Chapter 88 Avenging Angel

Avenging Angel

Avalyn

The first walk that I had with Papa seemed ages ago. All of us had been very busy after that. We hardly saw each other. Especially Nik and I. But we had developed a schedule.

He would wake me up early in the morning with either breakfast in bed and then we would go for a short run around the pack or engage in early morning sex and then a quick breakfast before we parted ways.

The first task that the entire pack did was break down the wall on which the heads of wolves hung. Those heads were hung on Emilio's orders as a reminder to the pack about what would happen to them if they upset him in any way. The heads were removed and were lit on pyres by their friends and family so that the wolves would finally attain peace on the other side of the moon.

Max had been given the task of searching the houses of the wolves for black money and checking their accounts for any sort of discrepancies. Most of the wolves from the Rogue pack had split into groups to search the houses because they would be unbiased. Max's friend Daniel was great with numbers and knew trustworthy people who could help us out with scanning through all the accounts discretely.

Dimitri and Natalia were given the task of training the wolves every day. It was difficult for them for the first couple of days because they were not used to getting up so early in the morning and training for such long hours. But Dimitri and Nat were ruthless in handing out punishments to slackers and latecomers in form of laps around the entire pack or having to spar either one of them. And having their ass handed back to them by a female was something these men weren't used to. Training the females was a slow process because none of them knew how to fight but having an attractive, mateless, and flirty male as their trainer was working wonders.

Nik owned a telecommunications company and had them come up for three days straight to set up towers and network lines and things of that sort which increased the internet speed to 4G. The teenagers in the pack were very happy. Symon was the one who looked over the workings of this and made sure the humans never strayed too far or get suspicious. Phasing into your wolf was banned for the time the humans came in.

Papa and I were given the task of mending the relations with the other packs. They were a bit sore because Montana had become a recluse pack for the last ten years, denying help or trade or transfers or a passage. But having Papa helped because most of the Alphas knew and respected him. Once the relations were smoothened, trade was opened again. Those packs had been taking refugees from Montana pack too so we were hoping for them to apply to come back too. Trade with Mystic Lupus Pack was closed. A small part of our border touched theirs and there was strict security especially in that area. It might have something to do with the fact that it was Nik's father's pack.

We also looked over the storing and allocation of all the goods. The rationing of food was banned. Each wolf could now have as much food as they wished. The taxes from food items were lifted. The people were happy.

All of these expenditures were made out of the money Max had collected from the pack. And we had a lot more money to spare. A lot of people were delirious but a lot more people were delighted.

I had asked if he would like to start building the Pack House again but he said he had different plans and that he needed to think them through before he tells me or anyone else about it.

The group of young males and females that had volunteered had been very helpful and showed a promise of greater potential for when they grow older. Nik had mentioned that he needed younger people in the council. They are the future of their pack and their opinions are always welcome.

The elders of the pack were sour about the fact that they had been removed from the council but Nik shut them up with the question that where were they when the pack was attacked and where were their opinions when Emilio was dragging the pack into the mud.

Most of the work for the day would be over by eight and everyone would retire to their homes to rest. All of us would have dinner together but then Nik would retreat to a cottage at the edge of the town where he had been keeping Emilio and Emmanuel or Vermin and Maggot as he likes to call them. He did not come back to the small cottage we share with Tessa until almost one or two in the morning. But he always makes sure that he has had a bath before he comes back. He didn't say it to me, but I knew. I also knew that he did it because he didn't want me to see him coated in blood and goddess knows what else.

Today was the eighth day. And following through with our deal, Nik had promised me that he would kill them today. He hadn't come back to the cottage for dinner, he had gone to them late in the afternoon and had been at it all day.

But my wolf was restless. I needed to see them before he killed them. And I was scared to see them. Of what I will achieve by doing that. I was scared of seeing what their condition would be now. I know that all of my family members had been taking turns throughout the day to go torture them. I was the only one who stayed away. I was scared to see what extent Nik would go to. For me. For his mother. For people whom he loved. I was scared to see Papa like that too. I couldn't imagine him as anything other than the kind, loving and generous father and Alpha he had always been.

