An Unwavering Promise--Completed

Chapter Seventeen

Alexander's POV

My head was pounding and throbbing. My eyes felt heavy and glued shut. I couldn’t feel my legs, but I knew I had to get up. I had to push myself to gather enough strength to pull myself together. I groaned inwardly, and once my ears stopped ringing, I realized that I had groaned out loud as well.

Opening my eyes, I saw that everything was white. It wasn’t in a ‘oh wow! Look, it snowed!’ kind of way, but more of a ‘this is how the apocalypse starts’ feeling. Debris covered the ground. The ceiling wasn’t intact, and I was looking up at a cloudy sky. I tried to sit up, wincing as pain flared up through my arm. Looking over, I saw that part of a beam was laying on both my right arm and right leg.

“That explains the pain,” I grumbled to myself. “Okay, Alex, get it together. You’ve been through worse.”

No need to lie to yourself. We both understand how dire of a situation this is.

Always coming in clutch with the pep talk, aren’t ya? Thanks for that, Hunter.

I live to serve.

After we survive this, I really gotta separate you and Rae. Her snarkiness is seeping into this conversation, and I don’t have time for that.

I felt Hunter’s mirth and felt grateful for our humor in this dire moment. I didn’t even want to think about where Eleanor was buried in all of this. I hoped she was alright. I had immediately tried to reach out to her through our mindlink, but she was either unconscious or whatever that bastard, Dominic, had given me to block off communication with all other werewolves was still affecting me.

Surveying the beam, I assessed that if I could lift it ever so slightly, I could free my arm pretty easily. It was my leg that was more worrisome, but without mobility, I couldn’t properly see how bad it was. With a quick, half-hearted prayer to the Moon Goddess, I reached over and lifted the beam with all of my available strength. It barely moved, but by ignoring the pain, I yanked my arm out. Hugging my arm to my chest, I pressed down on the bleeding wound that had opened up from freeing it. I ripped a piece of my shirt off and did my best to tie it onto my arm. It would have to do for now. I relied on my quick healing to kick in before I lost too much blood.

I then turned my attention to my leg that was trapped. At this point, I couldn’t even feel my right leg. I didn’t really have the time to ponder over whether that was a positive or negative in this situation. I tested the weight of the beam again, and realized that I couldn’t just wiggle myself out from under it. Frowning to myself, I looked around and tried to see if anyone else was stirring. Nothing. Though, I did hear sirens faintly in the distance.

However, I did spy a metal pipe sticking out of the dusty debris. Stretching my body as far as it could reach before tearing anything too important in my leg, I grabbed onto the pole, barely, and pulled it towards me. Jamming it into the crevice where my leg was stuck, I pushed down as hard as I could. I felt the beam move slightly. I pushed more, and again, it rose a little further. With one last shove, I carefully and slowly brought my leg out from under the beam. I bit my lower lip to keep from yelling out in anguish. Never before had I experienced such agony. I was pretty sure that though I wasn't bleeding from my leg, that it was definitely broken. I tried to stand, wobbled, and fell right back down. Searching for a small, thin piece of wood, I used it and my shirt to make myself a stint. It wasn’t great, but it would have to do for now.

I gently tested out my weight on my leg, and when I didn’t fall, I took a few more steps away from where I had woken up. I had to find other survivors. Someone else had to have survived. Eleanor had to have survived. I couldn’t continue living without her.

Finding a longer, sturdy piece of wood, I decided to use it as a walking stick. I was limping rather severely, and I needed something to help keep me standing.

“Hello? Anyone alive?” I shouted out, hoping for a response.

Silence answered me, and I sighed.

Having no other ideas, I started digging through the first pile of rubble I found. About halfway through, I heard someone groan.

“Hey! Wake up! I got you,” I excitedly said, digging faster.

After another few moments, I uncovered Berty’s plaster dusted face. He blinked warily at me and groaned again.

“Wh-what happened?” he coughed.

Helping him up, I answered, “The building collapsed after an explosion. I don’t know how it happened or how long ago. I heard sirens coming our way, so hopefully we’ll have help soon.”

“Where’s Candy?”

I pursed my lips. “I haven’t found her or anyone else. I only woke up a little bit ago. You’re the first I’ve found.”

“We have to find her!”

“I know. We will. Keep your wits and help me.”

Berty nodded and immediately moved over to another pile. We sifted through a few before we found another face. It was one of the waitresses who worked for Dominic. She looked shocked and was shaking. Berty and I spent the next half hour rifling through the pieces of broken building and mounds of debris. In total, we found 17 other people, Candy being among them. However, some were too badly injured and we lost two of Dominc’s serving staff and one of the attending guests.

The relief was evident on Berty’s face once he saw his beloved, and it filled me with as much jealousy as it did happiness to see them reunited. All I could think about was where my mate could be. There was no way she was dead. She couldn’t go like this.

The firefighters had also arrived and began helping people out. They had to carve out a tunnel from the outside to get to us. After putting out several fires, they then made it a priority to get us out. However, I refused to leave until I found Eleanor. It took two of the firefighters to literally carry me out of the unstable building. They said that with my injuries, I had to get to a hospital immediately. I argued diligently, but ultimately lost out to them. I didn’t want to leave, and urgently explained to them that Eleanor was still in there. They promised to do their best, but as the ambulance doors shut, I was left with a feeling of dread. Never before had I left her like this–without knowing she was going to be alright. It felt wrong, and Hunter was pissed at me for letting them take me out of the building. Yet, I couldn’t ignore the fact that I knew Eleanor would want me to seek medical attention.

Hailey and Xavier met me at the hospital. They walked with me all the way until the doors shut. I was going into surgery. They promised that she would be alright. They promised that when I woke up, Eleanor would be with him.

I laid back against the operating table calmly, numbly. The doctor greeted me, said he was surprised that I was so relaxed. He briefly explained what he was going to do and said that I was in good hands. He said I had nothing to worry about. He said that when I woke up, my arm and leg would be as good as new. Little did he know that my werewolf blood would make sure of that and not his skill. I kept my mouth shut, though. He seemed like the kind of guy that relied on his ego to continue on with life.

He then told me to take deep breaths and count back from ten. I made it to seven before the darkness swallowed me whole.

“Hey there,” a soothing voice said, bringing me out of my sleep. “How are you feeling?”

I blinked my eyes open, my vision blurry. I saw a slight figure before me and a gorgeous smile greeted me.

“You look good. The doctor said your surgery was incredible. He’s going to write a paper about it or something. He was amazed because it seemed like your body was knitting itself back together. He wants to study you, but I waved him off for now. Little does he know. His poor, tiny brain wouldn’t be able to compute just how incredible you are,” she said.

A warm hand grazed against my cheek, and I sank into it. The hand was soft, light, and perfect. It was her. My love. My everything.

“I’m so happy to see you smiling. I was worried. But, I guess it was for nothing. They’re saying that it was a bomb. Can you believe that? The news is going crazy and trying to interview everyone they can find from the party. If only they knew what really happened.”

“Wh–what happened?” I croaked.

The words burned in my throat.

“Oh shhh,” she mothered. “Don’t talk yet. Here. Drink some water.”

A cold, wetness touched my lips moments later. I drank thirstily. It was then that I saw her. The blond hair, the height, the shirt that showed a little too much cleavage.

“Brit?” I asked harshly. “Where’s Eleanor?”

“Oh,” she feigned sadness. “Why, Alexi, she’s dead.”