Chapter 6 Chapter 6

Laura's POV

Julian's face twitched, switching between confusion and rage as he tried to form words he could throw at me. I braced myself for the incoming barrage. "Are you out of your mind? Did you hit your head hard?" He rolled his finger close to his head to show his point. "Julian, please—" "No! I refuse. How can you even think of asking for that?" He snapped. " Your father is my enemy. In fact, I will be glad to watch him die slowly and painfully in that room. After all the pain he has caused me, do you think I am stupid enough to let him go?" I shook my head, pushing back the tears that threatened to fall. "But you said you will accept anything. How is it not possible?" I moved my feet to the edge of the bed and tried to stand up, but my legs were weak. "Please, he is all I have left in this world—" The words hung in my throat as Julian brought his face rashly close to me. "I refuse! Damn it! I don't give a rat shit what happens to your father. Now shut up and make another request now that you have the chance!" "Haven't we been punished enough?" I cried out. Julian frowned and moved back, watching me with narrowed eyes. I channelled force into my legs and I stood up. "Haven't we suffered enough?" Hot tears rolled down my cheek but my voice remained steadfastly strong. "Isn't the pain that we have received enough... Have you even ever considered it to be a setup?" Julian scoffed and folded his hands arrogantly. "What do you know?" He hissed. "Sit down and stop making it harder on yourself." "It's true!" I sobbed. "Did you conduct a proper investigation? What if you were wrong? What if I am being punished unjustly?" Julian stared at me indifferently as he processed my words in his head. "What's so bad about asking for my father? You can't even grant me a request after I've lost so much— I'm paying for something I know nothing about." I sat back on the bed, my heart weighing down on me like a ten storey building. My head felt hurt, but I didn't want to show it to him. "I'm already miserable, Julian. My life's a mess..." My tone dropped. "I just want my father, that's all." Julian stood against the wall and rammed the base of his fist against it repeatedly. He kept at it for five seconds before letting out a sigh. "Fine. I will do it. I will let your father have treatment. I will pay for it, just like you want." Julian clenched his jaw. I wiped my tears. "Thank you." "But, you will stay in the pack until the ceremony. That's the deal. When I am done with you, I don't want to see your father near my pack again. If I catch even a whiff of his scent, your father will be animal feed for my pets." With that he stormed out of the room, banging the door shut behind him. I closed my eyes, and let my tears finally drop freely down my cheeks. A sense of relief fell on me, and I sighed. It was the only good thing that had happened after I had my miscarriage. My life would end in less than three months. I didn't have much time left in the world. I just had to make sure my father was back on his feet again; then, I would die without any worry. I shivered nervously at the thought of my death. My fingertips felt cold, and I was conscious of my breathing. Lung cancer. I raised my head to the ceiling and opened my eyes as a thought crossed my mind. I should have asked Julian to add a place where we could stay. That would be a good assurance that my father had something to live in after I had passed— The door suddenly flew open, and I thought Julian was back to torment me. My heart paused as I watched with wide eyes who would step in. Rather than Julian's stern face, an attractive young woman, around my age stared back at me. It took me a minute before I recognized her and I opened my mouth in shock. "Mack?" Mackenzie rushed towards me and hugged me tightly. "Oh my Gosh, what happened Laura? You look very thin—and pale!" She drew away and held my shoulder, scanning me. "Have you been eating? How many times did you fall sick after I was gone?" Her concern brought tears to my eyes. It was the first time someone was clearly worried about me since everything started. Mackenzie was my childhood friend, and we grew very close to each other over the years. She had been away for her studies, and now she was back. "Mack, look at you. You've changed!" I exclaimed. I momentarily forgot about my problems. She looked bigger, but she still had her sexy figure. Her dark skin went well with her full hair which she kept in a natural ponytail. "So how many are they?" I teased her. It was an old thing we both did. Mackenzie always had at least three boyfriends at a time. Mack laughed and rubbed my shoulders. "I left three in college, and two are following me. But I haven't really gotten involved with them, I guess I'm not interested. Let's talk about you, what happened?" I shrugged my shoulder and opened my mouth to tell her but as the first sound left my lips, I changed my mind. I didn't want to let her get involved in my problem. "It's nothing really, I just skipped a step on the staircase and I fell—" Her beautiful brown eyes instantly darkened as she glared at me, stopping my lies immediately. "Don't lie to me, I knew you were pregnant. You are doing that thing you always do when you are lying." "What thing?" I questioned, pretending to be innocent. Anything to beat around the bush, to stall and look for a perfect lie to throw her way. "You rub your left index finger with your right thumb when you are nervous, lying or you are troubled," she said in detail. She raised a brow at me. "You had better talk, I won't move." I just couldn't dodge Mackenzie this time but I still didn't want to involve her in this. "Mack, it's complicated." I lowered my voice and looked at the door. I couldn't afford to let Julian listen to our conversation. But Mack's eyes never left mine, she was determined to see it through to the truth. In the end, I sighed. I went ahead and told her everything, minus the part where I had lung cancer. Mack held her mouth and suppressed a gasp. "Why—what is wrong with the men of this world?" She questioned. I just closed my eyes and listened to her. "You have been through a lot. I'm so sorry, you should have called me the moment you got discharged when you had that miscarriage!" Mack exclaimed. "I'm sorry," I apologized. "I didn't want to bother you." The truth was, I knew how much she valued her education and I didn't want to put her in a position where she had to choose between that and me. "I am sorry," I repeated, sniffling back my tears. Mack fell silent and wiped a tear that had formed in her eyes. Then she held my hands tight and nodded. When she looked at me, she had a fierce expression on her face. "Here's what we are going to do, you will come and stay with me," she spoke suddenly. "I—I can't. Julian will—" Mack cut me off. "Julian won't do shit. My house is on the outskirts of the pack. It's not in his land so he doesn't have any influence there." I frowned. "That's the human town. Are you sure we can coexist with them? Humans are a little scared of us." "All the better. You bring your father when he gets better. Alright?" Mack was like this, I couldn't refuse those intense brown eyes. "Alright," I sighed. Mack's face lit up. She was relieved I had accepted. "Alright! I can't wait to share everything with you, gosh! I've been alone, ever since you got mated three years ago!" I smiled at her excitement, holding on to the hope she provided. "Really?" I cocked my brow. "Haven't men, been keeping you company?" I teased her. Mack smirked at me. "I told you, I only dabbled. I never took any of them seriously, maybe a night or two and that's all." "A night or two?!" I exclaimed. "Yeah." Mack looked the other way and played with her hair and we both burst into laughter. Her phone suddenly rang, pulling us out of our little bubble. "Hold on, let me pick this up. I will be right back." She stepped outside the room and I was alone again, but I didn't feel hopeless like before. With my renewed hope, I developed some courage. My life may have been shortened by the sickness and pain that held me captive but maybe the last three months, wouldn't be so miserable.