Seven hours left

Chapter 9

Vivian's POV

"Lady Vivian!" My name, attached to a title I could no longer claim anymore, rang out again in the darkness. I looked up to the person that said it.

She was an orphan that I personally picked myself and chose her for this important mission that changed her life forever, putting her in great favor with the Voss alpha family. And in those days when I rotted away in that cell, she had not come to see me, not even once.

She abandoned me just like everyone else. And for that, I had no regret for what I was about to do. Or, more precisely, what I had already done.

There were three of them, and I had put a dagger through the neck of one of the men that was holding Jacob. He choked and instinctively let go, his hands scrambling to pull out the dagger. The other warrior looked at me with alarm, he was also personally chosen. Also another betrayer to be rid of.

The woman, Stacy, I think was her name, looked genuinely hurt. If only she knew what she did, or rather didn't do, in my previous life.

"Lady Vivian... this man, he is one of the Lycan princes. If we get rid of him, we will be getting rid of one of the major pillars of the Lycan pack," she explained it slowly to me as if I was confused. But I wasn't, I was seeing more clearly than I ever have.

"I know exactly who he is. That's why I'm doing this," I said, my voice sharp as the blade that I had pushed into the other man's neck.

The other one, who was not bleeding out, held Jacob tighter, but he had begun to recover without a second dosage swimming in his system. He pushed off the other warrior holding him, then he grabbed him and snapped his leg like it was a dried-up stick. The woman began to panic, she looked between me and Jacob.

"My lady, what is going on? There is no way you would actually betray the pack, right? Tell me that this is nothing more than... sometimes a big misunderstanding... please..."

I shook my head.

"There is no misunderstanding here. I have cut all ties with the Voss pack. Now, I am allied with the Lycans."

I felt Jacob stiffen as if taken aback by what I said, too. He didn't say anything, but he maintained his stance, ready for a fight if it came to it.

"My lady, you are the most loyal person that I know. How would you ever betray the pack? I can't believe it..." She looked at Jacob with daggers in her eyes. "Is he the one? My lady, is he threatening you? She held up the second dosage that she intended to inject him with. "Just let me inject him with this and he'll fall down in a second. You won't have to worry about him anymore."

I shook my head. There was no point in explaining to her, but she understood enough. At least as much as I wanted her to. Now she could spend the last moments of her life wondering why she had been betrayed, tracing back her past actions, conflict tearing apart her mind about what choices she should have made differently, about what path she should have chosen at crossroads.

Jacob had already taken care of the other warrior, and the one I stabbed with a silver dagger was as good as dead already, leaving just her with the speed I knew her for and one of the reasons why I recommended her to Draven. If I let her go now, she might be able to reach out to the warriors I had escaped back at the motel. Frankly, a problem I didn't want to deal with.

I looked at Jacob. The fact that he was still standing on his feet really proved that in his veins flowed Lycan royalty, but he was going to collapse eventually. Before then, I would have to do something about Stacy, or whatever her name was. She looked at me and, being the perceptive person that she was, read the intent in my eyes as if they were written out on plain paper.

"My lady, please don't do this... Lady Vivian... I didn't think that you would be so affected by what the Alpha and Beta did..." I gave no response to any of this, just kept walking closer with a retrieved silver dagger in hand. "...That woman is the real imposter, not you! I will support you through everything, I promise!"

Now this made me freeze up. She had said the exact same thing before in my previous life and, like the fool I had been then, I believed every single thing, swallowing it as easily as water. When she saw I wasn't changing my mind, she looked down at the dose in her hand and then back at me.

"My lady, I don't know why you have turned your back on us, but these Lycans? They will never accept you."

I chuckled darkly. "I'll be taking my chances then."

Seeing that she could not convince me or outrun a still-standing Jacob, and with a look of better resolve in her eyes, she took the needle and injected it into herself. The effect was immediate on a normal Omega wolf. She buckled over and folded like a paper clip, her muscles failing her. Jacob looked at her, the horror clear in his eyes.

I came back to him.

"Don't worry, I know the antidote for you, but we'll have to hurry before it is too late or else I won't be able to help you anymore." He looked at me, and I could see that he was weighing his options, but time was not on my side. I grabbed his arm, my fingers going as far as they could, I sunk them in a bit so that he was forced to look at me. "Jacob, let's go."

I thought he would refuse, but perhaps it was the drug in his system. He gave in and I started dragging him away to the car I had parked not far from the gas station.

"How... how much longer do I have left?"

"Seven hours..." I said, knowing that getting to Lycan territory would take five. "You have seven hours left.”