Chapter 104 : Forgive Me

Xavier

A movement caught his attention at the mouth of the small cave and out of it came a woman wearing a familiar dress, a ruby red stain was also drawn on her face, her dark brown hair matted in places from the drying blood. There were no visible wounds on the woman he was so intimately familiar with. Perhaps seeing his perplexity, Nathan spoke up.

"Don't worry, Alpha. The blood is not hers. Though, I'm afraid that you are already too late if you want to see Maya. We had a... Well, a little disagreement, if you know."

His sarcasm did not go unnoticed by Xavier. Although he did not know why or how Maya was dead. So much blood had soaked Karen that he wondered if Karen had killed the she-wolf. He hadn't thought about that possibility, not when his eyes caught the physical changes in the woman he cherished so much. Although her face was still recognizable enough, it had changed. Her face was more gaunt, her cheekbones were higher and more defined, and her skin had become as smooth as alabaster as his. She was still beautiful, even more beautiful than before, even when she was covered in dried blood.

But her eyes. The usual rich chestnut brown eyes that he was used to staring into were not staring at him. Even the new markings on her wrists were like jagged tattoos, and her fangs were long as she flashed them at him, her lips curling back in a muted snarl. Karen seemed to stiffen, crouching slightly, her knees bent in preparation for an attack.

It was impossible to miss how she stared at him as if Xavier was the enemy instead of the wicked rogue standing so close to her. What had happened to her?

"What have you done, you asshole?" he demanded of Nathan, his voice laced with anger.

"Me? Don't you like the new and improved Karen, Alpha Xavier? It wasn't just my influence that made her this way, or can't you see how Karen resembles you? Our dear Karenina has even turned into one of your clan, the Westwood Pack." Then he turned to her and spoke affectionately to her. "I'm afraid he doesn't like you, baby girl. Perhaps he needs a show of your power to appreciate your beauty."

She growled in response, swiping at the air in front of her with her sharp claws, her animalistic gaze never leaving Xavier.

Before he could figure out what exactly had happened or why she considered him an enemy, she was already attacking him. Moving his dagger between the two, her claws rang loudly on the metal, sparks flying as she struck repeatedly, forcing him to block the deadly blows with his dagger.

Was she bloodthirsty? What other reason could explain her behavior and her crimson eyes that stared at him with hatred? However, that did not explain how Nathan was able to control the beast that possessed Karen.

"Stop it, Karen."

As if she had not heard him, Karen lashed out with her foot, and he jumped back, dodging her attack, albeit barely. Since Karen was so fast, he was sure that her strength had increased by leaps and bounds.

"Karenina!"

She roared at him. Ignoring his blade, she lunged at him with claws outstretched, intent on tearing him to pieces if given the chance. Afraid of hurting Karen, Xavier sheathed his sword even as he leaped over Karenina, somersaulted through the air, and landed soundlessly on the ground. She was on top of him in an instant, and he grabbed her wrists as she tried to slash at his chest. His grip was brutal, but he didn't try to break any of her bones. He would never hurt Karenina, never.

"Listen to me." He growled, trying to reach her with words.

There was no response other than a kick to his gut. Karen broke free and leaped at him in an elegant somersault, landing in a crouch a few feet away from Xavier. Her claws dug into the ground as she tensed up for her next attack. She seemed careless of her own safety, continuing to attack him wildly without a fight. He was easily able to catch her and knock her down. This was not a warrior whom he was fighting, but a bloodthirsty wolf, a beast with no common sense. He knew that Karen would continue to attack him until she could no longer get up. Perhaps even fighting to the death.

Behind him, Nathan mocked him.

"Save your pretty words, Alpha Xavier. She can't hear you, or have you not realized that yet?"

"Shut up!" Xavier ordered even as he stepped forward, met her lunge, and punched her in the face, knocking her to the side and onto the ground.

Although he didn't want to hurt Karen, he had to stop her. Maybe if he knocked her out, she would wake up with a clear mind. If not, at least it would give him time to figure out a way to drive her bloodlust away. But, there was something different about her beyond the obvious changes in herself. Darkness enveloped Karen, black magic energy pulsed from her in waves. Xavier could not detect any pure light in her aura. Had the shift completely erased her spiritual energy? But how could it be if her purification was part of herself?

