Louisa's POV
When I woke up, I was lying in my bed.
Will was dozing off at the edge of my bed. It seemed to be midday outside.
The faint daylight was cut into different stripes before hitting the floor.
I struggled to sit up when Colt walked into the room.
"Zowie guacamole!" He exclaimed quietly, "You're finally awake! You've been unconscious for three days and I almost wanted to call the vet Amir to come and check you out! Vincent stopped me and said you were just trying to recover yourself."
He pulled a pillow behind my back to support me. Then, he held Will up and tugged him into the bed next to the furnace.
"He refused to sleep and tried to look after you. He's a really lovely boy. Vincent told him to roll you from time to time to avoid Cyan's nose. I don't know what it is but it sounds absurd."
"He means cyanosis." I rubbed my eyes and whispered.
My throat was burning and my head was about to explode.
I couldn't believe that I had slept for three days.
"Can I have some water?" I asked and licked my chapped lips.
"Right. Water," Colt said.
He rushed out of the room and stormed back with a bowl of water in his hands.
Then, he sat on my bed and put the bowl next to my mouth.
I gorged it down so quickly that I started to cough.
"Take it easy, Lisa," Colt gently patted my back.
"Where's Darren? Is he awake?" I took a long deep breath and asked.
Colt looked worried and said, "He's still asleep. He woke up once and it was really scary. The imprint was still there. So Vincent put him to sleep again."
"Is Vincent out?" I asked.
"He said he had to sort something out, so he left early this morning. Are you hungry? Can I cook you anything?"
I looked at the dark circles around his eyes and said, "Don't worry about me, Colt. Thank you for looking after me and Darren these days. I'm... I'm recovered now. Why don't you go take a nap and let me cook you something? I cured some meat a few days ago and I guess it's ready now. I can smoke it to make us some ham."
"I'll go to sleep. But before that, I've got something to show you." Colt winked at me and walked me out of the room.
Then, I saw it.
A giant watermill rolling next to the cottage. Mr. Salamander was lodging on the rungs as it was rotating.
"Yay! Lisa's awake! Look at me, Lisa! I'm on a Ferris Wheel!" Mr. Salanmaner said.
I waved at him and Ms. Salamander crawled to me.
"You're still alive. That's great. My brother was so stupid. He was crying all these days and saying that you're dead." She rolled her eyes happily and said.
"Sis... Can you do me a favor and help me out of the wheel? I want to lick Lisa. I get stuck." Mr. Salamander begged for help.
"No. I won't do that. You've been a pain in the ass all these days and that's your punishment." Ms. Salamander said.
"You're an amazing craftsman, Colt!" I looked at him and said.
Colt looked a bit blushed and said, "The salamanders helped a lot. Do you know what they are talking about?"
I sneakered and said, "Mr. Salamander wants to get down. He's got stuck. Can you get him down?"
"Uh..." Colt looked a bit puzzled.
Mr. Salamander got a bit nervous.
"Uh? What kind of answer is that?! Let me down!" He hissed.
"I forgot to build a track to offload the passengers from the wheel. My bad." Colt said.
"What does he mean?!" Mr. Salamander asked desperately.
Mrs. Salamander said, "He means that you'll never get off the wheel and you'll be the first and last salamander who gets trapped in a watermill!"
"No!!! Let me down!!!" Mr. Salamander screamed.
"Uh oh... He doesn't look happy." Colt looked at Mr. Salamander and said.
"Please tell me there's a way to let him down..." I said.
"If there's a will, there's a way! Don't worry. Let me figure it out. Meanwhile, you can go take a look at Darren. If you don't mind, you can roll him for me." Colt said and pushed me into the shed.
I saw Darren lying in bed. Colt had been taking very good care of him these days. It looked as if he was just taking a nap.
Despite this, my heart was throbbing when I saw him.
"What's up, she-wolf?" I heard a voice in my mind.
It's Alpha Lucas' voice.
"Get out of my mind. I don't want to talk to you," I said.
"Don't you want poor warlock to wake up?" he asked.
"I don't want to hear your voice!" I shook my head and covered my ears.
Lucas said, "If I tell you a way to stop the imprint and persuade Finn to transfer the warlock's imprint to you, don't you want to listen?"
"I don't believe a word of what you say and..."
"Finn's with me now. If you don't want to save the warlock's life, at least you should listen to me for Finn's sake." Lucas said.
I was dreaded.
Did he mean that he had kidnapped Finn?! How's that possible?!
Finn was the most powerful force of nature I had ever seen in my life.
There was no way for Lucas to get hold of him! "You're just bluffing. I don't believe you! Stay away from me and..."
"Li...sa..." I heard Finn's hoarse voice.
"Finn?!" I covered my mouth so I didn't scream out.
"Finn?! Where are you?! Come back, big paw! Come back to me! I miss you and I need you..."
I couldn't continue my speech in my mind.
Tears started to pour down my cheeks, falling on Darren's face. All the grievance and sadness I'd been through while Finn's away gripped me by my throat.
I placed my face on Darren's chest, holding his body, and started to whimper.
I wanted to kill Lucas and Finn was my last straw of hope.
But now even Finn was taken away from me.
I lost even before the battle started.
"Don't hurt Finn. What do you want from me?" I asked Lucas.
"You're my mate, she-wolf. I only want one thing from you," Lucas said with a light chuckle, "I want you to crawl back to me like a bitch and beg me to fuck you. And when I'm done with you, I want you to crawl on the floor and beg me for more. You were born for me, she-wolf. That's the only reason for your existence. You know it. It's in your instinct. Be a good girl and come back to me now."