Twenty

"No," I said, trying to pull away even though I could barely stand. "I don't want to see him, I don’t care about him. I want out of this place before—"

My voice caught as another wave of burning pain rolled through me, starting at my neck and spreading down through my chest. I swallowed hard, tasting copper.

"Before someone else decides I'm a chew toy."

"You want to live?" Nathan's voice was harder now, urgent. "Then you need to see Aiden. Now."

"No!!! I told you I heal fast." I pressed my hand harder against my neck, feeling the blood still seeping through. "This isn't my first werewolf bite, it can't kill me and I have a fast healing ability…you saw my arm before, look now it was completely healed—"

At this point I was going to say anything to just to get away, I even sounded confident in telling him about my healing ability one I didn't ever understand fully.

Crazy right? I just wanted to get the hell out of here, I was scared of whatever hunt game they were planning.

I didn't want to die, I wasn't ready yet… scratch that I don't think I'll ever be.

Unfortunately for me Nathan shook his head, and the look on his face made my blood run colder than it already was.

"You don't get it. Nathan’s bite is deadly and lethal, his bite literally has no cure."

The words didn't make sense. "What?... How is that possible? It's just a bite."

Nathan grabbed my other arm gently but firmly, helping me stand. We started walking—he was half-carrying me—while Josh and the other guard fell into step behind us at a distance.

"Josh's bite is different," Nathan said quietly as we moved through the corridors. "Years ago, we found him being used as a weapon. A pack up north was experimenting on wolves, trying to create something that could eliminate any supernatural threat. They used a witch to combine venom from seven of the most powerful packs and injected it into him as a serum."

The burning feeling in my veins suddenly made horrible sense. This wasn't just a bite.

It was venom.

Multiple venoms.

Working together.

"Everyone he's bitten since then..." Nathan paused, his voice going quieter. "None of them survived past twenty-four hours. Your healing ability won't save you from this."

Twenty-four hours.

The words echoed in my head.

I had twenty-four hours to live.

"There has to be a cure," I said, but my voice sounded distant to my own ears, detached. "Something—anything—"

"If there is, only Aiden knows about it." Nathan's grip on my arm tightened, steadying me as I stumbled. "And he's not going to be happy about this."

I turned my head to look back at Josh, who was following at a distance. And I saw it—that same look from before. Eyes roaming over my body. That disgusting grin on his face as he licked his lips.

Even now. Even after sentencing me to death.

He was still looking at me like prey.

'You bastard!' I thought, my hands clenching into fists so tight my nails drew blood from my palms. My veins were popping out on my arms from the rage and the venom both. I really wanted to break all his bones one by one. Rip out his heart from his body slowly, make him feel every second of pain.

God, I wished I could. He had literally sentenced me to death, and there was no remorse in his eyes. Just lust and satisfaction.

Nathan pushed open a huge door and walked inside. I followed closely behind him, stumbling slightly, and stopped when I saw Aiden walking toward us.

He looked different than before—less threatening, almost relaxed. He was smiling as he approached Nathan.

"What took you so long?" Aiden asked casually, that dangerous smile playing at his lips.

"Aiden, we have a problem," Nathan said in the calmest voice possible, like he was trying very hard not to set off a bomb.

Hearing this, Aiden's smile vanished immediately. His expression went cold and extremely hard.

The air in the whole room suddenly dropped and became tense from Aiden’s presence.