Kidnapped By My True Mate

CHAPTER 5

AYLA CROSS

I am still crying when Damon pushes me into the car.

He starts driving too fast, in a way that scares me.

“Where are you taking me?” I ask, and this time he doesn’t look at me.

“To our new home.”

I look at him with disgust.

“Damon, stop the car. Now.”

He laughs without humor.

“No more running, Ayla. This time it will be different.”

He speeds up even more, then suddenly tenses when he looks in the rearview mirror and sees something.

“D*mn it… he never gives up.”

“What?”

I look outside and my eyes widen when I see a werewolf running toward us on the road.

It’s Cael.

“He’s coming…” I whisper, tears filling my eyes.

Damon tightens his grip on the steering wheel.

“I won’t let him get close to you again.”

“What are you going to do?” I ask, already knowing I won’t like the answer.

Damon exhales and then says:

“I changed my mind.”

He grabs a gun.

“No!” I scream, leaning toward him. “Damon, don’t do this!”

He raises the gun.

“He’s not taking you from me.”

I grab his arm, trying to stop him.

“You’re going to kill us!” I scream desperately.

“Let go of me!” he growls.

The steering wheel jerks. The tires skid. The car almost leaves the road, but he barely regains control.

I turn my head again and see Cael running faster, howling as he runs.

He’s too close.

I look at the door, knowing it’s stupid, but I open it and try to jump out — Damon grabs me and yanks me back inside.

“Have you lost your mind?!”

“Let me go!”

“Watch your true mate die, Ayla.”

“No…”

“Damon, no! Please! Please!”

I scream when Damon fires the gun, and Cael lets out a loud howl before collapsing motionless on the road.

“No!”

I cry uncontrollably, and then the car loses control and everything happens too fast.

I scream as my head hits hard and the car spins several times.

Then everything goes silent.

I open my eyes with difficulty, my head throbbing, something warm running down my forehead.

I groan, trying to move, but I’m trapped.

I look to the side and see that Damon isn’t moving.

This is my chance.

I try to get out of the car again and scream when pain explodes in my stomach.

I look down and my eyes widen when I see a piece of glass inside me.

“No… not now,” I cry desperately.

With effort, I manage to unbuckle myself.

I fall to the floor of the car, gasping.

Cael needs me.

I crawl out of the car and see Cael lying on the road in the distance.

“Cael… Cael, please…”

It hurts too much, but I keep crawling, feeling more blood spill from me.

I’m almost there when I hear a groan behind me.

“…Ayla…”

My body freezes.

I slowly turn my head and see Damon waking up.

“Where do you think you’re going, Ayla?” he asks in pain, trying to get out of the car, but he’s trapped too.

I look at Cael.

Then at Damon.

“Come on, Ayla…” I whisper to myself, forcing myself to move faster.

I reach Cael and my heart nearly stops when I see the gunshot wound in his chest.

“No… no, no, no… Cael, please… look at me.”

I tremble as I touch his face, feeling his cold skin. He’s losing so much blood.

“Open your eyes. You promised… you promised you’d never give up on me,” I whisper, crying.

“Cael!” I scream.

“Please!” I beg, pressing my hands against his chest.

He’s in human form now.

I freeze when I feel him move slightly and try to open his eyes.

“A… Ayla…”

I shake my head, crying.

“Don’t talk… don’t talk now, please. Save your strength.”

He looks at me and raises a hand to touch my face.

“I said I would never let you go again…” he whispers, and I cry harder.

“I’m here. I’m here. You’re not going anywhere. Not now.”

“Hazel… she… she looks like you…”

“She needs you. She needs her father. I need you.”

He grows weaker, his eyes almost closing again.

“No… please… stay with me… stay awake, please…”

“Get away from him, Ayla!”

I look up to see Damon, who managed to get out of the car and is stumbling toward us.

“Move away now! He’s already dead!” he shouts.

“Look at me, please. Don’t close your eyes,” I beg, kissing Cael’s face.

