Chapter 86

“YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HER!” Rhys’ voice cut through the nothingness.

“I saved her life!” Sawyer argued back. “If I hadn’t of taken initiative, she would be dead Rhys! Don’t you get it! She would be dead!”

“But you had no way of knowing it would work!”

“And if I didn’t have it, I would have never even had a chance at saving her!”

Ugh, they were so loud. Why were they being so loud? Didn’t they know that I was tired? I just wanted sleepppp. Was it me that they were talking about? Was I the one who almost died or was it someone else? It would explain why I felt so weird, but I had no idea what had happened leading up to this moment.

“And you didn’t think that maybe the witch wanted to do more harm?” Rhys shot back. “That she might have seen this as a chance to take down the whole pack?”

“Rhys, if I needed the potion, the harm would have already been done.”

“Guys,” Ethan interrupted. “If you want to argue, go in the hallway, but Grace doesn’t need to hear this.”

I knew Rhys was seething even though I couldn’t see him. But knowing that Ethan was here made my heart happy. He cared enough to stay with me even though I wasn’t even awake or conscious. Well, maybe I was kind of conscious. I couldn’t move, but my thoughts felt like mine, and I could hear everything going on. So, I was whatever this was.

“It’s true,” I heard Arlo say nervously. “A lot of times people in a coma can hear what’s going on. I guess it depends on how much damage was done to her brain.”

Damage to my brain? Yikes. That didn’t sound good. A coma made sense though for my sort of consciousness, but I couldn’t remember what had happened.

I decided I should test it. Despite wanting them to, my eyes wouldn’t open. Hm. Okay. I next tried to open my mouth and tell them that I was okay, but again, I couldn’t seem to move anything. Brain damage seemed to be looking quite possible. I was so fucked up I couldn’t even do the basics... Maybe though, I could move my hand, show them that I can hear them at least...

My whole hand didn’t move, but I felt my finger twitch and I could feel Rhys’s excitement through the bond. He grabbed my hand and began to talk to me.

“Grace? Grace, can you hear me?” He sounded odd for him to me, like he was almost desperate. “I saw you move your finger. Can you do it again? Can you open those pretty little blue eyes for me?”

“Rhys... It might have just been reflex,” I heard Sawyer say gently, a completely different tone than he was using a few minutes ago.

“No, she moved it. I can feel her through our bond,” Rhys told him before turning his attention back to me. “Come on, Grace, everyone is here for you. We just need to know if you’re okay. Please wake up.”

I wanted to tell him that I tried, but my voice wasn’t there. I could feel his disappointment and defeat flooding our bond, so I decided to try again. I couldn’t bear to disappoint him...

My eyes were heavy, but this time I was able to get them to move. However, I immediately regretted it and closed them again because the lights were so bright.

“Quick, Arlo the lights,” Sawyer commanded.

When I heard the light switch go off, I tried to open them again, and it was much better.

“There’s my girl,” Rhys whispered, the relief in his voice evident. “How are you feeling?”

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out and I frowned.

“Give yourself time Grace,” Sawyer said, putting a glass of water to my lips. “You’ve had a rough night. Take some baby sips.”

I did as he said, and the I looked at Rhys in relief. A part of me had thought I was never going to see him again, and I was glad that part of me was wrong.

“What happened?” I asked. My voice was still kind of scratchy, but at least it made noise this time.

“You were poisoned, baby,” Rhys said, in a low tone. “I was so scared you weren’t going to make it.”

I reached up and pulled him into a hug. I knew he would never cry with some many people around, but I could feel how strong his emotions were.

“How did I get poisoned?” I asked when he finally let go and sat down in the chair next to me.

“Allison... But she’s dead now, so you never have to worry about her again.” Rhys told me. “Lucky for us, Sawyer had the antidote.”

“Yea, I heard that part,” I admitted, “You need to be nicer to your brother, he was just trying to help.”

Rhys smiled slightly; his face still so full of emotions. “I’m sorry.” He whispered.

“Don’t apologize to me, apologize to your brother.”

Sawyer laughed as he began to check my vitals and looked at his brother expectantly.

“I’m sorry Sawyer for being so hard on you, and I’m sorry Grace you had to hear it,” He said dryly.

Sawyer laughed, “I accept your apology, but your delivery needs work.”

I giggled slightly, before turning back to Rhys.

“Did anything else happen while I was incapacitated?” I asked.

“Well, unfortunately, yes,” Rhys stated uneasily. “Unfortunately, we learned that the city is currently in chaos and Adrian and Kinsley are currently mass-creating more Lycans, likely to threaten other packs or even ourselves...”

A sinking feeling filled my stomach. The joys of being awake again were suddenly gone, and the reality of the life we lived was overwhelming. If they were mass-creating Lycans, then how the hell were we ever going to be able to compete with them?