Chapter 17 Being Brave

Being Brave

Avalyn

I sat aside like a useless pet and had seen a lot of my loved ones die but not anymore.

I saw two big cars coming and after three more shots, it went dead silent. I still didn't move, I was not sure what happened. My heart was beating so fast that I could hear it. I tried to calm myself but it was of no use, I just wanted Master safe, I wanted him alive. Tears formed in my eyes at the thought of something happening to him, at the thought of never seeing him again. I brushed them away, not wanting them to blur my vision. This is not the time to cry!

I couldn't see anything from my position when I heard the car two cars start. I prepared myself to shoot again if anyone came near me but I saw Master walking down the road, towards me, without hiding from the car and I knew they were his men. Everything was done, he was safe. I quickly stood up from behind the car and ran towards Master and jumped on him, hugging him to me. He had caught me and now my legs were around his waist and his arms tight around me. I sobbed in his neck.

"Everything is fine now, my Love, you are safe." He whispered softly in my ear. I shook my head in his neck, he had got it all wrong!

"I thought that something would have happened to you, I was so scared for you," I whispered.

I didn't care what happened to me, a little pain didn't bother me anymore, I am used to it. Sometimes I even welcome it, it meant I was still alive, I could feel things and I was not just a plaything meant for others to use. His told tightened at my confession.

"I'm so happy that you are alright," I told him as he set me down.

"Why did you get out of the car when I specifically told you not to?" He asked me softly but I could hear the anger hidden underneath it.

"There are two people there, they were trying to shoot you so I shot them. One is dead and the other is....mutilated." I said for a better word and then pointed towards the alley. Then the reality settled in that I hurt two people, I shot two people, I killed a person! My eyes watered again.

Master's eyes fogged over for a second before I saw men get down from the cars and go there, then his eyes were on me, he was looking at me in awe.

"You did an amazing job, Moya Lyubov. I don't want you to feel bad for those people. In our world, it's kill or gets killed. So do not feel guilty for hurting him or killing them, because they don't give a second thought before doing the same to innocents." He said whispering the last part while caressing my hair. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, they were his men. Nikolai didn't tell me but I just knew. I wiped the remaining tears and nodded at Nikolai.

"Let's go home, Ava," Nikolai said, opening my door for me. I got in and started putting everything back in the briefcase and putting it in its place while Nikolai started the car.

There was one car in front of us and one car behind us as we drove home.

"I'm sorry that this spoiled our night." He sighed.

"It was still one of the best nights I've ever had." I smiled at him.

"One of them? What are the others?" He asked smirking.

"The ones with you." I blushed and he chuckled.

How easily we went from serious to joking...

"I am still angry that you got out of the car." He said quietly, but the anger was present in his voice.

"I'm sorry," I said just as lowly. I disobeyed him, however justifiable the reason may be, I didn't do as he said and I deserved a punishment.

"I could have handled getting shot Ava, but what I can't bear is you getting hurt, even the thought pains me." He said, his eyes flickering to me.

I was disappointed in myself. I could have shot them from the car if I had used my mind and just rolled down the windows a bit, I risked my life and disobeyed him, worried him. I should have thought before acting on impulse and he would have liked it more. I deserved a punishment, I wanted, no, I needed punishment.

He always wanted the best for me and I trusted him and his judgment but I still disappointed him. There were times when I wanted a punishment, to feel the burn for my transgressions so that I would do better next time. He was not like Emilio who would beat me raw and didn't stop even if I safe worded. Nikolai was my savior and cared for me. I wanted him to care enough to help me correct my wrong-doings.

"Please punish me," I begged softly yet desperately, I wanted him to.

"We talked about having a normal relationship, I won't hurt you." He said, his hands clenching the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turned white from the usual tanned color.

"We talked about trying it and I don't like it, Nikolai. You won't hurt me, I trust you, I want you to help me correct my transgressions, if it hurts me to do so, I can take it. I'm not a fragile little girl. That is what I need, please." I begged again and a tear dropped down my cheek, followed by many more. He didn't look at me or reply to that.

How do I make him understand? It had been living for twelve years, I am too used to it, I find comfort in it, it was what kept me sane there. If I was not told what to do, if I wasn't used to doing what Emilio told me to do, I knew I would have killed myself, just like Viktoria had. In a way, he had kept me alive and because of him, I was here.

Viktoria was brought into my home when I was already a pet for Emilio. She was older and was Emmanuel's pet. She was so nice to me, she was like a mother to me and we were kept in the same room.

I still remember her parting words as if she had told it to me yesterday.

"I love you, sweet child, but I can't live like this anymore, I miss my son, I hoped I could escape and go back but I can't live like this anymore. I'm sorry for the pain I will cause you." She whispered kissing my cheek.

"You can never cause me pain." My thirteen-year-old self smiled at her, not understanding what she was saying. She didn't reply and we both fell asleep on the ground, with me in her arms.

She had killed herself the next day by snatching a gun from a guard's holster but she did it when I was not with her, I knew she didn't want me to see her do it.

