5: An assassin
I had to do something.
My father would be anything but lentent with him. But it seemed like Abel was anything but done.
T
He turned his gaze to the maid and pointed his accusatory finger in her direction instead. “LLw i them. The two of them were t–talking.” he tried explaining what he had witnessed, but his stuttering was getting in the way.
1 all happened so quickly. Abel was thrown across the room with a single kick from my father. Someone screamed. I was not sure if it was me or my mother, but someone screamed loud enoughs that cantrums rang. I had to do something. My father was already approaching Abel again. My mother tried to get to Abel but the Beta was holding her back.
1 got up from my knees. They almost buckled under me but I got up to my feet. “She should have died. She should have died with that child!” 1 screamed to get their attention. I stared at my stepsister with all the hatred I could muster. “You should have joined in.”
Lyra herself blinked, completely caught unaware by my outburst. Then the let out a wail when she recovered.
I was back on the ground in a second kick in the stomach from my father. But this time he did not stop. He kept at it, making sure he aimed at the stomach I was covering with my arms. The baby I was protecting My baby,
“I will protect you.” I whispered to it. I did not know if it was a boy or a girl. But it was mine. No one could protect me, but I would protect it.
I saw Beta Reiner let go of my mother enough to try and get to me, but through the writhing and the pain, I gestured to go to Abel. She paused, but when I saw her go to my now, unconscious brother, did I finally let the darkness take me.
lawakened in a cell, my vision bleary but the voice that greeted me..
“You are finally awake,” it was Kavriel.
I looked up at him, unable to form a word. I felt drained, and I instinctively put a hand over my stomach.
“It’s dead.” Kayriel informed impassively. I felt my world shatter. I failed. My child was gone. Another thread of hope snapped. I opened my mouth
to weep.
“You can’t talk, so don’t bother. It’s my turn to talk.”
I gulped.
“You should be dead by now, but I need you to
I you to listen and obey. Your mother finally snapped and had the audacity to accuse my mate. So she is in a cell with that bastard of a boy you call a brother. They are awaiting execution for treason.” He dropped the bombshell and my whole body
shuddered.
“But I know you want them alive, so I will give you a choice,”
He placed a knife in front of me. “You kill yourself now, and they die, or you let me take that special blood of yours, you will be exiled, and they
ten seconds…
I looked at him incredulously, but he only looked stoically at me. “I will give you only ten
“Take my blood, then exile, but let them live.” I blurted.
He grinned slowly. “Deal.”
After the bloodletting, where they harvested as much blood as they could without killing me, I was brought before the pack court. I was weak and could barely stand up, but I had to stay strong. I looked up to see my mother chained in the comer of the hall. She was alone. I felt a little relief. maybe Kavriel had taken mercy on him, but I had a horrible feeling that I was wrong.
The trial went on with me as the main convict. I was going in and out. Unable to keep my eyes open for too long. My thoughts strayed to my child. The one I had lost. The one I had failed to protect. But I would protect my mother and brother. Then I would be exiled and out of their lives. It would be for the best. My healing blood has bought me that option. Even if my entire body was on fire.
Soon it was time for the verdict to be passed, I tuned in to their voices. Kavriel was speaking
“Iris Hawthorne, for your crimes against the pack you are sentenced to a quest.
I blinked in surprise, I should be exiled, that was the deal that I had given my blood for.
“For the lives of the traitor you call family, you will be deposited to the Grimmoon pack castle.”
My blood ran cold at the mention of the Grimmoon pack. They were not only the mortal enemy of the Ashfall Pack, but every other pack. They were not werrfolk like the rest. They were lycans, the accursed. The ones that survived the fever curse. The Cravens that gained power over their actions and were not simply mindless creatures. They gained linelligence but also bloodlust. There were monsters with intelligence, but that only made them more horrible. Yet, they were led by a creature straight out of a nightmare. He was the one who no one dare speak his name.
“To assure the lives of the traitors are not ended, you must assassinate the Alpha of Grimmoon Gasps filled the hall.
My blood slowed to a crawl in my veins as I took it all in. This was worse than an exile. Worse than an execution. It was a fate that made an ordinary death seem like child’s play. The Alpha of Granmoon Pack, a monster whose name most could not dare to utter. Not even Kavriel himself.
