Fighting for Power (Howl of the Elements: Book One)

Chapter 22

***picture of Neil***

Chapter 22:

Logan tried to steady his breathing. He wanted to be calm while facing whatever torture the men were planning to inflict on him today. Somehow being emotionally numb helped to not feel as much of the physical pain.

One set of the footsteps had stopped once hitting the bottom of the stairs, but the other set kept walking towards the cells. Logan's eyes had gotten used to the darkness, but he was still straining his eyes. Not because he couldn't see the boy, but trying to recognize him. He swore he had seen him before, but he couldn't figure out where from.

The boy stopped in front of the cell that Logan and Shawn were in, but was hesitant. He looked as if he was in his later teenage years, a lot younger than any of the other men that had came down to the dungeon before.

"Logan?" the boy asked as he inched closer to the cell door.

"Present," Logan replied sarcastically as if a teacher was calling for attendance in a classroom.

"Oh thank god. This room smells like death. I was worried for a minute," the boy's response sounded sincere.

Logan scoffed as the guy swung open the door, "Oh please. You don't have to play these stupid pretend games. Just hurry up and get this over with before I get bored."

The boy stopped in his tracks and scrunched up his eyebrows, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb. Just 'cause they sent in a new guy doesn't mean we don't know what you're about to do," Shawn snapped.

Swinging his head to the side, the guy looked over at Shawn. It seemed as if he had just noticed that there was someone else in there with them. Logan was starting to get confused. Surely, the other men would have told the new guy that there was more than one person in this cell, right?

Sizing him up, Logan noticed that the boy wasn't from the Hadan pack. He had a darker complexion with pitch-black short hair. The guy had muscles, so clearly he has done manual labor. The thing that caught Logan's attention the most, though, was those bright blue eyes.

"Who are you, and why are you here?" Logan asked.

"My name is Neil, and I'm here to get you out. We told Layla about how you had helped save her. She wanted to return the favor, but she would have drawn too much attention if she had came here herself."

A low growl started to erupt from Logan, "Fuck you. I can't believe I actually started to believe you. Now I know you're just one of them. She's dead. I don't see why you all have to keep throwing that shit back in our faces!"

"Logan, calm down. I don't know what you're talking about, but trust me. I'm not here to mess with you. Layla didn't die. She's very much alive, and I can take you straight to her. We just have to get you out of here, and preferably soon before your pack's goons realize we are in here."

"If she's really alive, then you're not going anywhere without me, too. I'm her mate. She's going to want me there more than him," Shawn piped in.

***

Screams filled the room as Selena tried to push the baby out. Leon had finally returned with the midwife and he was now pacing the room, his face pale as a ghost as if he was about to faint. Selena's legs were propped up, and the midwife was waiting rather patiently at the end of the bed, ready to catch the baby when it arrived.

"How much longer is this going to take? It's been hours already," Leon asked.

"Are you fucking serious? How much longer is this going to take? You try laying here and pushing this thing out of your-" Selena's sentence was interrupted by another scream.

"Deep breaths, Miss. I want you to push again," the midwife in a steady voice.

Selena sucked in as much air as she could, and pushed with all of her might. It worked. A tiny baby slid into the midwife's arms and soon was filling the room with its soft cries. The midwife grabbed a small towel and wrapped it around the infant's body after clipping the cord.

Selena started to move to get a better look at her new baby, but something didn't feel right. Her stomach clenched up and she received another sharp pain. When she yelped in pain, the midwife's head popped up.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Do I look like I'm doing okay? Something is wrong. I just got a bad pain in my stomach," Selena snapped, yet her voice crackled with worry.

A/N: It is truly amazing how many more reads I have gotten for this story than I thought I would! Thank you all yet again :) I will try to have a quicker update for the next chapter, since I'm really excited to write it. If I wasn't trying so hard to keep my eyes open right now I'd write it tonight haha