Blood was flowing from her mouth; it seemed I had knocked loose a tooth or two. They’d grow back with no problem, but it was still satisfying to know I had caused her some injury. She snarled, spitting the blood all over my gown.
Lillian encroached on me, and I had no choice but to back away from the woods. I angled my body, not wanting to end up in the water again, but the further I went the closer I was getting to Adam’s house. That wasn’t what I wanted either. I needed to go the opposite direction, toward Lillian. I swung the branch and hit her across the face, but instead of distracting her, it only made her angrier. She sprang back on her hind legs, and I tried to run, but she landed on me, hard. I heard a crack and pain exploded through my torso as I landed on the ground with her heavy body on top of me.
I must have screamed, but I don’t remember it. I was gasping for air, trying to keep conscious as the pain filled my body. I let out some sort of a garbled cry with the little bit of air I had left.
Over the crashing waves and howling wind, I heard the sound of someone running through the trees. I tried to turn my head to look, but the pain was so overwhelming every time I made the tiniest shift. Still, the figure of Adam was unmistakable as he burst onto the beach. Was he here to finish me off?
It didn’t look like it as his face went white.
“Hazel,” he gasped, and Lillian snarled.
Adam rushed forward, shoving the wolf off of me. I could breathe now, but every breath I took sent fiery pain ripping through my body. The pain made me dizzy as I struggled to sit and see what was going on.
Adam had kicked Lillian, and she was trying to stand as he was bent over, hands on his knees. I’d never watched him shift before, although it wasn’t dissimilar to Harry’s shifting. I tried to keep my eyes on him as his back arched and body contorted, but dark spots were appearing in my vision and I had to lie back down.
I should have been taking advantage of this distraction to get home, get Harry for help. I needed to push through the pain. I rolled over on the opposite side of where the pain was and struggled to get my hands underneath me. The pain was too great, too intense, and I collapsed, my face hitting the ground. I tried again, pushing up on my palms, but the pain made me weak and my hands shook before I fell again.
The air was full of the snarls of wolves carried by the wind. On the water’s edge, Adam and Lillian were circling each other, fur on end, sharp teeth flashing. My heart hammered as I prayed that Adam wouldn’t be hurt, feeling so useful and so full of pain.
Lillian sprang first, but Adam, as quick as she was, sidestepped her with ease. She skidded across the rocks before turning and launching herself at him once again. This time he didn’t move, but instead leapt and met her in the air, pushing her back onto the ground. Both slid past me, and I tried to move out of their way but couldn’t. I was stuck.
Lillian gained leverage and flipped Adam, jaws snapping at his neck. Unlike me, Adam had the wiry strength to fight her off, and he kicked her across her belly and climbed to his feet. He gave me a quick look with sad eyes before bounding toward Lillian before she could jump me again.
Lillian sank her teeth into his side, and Adam let out a high–pitched yelp. I couldn’t tear my eyes away as she pulled back, blood staining her sharp muzzle. However bad the injury might have been, it didn’t stop Adam. He kicked at her, and she flew across the ground.
She had just gotten back up when someone else came bursting through the trees. I lifted my head up to see Harry. His eyes were wide as he surveyed the scene before him. He must have been satisfied that Adam had things under control, because he rushed to my side.
“Hazel, are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I said with the little breath I could take through the pain. “Please, go help Adam.”
“Adam is managing all right,” he said, but at that moment another cry rang out. Lillian had sunk her teeth into him again, and more blood was spilling across the rocks.
“Please,” I said to Harry. My life with Adam may have been over, but I didn’t want him to be hurt.
But was it over? My mind struggled to put the pieces together through the pain, but it didn’t make sense for him to fight Lillian if he was in love with her. Still, I knew what I had seen. Lillian had said that he had rejected her, but he must have at least been considering her to end up in such a compromising position.
“Fine. But go home. Please. Get out of here,” Harry said. I gave a weak nod. Harry had stepped away from my side and began his transformation. I closed my eyes as his teeth clattered to the rocks and his bones cracked and reformed. Only a few moments later, a tawny wolf stood next to me, ready to fight alongside the blond wolf.
I took a deep breath despite the pain radiating through my ribs. Once more I rolled over. I got on my hands and knees, waiting for the pain to subside a bit before moving any farther. From here, I could see the full scene in front of me.
Adam and Harry had cornered Lillian. Her eyes darted between the two of them, searching frantically for a way out. I breathed a little easier, knowing the men had her under control. Slowly, I lifted myself to my feet, but my head was swimming and every movement shot pain through my body. I forced one unsteady leg to move, then another, but I felt I could topple at any moment. I stumbled, almost falling backward before I paused to find my balance.
The little balance I had didn’t last long. Somehow Lillian had broken free of Harry and Adam, and she charged at me. She hit me on the side where my ribs were cracked, and I lost my footing in a fit of pain. My head slammed against the stones as she jumped me, Adam’s blood still in her mouth and dripping onto my face. I lifted my arms to fight her off, but the pain had drained my strength and my blows didn’t bother her at all.
I was prepared for Lillian to tear into my neck when she was knocked off of me. Adam had launched at her, knocking her to the ground. Adam and Harry stared down over her, panting and growling.
