Noni. I struggled to get free but the more I did the more pain I felt.
Just relax. They aren’t here to kill me… or you, she sent me.
For the moment I suppose? She only nodded her reply.
The men chained Noni to the wall, leaving her hanging there naked and exposed. They raked their eyes over her body, squeezing and touching things that didn’t belong to them. It angered me to no end that they would treat a woman like this. Our werewolf brethren, no matter how angry or crazy, knew that we treated femme wolves with the highest respect. But not these guys.
They walked over to me and did the same. I was still chained in silver though. Lucky Noni, while she still had silver, it wasn’t pure silver. I felt their eyes rake over my body. I cringed back feeling disgusted and worried that they would do more than squeeze and touch. They looked at each other then smiled. That was a dead giveaway that they had something planned.
“Do not touch her,” Marc said walking up behind them with Maxon’s father in tow. His father’s face was still swollen from the fight but otherwise had completely healed itself of the cuts.
“You said we could do whatever we wanted with them.”
“No. I said with her,” he said pointing to Noni, whose face immediately fell. Fear was written all over it as they took her down from the wall and dragged her into the next room.
“Noni,” I called trying to yell, but the silver was having damaging effects.
Don’t worry. I’ll deal with these idiots, she said. I knew she couldn’t. They were a higher class of Special. Stronger than she is. I knew it true when I heard her scream.
Nova! What’s going on, Maxon linked me. Alex must have felt what Noni was feeling.
T-t-they are hurting her. I don’t know what to do Maxon. I-I-I’m sorry. I should’ve just left with you.
They would have taken you either way baby. Alex and I are right outside. Whose is there with you, he asked.
Marc and your father. The line was immediately cut off.
“My son must be close,” Maxon’s father said looking at me. I couldn’t look at either of them as I hear the screams of my best friend. My sister.
“What no smart remark? Cat got your tongue Nova,” Marc teased.
“Shut-up Marc,” I said looking up and staring into his eyes. I was pissed, and it was beginning to show.
He reached forward and slapped me. His wolf’s eyes looking back at me instead of Marc’s. “You don’t talk to me like that or you will be punished.”
“Fuck you, Marc! All of this because your mate thought that she was Xena the warrior? It was her fault she died. She was the one who ran off after the hunters. We tried to stop her from going. We left with her. We fought with her. She got hit. We tried to save her. There was nothing we could do,” I shouted at him.
“You could’ve died with her,” he growled out. “How is it fair that you get to live while she died?”
“It was her fault,” I seethed through my teeth.
“Well, you and Noni’s death is your fault.”
“You touch her, and I will kill you,” Maxon screamed from the door.
chapter 30
Nova
“Touch her and I will kill you,” Maxon shouted from the door.
I could faintly hear fighting and growling behind him but was too preoccupied with my savior to even acknowledge what those noises possibly meant.
Are you OK Nova, Maxon asked me. He looked directly into my half-lidded eyes, with blue orbs full of worry.
I had never wanted to see Maxon as much as I did now. This was the second time today that he had saved my life and to say I was thankful wasn’t even cutting it. I wanted to voice my love for him, but the silver was still making its way into my system. It had completely cut through my skin and was now working the poison into my blood. If he didn’t get me out of these chains soon, I would die.
“Well, you made it,” Marc replied.
He was still close to me, which was causing Maxon to have some serious control issues. I could see that he was beginning to shake violently, only seconds away from shifting. I needed to calm him down.
Maxon, I struggled. The more strength I used to talk to him through our link, the weaker I would become and the quicker I would die. And I didn’t want to die. Maxon, you must calm down. They are baiting you. They want you to shift and let your wolf take over, so please calm down.
It was easier to kill a basic wolf. Werewolves were stronger because they had the wolf’s strength and the human’s strength, basic instinct and common sense. Without Maxon’s common sense to lead his wolf, he’d be easier to kill. Maxon would be stronger, but he’d be dumber too, and Maxon wasn’t dumb. If it was one good thing, his father taught him it was war strategy.
