Warmth ✔

Chapter 15

There on the bed, I find Kate lying unconscious with several blue, purple and black bruises and deep wounds and cuts covering every inch of her body.

Lucy slowly approaches her friend who is on the ventilator. She takes her hand in hers. "Kate?" She asks with a broken voice with the hope that her friend would respond even though she knows that it would be impossible for her friend to respond in this condition.

I can clearly sense Lucy's emotions in a turmoil. She's finding it hard to keep her composure.

The only sound that can be heard in the room is from the heart monitor. When Kate continues to lay still, the only movement is the rising and falling of her chest due to oxygen being forced into her lungs, Lucy settles her angry gaze on the women standing in the corner with fear in their eyes.

"What happened to her?" She asks with a threatening tone.

Before any of the women can respond, we hear the loud voice of Alpha Dan asking, "How dare you enter my pack house without my permission?"

His voice is echoing in the pack house. I can clearly sense the commotion downstairs.

"We had no choice," I hear Derek say.

Lucy storms out of the room and I follow her downstairs to the hall where Alpha Dan, his Beta, Gamma and the two guards are standing facing Matthew and Derek.

"How dare you keep Kate's condition a secret from me?" Lucy takes a threatening step towards Alpha Dan.

"It was for the best," he replies.

"For the best?" She asks with a mocking tone. "How was it for the best?" She demands with her arms crossed.

"Be careful with the tone you're using with me. I'm an Alpha."

"And so am I," Lucy replies with the same authoritative tone. "Tell me what happened."

She and Alpha Dan continue to stare down at each other.

"Don't make me force out the truth from you," Lucy says when Alpha Dan's gaze remains fixed at her.

"I would love to see you try," he says with a challenging tone.

Before Lucy can take a threatening step towards him, I step in-between, acting as a barrier to stop both of them from doing something which would make matters worse.

My back is towards Lucy while I face Alpha Dan.

"Alpha Lucy deserves to know what happened to her friend," I say.

I see him debating internally whether to tell us or not. By the look on his face, I can tell that he doesn't want to disclose what happened to Kate since it's a sensitive matter but he also knows that Lucy won't back down until she knows the truth.

"Come with me." He leads us to his study. Derek, Matthew, Lucy and I are facing Alpha Dan, his Beta and Gamma, a desk separating us while the two guards are standing outside to prevent anyone from disturbing us.

"Kate was sexually assaulted by four of the pack members."

My eyes went wide at this revelation. Lucy who is standing beside me stumbles backward as if someone had pushed her, knocking out all the oxygen from her lungs. I reach her and put my arm around her waist to support her body weight on mine. "Breathe," I whisper to her.

I can tell that the images of Kate's bruised and battered body are flashing in front of her eyes. Lucy inhales and exhales slowly as she convinces herself to be calm.

"Where is Jeremy?" She questions once she has found her composure. It takes me a few seconds to realize that she's asking about Kate's mate.

Alpha Dan averts his eyes. "We've kept him in the basement."

"Why?"

"Jeremy couldn't handle seeing his mate in that condition and it made him go crazy. His wolf is convinced that everyone is his enemy so he attacks everyone who comes near him. So, we've kept him chained in the basement to prevent him from hurting anyone," he explains.

I look at Lucy and there's sympathy in her eyes for Jeremy. After a few seconds, her eyes go hard as she asks in a voice full of venom, "Where are they?"

Alpha Dan didn't need to ask who Lucy was referring to. He knows that Lucy is talking about the attackers.

"We've kept them in the prison."

"Are you sure that you've caught the right people?" I question.

"Yes," he says while nodding. "Kate and Alice identified and confirmed the attackers."

"Who is Alice?"

"She's a six year old who witnessed the whole thing. She was the one who called out for help."

It is unfortunate that a young girl had to witness such a monstrous act. It must be so hard and difficult for Alice to come in terms with what happened. My heart goes out to her.

"I want to meet Jeremy," Lucy demands.

"He's not stable," Alpha Dan argues.

"I want to meet him still." She crosses her arms and stands stubbornly.

Alpha Dan sighs before leading us to the basement. He opens the door  and we see that the basement is consumed by darkness and silence. Once he steps foot on the first step, we hear the violent rattling of the chains and loud growls. When we land on the floor, Alpha Dan flicks on the lights and we see Jeremy struggling with the chains, trying to break free as he growls at us.

Alpha Dan wasn't lying when he told us that Jeremy is unstable. Lucy had shown Matt and I photographs of Kate and Jeremy when we were at her pack house. And the guy bounded by the chains in front of me didn't resemble the guy in any of those photographs. Jeremy is in his human form but his eyes are black indicating that his wolf is in control. Jeremy would've turned into a werewolf if it weren't for the wolfsbane coated chains that are restricting him.

He's giving all of us a murderous look.

From the corner of my eye, I see Lucy slowly approaching him. "Jeremy," she says with a calm tone. Jeremy snarls at her. She continues, "It's me, Lucy, Kate's friend."

Jeremy blinks as recognition crosses his face. The intense colour of his eyes turn into a softer tone, a clear indication that his human self has pushed his wolf behind. "Lucy." His voice holds such vulnerability which almost breaks my heart into pieces.  "I'm sorry I couldn't protect her." And he breaks down into tears.

Lucy run towards him and engulfs him in her arms. "It's not your fault," she says with teary eyes. She can feel the pain that he's feeling. She runs her hand on his back in a consoling manner. After he's somewhat stable, she pulls back and says, "I want your help to kill Kate's assaulters."