“I’m starting to remember us… you can’t leave me now, please…”

Damon keeps shouting, but I ignore him and focus on saving my mate.

I close my eyes, and then I remember an old werewolf legend.

When two true mates are bonded… when one of them is dying… the bite can save them.

Not always.

But sometimes.

“Ayla!” Damon yells.

“This has to work. I’m bringing you back, I promise…” I whisper, kissing Cael’s lips.

I lean over him, feeling my tears fall onto his face, and bite his shoulder with all the strength I have left.

Please. Please, let this work. Don’t take him from me.

I pull back, crying, and see that nothing has changed.

“No…”

“It won’t work because he’s not your mate anymore. I am!” Damon shouts.

He’s too close now, and before he can do anything, I grab the gun from the ground and point it at him.

I scream as pain explodes through my body while I stand.

“Stay back,” I shout. “Don’t come any closer.”

Damon stops.

He looks at the gun… then at me.

And smiles.

“You’d never do it,” he says. “You need me if you want to live. Look at you.”

I feel warm blood running down my stomach. My vision blurs, but I don’t lower the gun.

“I don’t need you,” I cry. “I never did.”

He takes a step forward.

“You won’t shoot.”

“I will!”

“You won’t,” he says, and then Damon starts running toward me.

“Stay away from my family!” I scream.

And I pull the trigger.

Damon falls to the ground screaming, his hand flying to his body.

I can’t stay standing anymore.

I drop the gun and collapse beside Cael.

I feel myself dying with every passing second.

“Don’t go,” I whisper. “Stay with me.”

I try to keep my eyes open, but I can’t anymore.

I blink and hold Cael’s hand in mine.

When I close my eyes, the first thing I see is us laughing in front of a college building… and then I remember our first kiss…

“I remember now… I remember us.”

When I open my eyes again, I’m no longer dying on that road.

I turn my head and see that I’m in a hospital room, and somehow I always end up here.

I look at my body and see many bandages.

My eyes fill with tears when I remember what happened.

“Cael…”

I sit up in the bed, trying to get out, ignoring the pain in my body, when the door opens and nurses rush toward me.

“Cael! Cael!”

“Calm down, ma’am, please, calm down,” one of them says, trying to get closer.

“Don’t touch me!” I scream, backing away. “Where is he? Where is Cael?!”

They try to hold me when I start getting out of bed.

“Please, you need to calm down,” the other insists, holding my arms carefully but firmly.

“Let me go! I need to see him! He was bleeding, he…”

“He’s going to die because of me…”

I almost collapse, but they hold me before that happens.

“Please, calm down. You’re in a hospital. You’re safe.”

“No! I’m not safe! Damon did this! He did it! He—”

I keep crying when the door opens again and a doctor walks in.

“She needs to calm down now.”

One of the nurses starts preparing something while the other keeps holding me.

“I can’t stay here. I need to see my daughter. He can come back and—”

The doctor approaches me slowly, shining a light into my eyes.

“Ma’am, I need you to breathe with me, alright?”

“No! Where is he?! Where is my husband?!”

The doctor exchanges a quick look with the nurses.

“Prepare the sedative.”

I shake my head quickly.

“No! Don’t give me anything! Please, I need to stay awake, I need to get out of here now…”

I feel dizzy when the needle pierces my arm, and seconds later everything starts spinning, and before I can fall, they lay me back on the bed.

“No… please… no…”

“It’s going to be okay. You went through a severe trauma,” the doctor says, approaching me.

Tears start falling from my eyes again.

“He was shot… my husband… I need to know if he’s okay…”

My consciousness tries to fade, but I fight against the sleep.

“Ayla, you were found after a serious car accident. You were unconscious, with multiple injuries.”

“It wasn’t an accident,” I murmur. “It was him… Damon…”

He frowns.

“Who?”

“Damon… he did this… he…”

“You suffered some fractures. But none with permanent damage. You were very lucky.”

“And my husband, where is he?” I ask, and he sighs before looking at the nurses, who leave the room quickly.

