The Lycan king-Chapter 17

*Bethany*

I heard slight sniffles coming from Leonora as she laid on her stomach and I checked her back. There were more bruises than last night and I wondered what Jax was subjecting her to. First it was the punishment for entering his room and now it was for sneaking out.

I touched the largest bruise on her back and I heard her groan in pain. I tried touching the other bruises and she had the same reaction. I let go off her and headed to Shirley’s room. I knocked on the door and I heard movements around. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

The door opened. "Yeah, what do you want?" Shirley asked as she adjusted her robe, adjusting the material on her shoulders. I know I was interrupting her time with her husband but Leonora needed help.

"Please, Leonora needs help. Its urgent and she’s trying to act like everything is fine but her body is bruised. Badly bruised." I explained the best way I could, hoping that Shirley would spare me a minute of her time. We had a strict rule here. We do not disturb our superiors after work hours unless it was urgent.

"Okay, let me get ready." She said as she shut the door and I could hear more shuffling around the room. "Sweetheart, I’ll be back shortly." I heard her say and I smiled inwardly. Shirley was among the people that have been blessed by the moon goddess with the perfect partners while some of us, like Leonora and I were stuck with a terrible mate or still waiting. I was still waiting for my mate but it didn’t mean that I wouldn’t flirt here and there.

The door opened and we walked back to my room but Leonora wasn’t on her bed. I walked to the nearest girl and tapped her to get her attention. "Have you seen Leonora?" I asked and she rolled her eyes before turning away. I had interrupted her sleep so I definitely would not be getting any good information out of her. "Please who has seen Leonora or knows where she went to?" I asked everyone in the room.

"She went outside." There were a couple of murmurs but I heard someone shout. I knew where she went to. I walked out of the room with Shirley hot on my steps. As I got to the bother of the woods, I stopped and took a deep breath.

"Are you sure she’ll be here?" Shirley asked and we began walking into the forest. Ever since Noah and Leonora left, I only came here during pack runs and never on my own. I couldn’t bear to think of the fact that I would never get to hang out in the woods alone with them.

I caught a scent of Leonora and we began walking in that direction. I spotted her seated on the floor, naked. "Nora." I called as I walked over to her. It seemed like the bruises had gotten worse. "Were you trying to shift?" I asked but no response from her instead I heard her sniffle. I felt so bad that she was turning into a mess. This is not the Leonora I know. I quickly knelt down beside her and took her in my arms as she started crying out loud. "Let it out. Its Okay. We are here for you." I whispered to her. "I’m here for you."

"I don’t want to stay here anymore. Jax will kill me." She whispered to me and Shirley gave me a look causing me to shake my head. I didn’t want her knowing the full details of Leonora and Jax’s relationship. It would probably make Jax hate her more than he already did. "I can’t shift. I’m too weak." She continued crying.

"You definitely can’t shift with a bruised body. How about we take you back inside and we look at your back. Is that Okay?" Shirley as she knelt down with us. "I’ll talk to Jax. You can’t work tomorrow. You need a break from all-"

"No! He’ll make it worse. Please don’t tell him anything. Please." She begged as she cried harder. Shirley looked at me and I shrugged. I didn’t know what to say to her. It was very evident that this girl I was holding, this girl I called my best friend was broken and it was all because she was mated to Jax. Ugh, I hated the sound of his name or anything remotely close to it.

I made a note in my head to help Leonora in whatever way that I could. I would make sure she finds a way to escape from this pack. If I had known that he was going to treat her harshly, I wouldn’t have gone to find her. I would have stayed back. I would have said something, stopped him from going after her. I thought after spending a few years apart, he would change and treat her better. But it was all an imagination. He was a ruthless evil man and I hated him for it. I hated him for treating his mate like she was nothing. I hated every single thing about him.

But there was nothing I could do. This was his territory and he would kill me for even speak rudely to him. I wondered how Leonora survived for so long.

"Let’s go back inside." Shirley said as she bent down to lift her up. "Get her clothes." I searched around until I found it. Shirley and I proceeded to help her wear the clothes. She winced in pain all throughout the process of putting her clothes on and I felt so bad.

This was all my fault. I wish I hadn’t found her. I wish I could have lied to them and told them she was going to come back. I didn’t know. I didn’t know. I didn’t know Leonora would suffer like this. If I had known I would have done things differently. I would have lied. I would have...