I struggled to see what was going on, but my vision kept going dark as the pain ebbed and flowed. Every breath was like hot knives in my side, and I was sure that at any moment my world would go dark and I would never wake up. I pushed, fighting, trying to keep my consciousness, but I knew it wouldn’t last long.
A whimper broke through the snarls and I turned slightly to see Lillian transforming back to herself. She was lying on her side, curled up in the fetal position. Blood was splattered all over her pale skin and she was crying.
“Please,” she cried out, “please, stop.”
I wanted to shout at her, scream, ask her what gave her the right to try to kill me, but I had no breath to gain a voice. Lillian’s sobs grew in volume and if I could have, I would have gotten up to slap some sense into her. Instead, I was paralyzed with pain.
Harry and Adam stood over her for a moment, then one at a time they shifted back. Their bodies contracted as their claws retracted, the fur falling off and the sharp canine teeth falling out. Both Harry and Adam pulled their trousers back on, gathering them from where they had cast them earlier. I didn’t watch as they got dressed. Despite my history with Adam, it didn’t seem proper in light of his indiscretion, and I certainly didn’t want to see my brother naked. Instead I focused on a tree behind them, hoping that if I worked hard to focus on it I wouldn’t lose consciousness.
Now wearing their trousers, the men stood over Lillian once more. She looked up at them, eyes teary.
“Please let me go,” she said. “I didn’t mean it.”
“You didn’t mean it?” Adam roared. “Hazel can scarcely walk!”
Lillian turned mean. “I needed her out of the way, so we could be together! I needed her gone!”
Adam only shook his head at her.
“What does she have that I don’t?” Lillian demanded. “Tell me! What does she have?”
“A heart,” Harry said. He tossed her his shirt. “Put this on. Hurry up.”
While Harry guarded Lillian, Adam knelt down beside me.
“Are you all right?” I w
hispered.
“I’ll heal,” he said. “Are you all right?”
“I…” I was struggling to speak. “Fine.”
“I’m so sorry,” Adam told me.
Sorry? For going behind my back, having an affair with the woman who tried to kill me?
“No you aren’t,” I murmured before my world went dark.
Chapter Twenty–Eight
It was still raining when I woke up.
That was the first thing I realized, the rat–a–tat of the rain against the window. The second thing I realized was that the window was fixed. The third thing I realized was the pain. It wasn’t as severe as it had been before my world went black, but it was still there, lingering in my side. I could move though, and breathe, although the breaths had to be shallow or the pain was too great. I opened my eyes, blinking in the dim light, and turned to look around. I let out a gasp as pain hit me.
From my side table, Harry sprang from his seat.
“Hazel? Are you awake?”
I nodded. “I’m awake. How long have I been asleep?”
“A few days. The doctor has wanted to keep you asleep so you don’t move too much. Your ribs were broken.”
My hand flew to my side. “Broken?” The pain had been severe, but I didn’t think it had been that bad.
“Yep. You cracked three of them on your right side. The doctor wanted you to stay as still as possible so they could heal faster.”
“After all that’s happened, I wasn’t planning on leaving my bed anytime soon.”
“Well, you’re safe now,” Harry said, leaning back in his chair.
“Oh?”
“Lillian’s been locked away.”
“What do you mean? She’s in prison?”
“She’s in an asylum now.”
“My God,” I murmured.
“The fight drew some attention from the other wolves. Not long after you passed out, Jasper and a few of his men arrived. They took Lillian into town, and she was admitted to Adelmoor Asylum. She’s been there ever since.”
An asylum. Who knew how long Lillian would be there? Just a few days ago I had thought she was normal, albeit mean and horrible. Now she was certifiably mad. It was difficult for me to process.
“How did I get back here?” I asked.
“Adam carried you,” Harry said.
I only nodded. I didn’t want to talk about Adam. I didn’t even want to think about Adam. I hated that he had been the one to bring me back home, to be looking over me when I lost consciousness. Had I died, his would have been the last face I saw.
A tear slipped from the corner of my eyes, and I reached up to brush it away, hoping that Harry wouldn’t see it.
I needed to change the subject.
“Those flowers are nice,” I said, motioning to the bouquet of hyacinth and holly.
“Adam left them.”
Of course he had. What a laugh. After all of this, leaving me flowers as a sort of consolation. It was almost laughable, but laughing would hurt, and I was already in enough pain, both physically and emotionally.
As I lay there in pain, my deepest emotion was shame. I had let Adam take advantage of me, take everything I had. I had let my life become completely turned upside down, and for what, love? Love was nothing.
And yet, even as I thought those things, I wondered where he was, what he was doing. He’d brought me here, but then what? Did he know I was all right? Did he know my ribs were broken? Did he even care? Another tear dripped from my cheek, and I bit my lip to keep from sobbing.
“You’re wondering where Adam is,” Harry said. It wasn’t a question.
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to admit it. It was embarrassing and stupid, and I was stupid for thinking it. I didn’t need Adam here.
“He wasn’t sure if he should have been here when you woke up, so he stayed away.”
