Chapter 117 The young wolf lives 2

Chapter 117: Chapter 117 The young wolf lives 2

Talia’s POV

Hands grabbed me, lifted me, carried me across the room. I tried to tell them I was fine, that I did not need a bed, that I just needed to rest for a moment.

But no words came out.

My vision went dark, and everything went silent.

I floated in that darkness for a while. It was not like sleeping, it was deeper and heavier than that. I could hear voices around me, muffled and distant, but I could not make out the words.

Someone was holding my hand, and I could hear someone crying. I tried to open my eyes, but my body would not listen. So I waited, and I drifted. And eventually, the light came back.

When I opened my eyes, I was lying on a bed.

The ceiling above me was white, and the room smelled of herbs and blood. Sunlight streamed through a window somewhere to my left, and I could hear voices murmuring in the distance.

I turned my head slowly, and I saw that Piper was beside me.

Her face was uneven and red, and her eyes were wet with tears. She was holding my hand so tight that her knuckles were white.

"Piper?" My voice came out cracked, and barely a whisper.

Piper’s head snapped up. Her eyes went wide, and a sob escaped her throat.

"Talia? Oh, thank the Moon Goddess, you are awake." She broke down in fresh tears.

She squeezed my hand, and I tried to squeeze back, but my fingers barely moved.

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"Only a few minutes," she said. "The healers were rushing to put you on this bed when I came in. I was so scared, Talia. I thought..."

She trailed off and wiped her eyes with her free hand.

"It is okay, Piper. I am alive. But how did you know I was here?" I asked.

Piper shook her head. "There were whispers in the pack house about what you did. They were talking about the rogues, and about how you carried Finn out of the forest yourself." She let out a shaky breath. "Everyone is talking about it, Talia. The warriors saw you fight, and they saw you kill. So the words spread fast to everyone."

She squeezed my hand again. "I ran as soon as I heard."

I tried to sit up, but my body screamed in protest. Pain shot through my back, my arm, and my shoulder, and I fell back against the pillow with a gasp.

"Do not move," Piper said. "The healers said you lost a lot of blood. So you need to rest."

"I am fine," I said.

"You are not fine." Piper’s voice cracked. "You are covered in blood, and you look like you wrestled a mountain lion. But you are alive, and that is what matters."

She grabbed my hand again, and this time I squeezed back.

I looked across the room. Finn was on a bed not far from mine, sleeping. His leg was wrapped in clean white bandages, and his chest was rising and falling in a slow, steady rhythm.

I could barely see him properly, but I knew that he was alive. I closed my eyes and let out a breath.

Then suddenly, the doors to the healers hall burst open, and Kaelen ran inside.

He must have run all the way from the forest, because his chest was heaving, and sweat dripped down his temples, and his boots left dirt tracks on the stone floor.

He did not look at anyone else in the room. Not the healers, and not even the wounded wolves.

His gray eyes were wild, and they were scanning the room, and searching nonstop.

He looked like a man who had lost something precious, and like a man who was afraid. He was afraid for me,and that scared me more than the rogues ever had.

His chest was heaving fast, and his hands were clenched into fists at his sides. His shirt was torn, and there was blood on his arms, but the blood was not his own.

His eyes searched until they found me, and then he moved like nothing else existed.

He crossed the room in three strides and dropped to his knees beside my bed. His hands cupped my face, and his thumbs brushed across my cheeks, and his gray eyes were full of fear.

"Talia," he said. His voice was rough and broken. "What happened?"

I looked at him, and saw that his hands were shaking violently against my skin. I had never seen him shake this much before.

I had never seen Kaelen afraid before. Not like this, and not with his hands shaking and his breath coming in gasps.

"Young wolf Finn," I said. "Is he okay?"

Kaelen did not look at Finn, and he did not look away from my face.

"I do not care about the young wolf right now," he said. "I care about you."

"Answer me please. I can’t see him properly from here," I said softly. "Is he okay?"

His jaw tightened. He glanced over his shoulder at the bed across the room, then back at me.

"He is alive," he said. "Thanks to you."

I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath.

I was alive, Finn was alive, and that was enough.