CHAPTER SIX:
❝︎Out Of Time❞︎

HE WAS AT A LOSS FOR WORDS. Out of everything that he thought she would say, those words hadn't once crossed his mind. He was frozen, his mouth opening and closing like that of a fish out of water. He didn't know what to say. All he could do was stay kneeled there beside of Alaska, her eyes still meeting his almost as if she was silently begging for him to help her. He sat down, placing his back against the brick wall as they sat there for another moment in silence.

"I don't think I heard you correctly," he decided. "Did you say that you were. . . dead?"

"I think." She corrected.

"Why do you think that, exactly?" Liam questioned her and she just shrugged her shoulders. "Alaska, I'm going to need you to do better than a simple shoulder shrug." Was he panicking? Maybe. But how else was he supposed to react when the girl he liked suddenly blurted out that she thought that she was dying. He ran a hand through his dark hair, pursing his lips for a moment as silence took over them again.

He didn't know what to do, and he had a feeling she didn't either. His mind was racing, trying to come up with a simple solution―︎something he had never been good at, but he knew someone that was. Scott McCall was the leader of his pack, he was the true alpha and Liam was his beta. But that wasn't all. Scott and Liam were like brothers, and Scott would help anyone that was in need, and Alaska was in need of knowing whether or not her theory was true. If anyone could help him, help her, it was Scott McCall and his pack.

"I may know someone that can help." Liam finally spoke up, making Alaska turn her head to look at him again. He could see the tears that were still dancing in her eyes, the ones that she was trying so desperately hard to hold back and keep from falling. But he wanted to tell her that she could cry, because he couldn't even imagine the fear that was coursing through her body at the moment. But he did know that Scott knew what it felt like, the feeling of dying. He had done it before when trying to save his mother from the Darach.

Alaska furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, shaking her head in disbelief. How could someone help her if she wasn't really there? She felt like she was in a constant daze, like her feet were moving but her mind wasn't. It was all very confusing to the Waldrop girl, and that's why she couldn't help but feel frustrated from Liam's words. "How can someone help me if I'm dead, Liam? That doesn't make any sense." A tear fell down her cheek and she was surprised when Liam reached up a hand and wiped it away.

"Trust me on this." Liam gently told her, his hand gently cupping her cheek and she couldn't help but lean into the warmth. "You trust me, don't you?" He asked her and it made her open her eyes once more to look at him. All he could do was hope that she would trust him, because he believed in Scott. He believed in what Scott stood for, and he believed that Scott wouldn't hesitate to drop everything that he was doing in order to help out the girl that had caught Liam's eye.

Alaska looked at Liam for a few moments, and surprised herself when she hesitated with the answer. Did she trust him? She barely knew him, and he barely knew her. So why was he so adamant on helping her? Maybe he was just a nice person like that. She had to believe that he was. And she realized that she had to have trusted him to let him sit there beside her whilst she cried. Anyone else would think that she was crazy. But not Liam Dunbar. There was a secret he was keeping from her, but whatever that secret was, it was keeping him from thinking that she had escaped from some sort of asylum.

Finally, she answered, "I do."

She didn't realize how much those two simple words made his heart leap in his chest. This girl that had appeared from God knows where, trusted him. Him. Liam Dunbar. She was a girl that had no other friends but him, and even though he had only known her for a matter of two days, it felt like he had known her so much longer than that. He wasn't a believer in the whole love at first sight thing, it was too cheesy for him, but he knew that there was something there. Something in him that longed for the girl that sat beside him.

"Come on." He stood up and held his hand out to her. She hesitated before reaching out and grabbing his hand, surprised when it didn't go through and instead fit perfectly into his like their hands were that of a puzzle piece. She allowed for him to pull her up from the ground, staring at him for a few moments before clearing her throat as she pulled her hand gently from his. They started walking.

"Who exactly is this person that you speak of?" Alaska finally questioned.

Liam looked at her for a moment before he looked ahead once more. "His name is Scott McCall. He's a. . . I mean, he's my friend. He's someone that does everything to help everyone whether or not he knows them. And I strongly believe that he'll help you too."

"I hope you're right." Alaska whispered, glancing down to her hand that seemed to be fading in and out of existence. "Because I have this feeling that we are quickly running out of time."