Making up my mind, I rose from the couch and made my way out of the cottage. Nik had vaguely told me where the cottage was. So I went in that direction and after about a twenty-minute walk, I saw a lone cottage in the distance, and a yellow lamp was lit outside the door, like the rest of the cottages. My heart was slamming in my chest. The air around the cottage was... thick somehow, harsher. And I did not miss the pungent smell of blood either.

A terrifying scream met my ears and I paused.

Do I want to do it there? Do I want to see Nik be the monster he used to claim he was?

I have always seen his sweet, gentle, and loving side. Yes, I've seen him pissed off. At me. More than once. But love and care and worry were always present. This would be different. This will be ruthless Nik. Unforgiving and unyielding. Am I ready?

Yes.

There is no other answer. I love Nik, irrecoverably and unconditionally. All of him. And this is a part of him.

Without overthinking anymore, I walked up to the cottage and opened the door.

Nikolai swung around and his dark, wild eyes met mine. The ripped jeans he was wearing were snug on him. He was shirtless and there was hardly a spot on his torso that didn't have drops of blood on it. There was a streak of blood that extended from the left end of his hairline down to the right end of his neck, making him look deadly.

His tongue darted out and licked his bottom lip and the blood on it along with it and I saw his throat move as he gulped it. A pleased look crossed his eye. Like he liked drinking the blood he had shed. Or he liked me seeing him drink the blood he had shed. Like he was proud of it.

My eyes darted around the room and four pairs of shocked eyes met mine. Dimitri. Max. Natalia. And Papa. All of them were covered in blood. Papa and Nikolai more than the rest. The whip that was in Papa's hand fell on the wooden floor with a thud.

And the floor... oh goddess the floor. Blood. The entirety of it was filled with it. I wasn't sure it was off just today or the last week too.

"What are you doing here?" Papa asked the same time Nik said, "I was waiting for you."

I took a deep breath but then when the smell of blood, piss, and vomit assaulted my senses, I almost hurled.

Nik extended his hand. His bloodied hand. And for some reason, without hesitation, maybe because of habit or because I wanted to, I stepped forward and took it.

Without having any control over my body, without even knowing, I walked inside.

I felt like I was dancing on a dangerous line. The line between good and bad. Light and dark. Heaven and hell. Angel and devil.

But when was it ever bad when Nik was holding my hand?

Nik moved and so did Papa.

And then I saw them. All the air escaped my body.

Both of their heads had no hair, only angry red, the burnt mass of tangled skin. Their nose and mouth were bleeding and most of their teeth were missing along with their ears. Emilio had one eye missing like it had been scooped out of his skull. Their entire torso had wound in the shapes of lines and holes from knives, whips, and goddess knows what else. And when my eyes fell near the area between their legs, there was nothing. It was all gone.

"Kneel, slaves," Nik growled and both of them jumped to their knees in front of us. Their heads were lowered and their hands were on their thighs. That's when I noticed that their fingers were missing too.

Besides them, I saw dildos. Of various sizes and shapes. There were many more things that even I did not recognize. And I knew quite a lot of them.

"Why did you do it?" My tongue felt thick but I managed to put the words together.

Emilio raised his eyes to look at me before lowering them again. I waited for him to respond. It felt like forever but I knew it hadn't even been a minute. My breaths were harsh and my heart was slamming in my chest. I felt like I couldn't breathe.

All my life I had wondered why. Why everything that was happening to me was truly happening to me. And now, I was about to find out.

Nik's leg raised and met his chest, making him fall on his back and his head thudded on the floor.

"You answer when you are asked a question." He growled and then yanked his leash, pulling him upright again.