The doctor hesitates.

“You were found with two men who were severely injured.”

“And…?”

“One of them didn’t make it.”

I frown, trying to understand whether it was Damon or Cael who is still alive.

“No… he can’t be dead…”

“And the other one is alive, but in critical condition.”

“Who? What’s his name?”

The doctor hesitates again.

“Now is not the time. You’re still recovering and it would be better if—”

I grab the doctor’s arm tightly, tears soaking my face.

“I need to know, please. Who is alive?”

He takes a deep breath.

“You need to rest. Your condition—”

“Please, I won’t calm down until you tell me the name, please.”

He sighs and finally nods, but then looks at the papers in his hands and frowns as if he needs to say something even more important first.

“Before that, I need to tell you something else. The impact of the accident was very strong. You almost died. But, surprisingly… the baby was not affected.”

I frown, wiping my eyes quickly.

“Baby…?” I repeat, confused.

He looks at me carefully and then nods.

“I believe you didn’t know yet.”

“What are you talking about, doctor?” I ask, afraid of the answer.

My heart feels like it might stop at any moment.

“I ordered several tests for your diagnosis, and in your blood test there is a very recent pregnancy. I would say only a few weeks.”

“No… That… that’s not possible…”

I can’t breathe anymore.

“I… I can’t be…”

“You can. And you are. You’re pregnant, and the baby is fine.”

More tears fill my eyes, and then my hand goes to my stomach, unable to believe what I’m hearing.

I still don’t know if my real husband is alive, and now I’m pregnant.

My eyes widen when I remember the night with Cael a few weeks ago after the fire, but then I’m not sure if something happened between me and Damon before that.

"Who is the father of this baby?" I whisper, looking down at my belly.

I start crying uncontrollably, hugging my own body when the doctor leaves the room.

I think I’m in shock and can’t accept that I’m going to have another child and I don’t know who the father is.

I don’t know how long I cry, but when the door opens again, I force a smile when I see Hazel running toward me.

“Mommy!”

I cry as I hug her tightly, even though it hurts.

She’s okay, and that’s all that matters.

“God, I missed you so much, my love…” I whisper, kissing her forehead.

Hazel looks at me worriedly and touches the bandage on my forehead.

“You’re hurt, mommy…”

I smile more and nod my head.

“I promise I’m going to be okay, sweetheart.”

“I love you, mommy. Promise you’ll never leave me again?”

That sentence hits me like a hard punch.

I nod over and over again.

“Yes, Hazel. I promise I’ll never leave you again. I love you more than anything in this world…”

I hug her again and close my eyes, wishing everything would be okay, but nothing is.

I lose track of time as we stay like that on the bed.

I don’t want to let her go. I’m afraid Damon will walk through that door and try to take her from me again.

Hazel lies against my shoulder, and I start humming a children’s song, and then I realize that somehow I managed to remember that song.

I just keep looking at her, noticing the resemblance between her and Cael.

I flinch when the door opens, but I sigh when I see a nurse looking at me with a small smile.

“Is everything okay?” I ask fearfully, and she nods.

“Your husband woke up and is calling for you desperately. Do you want to see him? The patient is in room 58.”

She leaves, leaving me alone with Hazel.

I blink a few times before seeing someone from the pack come in to stay with her.

I stand up with difficulty and manage to leave the room.

Tears soak my face and my heart beats harder and harder in my chest.

I walk down the hallway and stop when I feel intense pain, and a nurse rushes to my side to help me keep walking.

I’m shaking when I get close to room 58.

I’m afraid Damon is in there and that Cael is dead.

She opens the door for me, and I walk in slowly, finding no one inside—until I hear footsteps and groans of pain coming from the bathroom.

I freeze when I see someone opening the door and stepping out.

I feel like I’m about to faint.

I hold onto the wall tightly before placing my other hand over my belly, remembering the baby.

Please let it be Cael in here and not Damon.

Let it be my true mate.

“Ayla…”