Chapter 61

Hannah’s POV

“Raya!” I cried again as I ran to the bed; tears flooding over my features.

Sebastian was close behind me.

I touched her bruised face, and she stirred in her sleep. I breathed out relieved that she was alive. Her clothes were completely torn off and the only thing covering her bare body was a thin sheet that lay on the bed.

She opened her eyes and focused on me; tears welling up in her eyes. She must have been in complete shock; from the looks of her, I couldn’t blame her.

“Oh, Raya…” I whispered, my voice quivering as I held back a sob.

She lifted her head slightly to look down at her body and she started trembling violently. I wrapped my arms around her and held her close to her, refusing to let her go. Sebastian stood nearby, silently, allowing us to process what had happened.

“What happened to you?” I whispered to her.

She couldn’t speak. After a little while longer, I turned to Sebastian with tears clouding my vision.

“We need to get her out of here…” I told him.

He nodded and grabbed another, smaller, blanket from a shelf, handing it to me. He turned away so I could wrap her body in the blanket. She allowed me to cover but flinched if I touched a bruised section of her body.

She stayed silent as I jumped off the bed, allowing Sebastian to scoop her into his arms. She flinched, looking frightened, but she allowed him to lift her as her body trembled violently.

We returned to the dorm in silence.

Sebastian waited in the room while I took Raya into the bathroom and started the bath. She sat on the ground as we waited for the water to heat up. She held her legs close to her chest and rested her head on her lap. She remained silent; I had never seen her so broken before and my heart tugged painfully for her.

I removed the blanket that covered her and helped her into the bathroom. She sighed as the warm water soothed her aching body and cleaned off her bruises and other wounds. I sat with her silently for a long while and allowed her to cry until her heart’s content.

“Raya…” I whispered to her; her eyes flashed in my direction, but I knew she wasn’t fully there. “What happened to you? Who did this?”

She looked like she wanted to answer me, but no words came out of her mouth.

“If you told me, maybe we could…”

“No!” Her voice was hard and unfamiliar; the forcefulness of her tone startled me. She didn’t sound like herself. “There’s nothing anyone can do…”

She fell silent again.

I wanted to argue that it wasn’t true and that with Sebastian’s help there was plenty we could do. But it didn’t seem she wanted to talk any longer. I couldn’t blame her.

I left the bathroom to join Sebastian in the dorm while Raya finished with her bath. He allowed me time to silently process my thoughts.

“Whoever did this…” I said, keeping my tone low. I was unable to finish my sentence, I clenched my fists in fury, trying to keep my wolf calm. She wanted to find out who hurt Raya and rip their throat out. She wanted them to suffer for what they did.

“We will find them,” Sebastian assured me, wrapping his arms protectively around me. “I promise.”

“How did you know I was in trouble?” I asked, peering up at him through misty eyes.

“I heard you plead for help,” he told me. “Through the mindlink.”

“I mindlinked you?” I asked, confused.

He nodded slowly.

“Why don’t I remember that?” I asked him with a worried frown.

“Your wolf probably reached out to me on your behalf while you were drunk and frightened,” he answered, sounding slightly annoyed.

“It’s true, it’s part of our mate bond,” Nora confirmed.

This was going to take time to get used to.

I knew it bothered him that I was drunk, and I went to this party without saying anything to him about it. But after everything that had happened, I knew he wasn’t going to scold me about it right now.

Nora stirred and I knew that was the truth; I felt slightly embarrassed to have to call him to rescue me, but if he wasn’t there it would have been a lot worse. Who knows what could have happened if Sebastian didn’t show up and put an end to the attack?

Raya opened the bathroom door; she was dressed in the pajamas I left out for her. Her face was pale, and her eyes were bloodshot from the crying. Her hair was soaking wet and dripping down to her shoulders. She walked like a zombie, and I could only imagine how much pain she was in. She had scrapes, cuts, and bruises all over her body.

Looking at her, Nora grew impatient and even more furious. We wanted more than anything to find the bastard that did this to her and put an end to his miserable life.

She bit onto her bottom lip to keep from sobbing as she made her way over to her bed. She sat down and stared down at her lap; her body still trembled slightly as she remembered the events that had just taken place.

“How are you feeling?” I asked her.

Her gaze lifted and she met my eyes; tears welled up in her eyes.

“Awful,” she admitted, trying to keep her tone from quivering too much, but she still didn’t sound like herself.

Whatever happened to her, I knew it was going to change her and it broke my heart.

“You should get some sleep,” I told her, motioning for her to lie down.

“Would you be able to sleep?” She scoffed. “If someone did this to you...?”

I touched my fingers to my neck, feeling where Sebastian had marked me by force.

“I suppose not,” I said after a long pause. “I wish you would tell me what happened, Raya.”

She was silent as she slipped into her bed; more tears welling up in her eyes as she glanced over at me.

“Not tonight…” she whispered.

She lay down and turned away from me in her bed, facing the opposite side of the room. Her body shook uncontrollably as she allowed herself to sob.

“You should sleep too,” Sebastian told me, keeping his voice low and respectful.

I nodded and lay down as well; just as he was about to stand from my bed, I wrapped my arms around his arm and kept him still.

“Can you stay in here for tonight?” I asked.

He looked worried for a moment like there was something else weighing on his mind. But he nodded and draped his fingers through my hair, caressing the back of his thumb down the side of my face.

“Yeah,” he said softly. “I’ll stay with you for tonight.”

I smiled weakly at him and closed my eyes; I worried I was going to have another nightmare again. But maybe with him nearby, it wouldn’t be as bad.

Sleep overcame me and I allowed myself to relax for the night.

I woke up the next morning and groggily looked around the room; the faint sunlight shined through the curtains on the window. Raya was still fast asleep thankfully.

But my heart sank into my stomach as I realized that Sebastian was gone.