Chapter 71
One of the masculine hikers forced my head down positioning my neck through the small hole, I swallowed and closed my eyes, death should be easy right? That sharp blade will pierce my skin and even if it hurts I should only feel it for a second right?
Is there life after death, will I be in total darkness, will I be reborn, will I ever see Scar again, will I know that I’m dead?, question after question flooded my mind drowning the roaring sound of the crowd cheering for my death.
Everything seemed to happen all at once a loud shout came from deep within the woods came booming echoing in the air, the man holding my head down let go and I shot my head up taking myself out of harm's way and the blade landed with a slicing sound missing me by an inch, small flakes of my hair floated slowly down my face telling me how close I was to being one of them
The man kept shouting and screaming repeating the same words “he took Diego…he took Diego!” he emerged from the woods, huffing and puffing, he looked exhausted, his brown hair drenched in sweat, his hiking clothes were dirty like he was rolling around in the mud, his face radiating with fear, his eyes wide with shock
“Come down Pablo” Alpha Gregorio said as he rushed to his side, I got up and ran to meet them
The man screamed and fell to the ground when he saw me “it’s him, he’s the one, get the hell away from me” he growled, getting on all fours shifting to his wolf and running like his life depended on it
“This is curious, how can you be in two places at once?” the Alpha asked slowly stroking his chin, his face scrunched up like he was trying to solve a puzzle as he looked at me,
“There is no way” I gasped as the events that have taken place in the short space of time finally came together
“What…what is it, Alpha Braveheart?” the Alpha of the Estoica pack looked curiously at me
“I think I know who's been killing your people”
"You do, who?" he pushed
“My twin brother Xavier”
“Twins are forbidden, what you're speaking of is blasphemy” he barked
“How else do you explain what Pablo just said, I was in your custody the entire time, there is no way I could have also been out there killing your man at the same time” he huffed frustrated by the situation “I have to go, he has my mate and you’ve kept me here long enough” I growled at him
He nodded “anything you need please let me know” he said clearing his throat
“I need Pablo to show me where Diego was taken”
“Yes of course”
“Oh, one more thing”
“What?”
“Him” I pointed at the man that poured water on me, kicked me, and pressed my head down to be slaughtered, he enjoyed my plight way too much and my revenge was only starting “I need him to escort me through the woods
The man's body froze, his eyes looking back and forth from his Alpha to me, pleading for mercy
“Very well, anything else? Please keep in mind that we are a small pack, so I can’t give you more than that” his body shifted from left to right, shame written all over his face.
He looked weak, overcome by indecision, I could challenge him right here and now and take his pathetic pack from him, but as much as I would love to bring him down to his knees, I have more pressing matters to attend to.
“A hot bath, cloths and some food and then I’ll be on my way” he nodded, and we started walking back towards the stone mansion, as I walked passed everyone that was throwing things at me and chanting, cheering for my head to be removed, I saw fear written on all their faces, I asserted my Alpha dominance and they all bowed as I walked past.
I broke bread with Alpha Gregorio after my hot bath “is this some kind of uniform” I gestured to the hiking clothes they gave me to wear
“Oh that, we are up in the mountains and if we encounter a human on one of our patrols it’s best to look like them, things tend to go smoothly that way” he cleared his throat, still feeling guilty about what happened earlier.
“I noticed that only men wear these, the women are all in long dresses and sandals, are all your guards’ men?” I asked, trying to keep the conversation going hoping to ease the tension, he nodded still avoiding my gaze, took another bite of his meat, I shrugged and gave up on making him feel better.
We stood at the entrance of the woods, and I looked at my team
“Ready?” I asked Pablo who was shaking nervously on my left
“Ready” he whimpered
“Ready?” I asked the scumbag who calls himself Luis on my right
“Ready” he answered with confidence, but I could tell he was scared shitless, although I hate his guts he seems to be the man you want by your side when you have a war to fight.
We quickly entered the woods with Pablo leading the way
“Here, he was taken right here” Pablo pointed to the spot, I knelt down and inspected the remanence of what looked like a big struggle among three people
“So, this is where your cloths got dirty” I said looking up at him, he frantically nodded his head, his eyebrows furrowed remembering the battle, I looked closely and saw footsteps leading to the right, I stood up and followed them closely
“Looks like he was dragging something” Luis whispered following close behind
“That’s Diego” Pablo whispered back,
“Reni, smell anything?”
