Chapter 29: Accusations and Alibis

Wolfgang

I ran to the hospital as fast as I could, then marched into the emergency room.

I spotted Remus and Aspen sitting in the lounge.

“Where is she?” I demanded.

“She’s fine, alpha. They gave her something for the fever, and they’re treating the wounds on her back,” Aspen answered.

“Treating them? Shouldn’t they have healed by now?” Our wolf abilities should have healed those wounds on the very day they’d happened.

“No. They were all intact, and in fact, they were infected. That’s why she had such a high fever,” Remus said.

My stomach began to churn.

How was that even possible? Why were her wounds still open, after almost a week?

“Beta Barone found her semi-conscious and hallucinating,” Aspen added.

I was getting even more anxious.

~“I still can’t feel her. I can’t feel her wolf,”~ Cronnos said, tormented, my mind.

“Has the doctor said anything about the lack of healing?” I asked, trying to keep a cool face. But deep down, I wanted to shout.

“No, sir. They ran blood tests and other tests. We’re currently waiting for the results. But right now, she’s stable.” Remus said.

“Beta Barone is currently in the room, waiting for her to wake up,” he added.

It should be me in there with her. Holding her hands, waiting for her to wake up.

“Would you like to see her?” Aspen asked, as if she knew what was on my mind.

~“Yes!”~ Cronnos shouted in my mind.

“No, I’ll see if they’ve examined the video footage. Please notify me if there are any changes in her state of health,” I said.

Cronnos growled

“Remus, come with me,” I continued.

Remus stood and kissed his mate on her forehead. “Keep me updated on everything.”

“Sure thing.” The redhead smiled back.

I couldn’t help but feel envious of my gamma and his mate. Why couldn’t I be like that with Aurora?”

~“Cause you’re the biggest fucking idiot there is, that’s why!”~ shouted my wolf in my head.

“Remus, let’s go. We’ve got to look into this accusation.” I ordered my gamma.

A few minutes later, we were back at the leader’s house.

I had to get to the bottom of this accusation. I knew that Aurora was no thief.

But who would have framed her?

And why were her wounds still open? They should’ve healed long ago. What was wrong with her wolf powers?

I needed to learn these answers, so I could return to the hospital and be at her side.

“~You want to be at Aurora’s side? Then let’s go!’ Cronnos shouted in my head, wagging his tail hopefully.~

~“Not yet. First, I need to find out who framed her. Then, I need to talk to Tallulah. I can’t keep this charade up with her anymore. It isn’t right to either of them.”~

~“About time you came to your senses. Fine, let’s sniff out who has caused our mate this trouble, and hurry back to her,” Cronnos agreed.~

~Hold on for a bit, Aurora,”~ I pleaded.

Aurora

I woke up in a comfortable bed. The last thing I could remember was freezing to death on a cold cot, trying to cover myself the best I could with a small piece of worn-out blanket.

Rhea was nowhere in sight. It was like she had vanished.

After the whipping, I spent five days locked in the dungeon. They gave me an old shirt to wear, and an old blanket to cover myself with.

My wounds wouldn’t heal, and my body felt weaker and weaker by the hour.

I went in and out of consciousness as the days went by. My body was extremely hot to the touch, but I felt like I was freezing.

The last thing I remembered was Max opening the cellar door and lifting me into his arms.

“Hey there, how are you feeling?” Max asked when he saw that my eyes were open.

“I’m okay…,” I answered. My back still felt sore, but it wasn’t as bad as before, and I didn’t feel the chills anymore.

“How did you…?” I started to ask, but the door swung open and a petite redhead ran over to my bed and flung herself on me.

I hid a wince.

“Aspen!” Max scolded, tearing her off of me.

“Oops! Sorry about that.” She smiled sheepishly.

“It’s alright,” I giggled. “When did you get back, Max?” I asked, remembering that he had traveled with the alpha to the summit.

“We just got back this morning. Gamma Bowman called us and told us what had happened. Alpha Wolfgang and I ran here as fast as we could,” Max said.

Butterflies erupted in my stomach.

“The alpha came as well?” I asked them.

“How else do you think you got let out of there?” Aspen said, looking angry.

“After Remus called and told us what was going on, we ran all the way back here in our wolf forms,” Max said.

“He and Remus are looking into the video footage right this minute, to see if they can find any evidence that you didn’t actually commit the robbery,” he added.

“But what if they can’t find any!? I didn’t do it!” I began to panic, terrified of ending up in that cellar again.

“It’s okay, Rory. Alpha Wolfgang knows you are innocent. He won’t allow them to take you back to the cellar until everything has been cleared up,” Aspen said.

“He believes me?” I asked in disbelief.

“Yeah.” She patted my shoulder.

I looked down at my hands, twirling the sheets in my fingers. Heat burned in my cheeks.

Wolfgang really did care for me. He ran all the way back here to make them let me go.

Aspen, Max, and I chatted for a few minutes. Then Max’s phone rang.

“Hello? Yeah, she’s up. Okay. I’m on my way.” He hung up.

“Sorry, Rors. Aspen and I need to get back to the house. Wolfgang needs her to testify, and I need to be there as a witness. Will you be okay on your own for a bit?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I yawned, still feeling weak. “I’ll just take a nap.” I could already feel my eyes getting heavy.

Aspen kissed me on the forehead.

“Get some rest, love,” she said, backing out the door.

“We’ll be back soon, Rors,” Max gave me a wave, then left as well.

I laid back down, and sleep took me immediately.