Maxon must have understood because he stopped shaking and began to walk slowly and menacingly towards Marc and his father. The look on Maxon’s face was steel and unreadable. Anger was apparent, but there were other emotions there, ones that couldn’t be described.
I shifted my weight so that my right arm could relax while my left arm took on my weight. I immediately screamed from the stinging of the silver. I was losing my mind here on this wall and it was killing me to even move. I just wanted down. And I couldn’t think of anything better than being out of these chains, and even if Maxon got these chains off me before I died, I would still have scars left over. I could picture Maxon looking away from me in disgust and it brought tears to my eyes. Now I had an even better reason to want down.
“Let her go, Marc. She told you what happened to your mate. It was her own fault now release Nova,” his voice was thick with anger. I could literally see waves of red radiated off him. He wasn’t doing a good job of calming down.
“Don’t talk about my mate,” Marc roared.
“Then take the silver off of mine,” Maxon shouted back just as loudly.
Marc came closer to me giving Maxon a menacing glare.
“You want the silver off your mate, Maxon?”
The way he called out the word mate made me flinch back. Was he so angry with the Fates for taking away his mate? It was her own fault… she wasn’t a Special, hell she wasn’t even a good fighter. Marc wouldn’t let her train with the rest of us. Hell, if it wasn’t for Noni and I being Specials we would’ve been right alongside her.
Maxon growled at his question and began his tread to Marc and me. “Then you come take it off,” Marc said. Then he shook the chains with all his strength, his gloved hands holding tightly onto the chains.
It all happened so fast that all I remember is hearing myself screaming, Maxon stopping and his Dad making his way over to my mate. I tried to fight it but I couldn’t, so I just relaxed into the painless black abyss.
Maxon
I immediately stopped walking. Her screams were killing me, hell not only me but my wolf too and the way her body sagged only made it worse. I knew I should’ve just made her follow me back to the packhouse. This was my entire fault and just like everything that’s happened over this last year I deserve whatever happens. I wouldn’t be able to handle it if Nova died. We had just fixed it all. I had just marked her and now I might lose her for good?
Are you giving up on our mate, my wolf asked me angrily. He had been angry with me ever since Marc had shown Alex and me the footage of the girls hog-tied and naked.
NO! I just don’t know how I can do this… I don’t know what to do or how to do it. How do I save her and keep her alive, I asked him.
You can’t, but she can.
What are you talking about?
We must sacrifice ourselves. Give her a reason to use her gifts. Make her use them, he explained.
She doesn’t know-how. If she did neither her nor Noni would still be here.
Force her to use them, Maxon!
A million scenarios ran through my mind as I formulated my plan. What if it didn’t work, and I ended up dead, or worse I survived, and Nova didn’t? Would I be able to keep living it that happened? No, I thought to myself. I’d end my life and leave the pack to Alex. He had been doing a good job as Alpha when I couldn’t. He deserved it.
I looked at my father as he menacingly made his way to me. I knew that what I was planning was going to hurt like hell and it was going to take all the self-control I had not to fight back. My eyes flickered back to my Nova, and her mangled body was giving me all the inspiration I needed.
Babe, wake up, I cooed sweetly in her mind.
It took her a few seconds to come to before she was able to answer. That was when the first hit came. I staggered back a bit and readied myself for the next one.
Maxon, she asked softly. I could practically hear her body struggling to keep on fighting. The pain she was in poured through our link and almost brought me to my knees.
Before I could speak my father kicked me in the gut sending me flying halfway across the room. I landed on a pile of silver objects. I bit down on my tongue to keep from screaming; the blood from my lip flowing into my mouth once I was able to get off the silver.
I could see my father was getting frustrated with my lack of fighting. It was a sign of weakness to him and he hated weakness. Alphas were born and breed warriors, so for one to be weak was a disgrace to the one before him who passed the title along.
I tried to get up from the position I was in but even the slightest movement caused me pain and angered my father. He punched me in the back of the head briefly making everything go dark. I pressed my throbbing head on the cool floor trying to numb the pain, but it didn’t work.
