The Alpha's Omega Mate-Chapter 122: The taste of Freedom.

~Dahlia’s POV~

"Amara, stop!" The cry left my lips before I could stop it, and at the sound of my voice, she stopped, turned to face me and smiled softly. But I couldn’t help but gasp at the sight.

She looked nothing like the child I’ve known and raised for as long as I could remember. Her eyes glowed intensely, her hair shining like the sight of a lightning bolt across a stormy sky. Bright and sharp.

My breath hitched, my body trembling as I stared at her in shock. I do not know for how long I watched her, or why I couldn’t bring myself to speak, all I knew was that I was stunned, my heart racing like I’d just run a race.

However, I was snapped out of my reverie when I noticed the man behind moving slowly. He was limping as if in pain, but his dark beady eyes were on Amara.

The sight made my heart hammer frantically. It made me shake with terror barely concealed. I waved my hands above my head, uncaring that I was still naked and that I was now feeling quite dizzy. All my attention was on Amara.

I needed to keep her safe...

"Hey you!" I called out desperately to the young man whose head immediately whipped up in my direction. He gasped in surprise, his eyes widening when he saw me watching, "why don’t you take on someone your size?" I asked him lightly, but he didn’t try to come closer.

He scoffed. "You’re not my size, you lunatic!"

Something about his words made me chuckle slightly. I rolled my eyes at him whilst gesturing to Amara to move out of the way. Unsurprisingly, she did and seizing the opportunity, I jumped at the man, grabbing the collars of his robe as I glared straight into his eyes.

His eyes widened, his throat bobbed. Gurgling sounds slipped past his lips as he looked up at me with teary eyes, and then he croaked out; "Go to hell."

"After you."

I didn’t let go of him until he became as hard as stone. Until his ivory skin was ashen and rock hard. His eyes were bloodshot, staring into nothingness and some droplets of blood seeped through his nostrils and ears.

Satisfied, I let out an exhale and turned around to face Amara only to freeze when I saw her face contorted into a look of pain. She was sprawled on the floor in a fatal position and had a large gash on her tiny left shoulder.

The wolf responsible for her cut was standing a few meters away. It was the red one from earlier, and now, even though it seemed to be limping, it still bared its teeth at us ferociously. And as if on cue, it lunged at Amara.

"No!" The scares tore out from the back of my throat and in red hot rage plus a tinge of confusion, I threw myself at it.

Raw pain sliced at my face when it dug its claws into my skin, but it didn’t stop there. It lunged again and again, gnawing at my flesh, ripping out chunks of me the more it attacked. I closed my eyes briefly but I was getting too tired, too weak. This past month has been a rollercoaster of events for me.

Something buzzed beneath my skin, it wasn’t the pain nor my rage. It was something else, something dark. I clawed at it desperately, forcefully gripping onto it as if for dear life, and then I snapped.

My hands elongated into paws with talon-like claws, my face was nothing but muzzle and fangs. My heavy jaw clamped on the wolf’s hindlimb and it whimpered, thrashing as it struggled to get out of my hold, but I didn’t let go.

When I was sure I had done significant damage to the leg, I moved to its spine and bit down hard. I pulled until a snapping sound was heard and the bone, now nothing but crushed tissues forcefully ripped out of its body.

The wolf fell to the floor with a hard thump and I sighed as I too dropped ungraciously. I was weak now from all the exertion— too weak— but despite this, I still managed to crawl to my daughter.

She was still bent in a fatal position, her eyes squeezed shut as she struggled to fight the tears in her eyes. I smiled softly at her before tapping her arms gently, I whispered;

"Baby, show me where it hurts."

Amara’s eyes snapped open at my voice, her green eyes shiny with barely concealed excitement despite the blood on her dress. My eyes darted to her injured shoulder and without a word, I pulled down the neckline of the dress, gasping when I noticed that she was almost fully healed.

"Mommy?"

Again, I smiled at her, watery this time and pulled her into a hug despite the way my body shook violently. "I’m sorry I got you into this," I whispered against her hair, kissing the silky strands and letting the tears flow freely down my face.

"I almost thought I’d lost you." My voice came again in hoarse whispers. "Mommy is sorry for bringing you here."

"It wasn’t your fault." She said with conviction. "Mommy didn’t know those men were there."

"I should’ve checked. I wasn’t paying attention." I argued but she simply shook her head.

She pulled away from me and I almost protested at the immediate lack of warmth I felt. I noticed the way her eyes trailed down my body, not going below my chest. She looked back at my face, a worried expression in her eyes.

She whispered; "You’re hurt."

"I know." I answered quickly, but Faye wouldn’t stop looking at me that way, I added; "Don’t worry, I’ll heal quickly."

And then she nodded.

But goddess, I didn’t heal quickly. I wasn’t even healing at all.

Slowly, I picked up my dress from the floor and painstakingly put it on. My body ached tremendously with every force I exerted on my body. I shook violently with every step I took. A loud cough suddenly wracked my body and I froze when blood sprung out of my mouth, mixed with my spittle.

Deciding that we needed shelter, I slowly helped myself and Amara into the cave and after checking to see that we were safe— and alone, I opened the cloth bag and almost said a prayer to the gods when I saw the things it contained.

There was indeed some fruits, vegetables, bread and roasted meat. And there was water. While Amara helped herself to an orange, I drank some water, but I unfortunately still wasn’t feeling any better.

My injuries still weren’t healing.

Something was definitely wrong with me.

My eyes soon began to droop but I forced myself to remain awake. Carefully, I served Amara a reasonable portion of food and after picking some carrots for myself, I tied the bag back up and shoved it into a corner of the cave.

Amara looked up at me worriedly; "Mommy, are you okay?" She asked and I smiled, nodding. "But you’re only eating carrots."

I heaved and suddenly a feeling of pain slammed into my body, making me double over. "I am fine," I lied through gritted teeth. "I am just not hungry."

Amara seemed not to believe me but she did not push it, and after a while of staring at me intently, she finally looked away. "Okay."

Again, my eyes ran up her body and when it landed on her bloody neckline, I asked; "Let me see your injured shoulder."

Her head snapped to face me and with wide eyes, she carefully did as told. When I noticed that her injuries were now fully healed, I sighed in content, a small smile gracing my lips.

Little mercies, little mercies.

Thank the goddess, she’s fine.

"Can I sleep for a while?" I suddenly asked her just when it began to feel like my body couldn’t take the pain anymore. I was shivering from the cold but hot at the same time, and that was strange, "Will you be scared?"

At the sound of my voice, she turned to face me, and as if a light bulb had suddenly been turned on, she smiled. "I will not be scared!" She announced cheekily. "I will protect you."

Call me stupid but after what I’d witnessed today, I believed her wholeheartedly. I quietly crept into a warmer corner of the cave, threw the only blanket we had at her and whispered; "Cover up before sleeping, okay?"

She didn’t answer but her glowy eyes were all the confirmation I needed. I then turned to face the wall, mostly because I didn’t want her to see the pain on my face, and closed my eyes.

Sleep came relatively too fast. Maybe it was due to the pain in my body or the fight earlier; but I found myself drifting faster than I had expected.

I found myself arriving at lala land even before my back settled on the floor and even before I heard the last words Amara said to me.

That night, I slept; but even though I do not know for how long, it was peaceful. It was quiet.

And I was happy as hell because I had my daughter beside me... and we were finally free.