The Gate ⋈ A Stydia Story

[ 09 ] sacrifice

She woke up in a hospital bed, numerous tubes flowing from her arms and legs. A bandage was wrapped tightly around her pulsing head, and the rough linen sheets crinkled as she shifted. A ever present beeping noise echoed through the room at the same tempo as the thumb that ran over Lydia's cold knuckles.

Several eyes bombarded her as she finally found the strength to face the world. The first she saw was the pair of dark, honey comb eyes of Scott, filled with so much love and care only her alpha could hold. He stood at the foot of the bed, flashing her a lopsided smile that made her heart soothe. Next to him, Malia's concerned features were trailing the floor, evidently trying to cover up the red tears gathering in her eyes.

Kira's eyes lit up as Lydia looked to her, and Liam gave her a small nod from the corner. The thumb passed over her cooled hands again, shifting Lydia's attention to the boy that sat desperately at her bedside.

His whiskey eyes brushed over her cut lip and bruised forehead, a flash of fury in his irises before they calmed again. She could see his jaw clenching and unclenching, eyebrows set in a straight line as his large hand gently squeezed hers.

"It wasn't there," She croaked, eyes filling with disappointment and guilt.

"The stone?" Kira peeked up, drawing Lydia's face to address the hole room.

"Didn't it belong to your grandma?" Scott questioned, arms folding across his chest as the others nodded at her.

"It did, and now it belongs to me." She squeezed at the bedsheets around her, heart dropping with the feeling of failure. What if she had let them down? What if she can't find it, and Akeldama will return, and everything her ancestors have fought for is for nothing?

"But you don't know where it is," Malia added, drawing Lydia from her thoughts. She looked up to the were-coyote with a grim nod, and Stiles squeezed her hand again.

"We're going to find it." He reassured, running his thumb over her knuckles again. "We're going to stop Akeldama."

Her chest constrained at the thought. There is going to be a price for bringing him down, both her grandmother and Ealga have said so. She hasn't told anyone else in the pack of the haunting words in her visions. The question still plagued her mind... "Will you be ready to say goodbye?"

Lydia squeezed her eyes for a moment, thinking of everything she would be fighting for. She would take Akeldama down for her friends, her family, her grandmother, Ealga, for Stiles. She is never ready to say goodbye, but she would make the sacrifice for him.

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The Gate
[ 09 ] sacrifice