"I -I loved you." I bit my lip to stop myself from screaming. "But you were always surrounded by boys. And Algebras." He was my best friend growing up. "And I hated you. Because you were the best at everything, despite being younger than me and being a girl." He spat."I hated the thought of being the Beta to a female Alpha. Females can't be Alphas. I wanted to become the Alpha. And I hated you because I knew you would have been a better Alpha than me. So I hated myself for loving you. And ended up hating you more for it."

My breaths became shallow. And harsh. I had trouble breathing. And comprehending what he was saying. And then a memory flashed across my mind. An old one. One I had buried deep inside my brain.

"Ava, wake up. We are under attack," my eyes flew open to see Papa looming over my bed. It took me a second to comprehend what he said. But when I did, I shot out of bed and ran to my closet to take out my gun. Papa had gifted it to me when I first hit the bullseye of the target.

"No, Firefly. I need you to hide this time, let me do all the work, yeah?" He grabbed my hand and then led me inside the closet. "Close your eyes. Put your fingers over your ears. Don't come out till I come to get you, okay?"

I heard a couple of bangs and then screams and then I quickly nodded and did as Papa asked me, terrified to know what was on the other side of the door. Papa shut the closet door and left. For the next few minutes that felt like hours, I heard nothing. The occasional sound of bullets flying penetrated my ears even though I hadn't taken my fingers away. My heart was racing. I wanted to help Papa. I wanted to save my pack. I am going to be the Alpha. And Alphas are strong, they don't hide.

Sorry, Papa.

I opened my eyes and ears and pulled out my gun and crept out.

I walked out of my bedroom and I saw a dead body for the first time. It smelt dirty. Like rogues. His eyes were open and his jaw was slackened. There was a hole on his forehead from where he was bleeding. I covered my mouth to muffle my scream, controlled my tears, and ran towards our living room. In the hallway, I saw two more bodies. Breathless and unable to find anyone, I continued running towards our living room. I knew I should have been calm and collected. But I couldn't. I can't lose Papa. He's all I have. I began hyperventilating. I couldn't breathe.

The entire packhouse was silent. Just little murmurs of adults. Not Papa though. There was blood on the walls. I saw dead pack members. I gagged and then covered my mouth.

And then I saw Uncle Emmanuel talking to people in low voices. He whirled around and his eyes widened when he saw me. "Avalyn."

The gun in my hand fell on the floor with a clang. "Uncle. Where's Papa?"

He shifted a little to face me. And that's when I saw Papa, lying on the floor, unmoving. A knife impaled in his stomach and a pool of blood around him.

My head spun.

And just like that, I lost the person I loved the most in the world and became an orphan. The floor beneath my feet shifted. Black dots danced across my vision, and then my legs stopped holding me up and the last thing I remembered was the pounding headache before I blacked out.

"But none of it was my fault." A tear splashed down my cheek and I took an involuntary step back. I blamed myself for everything that was happening to me. Not knowing any better, I thought that I must have done something to deserve this.

And now I just came to know that none of it was. It was all because of his greed for power and self-loathing.

Mrs. Maria gave me an apron and I wore it. Tears rose in my eyes and I lowered them so she wouldn't notice. Today was the first day in six months I had gathered the energy to get out of bed and talk to anyone. I had cut off from everyone. I was mad at the world, at myself. But today was Papa's birthday. And I wanted to bake him a cake, even if he wasn't here.

"I have taken out all the ingredients. Do you want to try and crack the eggs, sweetie?" She asked. She instinctively knew something was wrong and she tipped my head up.

"Oh, dear," she pulled me in a hug. "Your Papa wouldn't want you to cry, he would want you to be happy."

"That's what Uncle Emmanuel says too," I bit my lip, trying hard to not sob and break down. It hurt. So much. It felt like my heart would burst into little pieces. Two people who were made to love me were dead. Maybe I'm cursed. Maybe loving me was the end of them.

Tears rose in Mrs. Maria's eyes and she looked around before she grabbed my hands. "I'm going to tell you something, honey. Listen to me carefully, okay?" She whispered so low that even I barely heard it. "Promise me you will not act any differently. Your safety is of utmost importance. They will kill both of us if they know that we know." She looked scared but determined.