Yeah, babe, it’s me. You must get up now. You must use your powers.
I can’t. I don’t know how, she whimpered.
Her body was beginning to come alive again, and the pain began to flood her body. Even though we weren’t fully mated yet, I still felt all her pain as if it was my own, and that only made my own pain that much harder to deal with.
Fuck, I thought. How was I going to get Nova to use her powers without me dying in the process?
The truth of the matter is that I wasn’t ready to die, and I wasn’t ready for Nova to die either but if need be, I’d willingly give me life for her own time and time again; no questions asked.
My mind was coming up empty every time I tried to come up with something. I needed back up or more like help. Hopefully, Alex got to Noni in time and was able to calm down because I could use his help. He was the only one I trusted right and for good reason as well. His mate’s life was in danger just like mines and he would do anything to save her and his sister.
Alex, I sent to him. My questioning tone was being I was worried that he wasn’t calm enough to come here to help. But I was thoroughly praying that he was.
What Maxon, he answered back angrily.
Whoa, bro. I don’t deserve the attitude. Save that for Marc. Is she OK?
They raped and cut her with silver Maxon. She won’t even let me touch her; she just keeps mumbling something about Nova. I mean seriously who in the hell would do this to a femme?
I could hear him hitting the surrounding wall. I exhaled slowly. If it wasn’t set in stone before it is now. They both must die. Marc and my father were going to die by my hands today.
Can you leave her, I asked him. I knew it would be a hard decision, but in order to help the ones, we love we must make tough decisions, right?
I can, but I don’t want to. Why what do you need? And why do you sound like shit?
Help. They have Nova chained to a wall with silver eating its way through her skin. She won’t be able to survive much longer Alex, I explained.
My mental voice cracked as I grew sad and my wolf grew angry. I just wanted this whole nightmare to end. It seemed like every time it was going good for Nova and me something always screwed it up royally, half the time practically killing us in the process.
And I sound like crap because I feel like crap. It’s the only way to save Nova. She must use her powers.
What do you need Maxon? Be specific I don’t have the patience for guessing games, Alex sneered. My wolf let his comments slide because of his mate. We both knew that Alex would never speak to us like that if it were anything else.
Nova needs to see us getting our asses handed to us. We need to be so bad that she finds whatever it is she needs to tap into herself, I explained to him.
Even saying it in my mind made it still seem like a death wish to me. Not that I didn’t have faith in Nova but there’s always two sides to a coin.
I sighed when I didn’t hear from Alex immediately. All I wanted to do was help my mate. This was the weakest I had ever seen her, and I didn’t like it. She wasn’t my little spitfire mate here; she was a weak defenseless femme who needed her mate, the one who needed me. I just needed help to get to her.
I tried to get up now but was immediately kicked in the stomach. “Stay down boy. I will kill my own son with no problem,” my dad threatened.
“Funny because, I could say the same thing about killing my own father,” I said spitting out the blood that rose from my throat. His kick must have really messed something up inside of me.
Alex, I growled.
I’m coming, bro. That was all he sent, and just like before I couldn’t feel him anymore.
I looked at Nova again. She looked terrible. Her eyes were lidded. She could barely keep them open. Blood surrounded the area where they had her hanging. The silver had been around her ankles and wrists so long that the bone was practically showing.
Damn it, I thought. The silver is working its way into her blood now.
Babe, you must fight now. Come on baby you can do it, I know you can, I urged.
Maxon I can’t I don’t know how.
Then Alex and Noni are going to die, I lied. I wouldn’t let them die. Even if I had to sacrifice myself for them, they wouldn’t. Nova needed them. Somehow, they always brought out the best in her when I only brought out the worse.
That’s not true, she struggled. I knew she had heard my thoughts loud and clear. Fight back, Maxon. For me… please.
Her begging was almost enough to make me listen, but I had to stay strong. There was no world for me without Nova. So, if she wanted me, hell if she wanted life then she was going to have to fight for it as well. I can’t do it alone and now was the time that I really needed her.
