Chapter 49

LEO

Hours later and I’d finally gotten Ella back to one of my camps.

It was small and made up of only three or four tents strung up between the trees, but it was hidden within the dense foliage of the forest and had a dozen or so of my men circling and patrolling.

As we descended farther into the night, the constant chirp of crickets and occasional cries of distant birds and animals emerged, but the air was still as thick and hot as ever.

Ella sat silently on a rock as I crouched below her, tending to her wounds. There were bruises all over her body, which I could do little about.

Her lip was cut, her neck covered in Andrea’s hickeys, and her legs were all scratched and scraped from running through the jungle. Most notably, a nasty gash stretched across her knee.

I rinsed away the blood and cleaned the cut with antiseptic. It couldn’t have been particularly comfortable, but she didn’t even wince. It was as if she was numb to pain.

Every now and then, I would look up to her, but she just stared straight ahead into the jungle.

Either she was so far into her own thoughts that she didn’t notice, or she couldn’t bear the thought of a conversation and chose to ignore me.

“Do you know why Luciano helped us?” I asked finally as I pressed a large bandage onto her knee.

She looked down and met my eyes.

“Don’t trust him” was all she said before she looked back up and continued to stare into vacant space.

“Why?” I asked. “Whose side is he on?”

She paused again. “His own.”

There was silence for another few minutes. I remained crouched in front of her, completely lost for what to do. I had no idea how to comfort her.

I gently took my hands and pressed them against my lips. “It won’t feel like this forever.”

She nodded meekly.

“Are we safe here?” she asked, looking around.

I hesitated. “Yes.”

“Why do I feel like that isn’t true?” she replied, seeing right through me.

“We leave this godforsaken country at first light,” I said, dodging the question. “Then we’ll get home, and everything will be all right.”

“But he is still out there.” She pointed out. “And he won’t give up.”

I nodded. “I know.”

I then squeezed her hands again. “You should get some sleep.”

Out of nowhere, a tear suddenly fell out of her eye and landed on my hand. She quickly wiped it away and turned away as if she didn’t want me to see her cry.

“Ella,” I said. “Look at me, please.”

She slowly turned back to me, her watery blue eyes beginning to flood.

“You’re not alone anymore,” I said. “I don’t know what I can do to make you feel less pain but know that I would do anything.”

“Just stay with me...please,” she replied.

“Of course,” I said, shuffling closer. “I’m not going anywhere.”

A slight smile twitched at her lips before she slipped off the rock and into my lap. I lay down, wrapping my arms around her so that her head rested on my chest and lay still.

She felt skinny and frail in my arms. I could feel the sharp bones of her back through her shirt, and she was so small and light that I could hardly feel her weight on me.

Earlier, she had refused to eat and only reluctantly had a small sip of water at my request.

I lay awake for hours. I didn’t want to let myself sleep in case she woke up and needed me, so I just stared up at the tree branches, holding her close to me, cursing Andrea Martinez.

“Alpha,” a voice said.

“Sssh,” I hissed. “She’s sleeping.”

It was Luca. He was commanding a camp a few miles away, or that’s what I’d told him to do at least.

I sat up, taking care not to disturb Ella, and faced him.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” I said. “Who’s in charge of camp forty-seven?”

“I had to come and see her,” he replied.

I nodded. Ella and Luca were inseparable. I could understand why he wanted to see her after she’d been gone for months.

“How is she?” he asked.

“Been better,” I replied, brushing a strand of hair off her face. “Physically she’s weak and injured, mentally she’s broken. And unfortunately, I don’t think she has even realized the worst part yet.”

“The worst part?” Luca asked.

I looked down to check that she was still sound asleep.

“She’s pregnant,” I said quietly as I looked up to him. “I can sense it.”

There was silence as the information sunk into his head. I’d realized a few hours previously, but seeing how much grief she was already experiencing, it felt like she wouldn’t have coped with any more.

It boiled my blood to know she was carrying his child, but the last thing she needed to see was me angry. And so I withstood the fury as much as possible, cursing Andrea Martinez to the pits of hell from inside my head.

Luca let out a short, furious breath. “Have we decided who gets to kill that piece of shit yet? Because I want in.”

“I’m starting to think death would be too merciful,” I muttered through gritted teeth.

“Are you going to tell her?” he asked.

“No,” I said firmly. “And you won’t either. Understand?”

Luca nodded. “Yes, Alpha. But she should know, shouldn’t she?”

“You haven’t seen her eyes, Luca. The way she looks so empty and vacant. It feels almost like I have her body back, but she’s no longer inhabiting it. One more thing and we could lose her forever.”

I felt a tear run down my cheek, which I just let sit for a few moments before I wiped it away.

“She can’t know. Not yet.”

He nodded again. “Let her know I came by.”

“Of course,” I replied, and he disappeared back into the jungle.

At around 3 a.m., she woke in a sweating, startled mess, screaming and sobbing.

“I have to go back,” she said, sitting up. “I have to go back. I have to go back.”

“Ella, what’s wrong? Go back where?” I asked, holding her as she tried to get to her feet.

“Back to Andrea,” she replied, trying to get out of my hands. “If I don’t, he’ll kill us all. I can’t let him hurt you.”

She was frantic, and she fought as much as her weak body would allow.

“Ella, calm down,” I said.

Her noise was beginning to wake the men in the camp and undoubtedly could be heard by anyone at least a few miles away.

“You have to let me go!” she exclaimed. “Please!”

She then let out a howl, and I was forced to slam my hand over her mouth. Her eyes filled with panic at my force, and I felt terrible for it, but I couldn’t risk being ambushed by Andrea’s men.

“Ells,” I hushed, kissing her head as I tried to comfort her.

But she only continued to scream, this time muffled by my hand but still just as passionately, and she wasn’t showing any signs of calming down.

“Please,” I begged. “You’ve just had a bad dream, and now you need to be quiet.”

She shook her head. “No. All I need is to go back to Andrea. I need him to find me.”

She then screamed again.

“Rico,” I said, summoning one of the men who had just woken up and was standing nearby. “Get a tranquilizer. Now.”

“Yes, Alpha.” He nodded and disappeared.

Ella had heard my command and only panicked more. All that meant was I had to hold her down more forcefully, which distressed her even more, and the cycle got more and more vicious.

“Leo, no,” she begged. “Don’t do that.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, grabbing her wrists, stopping her from pushing me away. “I’m so sorry, Ells.”

“Then don’t do it!”

“Rico, hurry up!” I shouted as Ella began to scream at the top of her lungs.

A few seconds later, Rico returned holding a syringe, which he quickly passed to me.

“Help me keep her still,” I ordered, and he crouched beside her, catching her flailing arms.

At the touch of a stranger and the sight of the syringe, she shrieked only more, and it wrenched my heart that it had to come to this, but as soon as I’d tapped the air bubbles out, I didn’t hesitate to inject her with the needle.

I felt her relax in my arms and become limp and floppy almost instantly as all noise ceased.

I let out a sigh and clenched my jaw as I just held her in my arms. She was quiet and still but far from at peace.

“Thank you,” I said to the soldier. “Go now.”

He nodded and left me alone with her. Her hands were freezing, so I took off my jacket and wrapped it around her before holding her tight and kissing her forehead.

Just one more thing she wasn’t going to forgive me for.