The Final Descent

Chapter 65

Lucia Lorenzo's POV

As I kicked my way through the door, I saw the guard running to call for assistance from his friends. He is not given the opportunity. I attempted to uncurl my claws, but the wolf's bane stopped me. Rather, I choked him with the chains that were still fastened to my wrist cuffs. He resisted, but I'm determined to leave this place. As he drew his last breath, I forced myself to feel some regret, but that regret vanished when I saw Blaine being tormented.

I will never be able to stop all those people who are currently plotting Blaine's drowning. I have an overwhelming need to run to my partner, but I know that's not the wise course of action. I decided to bolt into the woods. To send a mind-link to my brother, I need to either acquire help or at least wait for the wolf's poison to wear off.

On an average day, I could make the upward ascent in about a minute. But my senses are still plagued by the wolf's bane, and the chains hold me down. I felt like everything I did was moving slowly. As I continue my ascent, it feels like a thousand-pound boulder has been placed on my shoulders.

I use the moment to mentally link with my brother since I can feel my thoughts gradually beginning to clear.

"I need help at Clara's western boundary." "Nightshades"

I try to assemble the words in my head, and all I can do is hope they find their way to him. My heart aches so much as I get closer to the top of the hill. My lungs are empty as an unfamiliar sensation splits me in two. Blaine immediately comes to mind.

Are they putting him to death? Did they choose to kill him themselves as opposed to submerging him underwater?

My eyes welled up with tears at the thought.

I heard footsteps ahead of me, and then I saw Clara. I collapsed to my knees, losing the ability to bear my weight. When I took too much wolfsbane, my body could no longer withstand the anguish in my back and chest caused by the talon of the Nightshade plant.

"Watching you finally fall is just as satisfying as I had imagined it to be," Clara claimed. In her hands, she carries a bow. I notice an arrow sticking out of my chest when I look down. I was so focused on mind-linking my brother and using my last bit of strength to climb that I failed to notice the arrow piercing my chest.

At least now, I'm certain that Blaine wasn't being killed by them.

"I regretted not being present when you passed away the first time. Don't you think that would have been poetic, seeing you suffer twice for the same man?"

"Fuck you, Clara."

She laughed as though this was funny, as though she found amusement in my anguish and misery.

"How about I show you how your mate felt when you died, Dorothy?"

An image attacks me as her hands tighten around my temples.

Knives are flying at me from all sides, and I am clinging to my stomach. We haven't been marked yet, so I can't phone Romano, and he won't know anything is wrong. My cheeks are wet with tears as blood drops on the floor beneath me.

"That's the vision I've sent Blaine for the past three years; that's what has plagued his mind for so long," she said with a smile.

I looked at her, startled.

"It was you," I exclaimed, astonished.

"It was me! I was wrecked by the Matteos! Are you following? They destroyed me.

She moves in my direction.

"You realize how difficult it was to resist killing you? You were so much like Dorothy even when you were a little child; it's sickening," she spits.

She steps up and puts her hands on my shoulders.

"My name is Clara De Golden. When I ran off with a boy, my family shunned me, but he loved me, Lucia; he did!" Then Dorothy, that whore, had to go and take him away from me," she cried in a whisper.

"Lucia, do you know why they killed him? Because that bitch had to inform Alpha Romano that he had mistreated her because she was unable to contain her tongue. It was only because she was a horrible wife. She deserved it, because, as everyone knows, Dorothy's partner killed anyone who tried to look at her the wrong way."

She holds my chin tightly and makes me meet her beautiful eyes.

Do you understand why I'm unable to grant you and Blaine a happily ever after? Blaine is the only person left alive with any Matteo bloodline, even though I was unable to eliminate the Matteo family. I won't let your wolves be together, not while I can't be with my love."

"You're putting up this effort for an incident that occurred years ago? I'm not Dorothy at all and Romano is not Blaine! Your love wasn't killed by us. You witnessed our maturation by crying out loud. You have accompanied us on our entire mateship adventure." You brought Nightshades and hunters here, endangering the lives of people. This pack treated you like family."

"In times of war, collateral is necessary," she answered.

"There is no battle going on here! You are behaving like a crazy person right now!"

"You sure talk a lot for a dying woman."

"Why not sabotage our relationship right away? In Italy, you forced us to be together. You came to our aid!"

That was not my doing; that was my sister's. She's always willing to comply with the demands of the alphas. Alright, I'm over it! You are not entitled to kill people because of your authority."

"You're accurate. However, you're not discussing individuals. You are referring to Marco. Not that I killed Marco. Marco was not killed by Blaine. It was Romano."

"And somebody has to pay! Since he took my love from me, I shall never allow his wolf to live in contentment."

I can tell Clara is too far gone by the way she looks. Her heart has been filled with resentment and anger for years. She is not amenable to logic. The hate that she harbors has poisoned her, and there is no way to bring back the lives of the deceased.

"Marco was an abusive piece of shit who deserved to die," I said with a spit.

Her old face is filled with anger, and as I look up at the woman who has shared my life in both of my births, I see that she has been victorious in both.

"Asshole."

I muster what little strength I still have and force myself to stand. I can't stop myself from dying; I know it. This is confirmed by the arrow covered with the wolf's poison that is lodged in my chest. Even the strongest werewolves cannot live once the wolf's bane has been in circulation for an extended time, especially through the heart, because the odor of it penetrates the air. I can't end my life this way. She will go with me if I decide to leave this planet. I'll pay her for putting my pack at risk.

I stagger about on my feet. Clara's amused gaze at me makes me even more irritated. Even though I know I appear to be two seconds away from passing out, I can make the most of it. Without warning, my claws stretch and penetrate her throat. Her eyes enlarge with fear as mine struggle to remain open for an additional minute.

I hissed out, "I will be remembered as an alpha; you will be remembered as a traitor," and the extra pressure caused her to cry.

"Clara, everything you've ever done has led you to this point. Hopefully, it was worthwhile.

That's when I gave her the finger. I saw her body hit the floor, and mine went down with it.

I look up at the sky, watching the place I once called home greet the evening. The moon has taken the place of the vanished sun. I gaze at the moon and ask the goddess to grant me serenity.

I cried when I considered Blaine, my friends, and my family. I'm hoping he moves on. I do not want him to end up like Romano Matteo did.

"I'm sorry," I mumble. I spoiled our second opportunity. Either I couldn't save myself or him.

I apologize for the lost opportunity to share our love story. I apologize for the time we squandered. I apologize for all that I wanted to say but was unable to.

I wonder if Blaine can sense my heart unfastening from his as it reaches for the moon, the last source of light that werewolves receive, as I feel myself floating away.