Even if I was a trained assassin. I would fail. Many have attempted but not a single one returned. For how could one kill a man whose touch turned all to rot: A touch that no person was immune to. I had seen his handy work with my own two eyes. He had sent back the Alpha’s assassins‘ decayed
corpses
20-1
It was all 100 much and I felt my hold on my consciousness slacken and everything went dark. The last thing I heard was my mother’s scream. Iregamed consciousness on the cold hard ground. My body hurt. I was back in the cell but when I managed to get up, my heart dropped. I was not in a cell, I was not in any chamber. I was quidoors. My cimicomment was unfamiliar and the more Hooked around, the mure it dawned on me. plagued withi guards clad in black armor that made them so danting. They were a foot taller than most of my pack memilien. I was not in Ashdali. I hul been deposited just as Kavriel had said. My heart crashed against my rili cage as I got up. I felt something on my side and when Linvestigared, I found a small knife. It was crazy. This would be my weapon. I should save laughed, but a sub escaped my lips instead.
“Did you hear the one guard asked the other. They gestured to one another and one went to investigate the place where I was. I clamped over
over my
I held my breath as he came close to where 1bid. My abdomen hurt even more with the action. I clenched my jaw, waiting and hoping, He looked around for a while, Is he did not discover me. When he began to move away, Het nut the breath I was holding. The guard paused.
“I know you are there,” he said, and that was the only warning I got before I was yanked out of my hiding place by a mammoth of a man. The strain pulled on my injuries and I felt them tear further. It was exeruciating
He danglesine upside down as the other grands came to surround in.
“Get the Metal” One guard ordered mother.
Then my knife dropped from my body. The silence that followed was loud. “I think we should take her to the Alpha right away instead.”
At the mention of that Alpha my stomach chumeil I could not muster a word in protest. What would I say?
The guard who had apprehended me carried me effortlessly as if I were weightless, while the others followed closely behind. My head span from bring upside down, and the pain from my injuries intensified with every step
Soon, we reached what appeared to be a grand hall, adorned with dark tapestries and lit by flickering torches. The guard carrying me dumped me unceremoniously onto the cold stone floor, causing me to let out a cry of pain,
Before I could gather my wits, a tall, imposing figure approached. He wore armor adorned with intricate designs, and his eyes were dark with sinister specks of red. He dwarfed everyone else 1 had seen in my life. He was indeed the monster that the people spoke about. His hair was long. dark and unbound. The way it alighted the hardness of his features only made him even more daunting in appearance.
But what I thought was most odd and terrifying about the Alpha were his veins. They were highlighted on his arms to his elbows. They were black. As though death itself flowed through his veins. They were reminiscent of twisted tattoos. It only served to make his aura more severe. A chill ran down my spine as he came closer to me.
“Who is this?” he demanded, his voice deep and commanding.
*An assassin, Alpha,” one of the guards responded, howing low. “Found lurking near the castle grounds. We found a weapon and her.”
The Alpha’s gaze narrowed as he studied ine. “Is that so?” he mused, circling around me like a predator assessing its prey. “Tell me yourself what brings you to Grimmoon territory, little wolf?” There was no amusement in his voice.
I struggled to sit up, wincing as I moved. Everything hurt. “I…I was sent here,” I managed to say, my voice weak and trembling. “Sent by..by the Ashfall Alpha
A murmur rippled through the guards at my words, and I could see the Alpha’s interest piqued even further. His dark eyes accessed me even further.
“Sent by Kavriel, Iht He repeated, his tone tinged with both disbelief and curiosity. “A mere woman!” He let out laughter that lacked mirth I swallowed hard, trying to summon the courage to speak. “1. had no choice. L”
The Alpha’s expression darkened, and a dangerous glint appeared in his eyes. “No choice?” he growled, his voice low and menacing.
1 could say nothing as I gazed up at him watching his hand. I noticed that even his own men stood far away from him as though he were a plague.
Tgulped “Please.”I began to plead
*You should have heard by now, little wolf I have no soul and no heart. Do not waste your breath asking for mercy, 1 cannot give
Then at a speed I could not comprehend, he was right in front of me, his hand came around my neck, forcing me to look up at his face. A menacing smile slashed across his lips. “Farewell,” The red specks in his dark eyes brightened.
He touched me. He touched me. He touched me. My mind was spiraling. This was the end. My body would decay spontaneously and that would be the end. I would leave my mother and brother in the hands of another son of monster. Chad failed. I failed in my quest, failed my family, failed my child. My child. I had failed myself. I had pursued Kavriel’s happiness above my own all my life and I regretted it all so much I wished I had lived for myself and for those who truly love me.
The grip on my neck slackened. 1 opened my eyes to see the Alpha’s shocked expression. 1 looked around to see that everyone had the same expression
Then I realized I was not dead. I was alive and breathing. He had touched me but I was still living. I had survived The Alpha’s touch.
