Chapter 45

Cold water splashing onto his face woke Malachi up from his unconscious form.

Groggily, he opened his eyes to look into the face of the man who had him chained to the walls in a cell under Lindersay. It was a room even he had no clue existed.

He was exhausted and drained both physically and emotionally. He had also lost count of days and nights a long time ago. Andre’s men occasionally fed him to keep him alive, but not enough so he could get back his strength.

Today however, Andre was standing in front of him, something he rarely saw. But if Andre was here…it meant time was almost up.

“Hello, little brother.” Andre knelt in front of Malachi, his smile twisted. “Mother is extremely disappointed in you.”

“How come I didn’t know about you?” Malachi asked. He knew his other brothers and sisters, or had at least heard about them even if he hadn't had direct contact with them. But Andre? No, he had never seen him before. How could that be possible?

“Because you and I were born on the same day,” Andre said, surprising Malachi even further. “I was born two hours before you and mother decided to put us in different packs. She didn’t want us knowing about each other.”

“Why would she do that?” Malachi asked, not understanding the reason his mother would want to do something like this.

Yes, she was eons old and Gods worked in mysterious ways. But to separate him from his own twin? There was no rhyme or reason to her decision. Or was she really a believer in the legends that one twin was always born evil and she had separated them to test out which of her sons had been the evil one?

“Ah! You realize now.” Andre clapped his shoulders and got up from his crouch. “But don’t worry. That’s not why I’m here today. I have wonderful news!”

Malachi didn’t like the sound of that. Any news that Andre brought was ominous. There was nothing wonderful about them.

“Flora has agreed to be my mate!” Andre said with flourish, his maniacal laughter echoing inside the room like a knell.

Malachi felt his heart thrash against his ribcage. “No…”

“Why, yes! She said ‘Yes’.” Andre shook his head at his pathetic twin brother. “But don’t worry, you won’t be left out. The mating ceremony will be on the same night as the blood sacrifice. My wedding will be the same day that you and your beloved Ezra…die.”

With that, Andre left Malachi to struggle against his chains like a madman, closing the door on his face without a backward glance.

No! No!

Malachi raged and struggled, but the chains that bound him to the wall were unbreakable.

His Ezra…his beloved Ezra was about to be sacrificed with him? Was his mother truly that heartless? Has she really no mercy for children she herself birthed?

Ezra was his heart and Flora was his blood. And he now had to watch them both suffer. Flora would suffer a fate worse than death if she mated to Andre. Then why was she doing something so foolish?

But no matter how much he struggled, they were all futile. Andre was winning and his time was almost up. It would now take a miracle to save them all. He could only hope that Clay had listened to his pleas and had started the ritual that was now their only hope.

*

*

Clay’s P.O.V:

The winds howled past the trees as I crouched on top of a lower branch, holding on to the trunk to keep steady.

Wolves weren’t good tree climbers, but I had to keep an eye on the castle tonight. There was movement going on and some of the men were carrying large boxes out of the castle and to some place I didn’t know about. So I decided to follow them.

In the last few weeks, my wolves had gotten better at dodging bullets and high speed objects. If only they had connection with their humanity, they would be unstoppable. But I had hope.

The moon was almost full in the sky. Tomorrow was the night when the world would be shrouded in the red light of the Blood Moon. It was time. I didn’t know what was to happen but the sense of foreboding was heavy in the air. We needed to be prepared, but right now, I needed to find out what the soldiers were preparing for.

I kept to the shadows of the trees, making sure not even my shadow was visible. I was one with the darkness, one with the night.

I had never been to this part of the forest before. As I moved forward, the trees became lighter and more wide spread. More and more shrubs appeared and the density of the forest decreased and as I had expected, after about ten meters in front of me, the forest gave way to a vast grassland.

Thankful that at least the grasses were tall enough to hide my form, I lay flat on the ground and crawled ahead until I had a clear view of what the soldiers were doing.

Two large poles stood at the centre of the grassland and the soldiers were collecting dried grass and hay to lay at the bottom of the wooden poles, as if preparing for a bonfire. There was also a stone table right between the poles and different objects were placed on top of them. By the way the light of the moon was glinting off of the objects; I knew they had to be something similar to blades.

I didn’t understand what these preparations were for, but they couldn’t be for any good reason if Andre was in the centre of it all. His scent was different…not in the way of a rogue, but…different. It rubbed against my senses in a wrong way.

Crawling back into the shadows of the woods, I retreated back to where I had come from. The castle still seemed eerily quiet, as if the people inside had been forbidden to talk. My eyes went to the windows where I had last seen Flora. The lights were off but I kept looking in hopes of seeing her again.

Ultimately, I had to return as I scented the patrol guards coming my way. But no matter what happened, I will never lose hope. And I will never stop fighting for her.

“We’ll be together, Flora. Just a while longer.”