Chapter 153: Chapter 153; What are you?
Alina’s POV
"This is the place," I whispered to myself, staring at the heavy oak door. My hands were shaking as I reached out and pressed the doorbell. No response. I waited for a beat, the panic inside me swelling, before jamming my finger against the button again. Finally, the locks clicked, and the door swung open.
"Alina? What the hell are you doing here?" Zaheer asked, his brow furrowing with deep confusion.
"I am here because I need your help," I rushed out, my voice cracking.
"Come in," he said, stepping aside. I nodded, quickly slipping into the foyer as he closed and locked the door behind me.
"I don’t have time to explain everything right now," I said, the words tumbling out of my mouth in a frantic rush. "But what you need to know is that Lucian’s life is in serious danger. He’s been poisoned, and Ilya is the only one who would have the antidote to save him. So please... where is Ilya?" I begged, desperation bleeding into every syllable.
A sharp, jagged laugh burst through the silence from the hallway behind me.
I spun around to see Ilya leaning against the wall. She looked different from the last time I had seen her—her skin was incredibly pale, almost translucent.
"You really are shameless, Alina," she said, her voice dripping with sharp irritation as she glared at me. "You actually have the nerve to come into my house and ask me for help after what you did to me? It’s good that Lucian is dying. Honestly, it’s about time he pays for his crimes."
"Ilya, please! You know Lucian didn’t do anything to you, and—"
"Get out of my house," she interrupted harshly, her tone hardening. "I won’t help you, Alina. So save yourself the embarrassment and leave right now."
Tears blurred my vision as I turned back to Zaheer, reaching out to grab his sleeve. "Zaheer, please talk to her! You’re her husband, right? She’ll listen to you. Please... Lucian can’t die. He can’t."
Zaheer looked down at me, a flash of pity crossing his features before his expression smoothed out. "Alina, I would love to help you, but I can’t force Ilya to do anything she doesn’t want to do."
Hearing those words felt like my heart was violently shattering into a thousand pieces. A heavy weight pressed down on my chest, making it physically difficult to breathe. "Please don’t say that," I sobbed, the tears cascading down my cheeks. "I helped you get your wife back. Please, just help me save Lucian!"
"Alina, get out!" Ilya snarled. Before I could protest, she grabbed my arm and forcefully dragged me toward the front entrance.
"Ilya, please listen to me! You can’t do this! Lucian can’t die, please!" I screamed, but she ignored my cries and threw me out onto the porch.
"Stay out, and don’t ever come back here," she spat.
Slam.
The door shut forcefully in my face. My knees completely gave out, and I collapsed onto the cold concrete. What was I supposed to do now? There was no one else in the world who could create a cure for this kind of poison except for her.
"Ilya, please let me in!" I begged, pulling myself up to bang repeatedly against the wood. "Ilya, please! Just this once! I swear I won’t ever ask you for anything else again! Please!"
I banged on the door until my hands throbbed, crying so hard that my knuckles eventually split open, leaving smears of blood on the white paint. Exhausted and broken, I slid down until my back was pressed against the door, pulling my knees to my chest. I let the tears flow freely, staring blindly into the darkness until absolute exhaustion dragged me under.
When I finally opened my eyes, I wasn’t on the cold porch anymore. I was lying on a soft bed inside an unfamiliar, dimly lit room. I jolted awake, my heart hammering against my ribs as my eyes frantically wandered around the space.
"Where am I?" I muttered to myself.
"I brought you in here," Ilya’s voice cut through the quiet, cold and stern.
I snapped my head toward the corner of the room where she stood. She crossed her arms, looking at me with pure irritation. "Are you completely insane? You slept outside on my porch for an entire day. What the hell do you want our neighbors to think of me? Please just leave and don’t cause any more trouble."
My brain struggled to process her words. An entire day? I had been unconscious for a whole day while Lucian was wasting away? Panic flared in my chest like a wildfire.
"Ilya, wait!" I cried, throwing the covers off and scrambling out of the bed. I threw myself at her feet, looking up at her with raw desperation. "Please save Lucian. Just this once, and I swear I will be indebted to you for the rest of my life. I will do whatever you want me to do. I promise."
A slow, calculating smirk played on Ilya’s lips as she looked down at me. "You’ll do whatever I want?"
"Yes, anything. I answered instantly."
"Hmm... now that is tempting," she murmured, her tone turning deeply serious as her smirk faded. She leaned down slightly, her eyes boring into mine. "Okay, then. I will help you—but only if you can answer one question for me."
"Okay," I breathed, clutching at the hope. "What is it?"
"What are you?" she asked.
My breath hitched in my throat, my mind going completely blank. "What?!"
"You know what you’re made of, Alina," she said in a serious tone.
"I don’t understand what you mean," I replied.
"Don’t pretend you don’t. I remember what happened and what you did to me. That wasn’t ordinary, and I want to know the truth. So, what are you, Alina?" she asked, her voice firm.
"I’m an omega who recently got her wolf, so what else is there to know about me? That I’m an orphan?" I asked.
"Don’t play dumb with me, Alina. I need to know what you really are. It might be the only way I can help Lucian," she said.
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