"What is it, Mrs. Maria?" I asked, wiping my tears, curious now.

"We weren't attacked by rogues, Avalyn. It was Emmanuel's plan." She told me. From the glint in her eye, I knew she was speaking the truth. But it can't be, can it? Uncle Emmanuel took care of me as Papa did. He loves me. He has ever since I can remember. I rubbed my chest, right over my heart. It hurts. He wouldn't do that. He can't. He's Papa's Beta. He's Papa's best friend!

"You're lying!" I accuse.

"It's the truth. Look, you can't tell anyone. They'll kill us. But I can't see you love him like that. He killed your father. I can't see you replace your father with him," she was in tears too. "I think he wanted to become the Alpha. That's why he planned this." And somewhere, deep down, I knew that it was the truth, Mrs. Maria would never lie to me. She was Papa's closest friend, more than Uncle Emmanuel's too.

I ran to my bedroom and collapsed on my bed and wept. Mrs. Maria came in, "Avalyn," her voice shook.

"Maria." I heard a voice and stilled. I turned around to see Uncle Emmanuel standing at the door with a smile. He turned to look at me, "I see you finally know the truth." And then he turned to look at Mrs. Maria, "you sneaky little human. Thank goddess I found out," and then he pulled his gun, aimed at Mrs. Maria. "Now I'll have to kill you before you tell more people."

I heard the sound of the bullet going off. And then I heard a heartbreaking scream. And then blood. It was everywhere. All over my room. I was screaming. I was crying and thrashing.

"I was going to be kind and let you love your life. Not anymore."

Anger filled me. Hot, red, uncontrollable anger. Unlike I have ever felt before.

I took another step back before I would lash out but my back met a chest. A very warm and broad chest.

"My son has finally come back to me," Emmanuel opened his arms to hug his son.

Emilio hugged his father back, "yeah well, Mom found her mate. He isn't too fond of me."

"Mates are useless." Emmanuel rolled his eyes. "Slaves—now those are useful. And it's about time you have one of your own. Consider it my gift to you, you've just turned eighteen anyway, right?" Slaves? What the hell are they talking about.

"Yup." Emilio nodded, his eyes going around the living room, searching for someone. But there was no one here but me.

"Hello, Avalyn." He smiled and then his eyes raked down my body, making me feel uncomfortable.

"Hi," I whispered.

"Very well. She's your new slave, you better get acquainted with her. I know you like her. Have fun, son." Emmanuel patted his son's back. My eyes widened. What the hell?

"I'm not a slave! And I don't belong to anybody!" I hissed. He may be treating me like a maid in my own house, forbidding me from going outside but this was it. I can't take it anymore!

The small smile on Emilio's face grew into a larger, scary one, "for real, Dad? She's mine?"

"Yes. Yours. Train her well, will you? This bad mouth won't do."

"You're the one who's bad, you asshole!" I screamed and pulled the lamp that was on the side table and just as I was about to throw it at him, Emilio was in front of me and he had already snatched the lamp from my hand. Damn him and him being older than me! He had shifted into his wolf years ago and was considerably stronger and faster than me.

He was taller too. I had to look up to meet his eye. I glared at him. He cupped my face and looked at me with hunger, making me shudder in disgust. "You're mine, pet."

"He's yours, Moya Lyubov," Nik whispered from behind me. "To torture, to maim, to kill."

I felt a power surge in me. It was the strength Nikolai had been offering me since the day he bought me. The strength to stand on my own feet. The strength to fight for those I love. The strength to love me.

And I do now. I finally love myself.

I love myself enough to fight for myself.

And kill the man of my nightmares.

I felt his tip at my entrance and my eyes slid shut in fear and disgust. I bit down hard on my lip to stop myself from crying out loud when he slammed himself in me, burying himself to the hilt.