“Yes, it smells like Xavier but mixed with something else, not sure what it is” he growled softly in response
“Okay, follow it, don’t lose it” we followed the scent and the tracks deep inside the woods
“Look the tracks just stopped” Pablo hissed as we came to the foot of a tall mountain, I looked to the left nothing, I looked to the right nothing, the tracks looked like they went straight through the mountain.
“Reni, do you still have the scent?” he sniffed frantically and whimpered covering his nose with his paws
“Nothing, I smell nothing, the scent is gone” he hissed in frustration
“Dead end” Luis barked kicking the dust up in the air, I looked around and we were surrounded by nothing but trees, the sun was beginning to set, and these woods seem darker than usual, darkness was slowly creeping in
“We will camp here for the night, Luis go find us some firewood, Pablo go find some food and fresh water for us to drink” I barked ordering them, and they scurried into the woods obeying my every word.
“Why did the tracks and the scent suddenly disappear like that?” I let out a gush of air frustrated by the situation
Scarlet’s POV
“Oh, my god” I gasped looking up at him and covering my mouth as he walked in
“What?” he said unaffected by my frantic state
“You…you have blood dripping down your lip” I pointed apprehensively at the dripping blood
“Oh, sorry about that” he wiped the blood off and licked it off with his tongue, making my stomach churn
“What are you?” I looked curiously at him, wolves don’t eat humans, seeing that we are part human ourselves
“You still haven’t figured it out yet” he scoffed taking the seat opposite me at the table "figures, you’ve been sheltered your whole life, and you’ll be even more sheltered as the Luna” his face tuned to anger “at this rate you will die not knowing anything about the world you’re living in, let alone the shadows that border it”
“Enlighten me then”
“What’s the use, you’ll just go back to your cosy little life despite knowing, that’s why my child will be raised differently, away from your lies”
“You said you lost your wolf, so you are not a wolf anymore” I thought out loud ignoring his rant “and you drink blood, you can’t be a vampire cause sunlight doesn’t affect you” I huffed drawing a blank “it’s so frustrating why won’t you just tell me?” I barked at him
“Throw your tantrum all you want; I’m still not telling you” he scoffed
“Am I in danger here, are you going to kill me as soon as I have the baby?”
“What, why would you think that... I’m not a monster”
“Well, you just ate that guy or drank his blood or whatever you did to him, if that’s my fate I deserve to know, are you planning to kill me Xavier” I bit my lip taking slow deep breaths the fear of his answer creeping its way into my heart
“You’re the mother of my child I’d never dream of killing you!” he breathed
“Then tell me, what are you, why did you kill that man, why drink his blood? I need answers Xavier, answer me!” I boomed
“Fine” he growled banging his hands on the table “there was a witch I knew named Julia Thompson” his voice was low and sombre as he spoke her name “she found me dead in the woods, after your mate killed me”
“What, what do you mean killed you?”
“That night when I planted my seed in you, I found Aiden waiting for me” he looked down at his hands “he challenged me and won, he ripped my throat out and watched me die”
“Oh my god” I hissed with my hands over my mouth
“Julia found me, and I guess performed a spell to bring me back to life”
“That’s who that book belongs to” I gasped, he nodded, his face grief stricken “so where is she now, and why do you have her book?” he cleared his throat shifting uncomfortably in his chair
“She thought she was bringing back the old Xavier, and she did, but she brought back something else too” my ears rang as I bit my lip
“What?” I whispered, picturing him turning into a monster and devouring me
“He calls himself Moloch, he is one of the fallen angels cast out of heaven with Satan himself”
“Is he the one making you kill people?”
“No, to keep him at bay I need wolfs blood and that’s why I killed that man”
“What happens if you don’t kill?”
“He will take over and basically have a human body, he'd be alive…and he can’t wait”
My eyes wide with horror as I asked, “can you feel him inside you?”
“We came back together Scarlett, he is me and I am him, the only difference is that I’m in control at least for now anyway"
