The Gift chronicles

Chapter 9

Book 2 Chapter 9

"AGHHHH!" I screamed as I awoke. Whoever says that they come out of comas calmly is a goddamn

liar, because all I felt was fear when I woke up from mine.

Adrenaline raced through my body as I frantically looked around the room, trying to understand where I

was and what happened.

A figure quickly raced into the room and in my confusion, I began screaming again until a hand was

placed over my mouth. I concentrated hard to understand who the figure was, and when I felt the

sparks, I knew.

"Thane," I said in relief. Well, actually, tried to say. He still had his hand over my mouth which made it

sort of hard to enunciate.

"If I take my hand off your mouth will you scream again?" His mouth quirked to the side, even though I

could sense his anxiety.

I shook my head, and he started talking again. "What happened?" He asked, stroking my cheek with

his hand. Subconsciously, I leaned into his hand.

My confusion deepened. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

Thane's eyebrows furrowed. "You don't remember where you've been or what happened to you?"

My expression mirrored his confused visage as I tried to recall the last events I remembered. "The last

thing I remember was... I was training with... with Clover... I ran out... Attacked the guard... Sorry,

guard..." My voice trailed off.

"Is that all you remember?" Thane's distressed look deepened as shadows overtook his face.

I concentrated harder, even though the action made my head spin. "Oh, God. I'm going to yak." I

leaned over the bed.

"Yak? What the fuck does that me—" Thane began to ask, but my vomit answered his question before I

could.

My body shook as I continued to throw up over the side of the bed. To Thane's credit, he didn't run out

of the room gagging. Instead, he held my hair back as my body rejected everything in it. Mostly fluids.

When liquid stopped coming out, I dry heaved for a couple more minutes as I tried to get my head to

stop spinning like I was on a merry—go—round on crack.

"It means to throw up," I answered, wiping my mouth when I was done.

Thane looked bewildered, either being very impressed with the word, or very disturbed by all of the

vomiting. Probably the latter, if I had to guess.

"What the hell was that?" He asked, concern etched all over this face. It was bizarre to see any

emotion on his typically stoic expression.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. Shouldn't you know the answer to that since I'm the one who's been

unconscious for who knows how long?"

Thane frowned. "You were missing for about five hours. My men and I searched every inch of the

woods on our territory, and just when I was about to go into uncharted territory to look for you, my Beta,

Leo, said that when he was leaving the pack house, you were on the front porch."

"I was on the porch..." I repeated slowly, trying to see if my memory would resurface.

Thane's frown deepened. "You don't remember how you got there? Onyx, if you are trying to scare me

to get back at me for not telling you about the Luna challenge, this prank is going too far—"

I interrupted him angrily. "Are you accusing me of faking this? I get freaking kidnapped by a g—".

Suddenly, a flashback overtook my mind. All I saw were piercing green eyes looking down at me as the

man pulled me in closer.

"Onyx, what do you remember? Who took you?" Thane shook my shoulders as he tried to pull me out

of the memory.

I shook my head, trying to clear my mind. "Umm, a man. He hit me with a rock," Thane growled at this.

"His eyes were so green... He picked me up, said that this was going to hurt... but I wouldn't remember

it..." My voice trailed off as I couldn't remember anything that came after.

Thane's voice was low and hoarse when he spoke after a moment of silence. "Did he hurt you?"

I furrowed my brows. "Besides the initial rock hitting, I don't think so. I remember feeling... safe with

him..." I left out that I was extremely attracted to the man, not wanting to make Thane more angry.

"The pack doctor checked you for wounds. Besides dried blood on your head, he couldn't find any

signs of injury," Thane sounded stoic as usual, even though I could see his inner turmoil in his eyes.

"Why did he kidnap me, if he didn't hurt me and planned on returning me a few hours later?" I

whispered in confusion. "Did... Did he rape me?" I choked out.

Thane's expression turned into a combination of shock and horror. "Oh, sweet little mate," Thane

quickly climbed into the bed next to me and held my shaking frame in his chest. "No, he didn't. I would

have been able to feel through the mate bond if someone had done that to you."

I exhaled in relief, trying to calm myself. "Then why would he kidnap me? It doesn't make any sense."

Thane frowned and stroked my matted hair, and sighed. "The truth is, I don't really know. I would have

expected someone who kidnapped you to have made demands and threatened to kill you if I didn't

acquiesce. The fact that the individual responsible just returned you after a few hours leads me to

believe that it may have been a warning..."

"A warning? For what?" I asked, confused.

Thane sighed. "It's a long story, Onyx." I just stared at him expectantly, and he continued after a

moment. "In summary, a bad man really hurt the Blood Alpha's mate, and I've been searching for him

ever since. He's very powerful and has a lot of connections, so I'm sure this incident has something to

do with him."

I digested his words. "But why are you looking for the man instead of the Blood Alpha? I have a hard

time believing that the Blood Alpha wouldn't want to get revenge for his mate himself."

"He made a very powerful oath not to, in order to save his mate. Luckily, I made no such oath, so I

offered to look for him myself," Thane explained, still stroking my hair.