She struck at him again, and Xavier was forced to defend himself by fending off her wild blows. That's when he felt it. The darkness surrounding her was not just the wolf's aura, but that of a dark priestess. Her spiritual light had been tainted, twisted, and corrupted. Was this a side effect of her transformation?

Her clawed hands lashed out at his face. Blood trickled down across his cheek from a shallow cut. But the wound was already starting to heal, it was too small and insignificant to really hurt him. Fear filled his gut. He had done this. He had been so engrossed in changing her true nature that Xavier had not realized the consequences of his actions on her pure light. Everything made sense to him now as he was fighting the woman he cared about, the woman he might love.

Benjamin was right. Once the wolf aura in Karen awakened, nothing could stop it from spreading like an infectious disease. A hybrid that was mostly half-human could not possibly contain the spiritual energy and the wolf aura without tearing apart the body of its owner. However, Benjamin - even himself - had been wrong as well. A full-blooded werewolf could not possibly survive while divine power ran rampant within its owner's body without trying to purify itself. The wolf's aura and spiritual energy would always be at odds. They could never coexist in one body.

Staring at her who continued to attack him, he understood with a broken heart that she could not hope to remain pure while being corrupted by the energy of the wolf aura and the slightest touch of black magic from Nathan. But dark priests could, as their auras were more magical in nature than priests of light, their souls were black and tainted. It was the perfect combination to combine her two auras without killing her. She was a full-fledged she-wolf with the added power of a dark priestess.

A dark priestess, he thought sadly. He had done this to her. In his attempt to make Karen his own and his mate, he had ignored what this would do to her pure light. He wanted a she-wolf, and that is exactly what he got. Her nature was gone, and her spiritual energy blackened.

As she leaped towards Xavier, but just before she tackled him, he caught her, tossed her across the field, and watched as she soared through the air, landing gracefully on her feet.

I did this to you.

"I'm sorry," Xavier muttered under his breath. It was the first time he had uttered such a word, let alone thought it, but seeing what he had done, he knew without a doubt that what he had done was wrong, that he had committed a hurtful crime against her.

If she understood him, she didn't show any signs when she went to him again.

"Isn't she awesome, Alpha Xavier?" Nathan called out between her snarls. "Isn't she all you hoped for?"

Never before had the words of an enemy hit him so hard, but Nathan's words stabbed like a knife.

Just then, a small object fell from the folds of her dress. Xavier knew what it was, a pouch where she kept her fragments of the sacred moonstone, but it was empty. He narrowed his eyes even as he moved around her. There had been two gems inside the malicious thing, so where were they? Had Nathan taken them for himself or...

He pulled her towards him, wrapping his arms around her to keep her close, even as her claws scratched at him, tearing at his skin along his arms. She turned back towards him, so for now, his head was safe from her ferocious claws. Xavier sent his aura out and into her, seeking, seeking...

There!

The gem of the sacred moonstone taint. He had felt it before. He didn't know where they were embedded in her body, but there was no doubt that the black fragments were somewhere inside Karen, controlling her bloodlust. That's how Nathan controlled her like his marionette.

Her elbow slammed into his jaw, splitting his lip, blood sliding down his chin, and the taste of copper on his tongue. His head jerked to the side with the hard blow, and Xavier broke away from her, leaping out of her way as she turned to slash at him with her claws. Perhaps if he could find and collect the tainted fragments, Karen would wake up from her bloodlust. But how could he find them? Well, he didn't have the power of sight that Karen had in seeing the fragments, nor could he sense them the way she could.

Karen was the guardian of the sacred moonstone. Or at least she had been before he interfered in her life. What did it mean for the sacred moonstone if its guardian could not purify the taint? He had changed her species, taken her spiritual energy, and now it looked like he might have stolen her duty to protect the moonstone as well. He had taken everything from her. What a fool he is, how arrogant.

I would take everything back if I could, he silently told her, knowing that saying those words would be pointless. Therefore, she already understood too much.

The warm west wind blew through Xavier, rustling his shirt as he stood face to face with the woman he had wronged, vowing to save her, and hopefully make it up to her.

Karenina.....