Chapter 17: Chapter 17

With blurry vision and unstable legs, I wobbled towards him, hoping he would still be alive.

“George,” I whispered and gently rolled him onto his back. I checked his pulse and listened for his breathing, a sigh of relief escaping me. At least he was still alive.

I caressed his cheek and called his name, hoping he would wake up, but he didn’t react. I scanned the room, trying to spot my phone somewhere to call an ambulance, but when I found it, I hesitated. How should I explain this? The coffee table was split in half, the wall had a crack from George’s body crashing into it, and the ceiling had black spots from the explosion. I couldn’t come up with one reasonable explanation for why this happened.

I was still trying to come up with a believable story when the front door slammed open. My heart pounded in my chest as I got up, ready to protect George from anyone who barged in here like this. My brain didn’t quite comprehend that the only danger around here was probably me.

When Gunnar rushed into the room, I still couldn’t relax. My body tensed, and I had this urge to shoo him out of the house.

He slowly approached me, his eyes not leaving mine. “What happened here? Are you okay?”

We stared at each other for a few seconds before the situation slowly settled in again. George was hurt. He needed help. I did this.

“I don’t know. We argued, and it got a bit heated and suddenly the pendant exploded and-,” I stumbled over my own words. “I did this! I hurt him. Do you think he will make it?”

Gunnar came closer and pulled me into a hug. “It’s okay, calm down. Don’t worry about him. He seems fine, just knocked out.”

I nodded, gripping his shirt as if it was the only thing that would keep me grounded, and he let me. “I think he needs help. What if he hurt his head?”

“I will call over my beta. He should already be back from swimming,” he said, and released me, not dropping his gaze off of me until he was sure I would stand on my own.

He took out his phone and stepped away, whispering to the person on the other line. I dropped to my knees next to George again and held his hand.

Blood slowly ran down the side of his head. I sniffled, but I refused to cry. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have a pity party. I watched his chest rise and fall, scared if I looked away for even a second, he would stop breathing.

“He will be here in a second,” Gunnar said, lowering to one knee next to me.

“I’m sorry,” I said, glancing at him briefly to see his eyebrows pulled together. “You already said something might happen to someone who isn’t involved, and I didn’t believe you.”

He let out a puff of air. “You didn’t do it on purpose. It’s as you said, we already expected something to happen.”

I huffed. “So you really thought I was dangerous?”

“Stop this, Amalia. You already admitted I was right. There is no need to make it sound like I didn’t trust you or expected the worst of you. Whatever is going on with you is far over our heads. For now, we have to take care of him before other humans find out what happened here.”

I nodded, biting my tongue. I didn’t want to sound so bitter and make it all around me. Yet, I couldn’t help it. If I had apologized and stopped being so stubborn, then maybe I wouldn’t have hurt him like this. I shouldn’t have gotten angry at him.

Gunnar placed a hand on my shoulder, snatching me out of my thoughts. “Are you hurt?”

“I crashed into the coffee table and hit my head, but besides that, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

I turned to him. “No, I’m not sure! But at least I’m still conscious.”

He dropped his hand and nodded. “Your little human is stronger than you think he is. Don’t worry so much.”

“I’m here,” an unknown voice said from behind us, stopping me from escalating the situation further.

I stumbled to my feet, feeling dizzy, but I wanted to make more space for him to take care of George. I held onto the kitchen counter to not lose my balance and looked at the person who arrived.

He was a tall and lean man with ash-blonde hair and clear blue eyes. He had that specific vibe around him only a strong wolf would have, but Gunnar did say it was one of his betas.

“Cedric, thank you for coming here so quickly,” Gunnar said.

Cedric looked around the room before his eyes landed on George. “What happened here?”

“From what I gathered, her magical pendant acted up again, probably for the last time. Seems to be destroyed now,” Gunnar said, picking up a piece of the pendant that landed on the kitchen counter.

“George crashed into the wall there, and he hasn’t been responsive since,” I added urgently, hoping someone would finally look at him.

Cedric’s eyes fell on me, and he smiled. “I will check on him shortly. What about you? Are you hurt?”

I clenched my hands into fists, annoyed that no one seemed to care about George. “I crashed into the table, but I’m fine.”

“And what about that burn on your chest?” He asked with an arched brow.

I glanced down at my chest, seeing a relatively large red burn mark on my skin. I pulled the cardigan closer around me. “It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt.”

But it did. Now that I saw the damage, it hurt like hell. The skin was already sensitive from the other night when it burned into my skin, but this time it felt like someone pressed a hot iron on my chest.

“Okay, I will give you an ointment for it later. It should take care of it relatively fast. Besides that, I believe you have a concussion, so make sure to rest properly.”

I wanted to scream at him to leave me alone, but I pressed my lips together. These people are the only people who can help me, and I can’t bite their hands off. Not yet anyway.

He finally turned to George and took his time to check on him. I held my breath until he rose to his feet again.

“Is he okay?”

Cedric nodded. “Yes.”

“But why isn’t he waking up then? Shouldn’t we bring him to the hospital?”

“If Cedric says he is okay, then he is okay,” Gunnar said beside me, still eyeing that damn piece of the pendant in his hand.

I glared at him. “I’m sure he is a brilliant doctor, but shouldn’t he perform a more thorough check-up than this? He crashed into a wall!”

At this point, I doubted if I should trust these two. Maybe they didn’t care about the life of a mere human.

“I know you don’t trust us, but you can believe what Cedric says. He has an excellent instinct when it comes to injuries and health. It’s his wolf trait. George is fine.”

I slowly nodded. I couldn’t doubt a wolf trait, even if I didn’t believe these two. Cedric smiled at me with warm eyes, not looking the least concerned. His wolf trait is incredibly valuable. I bet many packs would be interested in having him around. Yet, he chose to be with Gunnar. That must mean something, one way or another.

“He might be knocked out because he drank a significant amount of alcohol before coming here,” Cedric said, but that only wanted me to sink into the ground.

“We will bring him outside and call the staff. When they arrive, we will tell him we saw him lying there. It might not be the best explanation, but pushing it on alcohol might be the easiest solution to it all,” Gunnar said.

I gasped. “No! That would be embarrassing for him and would ruin his reputation.”

He sighed. “Amalia, don’t step in the way all the time. We are trying to fix this mess. I understand it might not be the most honorable way of fixing it, but I doubt whatever went down here wasn’t honorable, either.”

I felt so small and helpless, trying to think of something better than that, but my mind remained blank. “I never wanted this to happen.”

“I’m sure you didn’t, but it still happened. So, let us fix this and lie low. We can only deal with one mess at a time.”

It was as if he poured a cold bucket of water over my head, realizing that he thought I would be a danger now. I proved I couldn’t be trusted. “Okay.”

Cedric handed me a small tube. “Take this ointment and rub it on the burned skin carefully. It’s all-natural. My wife grew the herbs herself. Wolves react a lot better to natural medicine, and your burn should be gone in no time.”

I forced a smile. “Thank you.”

He patted my shoulder. “Don’t worry about the big alpha wolf. He is just concerned.”

I nodded. “He isn’t too wrong. Look at what happened because of me.”

“He will wake up after he gets a good amount of sleep, I promise you.”

I watched them pick George up from the floor, his arms dangling by his sides. My heart clenched painfully, seeing him brought outside like this.

I watched them carry him down the path to the road before they disappeared out of my sight. I closed the door and leaned my head against the wood. What am I supposed to do now? How can I fix this?