She finally woke up

Thalia's POV:

I was wide awake before my eyes opened. Somehow, I knew that I was laying on a surface. It wasn't the wet grass of the forest, it was soft.

My eyes fluttered open, just in time for me to see someone pull his hands away from my face.

A man!

He had a chiseled jaw and his chestnut hair fell over a part of his face. He seemed shocked to see me awake and he drew back a few inches.

I shut my eyes again, wincing as a sharp pain seared through my head.

My head thumped, but that didn't matter to me.

I was supposed to be focused on where I was. Had I been caught by Thane's men?

I tried to remember the last thing that happened when I attempted to escape from Ember pack.

I had run blindly, into a pack of wolves who pounced on me in attack.

"Don't act like you are asleep" A deep, husky voice floated over to me, causing me to flinch, even with my eyes closed.

A lump formed in my throat.

"I've been waiting for you to get out of coma, and now it has happened, you think I'll let you slip away again?" The voice laced with annoyance asked.

Was I imagining this? I wondered.

No!

I don't think I was. The voice wasn't in my head. It was from...the man who sat besides me on the bed.

I swallowed hard and my eyes slowly fluttered open. I met his gaze on me.

He had ocean blue eyes that seemed to pierce right through my soul, along with his well trimmed beard that outlined his sharp jawline. He was wearing black jeans with a flannel button-up. The sleeves are rolled up, exposing his tanned and very muscular forearms. His eyes watched me take him in for a moment before he cleared his throat.

“Are you dumb?" He shot at me as his lips drew back in a snarl.

My voice was barely above a whisper, "No"

"Oh, I was already assuming that you are. You've been staring at me like a moron for a while now. It was beginning to get suspicious"

I cranked my head to the side, ignoring the stab of pain that I felt as I turned. "Where am I? Are you working with Thane?" I muttered, weakly.

"Thane? Who's that?"

I turned my attention to him, confused. "Did Thane ask you to keep me in here?"

Fear clawed at my chest as I watched his face, waiting for a response.

He bit hard on his lower lips. Then, he stood up from the bed and walked out of the room, leaving me behind.

It didn't make any sense to me, so I simply shut my eyes again and tried to figure out what was happening. The headache at the back of my head had returned.

Why was he surprised when I mentioned Thane's name? Who didn't know Thane? Oh, it would most likely be a person who wasn't from the Ember pack.

It got clearer to me as I realized that my attackers weren't from Thane, after all. Perhaps, they had taken me captive.

The door creaked open and I heard footsteps.

I knew the handsome man was back again, but I kept my eyes closed. I didn't have the energy to question him again. I had to save up my strength in order to strategize how to escape from where I was.

"Are you sure she opened her eyes?" A deep, male voice asked.

"I swear by the moon goddess, She did. She even spoke to me" A familiar voice replied.

"Oh. What did she say?"

"She asked about someone called Thane. She wanted to know if I was working under Thane's instructions"

"That's strange." The other man responded.

I held my breath as a knot formed at the pit of my stomach. I had assumed that there were two other people in the room with me until a different person spoke.

"Alpha Arden, if you are sure that she was awake, then I suggest that we let her be. Her body is still weak and she needs more time to get back to order again."

Alpha Arden?

Was that the name of the man who was by my side earlier?

"Never!" A voice countered, "She must leave now. She can't stay here any longer"

"What?" The voice I assumed to be Arden’s responded, "You can't just send her away. She needs more time to heal.”

"She can heal away from the Steelclaw pack." The response came.

"Asher, please….”

I opened my eyes, "I’ll leave." I said, forcing myself to be heard over the noise of their argument.

All three men whipped their head towards me, and my eyes widened in surprise.

Two of the men where identical, towering far above the other man who was much older.

"You don't have to argue over it." I said, feeling uncomfortable from the weight of their stares on me. "I will leave this place."

One of the identical men strode over to where I was and folded his arms across his broad chest.

"I'm glad you are awake now. News flash, you're not leaving. At least, not until the healer convinces me that you are in good condition."

"No, Arden. Healed or not, she's a threat to our pack. We can't let her stay" The identical man approached the bed and stood beside Arden.

My eyes darted from one man to the other, trying to find a difference in their faces. The only thing that set them apart was the tattoo on the bare arms of the other man.

"Threat?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Arden seemed to have heard me and he cocked an eyebrow at me.

"What's your name, and where are you from?" He asked.

I looked away from his face, and focused on the elderly man who stood behind watching us in silence.

The man beside Arden chuckled, "You see? She doesn't even want to reveal her identity, and you've been looking after her for almost a week! Pathetic."

"Asher, will you fucking shut up?" Arden growled.

I cringed, glancing at him again.

"Who the hell are you and where are you from?" He asked again

"Alia" I mumbled.

"Alia?" Arden and the other man asked me at the same time.

"Thalia. That's my name. I am...no, I was a member of the Ember pack, until I escaped."

Arden's brows drew close, "Why did you escape? Our beta found a group of rogue wolves attacking you a week ago. Where you escaping from them?”

I shook my head. I wasn’t escaping from them, rather I had ran into them.

"Why did you have to escape from your own pack? Did you do anything grievous?"

"You're making things worse by asking this woman irrelevant questions!" Arden's twin said dryly. “Allow me to mind link the guards and have them take her away”

"Let her speak, Alpha Asher" The older man said as he joined them by the bed and smiled broadly at me. "The moon goddess definitely loves you. That explains why she let you live after everything you've experienced in the hands of those rogues"

Tears welled up in my eyes as he spoke. I blinked my eyes, forcing my tears back.

This wasn't a time to show my weakness or try to get pity from these men who clearly didn’t want me here.

I exhaled, "I was no longer needed at the Ember pack, so I had to leave" I refuse to tell them the reason I was casted out.

But I’ll make sure to tell them soon.

For now, I couldn’t beat leaving when I have no one to run to.

I watched as Arden recoiled in confusion.

“No longer needed? What?!”