Chapter 6 Haven't We Suffered Enough?

• Laura's POV
• Julian's face twitched, switching between confusion and rage as he tried to form words he could throw at me. I braced myself for the incoming barrage.
• "Are you out of your mind? Did you hit your head hard?" He rolled his finger close to his head to show his point.
• "Julian, please—"
• "No! I refuse. How can you even think of asking for that?" He snapped. " Your father is my enemy. In fact, I will be glad to watch him die slowly and painfully in that room. After all the pain he has caused me, do you think I am stupid enough to let him go?"
• I shook my head, pushing back the tears that threatened to fall.
• "But you said you will accept anything. How is it not possible?" I moved my feet to the edge of the bed and tried to stand up, but my legs were weak.
• "Please, he is all I have left in this world—"
• The words hung in my throat as Julian brought his face rashly close to me.
• "I refuse! Damn it! I don't give a rat shit what happens to your father. Now shut up and make another request now that you have the chance!"
• "Haven't we been punished enough?" I cried out.
• Julian frowned and moved back, watching me with narrowed eyes.
• I channelled force into my legs and I stood up. "Haven't we suffered enough?"
• Hot tears rolled down my cheek but my voice remained steadfastly strong.
• "Isn't the pain that we have received enough... Have you even ever considered it to be a setup?"
• Julian scoffed and folded his hands arrogantly. "What do you know?" He hissed. "Sit down and stop making it harder on yourself."
• "It's true!" I sobbed. "Did you conduct a proper investigation? What if you were wrong? What if I am being punished unjustly?"
• Julian stared at me indifferently as he processed my words in his head.
• "What's so bad about asking for my father? You can't even grant me a request after I've lost so much— I'm paying for something I know nothing about."
• I sat back on the bed, my heart weighing down on me like a ten storey building. My head felt hurt, but I didn't want to show it to him.
• "I'm already miserable, Julian. My life's a mess..." My tone dropped. "I just want my father, that's all."
• Julian stood against the wall and rammed the base of his fist against it repeatedly. He kept at it for five seconds before letting out a sigh.
• "Fine. I will do it. I will let your father have treatment. I will pay for it, just like you want." Julian clenched his jaw.
• I wiped my tears. "Thank you."
• "But, you will stay in the pack until the ceremony. That's the deal. When I am done with you, I don't want to see your father near my pack again. If I catch even a whiff of his scent, your father will be animal feed for my pets."
• With that he stormed out of the room, banging the door shut behind him.
• I closed my eyes, and let my tears finally drop freely down my cheeks.
• A sense of relief fell on me, and I sighed. It was the only good thing that had happened after I had my miscarriage.
• My life would end in less than three months. I didn't have much time left in the world. I just had to make sure my father was back on his feet again; then, I would die without any worry.
• I shivered nervously at the thought of my death. My fingertips felt cold, and I was conscious of my breathing.
• Lung cancer.
• I raised my head to the ceiling and opened my eyes as a thought crossed my mind.
• I should have asked Julian to add a place where we could stay.
• That would be a good assurance that my father had something to live in after I had passed—
• The door suddenly flew open, and I thought Julian was back to torment me. My heart paused as I watched with wide eyes who would step in.
• Rather than Julian's stern face, an attractive young woman, around my age stared back at me. It took me a minute before I recognized her and I opened my mouth in shock.
• "Mack?"
• Mackenzie rushed towards me and hugged me tightly. "Oh my Gosh, what happened Laura? You look very thin—and pale!"
• She drew away and held my shoulder, scanning me. "Have you been eating? How many times did you fall sick after I was gone?"
• Her concern brought tears to my eyes. It was the first time someone was clearly worried about me since everything started.
• Mackenzie was my childhood friend, and we grew very close to each other over the years. She had been away for her studies, and now she was back.
• "Mack, look at you. You've changed!" I exclaimed. I momentarily forgot about my problems. She looked bigger, but she still had her sexy figure. Her dark skin went well with her full hair which she kept in a natural ponytail.
• "So how many are they?" I teased her. It was an old thing we both did. Mackenzie always had at least three boyfriends at a time.
• Mack laughed and rubbed my shoulders. "I left three in college, and two are following me. But I haven't really gotten involved with them, I guess I'm not interested. Let's talk about you, what happened?"
• I shrugged my shoulder and opened my mouth to tell her but as the first sound left my lips, I changed my mind. I didn't want to let her get involved in my problem.
• "It's nothing really, I just skipped a step on the staircase and I fell—"
• Her beautiful brown eyes instantly darkened as she glared at me, stopping my lies immediately.
• "Don't lie to me, I knew you were pregnant. You are doing that thing you always do when you are lying."
• "What thing?" I questioned, pretending to be innocent. Anything to beat around the bush, to stall and look for a perfect lie to throw her way.
• "You rub your left index finger with your right thumb when you are nervous, lying or you are troubled," she said in detail. She raised a brow at me. "You had better talk, I won't move."
• I just couldn't dodge Mackenzie this time but I still didn't want to involve her in this.
• "Mack, it's complicated." I lowered my voice and looked at the door. I couldn't afford to let Julian listen to our conversation.
• But Mack's eyes never left mine, she was determined to see it through to the truth.
• In the end, I sighed. I went ahead and told her everything, minus the part where I had lung cancer.
• Mack held her mouth and suppressed a gasp. "Why—what is wrong with the men of this world?" She questioned.
• I just closed my eyes and listened to her.
• "You have been through a lot. I'm so sorry, you should have called me the moment you got discharged when you had that miscarriage!" Mack exclaimed.
• "I'm sorry," I apologized. "I didn't want to bother you."
• The truth was, I knew how much she valued her education and I didn't want to put her in a position where she had to choose between that and me.
• "I am sorry," I repeated, sniffling back my tears.
• Mack fell silent and wiped a tear that had formed in her eyes. Then she held my hands tight and nodded.
• When she looked at me, she had a fierce expression on her face.
• "Here's what we are going to do, you will come and stay with me," she spoke suddenly.
• "I—I can't. Julian will—"
• Mack cut me off. "Julian won't do shit. My house is on the outskirts of the pack. It's not in his land so he doesn't have any influence there."
• I frowned. "That's the human town. Are you sure we can coexist with them? Humans are a little scared of us."
• "All the better. You bring your father when he gets better. Alright?"
• Mack was like this, I couldn't refuse those intense brown eyes.
• "Alright," I sighed.
• Mack's face lit up. She was relieved I had accepted. "Alright! I can't wait to share everything with you, gosh! I've been alone, ever since you got mated three years ago!"
• I smiled at her excitement, holding on to the hope she provided.
• "Really?" I cocked my brow. "Haven't men, been keeping you company?" I teased her.
• Mack smirked at me. "I told you, I only dabbled. I never took any of them seriously, maybe a night or two and that's all."
• "A night or two?!" I exclaimed.
• "Yeah." Mack looked the other way and played with her hair and we both burst into laughter.
• Her phone suddenly rang, pulling us out of our little bubble. "Hold on, let me pick this up. I will be right back."
• She stepped outside the room and I was alone again, but I didn't feel hopeless like before. With my renewed hope, I developed some courage.
• My life may have been shortened by the sickness and pain that held me captive but maybe the last three months, wouldn't be so miserable.