SWNOVELS Chapter 46 - Mia
“Mia, wait,” Niko pulls me back and a look of concern slips into his eyes. “Please don't do anything rash, okay? These women-"
"Are nothing but cowards,” I say and pull my arm out of his grip. “The only thing they know how to do well is corrupt children; they're cowards.”
His lips are a thin line and I know he’s a ball of anxiety right now, so I get on my tiptoes and give him a chaste kiss. “I pull my strength from you, my love, you can do the same to me. Let me help you through this.”
If we're right and his abusers are in there along with Lilah, then this will be the first time he'll be facing them since they left him for dead. How will he react to seeing them, and is this wise? Nodding, he takes a deep breath and takes my hand in his before calling the Gammas and Maxim over the mind link.
/“We're heading towards them now; surround them and stay back until my go-ahead,”/ he says and they respond with “Yes, Alpha.’ Then he takes my hand, kisses the back of it and we walk to where I can sense Ares.
I know I should be more concerned for the safety of my son, but right now I am too angry to be worried. Besides, with Niko at my side I don't need to be worried, right? He'll fight for us, won't he? I trust in my Alpha and I trust him to make the right choices, but in the face of the two women who did unspeakable things to him...where do I fall?
Muffled voices are up ahead, unfamiliar voices, and they seem to be arguing over something. “Up ahead,” I say and Niko squeezes my hand.
The shipping container we enter is dimly lit, and I smell those same three scents as before. There's no use being quiet in here since our footsteps echo through the place, and as soon as we step inside, two pairs of emerald green eyes turn to face us.
Lilah stands off to the side with her head bowed, shame radiates from her usual sweet scent as she holds Ares in her arms. The other two figures, the ones with cruelty and bloodlust in their scents, are looking at us with amused expressions.
They look like Niko and Bastien - same color hair, green eyes, high cheekbones, and tall build. They're both dressed in black leather and holding silver-tipped whips in their hands
“Well,” one says and walks towards us with a smirk, crossing her arms. “If it isn't my unwanted son.” “P-please...my mother made me do this...” she stutters, backing up against the wall. “They made me...they-"
“Your mother?” I frown and she nods.
“You just killed her.”
I peer down at the other woman, but even as I think of showing Lilah mercy, she’s put this all into place. “You could have come to Niko; he would have helped you but instead you chose to be weak,” I say, then I give her the same fate her mother suffered.
There's no room in our lives for traitors.
Star's burst of strength takes its toll on me and I stumble, but when I turn to face Niko, I see his mother crawling away. Seeing her alive sends a sliver of disgust through my body, and I walk over to Niko, pulling him to his feet.
"Come back to me, Alpha,” I say and cup his cheek. “I'm getting the revenge you should have gotten a long time ago.”
When I say this, he blinks and his eyes focus on my face, then he frowns. “M-Mia?"
I smile and I spin him around so he can see his mother. “This ends tonight,” I say, then I walk towards her and pull her back by her hair before forcing her onto her knees.
"Apologize to him,” I growl. “And mean it."
His mother laughs, the blood on her neck bubbling. “I will not apologize for what I did. Why lie about something I so thoroughly enjoyed taking part in-"
Niko's fist slams through her chest and she chokes back a sob, staring at the broken man she’s created. His anger pushes away her arrogance, and she claws onto his arm, coughing blood into his face. "Nik-"
He squeezes her heart and pulls it from her chest, then drops it to the floor and uses his claws to behead her right in front of me. His breathing is ragged, his eyes a darker crimson than before, and his heart beating so fast that I cannot keep up.
I take a tentative step toward him and place a hand on his shoulder. This makes his bloodthirsty gaze land on me, but instead of fear gripping my heart, it's pride even as he snarls at me. “Nikolaos,” I say gently, cupping his face with my bloodied hands. “I am so proud of you, my love.” He blinks as he looks at me; the snarl slipping back into a look of disbelief, and he crumbles to the floor, taking me with him. “I...I killed her,” he stammers, placing a fist to his heart as if to stop its incessant beating. “Mia, I-"
I draw my forehead to his and sigh. “You're an Alpha; don't you dare kneel to anyone again,” I say, and am about to place a kiss on his lips when a piercing cry snaps me back to the now and vengeance leaves my body like mist in the sun.
Scrambling to my feet, I rush over to where Lilah placed Ares on the floor and scoop him up into my arms. “Oh, my love,” I coo, rocking him back and forth to calm him down. “Shh, it's okay, mommy is here.”
As I hold on to Ares, the gravity of what I'd just done hits me and a sob tears me in two. The scent of blood and fear permeates the container and disbelief over what transpired sets into my heart.
I killed two people with my bare hands; ripped them apart without even thinking, and I enjoyed it. Does this make me a monster like them?
/“No, you protected your family; we protected your family,”/ Star says, growling. /“Your gift guided you, you should be proud, Mira.”/
Even as Star attempts to console me, all I can think about is how much I enjoyed ripping out their heart and watching the fear in their eyes. These people abused and betrayed Niko. They wanted to take my child and do the same to him.
I shouldn't feel guilty...so why do 1?