Pain, unimaginable pain filled me. It was the same. Day after day. Month after month. Year after year. He fucked me. Mercilessly. Painfully. Ruthlessly.

And all the while his men were watching. I could hear their groans of pleasure as they touched themselves while watching me. I felt Master cum with a groan and then his liquid drip down my legs.

"She's a beautiful whore, isn't she?" He asked his friends. He always humiliated me like this. In the worst ways. It was his hobby to explore new ways to do it.

"Yes, Alpha." One of them replied. "The most beautiful."

"Do you want a turn?" He asked. No. Please no. Please say no. I cried out in the complaint and then I heard laughter. My head spun. No. I can't take it anymore.

"Only if you are okay with it, Alpha." The voice replied, I could hear the lust and hunger in it.

And then I heard footsteps near me. Tears streamed down my face as I readied myself for what was to come. I wanted to move, oh I wanted to move so desperately. But I couldn't, I hadn't been ordered to. And I didn't think I could handle a punishment after this.

I heard rustling before I felt him squeeze my ass. "So pretty." My heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach when I felt him at my entrance. My whole body was shaking violently before I went numb.

I closed my eyes and went into my head, where there was peace and nothing else. Where I dreamt of a different world. Where I met a prince who saves me, who wakes me up from this never-ending nightmare. Someone who loves me, takes care of me, respects me, and makes me happy. I saw a man. With sun-like gold hair and thunderstorm grey eyes that calmed the raging ocean in me.

A scream escaped my lips when I felt someone slam into me. Over and over. My heart cracked into a million pieces. It hurt, everything hurt. With each thrust, I lost a piece of myself, of my soul.

Go to your happy place, Avalyn. I imagined a beach. Palm trees. Waves of the ocean hitting my toes. I didn't know what a beach looked like. I had only seen pictures. I imagined me smiling, me laughing. I imagined my savior. He smiled at me. He laughed with me.

The man came with a roar. I felt dirty. Used. Filthy. Empty. I felt nothing. I felt like I was floating. Like nothing was real. Like I wasn't real. I wanted me to not be real. How peaceful it would be to not exist?

"You took it like such a good slut, pet." Master cooed. My eyes flew open and through my tears, I saw him point the gun at me.

I closed my eyes and smiled. Finally. I'll finally be free. I wanted the pain to end. I waited. I hear the click of the safety. I waited. I heard the bullet go off. I waited.

Death never came. And then I felt it. Blood. All over me. My eyes flew open and I saw that Master had killed the man. As always. He killed most of the people who touched me. I screamed. Blood. It was all over me. I cried. Sobbed. My cries were filled with pain and fear.

Blinding, uncontrollable anger filled my entire being. Years of anger that I had stuffed in a bottle was now boiling, fighting to get out. And I opened the bottle. It was like a thread had just snapped. let the anger consume me. I let the red rage take over.

I just, let go.

The floor I was standing on quaked. The wooden walls began trembling. The entire cottage shook. The lights began flickering and everything started rattling and crashing down on the floor. The lamps hanging from the ceiling swing to and fro.

It felt good to let go. It felt good to not have to control all this power inside me.

"Ava..." I heard Papa say in the background. I turned to look at him. In his eyes, I saw shock and fear mixed with awe and pride. I didn't care. I saw the carton on which weapons lay. A gun vibrated on the surface before it fell on the floor with a clang.

I raised my hand in its direction and the gun flew into my hand.

"No. No. Please. Forgive me!" Emilio's eyes were wide as he looked at me with bewilderment. He jumped to his feet and clutched his hands together, begging me. "Please, no!"

"You are a pet! An animal! You will not stand up! Kneel!"

I took my shots. Both the bangs rung in my ears before his roaring screams did. He fell on the floor, crying and sobbing and clutching both of his wounded knees.

A breath I didn't know I was holding escaped my mouth. It felt good.

"You are a pet! An animal! You will not use your hands to eat. Eat directly from the dog bowl."

