Behind Enemy Lines

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"Please," I whispered, gesturing to Olivia, "let her go."

"Shut up, you worthless piece of shit!" My father, my very own father, screamed at me. Tears threatened to spill over but I blinked them back. I had to be strong-- for Olivia.

I gave up on begging, I needed to egg him on to come after me, to drop Olivia and attack me. My face hardened, "You're not my father. You're not my Alpha. You're a coward who hides behind a small silver dagger."

He growled, "And you are a traitor!"

It stung to hear him say that, to realize my father thought I betrayed him in a way that I would actually fight and possibly kill him. It hurt to see that the man I knew as my father was gone and that he was replaced by a feral, blood thirsty Alpha with no remorse or humanity left inside of him.

And so at his words, I remained silent.

He threw Olivia aside to the ground and I let out a breath of relief before quickly turning my eyes back to him. I couldn't bring himself to call him my father anymore. From now on I'd know him as the Alpha.

"You disgust me," He spat, taking a step forward with the dagger in front of him, tightly gripped. "You're unworthy and you don't deserve to live! We live by a code of honor and you broke that code, you filthy traitor!"

I couldn't help it, I was crying by the end of his speech and the only thing I could think of to do was to scream back at him, "Do it, then! Kill me!"

Hesitance flashed across his face for the first time.

"Take that dagger and drive it through me," I steadied myself, my voice so low that I'm sure Olivia could barely hear it. "Kill me."

The Alpha started to withdrawal.

"Do it!" I screamed again. "Kill me! KILL ME!"

He did it, he drove the dagger straight through my stomach and let it sit there. I gasped, dropping to my knees. His face was made of an expression of stone, as if he didn't care he had just stabbed his youngest child and daughter with a silver dagger that would kill her.

The pain was unimaginable.

Pulling out the dagger and dropping it on the floor of the wooded clearing, I held my hands to my stomach, taking in ragged breaths.

It was like a fire had sparked in my stomach and was spreading throughout my body, licking my veins and kissing my insides. I tried to scream out in pain, call for help, but no sound came out. As the seconds ticked by, it just felt as though someone were pouring gasoline and wolfsbane onto the fire, increasing the size and the pain.

To me, it felt as though the silver was burning me from the inside, out.

A loud howl hit my ears and my heart shattered; it was Hayden.

He burst through the clearing, growling at the Alpha, "I'm going to kill you."

With that, he launched forward, punching, kicking, scratching, anything he could to do hurt him he did it. Hayden held him against the tree with a hand around his throat and his face turning blue.

"No," I managed to croak out. Hayden's grip loosened as he gave me a bewildered expression.

"No?" He questions in disbelief. "You don't want me to kill the bastard that stabbed you?"

I shook my head, "No."

He threw the Alpha the ground, unconscious, and looked over to Olivia, "Are you okay?"

She nodded before pointing at me.

Another wave of flames engulfed me and I gritted my teeth. Hayden was at my side before I could finish falling over.

"Come on, baby, stay with me. The pack doctors are on their way, they're going to take care of you. Just stay awake, okay? Stay awake, please!" He pleaded with me, but the flames were becoming soothing now, lulling me to sleep and my eyelids were heavy.

It was as if the flames, once the passed, left a trail of lead that pulled my eyes lids down.

I managed to get a few words out, "I would choose you."

"What?" He asks, confused as a tear drips down his face.

I gave him a weak smile, "If I had to choose between you and my sister. It's you."

He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them back up, looking down at me with a pained expression. And then, he smiled, "I'd choose you, too. I'd do anything to save you right now."

His eyebrows furrowed, "Why can't I feel your pain anymore? It's gone."

"It's because it doesn't hurt," I gave him a smile, a small one, but a smile nonetheless as I lay here dying.

"No!" He exclaims. "No, no, no, come on, Arleigh, stay with me baby, please stay with me! Open your eyes, come on, fight for it! Keep fighting for your life, the doctor's almost here!"

"Hayden," I croaked. "Let me go."

What a hypocrite I was. Telling him to let me go when I was trying to fight off lead just to stay in his arms a moment longer. He pressed his lips to my forehead and I felt my eyes sink completely. I was a goner for sure.

Every sound and sense was gone, there was nothing but Hayden right now, and soon even that would be gone, too.

He refused, "I'm not going to let you go, Arleigh, because you're going to fight and you're going to live! You're going to be okay and we can have a happy ending. You, me, Olivia, any kids you want..."

"The world's too cruel for happy endings," I croaked out, the very last words I would utter.

Hayden shook his head, "I don't believe that."

I couldn't respond to that, partially because of my inability to speak at the moment and also due to the fact that I just couldn't take away this raw emotion he gave me.

My breathing was suddenly more shallow and ragged, the pain spiking to an all time high before it stopped. The pain and misery just went away along with all of my senses and my consciousness.

With it, my breathing stopped too.

I was dead, floating in oblivion and no longer a member of the world. I was just a ghost of a weak girl that couldn't even save herself, let alone the people she loved.

Did I love Hayden?

Yes, I did.

~

a/n: holy crap. wow. so, school started today which means updates are going to be less frequent to please try and bear with me. alright, thanks!

SPOILER: Hayden's P.O.V and a plot twist (of course).