Chapter 73 - The Command

LUNA ASTERBELLE'S POV

My movements began to get slower unintentionally. I forced myself to rush back to our hideout, and when I was finally out of the pack house, I stumbled upon the sight of my companions being beaten and slashed, marking their deaths. I tightly gripped onto my hair as I pulled it, bothered by how I endangered the lives of those innocent people who sacrificed themselves to protect my dearest friend, Yve.

I know I shouldn't feel guilty about this, but I just can't help it. They wouldn't have died if Yve was at least on the same level as me or if she had remained a half-blooded vampire.

"Stop!" I screamed my lungs out as I utilized my agility to take all of the Blood Moon Pack's troops down. They were immobilized by a single hit of my horn's luminosity. "What happened here? Why are you fighting already?" I asked them, but they just groaned in unison.

Yve glanced my way, and her eyesight immediately traced my wounded knee. Curiosity was written all over her face, but she was hesitant to ask me, so I just gave her a warm embrace as I carefully caressed her head down to her back to let her feel that I was doing fine, even if I was on the verge of breaking down.

"Where's Jazpher and Dawn?" I softly asked Yve, hoping that she'd talk to me like she used to.

Yve shrugged both of her shoulders as she pointed to the pack house. "They went in," she shortly answered with a terrified emotion.

I didn't feel their presence nearby on my way out, so I didn't really expect that they were also inside. I told them not to mess with Brian since it was my mission to kill him, but now I've lost hope that I'd be able to handle him by myself.

If there's anyone who can help me, it's none other than Dawn—Jerome Dawson.

I returned from where I exited, even though I still haven't fully recovered yet. I left Yve after I was assured that she would be safe deep within the woods. I tried connecting with Dawn through our mind-link, but I can't seem to reach him from here. Maybe I can fully connect with him once we're actually mated for good.

"You came running out of here, and you're back like a squirrel?" Brian asked me from behind. He had his arms crossed in front of his chest while maintaining a straight face. "I have your precious mate under my custody. Surrender yourself, and I'll set him free," he demanded, which made me furious.

My eyebrows furrowed in vexation. "What did you say?" I tried to make Brian repeat what he just said even if I already heard him the first time, but he didn't budge. "You have Jerome as your hostage?" I asked, trying not to make it obvious that Jerome and Dawn were the same person.

However, Alpha Brian randomly grinned, making the edges of his lips touch the highest point of his cheeks, which made him look creepier than usual. I couldn't restrain myself from releasing the same light from my demon horn that made him weak earlier, but it had no effect on him anymore. He might have adapted to it after such a long period of break time, enough to make him invulnerable.

Brian shifted just to chase me from all the corners of the mansion. He held me by the wrist with his giant claws. My knee made it difficult for me to run away from him, and I couldn't release my wings as he damaged them to the extent where I couldn't even flap them once.

If only I knew that the declaration of war would only bring me humiliation, then I wouldn't have dared to go back here for that sole purpose.

Brian brought me to a hidden spot that I have never been to, despite all the years that I've resided in the same mansion. Then he threw me inside a cage that was surrounded by silver bars.

There were a lot of whimpering voices that made me shiver down to my spine. I may have a gist of what this compressed room was made for, but that idea might just kill me before anyone even arrives here.

"W-what are you going to do to me?" I asked Brian as I watched him change his appearance as well as his clothing.

Brian hysterically laughed, wiping the sharpened dagger that was shimmering with pure silver material. "Don't worry, I won't let you have a taste of heaven like what you're hearing from the other side of this room. Instead..." He sped up in front of me, licking the blade of the dagger. "I'll let you have a taste of what it's like to be in hell," he continued as he shot the dagger at me.

"You're ruthless, Brian."

Those were the only words I could utter as soon as I felt that my energy was getting drained and stolen away from me. Brian was sucking years of my lifespan with the dagger that he pierced through the same area of my scraped knee. The handle of the same dagger got filled with my blood.

'Bear with it for a while,' my wolf said to me inside my head. I thought it was Jerome at first, but it was the voice of a woman. 'On the count of three, you have to command Grimstone to break that dagger. If you don't, you'll lose your life for eternity. And if you do, I'll also die.'

Command Grimstone? Exactly how am I supposed to do that in this state where I can barely move my fingers?

A few seconds after the second batch of my blood reached the dagger's transparent handle, I held in my breath at the same time that I closed my eyes as I desperately searched for the Grimstone in my pocket.

A glimmer of hope sparked through me when I finally held the glowing stone. I took a peek at Brian, who wasn't facing me, before I brought it out, placing it in front of my mouth as I whispered a single word, "Destroy," while gazing upon the dagger.