I took my shots and blew them out of his wrists. An ear-shattering scream engulfed my ears. Another breath swooshed out of my mouth. My heart was pounding in my chest. Blood rushed through my veins. A veil of hot, red anger covered my eyes. I wanted blood. More. More. More.

"You belong to me."

I lost another fraction of control. The cottage began shaking harder. The glass of the windows shattered and strong winds started blowing, making my hair fly around like crazy. The wind began howling loudly through the forest around the cottage, matching my temper. The lights in the cottage burst, shattering into a million pieces. Everything started going haywire.

I pointed the gun towards Emilio's chest. My hand trembled. I held the gun with both my hands to stabilize it.

"You're such a slut, always hungry for my cock."

"Take it like the whore you are."

"These are my friends, pet. Show yourself off. Impress them."

My chest contracted and expanded. My heart raced. Blood rushed to my head.

"Open that mouth and suck my cock."

"Look at me while my friend takes you."

"Try to escape and you'll beg me to kill you."

Emilio's terrified blue eyes snapped to mine. It was the last look. He knew he was going to die. Tonight. By my hands.

"Shoot." Nik's voice whispered in my ear and my fingers pulled the trigger.

I saw the bullet fly out of the nozzle of the gun and lodge itself in the center of his chest. With his eyes locked to mine, he fell back, collapsing on the floor on the spot.

The gun slipped out of my hand and fell on the floor with a clank.

Another breath escaped me. My body started quivering. It's done. I did it. I killed him. My eyes snapped up to look at the people around me. All of them were holding on to a big piece of furniture to stand upright. Their shocked eyes were fixated on me. No one said a word. Silence ensued in the cottage. All I could hear was my frantic heartbeat and my harsh breaths.

But then I heard it. The faint beat of his heart. He was still alive.

I whirled around to face him, my anger resurfacing again.

Emilio lied flat on the wooden floor, his eyes open, staring blankly up at the ceiling. A drop of blood had escaped his parted lips. But he wasn't dead. Yet.

Pain. All I could feel was pain. I don't know how long it had been since I had been lying on the ground and looking at the ceiling. Hours probably. I know I should get up. But I can't. My body couldn't move. I couldn't take it anymore. Memories of the brutal punishment I suffered a few hours ago resurfaced. More tears streamed down my cheeks. I wanted to die.  But I couldn't. Master hadn't commanded me to die, I didn't have the permission to kill myself. I could feel my heart beating. It was a small, fragile little sound. I wished it would stop on its own. I wished I wouldn't be alive.

My hand raised again and a spiral silver knife flew into my hand.

"You belong to me."

I felt like I was floating as I neared him and fell to my knees for him for the last time. And then I plunged it in his heart.

"Your worthless little life is mine to take."

And then raised it over my head and plunged it in again. His body jerked and blood splattered in my face, on my clothes. But I didn't care.

"You are alive only because of my generosity. Be grateful, slut."

I yanked the knife out and rammed it down again. Over and over.

"You can't help yourself but attract men! You filthy whore!"

And then some more. I felt more blood spatter on my face but instead of being disgusted, I savored in it.

"Ah. This red blood on this red ass. Tasty."

When I thrust the knife into his body for the last time, I felt all the energy drain out of me.

And then a face appeared in front of me. The prince with sun-like gold hair and thunderstorm grey eyes. Nikolai. When I touched his hair, they turned shiny blond. It was Nikolai. It was always Nikolai. My savior.

All my anger left my body, leaving me empty. The red haze disappeared from in front of my eyes and that's when I truly saw the mess I had made. Blood gurgled out of his mouth and the hole I had created in his chest—a hole the size of my fist. I could see the insides of his body— his mangled heart, his muscles, his gaping ribs which were broken and shattered.

The knife slipped from my hand and a sob escaped my throat.

My head spun and I was about to fall but a pair of hands caught me. And then those strong arms picked me up. My blurry eyes met thunderstorm grey ones.

"Moy angel-mstitel'." My avenging angel.