Chapter 77

Hannah’s POV

“Liam’s alive?” I asked, my breath got caught in my throat as I stared up at Sebastian, shocked.

Did Jack lie to me?

Of course, he lied to me. Why was I surprised by that? He tried to kill me.

“Yes,” Sebastian said, still eyeing me carefully. From the way he was looking at me, I could tell he was confused. “We found him in the riverbed bordering the rogued town. You used to call it your little paradise…”

The riverbed. Of course, he was at the riverbed. That was my mother’s favorite spot. It was the only place the other rogues didn’t go because it was too close to the kingdom. But my mother never feared being in or near the kingdom; she didn’t have anything against the packs or the royal family. Even after my father rejected her and us, she still for some reason loved him. He was her chosen mate from the beginning and her wolf couldn’t let him go, regardless of how hard she tried.

She loved him until her last breath.

That riverbed was the only place we could go that was somewhat near him. Whenever we were in the kingdom, she got a small sense of him. It brought her comfort, but it also brought her so much pain. Knowing that he didn’t want her brought her a lot of pain. The river was also a place we could get away from the rogues for a little while.

It was her little paradise.

“He fell into the river,” Sebastian explained. “He was unconscious when we found him, but I got him breathing again. The ambulance brought him to the hospital, and he’s been stable ever since.”

“Is he awake?” I asked, feeling like I was finally becoming stable myself.

Sebastian nodded once.

“Yes, I can bring him to you if you’d like,” Sebastian offered.

My eyes widened; I was in so much pain from the very thought of my brother dying alone. I thought he was dead; I thought he was gone. My emotions were getting the best of me and I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing down my face. My body was trembling violently as I covered my mouth, trying to keep myself from sobbing loudly.

I didn’t need to answer him for him to know what I wanted. He could sense it. He knew I needed to see my brother.

Without another word, he left the room.

A few moments later, the door opened slightly. I instantly got Liam’s scent and tranquility washed over me. A sigh of relief escaped my lips along with another sob as Liam made his way, awkwardly, into my room.

His eyes were misty and he looked so worried. He stared at me wide-eyed; I could only imagine how I must have looked to him.

He ran toward my bed, a sob escaping his own lips as I grabbed onto my hands and squeezed them tightly.

“Hannah?!” He said, panic rising in his tone. “What happened to you?”

“You’re okay…” I whispered as more tears washed over my features.

“I’m okay…” he repeated. “But you aren’t. What happened?”

“I was just in an accident. I’m okay…” I tried to reassure him through my broken whispers. “I just… I thought I lost you, Liam.”

“I wanted to find mom…” he said softly; I could see the sadness in his eyes and it tugged at my heart.

“I know,” I said to him. “But Liam, mom isn’t somewhere you can just go and visit. She died when we were young and she isn’t coming back. Father lied to you…”

“No, but Hannah…” Liam breathed. “I did see mom.”

I blinked a few times, staring at him.

“You what?” I asked.

“When I was drowning, she was there. She grabbed my hand…”

“No, Liam,” I tried to say. “That was Sebastian.”

“Before he got there; before I fell asleep. Mom was there. She held my hand and told me it was going to be okay. I was so scared, and she made it less scary…” he said; I exhaled, feeling my heart falling into my stomach.

“You saw mom?” I breathed.

He nodded.

“She told me she loved me, and she was never letting go,” he told me. “There was something else she said too.” He met my eyes as he spoke this last part. “She told me to tell you to stop putting the weight of the world on your shoulders. Not every problem needs a solution, and you don’t need to fix everything. You don’t need to be everything to everyone. It’s not your job to protect others. She also said that she loves you very much and misses you daily. But she is never gone from you.”

He did see mom. That’s exactly the kind of thing she would say and that’s exactly what I needed to hear. Tears burned in my eyes again and I hugged my brother tightly, not wanting to let him go. I thought I lost him, and now I have him back; I didn’t want to take this moment for granted.

“Hate to interrupt,” Dr. Davis said as he walked into the room. “But Liam should get some more rest and so should you.”

I pulled apart from my brother with tears still staining my face. I didn’t want to let him go, but Dr. Davis was right. Liam needed to rest, and my entire body was exhausted. We said our goodbyes as he walked out of the room.

“Hannah?”

As Liam walked out of the room, I heard another voice at the doorway; I turned to see Raya standing there with wide and worried eyes.

“Raya…” I breathed in return. I was so happy to see her, and I was happy to see that she was unharmed. Not that I thought for a moment that Arnold would put her in harm’s way, but after everything that’s been going on these last few days, I was worried for her wellbeing as well. “You’re okay…” I breathed.

“I should be saying that to you,” she said, tears welling up in her eyes as she rushed over to my bedside. “You had me so worried. I was so scared that you were going to…” Her voice trailed off, not wanting to say the words “die.”

I couldn’t blame her. I did almost die and it was incredibly scary.

“It’s going to take a lot more than Jack to kill me,” I said, trying to sound reassuring and confident. I looked around behind her, surprised to see that she was alone. “Where’s Arnold?”

“He’s in the waiting room with Sebastian…” she said with uncertainty lingering in her tone. “We are leaving tonight.”

A knot formed in my stomach at her words; she didn’t need to tell me where they were going. I already knew.

“You’re going to Bluemoon.” I said; it wasn’t a question.

…

Sebastian’s POV

“We are leaving tonight for Bluemoon to get that asshole who hurt Raya,” Arnold said, staring out the window of the waiting room.

Raya had gone to see Hannah and Sebastian figured he’d give them some privacy. So, he waited with Arnold.

“What are you planning on doing exactly?” Sebastian asked, keeping his tone even as he stared over at Arnold.

“I can’t let him get away with what he did to her,” Arnold growled; Sebastian knew he was trying hard to keep himself under control. He couldn’t blame him. He nearly lost control of himself on Jack and if Arnold hadn’t interrupted his train of thought, Jack would have been dead.

“Do what you must,” Sebastian told him. “But refrain from killing him.”