Chapter 148

[Evelyn’s POV]

Cold.

That was the only thing I could process. I was cold. Freezing...Hollow.

I felt as though I were a porcelain vase that suffered a deep, shattering crack in the base, causing me to lose everything I had inside. I was drained. Weak.

Worst of all I kept slipping in and out of consciousness. It had become a vicious cycle. I’d wake up breathless and gasping for air that never fully reached my lungs, leaving me dizzy and desperate. Then the pain set in, making me all too aware of the injuries that I sustained. And then when the pain became too much. I’d blackout again.

Over and over I was trapped in that ongoing pattern. The only thing that changed was my body’s temperature kept dropping.

At one point, I knew my entire body was vibrating from the internal chill of having suffered such severe blood loss. But there was nothing I could do.

I wasn’t entirely sure how long I’d been stuck on that table. More so, I couldn't understand why I was still alive. There was no telling how much blood I actually lost but it was enough to cause my nervous system to plunge into an icy cold hell.

I was shocked to still have a pulse.

I prayed for the cycle to end. Each time the darkness came, I wished a bit stronger for it to take over completely and seize the pain. But no.

Even when my tormentors weren’t there the torture continued on.

Somewhere amongst the grueling pattern, I heard voices. It hadn’t been the shrilling cackle of Isabella’s voice or Fiona’s snarky remarks. The sound was masculine and deep. I hadn’t dared to hope that it was Alexander.

My capacity for hoping that he would somehow appear in the midst of the chaos had officially run out. I should have known better than to think he would have magically appeared and stopped Fiona before she’d made that first drag of her blade over my skin.

There was no reason why Alexander would have known to come here. It wasn’t as though I had told him where I was going in the first place. As far as I was aware, he and I were still not in a good place with one another.

Yet, I was certain that it had to be him. I sensed his large presence when he crossed the room to get closer. Although I couldn’t feel his touch, I faintly heard his words.

“...Please, forgive me...I’m so sorry, I didn’t come sooner...”

I wished I could have responded in some way to at least let him know that I was still there.

But before I knew it, the pain engulfed my body and it became too much for me to bear. And once again, I was swallowed by darkness.

[Third-Person’s POV]

Alexander was truly on the brink of losing his sanity. There was no definitive answer as to whether or not his anger was what was keeping him stable or if it was going to be one thing that truly pushed him over the edge.

Fucking Fiona.

He should have automatically known that she would have a hand in this awful situation. She’s had it out for Evelyn since the very beginning. Her trying to poison the tea mixture was an indirect way of wanting to hurt Evelyn—but this?!

When it came to conquering other packs, Alexander made it a point to never use violence against women and children. It wasn't his nature to hurt women in general. However, Fiona had made herself an exception to that rule.

She doesn’t deserve prison. She deserves exactly what she did to Evelyn.

In his eyes, she was far worse than Michael. Michael merely stood behind a plan, hoping that it success would come through without the need for getting his hands dirty. Whereas Fiona took Evelyn’s pain and injury into her own, literal, hands and drew blood.

Finding her wasn’t going to be a problem, he figured. The real question was what he was going to do with her once she was brought in...

“Sir,” Oliver spoke up. “I just received a notification that Ian has arrived. I’m going to brief him on what’s happened and bring him down here.”

He silently nodded his head while his focus remained intent on Evelyn’s labored breathing. God only knew how much worse her heart rate dropped since they found her.

The only thing he could do now was hope that Ian would be able to fix the damage that had been done. Oliver thankfully returned swiftly with the doctor in tow. Right as Ian came to the door, the poor doctor was taken aback by the grizzly scene.

“Jesus Christ,” he hissed. “What the hell—”

“Questions later,” Alexander bit out. “I need you to treat her now.”

Ian got to work without waiting another moment. He quietly observed each of the wounds that were visible while setting up his equipment on the nearest side table. He carefully pushed up the hem of her shirt to find massive bruises and small cuts.

“Alexander, remove the cloth from her face,” he instructed.

With a heavy heart, he lifted the blood-soaked rag and braced himself for the heart-clenching gasps that sounded throughout the room.

“Poor girl. Alright, I’m going to start by cleaning around the wound as much as possible. I know she’s still bleeding but I need to ensure that I treat the proper areas on her face.” Ian slipped on a pair of surgical gloves and pulled out a large package of wipes and solution.

With the greatest care, he cleared away the blood stains on Evelyn’s face. “These wounds are incredibly deep, Alexander. She’s going to need both internal stitches and sutures in order to keep them closed. There’s a very likely chance that they’re going to leave scars behind.”

He didn’t care about that. What were a few scars compared to nearly losing her altogether?

“What about a blood transfusion?” he asked.

Ian nodded his head. “Yes, that’s going to be my second endeavor. Once I have her stitched up, she’s going to need a transfusion to help replenish what she’s lost. Do you know what type she is?”

Alexander rattled off the answer without a single second thought. Ian nodded and began working through her internal stitches first. He hadn’t bothered to give her any anesthesia since she had already slipped into a semi-comatose state.

While Ian worked, he began asking about what had happened.

“Right now, it’s only speculation. Evelyn came here to confront her Stepmother and that’s all we can take away from that part.”

“I just don’t know how they managed to get her down here,” Oliver said, feeling puzzled.

Ian nodded his head. “I have a few ideas. Based on the bump on the back of her head, my guess was that someone had snuck up on her from behind and knocked her out.”

Sneaky bitch.

Alexander made himself useful while Ian mended Evelyn’s face by keeping her head still. Once he was done putting in the sutures, Ian grabbed for the gauze in his bag. He delicately wrapped the right side of her face up before attaching the IV line to her inner arm.

He kept a close watch on her vitals to make sure there wasn’t any further drop in her heart rate.

“Now that’s sorted, I need to check the rest of her over for any further injury,” he informed them. “That being said, I need to remove the top half of her clothing.”

Oliver nodded his head and took that as his cue to leave. “Sir, I’m going to reach out to Nina and inform her of our schedule.”