She was the second mother figure that was taken away from me and I felt empty after that. The pain was what made me feel alive, it was what stopped me from becoming a hollow shell of a person. While Emilio's punishments were for his enjoyment and I hated him, I know Master's punishment would be to help me become better and I loved him. I knew I did.

"We are here." I heard Master say, he had already opened my door for me. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't realize that we reached.

"I don't want to hurt you like that Ava," Nikolai whispered to me as I got off, closing the door behind me.

"Maybe, sometimes I like getting hurt, if becoming better comes with pain, then give me pain." I pleaded to him.

"Are your nightmares okay or do you want us to sleep together?" He asked, ignoring my statement as he wiped my tears.

My eyes flickered back to the two cars where I saw Andrei, Vladimir, and Dimitri get out of the car and a few men who brought out two men. One was shot in the stomach probably by Nikolai and the other one was the one whom I shot in his balls. I knew he had things to do.

"I'll be okay." I nodded at him. He nodded and kissed my forehead.

I started going upstairs and Andrei joined me.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yes, just tired," I replied.

I was going towards our room when I stopped, I didn't want to sleep alone tonight. I went towards Sofiya's room and opened it. She turned when she heard the door open. Seeing my teary state, she didn't say anything, just opened her arms and I lied down beside her, hugging her.

"What happened Avalyn?" She asked softly and I told her, everything, about my entire past, about me and Master- sparing the intimate details, and then trying the normal relationship and how I didn't like it. She cried with me, mourned with me and we slept like that, crying in each other's arms.

Nikolai

I hated doing this to her but I knew it was the right thing. She needed to realize that as much as I loved dominating her, having her do as I pleased, as much as it turned me on, it was her life and she had the right to live freely, to do what she wanted and not what I tell her to do.

I was not going to be a reminder of her past, a reminder of that piece of shit who beat her for his enjoyment, made her do things for her just because he thought he owned her.

No one can own her, she is an angel who is meant to fly and hell would freeze over before I would let her be used again like that.

I looked at these two dicks as they were being tied to the chair in front of me. I was in no mood for this right now, I wanted to go to Ava and sleep with her in my arms and keep her nightmares away but the way they were bleeding, they were not going to live long and we had to get the information we needed. I sat back and watched them suffer.

Ava had shot two vampires, killing one and mutilating the other and I was so fucking proud of her. I was in awe of her strength, every day she did things that would leave me bewildered. The first kill is never easy but she had done so good, I knew it was not the first time she had seen someone get killed before, you can't live a life like ours and not have seen it. Ava was going down the dark road but she understood what I had told her and realized that feeling guilty for people who want to hurt you was only going to hurt you more.

"Let's start with why you were following me," I asked standing up and going towards the weapons that Mikhail had brought.

They didn't reply. I huffed internally and sat back on my chair, motioning Vladimir to go ahead. He picked up a knife and walked towards them.

"Alpha asked you a question." He gritted. They still didn't reply.

He started peeling the skin of the man who was shot in the stomach as he cried out.

"I was just told to follow you and give reports back to him." He cried. I put my hand up, motioning Vladimir to stop.

"Who is him?" I asked.

"The head of warriors of eastern Montaña Pack." He looked at me with eyes full of tears and fear- things that my wolf fed off of.

I look at the mutilated guy. Dimitri came beside him with daggers in his hand.

"Why were you following me?" I asked. He looked at the first guy and then the daggers in Dimitri's hands and gulped.

"I wasn't." He replied. Lie.

He was not replying and his eyes were closing and his nose and ears were bleeding. Dimitri punched him. He fell on the floor along with the chair.

"I was supposed to see if he did his job. He owes him a favor, I was keeping an eye on them." He cried. They all were pawns in the big game.

"What is the name of this head?" I asked. He was already in too much pain and the blood loss had made him weak. He was going to die in a few minutes.

"Milo Lorenzo." He said sobbing. I didn't have time for his crying!

"What else do you know?" I gritted. He knew more than he was letting on.

"They all are coming for you." He said and then coughed blood and I knew he was as good as dead.

I wanted more information, dammit! I was furious at his sentence but it was the truth. Suddenly shoe flew from behind me and the heels stuck in his forehead like a dagger. And he was dead on the spot, his lifeless eyes looking behind me.

"He was already dead." I rolled my eyes.

"I couldn't control myself, had to do my favorite movie." I heard Natalia say as she walked in front of me. She needed to have her head pulled out of her ass.

"Then learn to control yourself," I growled at her attitude.

"Good morning." She smiled, bowing her head in respect and I nodded.

"What time is it?" I asked, irritated by the new attitude she had picked up in the last two months.

"Five thirty am." She said, removing her sharp heel from his forehead and holding both of them in her hands.

"I have to go. Get done with him." I told to Vladimir who nodded. I went to our room, wanted to get some sleep with Ava before we had to wake up again. I went to our room to see she wasn't here and panicked. I took out my phone to call Andrei only to see his message that she was in Sofiya's room and I relaxed at that. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep now so I decided to start my training early.