Chapter 112

Zenovia

The lights of the arena suddenly flashed before my eyes and all I could feel was dizziness wash over

me for a second.

I only faintly remembered Matteo rushing towards me and throwing me over his shoulder before

depositing me on a stretcher.

Caroline’s sad and worried face as they took me away was the last thing I recalled before I blanked out.

The sun was shining through the windowpane and I felt the warmth on my skin. The light hurt my eyes,

and I slowly turned my face away from the light to shield my eyes.

I was exhausted. Beyond exhausted.

Every single muscle in my body hurt and every single bone felt like it had cracked. My limbs were sore,

my joints creaking, and my skin felt hot.

I was sweating as if I had run a marathon. My throat was also parched. I tried to wake myself up, but

my eyes did not want to open. They felt like they weighed a ton.

But I forced my eyelids to flutter…to move…to do just about anything. After what felt like a monumental

effort, I managed to lift my eyelids…barely.

From the slit of my eyes, I tried to look around. I was not in a familiar place. It was all plain white and

dull.

I could vaguely make out the white curtain blowing in the soft breeze and the pale windows. My eyes

slowly roamed through the space and then noticed a huge bulky frame sitting in a sharp contrast to the

whites around me.

My eyes tried to focus on the figure seated in front of me, and I noticed two yellow balls. No, not

yellow…bright golden.

Those were the eyes that would always rob me of my breath. Problem was that they were staring

intently at me. Murderously, maybe.

I could not think of anything else and panic made my eyes shut down and my back fall to the bed

again.

It did not take much time for me to fall asleep. The little effort had cost

10:19

me a lot of energy. I was not sure when exactly it was that I woke up again.

I twisted and turned in my bed, fisting my hands in the sheets as I felt my head would explode. A

searing hot pain tore through my brain, traveling through all the nerves before reaching every single

cell in my body.

Fighting the pain was an effort I was not wiling to take. Lying down was easy. Letting my brain drift to

oblivion easier.

But just as I thought that, a voice spoke to me.

“I knew you would take the easy way out”

The tone was filled with a hint of mockery and despite the pain, I found the urge to get up from my bed

and smack the person.

Problem was, I was too weak to even move.

Trying my best to not let exhaustion wash over me again, I opened my eyes and pushed myself up on

my elbows in a sitting position.

“Why is it so easy to rile you up?” He asked and I tried my best to ignore him. My mouth suddenly felt

dry and rough, like sandpaper.

I looked around for water and he seemed to have sensed it, for he slowly, purposefully got up from the

chair and methodically reached for the jar of water placed on the bedside table.

I heard the slow sound of water pouring in the glass as he handed it in front of me.

Without a word, I grabbed the glass and swallowed it.

“Take it slow” He cautioned but my throat was burning as were my insides.

“More,” I croaked, and he held the water jar above my glass, but with unsteady hands I reached for the

jar and put it straight to my lips. After drinking it all, and almost spilling a good amount on myself, I was

done.

“Maybe not,” He said in a disappointed voice and took the jar away from my hands as I wiped my

mouth with the back of my sleeve.

The water helped a little. Though my head was still hurting, I could look around with better clarity.

“Where am I?”

Callahan replied, “At a hospital. I don’t need to tell you why, right?”

10:20

I placed my hands on my temples as another wave of pain coursed through my head. Memories came

back to me in bits and pieces.

Sand, arena, somebody holding and twisting my leg, a bit of blood, the huge light shining in my eyes.

I had won the trials and probably passed out due to exhaustion.

Callahan pulled the chair beside my bed and sat in front of me, looking me dead in the eye.

“I take it that you recalled what glorious adventure you set off on without my permission. And I don’t

think I have it in me to keep asking why you keep doing stuff I don’t want you to. So, instead, I will ask,

what do you want?”

I blinked. His tone was bordering somewhere on being calm and angry, and I did not want to push my

luck.

“Shower” I croaked.

“What?” He asked with a baffled look.

“Shower and food,” I said, and at that exact moment, my stomach rumbled loudly.

Thunder decided to chime in. “With him or without him?”

I ignored her words and viciously buried the mental image of being with him in the shower. That was a

fantasy I could delve into later.

I expected Callahan to grow angry, but instead a chuckle escaped his lips. The chuckle turned into full

blown laughter as he began howling, clutching his stomach with his hands.

“You want food….this girl wants to shower…”

He said, getting up from the chair and raking a hand through his hair. I looked up at him warily and

hesitated to smile, but seeing him laugh worked better than a tonic.

That delicious mouth of his looked divine when he laughed and his eyes crinkled at the sides when his

smile reached his eyes.

I stared at him for a second, stupidly, until he banged a hand on the back of the chair, startling me.

In a second, he turned around and was upon me. His face was inches from mine as he asked,

“Do you have any idea how risky it was for you yesterday?”

Yesterday? I looked at him in confusion, and he nodded his head.

10:20

“Yes, yesterday. You were passed out for almost twelve hours. And you had not eaten anything before

you decided to be a masochist and flung yourself in the arena.”

“But…I ate eggs…” I added meekly.

“What?” He yelled, and I placed a hand on my mouth.

“Answer me!!” He said, and I tried to answer again.

“I had breakfast. Eggs and bread,” I answered, and he stabbed a finger in the air as if he was punching

someone.

“Eggs and bread?’ The doctor told me you had eaten almost nothing for the entire day and yet you

fucking trained for hours, then took on girls twice your size and weight and won the trials. What are

you?”

He looked at me curiously and I did not think ‘A girl’ would satisfy him

as an answer.

“I…am your pack member,” I improvised.

Somehow, the moment he showed up, my headache bid goodbye to me. Or maybe it was the

happiness of seeing him so concerned about my well-being that made me feel nice.

“Yes. That you are. So you are supposed to listen to what I say. Not headbutt your way through the

rules and procedures I have established just because you felt so.”

He was simmering with rage and pacing through the room, his hands coiled in fists.

“I was in a very important meeting, so I had given specific instructions to my beta and gamma to keep

an eye on you. But neither seemed to mind that you not just disrespected my word, but actively worked

against it.

“They are not at fault. I asked Matteo about the rules. The trials were held for newly awakened and I

am one.”

Callahan rubbed his temple with his forefinger, snapping at me again,

“Yes, rules that you found a loophole from to show just how you don’t respect me.

“Sorry” I meekly replied.

“You don’t get to always wriggle out with a sorry. No, I am done being lenient with you.”

My eyes went to the badge that was placed on the bedside table. I was supposed to get a reward from

him.

Maybe this was my reward…getting yelled at by him.

He noticed the way my eyes were staring at the badge and he slapped his hands on his thighs.

“Well, now you want your reward. Go ahead, ask for it.”

I tried to force back the tears that were threatening to show up. No way was I letting him get to me so

easily.

My eyes went to him again. He looked tired, sick even. There were fine lines of worry on his forehead

and he looked extremely worked up.

And then my gaze went to the chair where he had banged his knuckles on, a bit too hard.

There was something red on it. Blood. His blood.

But wasn’t he supposed to heal very quickly?