CHAPTER 27

~~~ ISABELLE ~~~

When I woke up, it felt like I had been run over by an overloaded cargo train. My whole body ached, and the mere act of blinking seemed to weaken me. I felt exhausted, yet I couldn't go back to sleep.

Something in me wouldn't allow that, and also the lights.

The fucking lights that were so intense and focused on me. I had to blink several times to focus my vision, but having the lights on gave me an immediate headache. I groaned, wanting to leave my body until the pain eased away. I didn't know if it was possible, but if there were an option to do such a thing, I'd have utilised it. It was too painful to dwell in my own body.

"Fuck…the light," I tried to speak, but my tongue felt like parchment paper against my mouth, sending me into a coughing fit. My lips burned due to being chapped, and suddenly, it felt like I was stuck in the desert.

I felt some commotion nearby, but the coughing overwhelmed me, draining whatever energy I had mustered. My eyes fluttered, my eyelids feeling heavy as exhaustion took over me.

Finally, someone turned off the lights on my face, but the commotion continued. I felt someone fiddling with one of my hands. From the corner of my eye, I saw someone familiar appear, leaning over to look at me. Due to my blurry vision, I couldn't tell who it was, but they had my wolf's attention.

She was waking up from a slumber, too. I could imagine her yawning and stretching in my head, but she didn't seem to be in the same terrible condition as me. However, sensing my pain, she got to work immediately, healing me.

"Water," I whispered, trying to lick my chapped lips, but I tasted blood instead. My lips were bleeding from being chapped.

"Isabelle, what are you saying?" A voice asked, the face getting closer to mine, but still, I couldn't focus my vision.

"Water," I coughed, forcing the words out. Finally, someone seemed to understand me, but I didn't get the water immediately. Instead, I felt the bed moving underneath me until I was somewhat upright.

I sighed when finally someone held a cup against my lips, slowly pouring the water. I instantly felt so relieved that I could've kissed the person giving me water. It made me feel alive again.

"Not more than that! She might choke!" An alarmed voice cautioned on my other side, and the water supply stopped instantly. I wanted to curse out at that person but lacked the energy to speak.

"Isabelle," That voice called out to me again, and for some reason, I could hear the voice clearer this time. My vision started to focus as well.

I blinked a couple more seconds before my vision focused on a face—a familiar one but not the one I wanted to see at that moment.

It was Damian Crown. The man I hated the most. But why was he looking at me wide-eyed? Like he couldn't believe what he was seeing? And where the fuck was I? Why did my mouth feel like someone had poured sand into it? Why did my lips hurt?

Why did my whole body hurt? What that fuck was going on?

I tried to recall, but nothing came to my head. It didn't help that Damian looked at me like I was a miracle. It took me a few seconds to notice the deep slash on his head and the dark circles under his eyes. His cheeks looked hollowed, too. Altogether, he looked worse. It seemed like he had been out in the wild, lost and struggling to survive. This filled my head with even more questions.

"Do you recognise me?" He asked, searching my face desperately.

I scowled at him... or tried to. He waited for my response.

"Yes," I answered, “And I still hate you,” Something flickered in his eyes before he nodded. However, my wolf felt differently about seeing him. She was rather excited at seeing him, wanting to leap at him and beg him to take us. Her behaviour surprised me sometimes. She started acting like a pup out of nowhere.

"She's awake," He informed someone outside my line of vision.

"Where am I, and…how did I get here?" I asked Before he could answer, another face appeared in my semi-blurry vision. A familiar one, but it was the first time I was seeing him in person. I had talked to him before, but seeing him in person was different.

Aiden Crown.

He looked somewhat messy as well, but that didn't matter. My wolf was happy to see him, too. A bit too optimistic. As delighted as she was to see Damian. For some reason, my heart started beating fast as I looked at Aiden. In the background, I heard a beeping sound grow annoyingly rapid, causing more commotion.

I didn't know what was happening to my body. I looked at Damian and then at Aiden and then back at Damian, waiting for someone to tell me that it was a dream.

I must be dreaming because there was no fucking way I had two mates! The Crown brothers! The brothers I was determined to destroy!

My wolf was over the moon to be paired with them.

She couldn't have been happier than I? I was terrified, angry, sad, disappointed, and a lot many other things. Happy wasn't one of them.

What did I do to deserve this?

"Isabelle," Aiden whispered, touching my face.

Sparks immediately lit up, dancing all over my skin before travelling down my body. "Our Isabelle," He spoke, but his words burned my skin.

"No," I whispered, but it was lost between my struggling breaths. It felt like my lungs weren't working, but at the same time, my heart was thrumming inside my chest like a drill.

Before I could say anything more, my eyes fluttered shut, and I was sleeping again.