“Good,” I said. “I don’t want him here.”
“He said something interesting. He said that you told him he wasn’t sorry for what had happened. He felt like he couldn’t show his face here. He’s not sure what happened, but he knows that you’re upset with him.”
“I went over to see him that day, and I found him kissing Lillian.”
Harry squared his jaw. “I don’t know anything about that.”
“Adam doesn’t care about me. He was just using me.”
Harry leaned forward on his knees. “Hazel, did I ever tell you about the first time Adam told me how he felt about you?”
“Not really.”
“I had suspected it for a while. I had seen the way he’d looked at you. He always wanted to include you, and I’d thought that was ridiculous, because you were my annoying little sister.”
“Thanks.”
“One night, we’d had a bit to drink, and it came pouring out of him. He told me he couldn’t remember life before he was in love with you. He said he’s literally loved you as long as he can remember, Hazel. He never thought it was reciprocated, so he never planned on saying anything. But that night he told me he was going to tell you the night of his birthday. And...well, I guess he did.”
I blushed. “It did come up.”
“When he told me what had happened...I almost killed him. But he told me again how much he cared about you, and promised that he’d keep his distance until things were a little bit more stable.”
“But he stayed away for nine months,” I said.
“I think perhaps he was ashamed of how things went that night. And I think he honestly thought that setting you up with the duke would give you a better life.”
“But he didn’t ask me! He didn’t speak to me once in that time period!”
“That was a mistake,” Harry acknowledged. “But Hazel, everything that Adam does, he does because he cares about you.”
“Well, that’s deranged, because he certainly didn’t kiss Lillian because he cared about me.”
“I don’t know the details of that, but I think you should talk to him before you decide to write him off.”
I folded my arms. “Maybe.”
Harry stood up from his chair and patted me gently on the arms. “At least think about it,” he said. “Both of you deserve that much.”
I watched him leave, and my eyes narrowed. Whose side was he on, anyway? I knew what I had seen, and it was going to have to be a pretty damn good excuse that he gave me in order for us to move on. I couldn’t imagine what he could say to me that would allow me to forgive him. And the fact that Harry was pushing for us to reconcile after all of this...well, it was frustrating.
But could Harry be right? That thought kept nagging at me. He knew me well, and he knew Adam best. If Adam had really said those things to him and meant it, would he have thrown it all away so easily? What had happened that had made him change his mind?
Another tear dripped from my cheek, and I angrily brushed it away. I needed to know. There wasn’t any way around it; I had to find out what had happened and where it had all gone wrong. There was no way I’d be able to move on with my life, in any direction, until I had those answers.
I pushed aside the blankets, wincing as I tried to sit up in bed. The pain shot through my ribs, but it was second in the list of things to worry about. I took a sip of the tonic beside my bed labeled for pain, drank some water to wash it down, and reached down for a pair of shoes. I took a deep breath and held it through the pain as I laced up my boots. I didn’t bother changing out of my night gown, or even putting a dressing gown over it. I didn’t fix my hair or put anything on my face. I needed to confront Adam, and I had a compelling need to do it now.
I closed my bedroom door behind me and lifted my chiffon skirts as I hurried down the stairs.
“Hazel, you’re awake!” my mum cried from the living room, but I paid no attention to her as I reached for the handle of the back door.
“Wait, where are you going?” she asked. “Hazel, you just woke up, you shouldn’t be out of bed! Hazel, get back here!”
“Mum, let her go,” Harry said quietly. It didn’t matter; I was already out the door and into the pouring rain and twilight.
I ignored the pain, ignored the wind and the rain, ignored the mud underneath my boots and the branches scratching at my arms as I rushed through the forest. It wasn’t quite dark yet, but the sun had started setting and visibility was low, but I tried to keep my head forward so I could see through the forest and peer between the trees. After what seemed like an eternity of running and pain and cold, I broke through the tree line and onto Adam’s lawn.
I slowed my pace only slightly, keeping my stride until I reached Adam’s front door. Balling my hand into a fist, I pounded on the front door. No way he would be able to ignore me this time.
There was no response.
I had no idea what to do now. I had rushed over here, so determined, and now that there was no answer, I felt the weight of the anticlimactic result.
I turned around and started down the steps back into the rain when I heard the sound of the door open behind me. I looked back to see Adam standing in his doorway.
“Hazel? What are you doing here?”
“I needed to talk to you,” I said, blinking away the rain as it streamed down my face.
“What is it?” His eyes were filled with apprehension and concern, but he didn’t make a move toward me.
I cleared my throat and pushed the wet hair away from my eyes. I had so many things to tell him, and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to form my words into coherent sentences. I didn’t bother to wipe away my tears.
“I love you, Adam. And maybe you don’t love me. That’s all right. But I need to know. Because I’ve loved you for so long without knowing, and I cannot live like that anymore. This back and forth, up and down—I can’t handle it. It’s broken me. I need to know if it’s time for me to move on. I need to know right here and right now, do you love me too?”
I was panting hard, my heart racing after my confession. We locked eyes, and I waited in terror for his answer.
The Wolf's Choice (The Wolf's Peak Saga Book 4) Page 22