"Is that why you were looking in the woods when you found me?" I asked, and Thane nodded. We sat

in silence for a few minutes, and I'm sure he was struggling to find words, just as I was. Until I

remembered.

"Why didn't you tell me about the challenge for the Luna position?" My tone was harsh and accusatory.

Thane sighed. "I know, I'm sorry little one, I should have told you sooner. I was worried you would be

overwhelmed with that knowledge and panic."

I snorted. "Oh, you think? Gee, I wonder why I would be worried about someone challenging me just so

they could bone you for life."

Thane chuckled at my word choice, but his eyes soon saddened. "In hindsight, it would have been

more prudent to tell you initially. I just knew it would be hard for you to transition into pack life, and I

didn't want to make it more difficult for you. I promise I planned on telling you later today."

I considered his words, and even though I was still upset he didn't tell me, I could see why he didn't.

"That girl. Brenna. She's going to challenge me. She confronted me about it and told me as much."

"Yes," Thane confirmed simply.

"Is she going to win?" I whispered, choking up. I didn't want to die, but I also didn't want to give up

Thane.

Thane winced, and paused before answering, making my stomach turn. "She is a strong warrior... She

has also been waiting for me to find my mate, knowing that she would challenge her. That doesn't

mean you can't win, it just means that you will have to train harder than you ever have before. I can't

guarantee any outcome though..."

I appreciated his honesty, despite the fact that his remarks made my blood go cold. "Why you? Why is

she so obsessed with you? It seemed... personal when she confronted me about it."

Thane hesitated, looking away from me. "Onyx, please. We can talk about this once you've recovered

from your attack. You've gone through enough today, let's keep things light for now, okay?"

I may have grown up fairly sheltered, but I was no idiot. "I see. You have been boning her."

Thane searched my eyes, trying to decipher my emotions. Luckily for him, he made no attempt to lie.

"Yes. Before meeting you, Brenna and I had intercourse several times. She didn't mean anything more

to me than a sexual outlet, and she knew this."

I laughed, catching Thane off guard. "That's just great. So because you couldn't keep it in your pants, I

now have to fight for the right to keep you as my mate, and more importantly, for my life," My words

dripped in venom. I rarely ever got this angry, but when I did, my inner darkness couldn't be contained.

"Onyx I—" Thane started, but I was done listening. I had heard enough out of him for today.

"Stop. Save it for someone who cares what you have to say. Maybe Brenna?" I snidely responded,

throwing the covers off me and untangling myself from Thane's arms.

"Where are you going? There's guards posted all around the Pack House. You won't be able to leave,"

Thane warned.

"I'm going to see my grandmother. She won't believe this shit," I muttered.

Thane looked confused for a moment, until he remembered. "Right, your grandmother. The tree. I'll

take you there. You don't know where it is," Thane pointed out.

I sighed, knowing he was right. "Fine, but just don't talk to me, please."

Thane looked hurt, but nodded anyways.

I got dressed and put on a pair of sneakers to ready myself to go see my Grandma. We left the pack

house, and Thane was right. There were five wolves posted around the outside of the pack house. That

seemed slightly like overkill, but maybe it wasn't, considering whoever kidnapped me did so on Thane's

territory and dropped me off on Thane's doorstep undetected.

After walking for only a few minutes, we reached the cherry tree. "Hi, Grandma," I mumbled, touching

the bark affectionately.

"Does she respond?" Thane asked. He didn't sound sarcastic, but rather genuinely curious.

"No," I snorted. "It's a tree, Thane. Don't be ridiculous."

I sat down with my back against the tree, and closed my eyes. I always felt most at peace when I was

surrounded my nature, and a feeling of warmth always emulated from the cherry tree.

Thane sat about two feet away from me, and remained quiet while I meditated. When I was calmed

enough to talk to him, I did.

"You know," I spoke softly, catching him off guard, as he probably thought I would ignore him for the

rest of the night. "I was so excited to find my mate. My grandmother always told me about how magical

and surreal it feels to be with them. How it feels like your soul is complete."

"Nyx, I know that you're upset. Hell, I would be upset if you had sex with someone before meeting me.

But it doesn't change anything between us. Sex is just sex sometimes, and that's all it was between

Brenna and I. I'm still your mate, whether you like it or not," Thane concluded, and by the time he was

done, I was already shaking in anger again. So much for the meditation.

"But because of your actions, she is now challenging me for you. I didn't ask for this. I didn't even ever

want to be Luna. All I wanted was to meet my mate, continue living in the woods, and have a simple

life. Maybe have some pups down the road. Instead, I'm thrown into this clusterfuck where now I have

to kill some girl in order just to keep my life and my mate! I didn't want this!" I cried out in anger, and I

felt the need to take my anger out on Thane.

My eyes blackened. I stood and lifted my arms, withdrawing the energy from the grass underneath me.

Except it didn't work.

Confused, I tried to take the energy from a nearby pine tree.

That didn't work either.

"No, no, no," I whispered, falling to my knees and clutching my head.

"Onyx," Thane rushed over to me, bending down next to me. "What's going on?" Panic seeped through

his voice.

I sobbed so hard my entire body was convulsing. "It's gone. My gift is gone."

At least now we knew why I had been taken.