Chapter 19
The night sky was clear, the moon shined through the thick trees illuminating our path. There was an eerie silence around us. All of us were on edge, cautiously browsing the forest as we walked through. As I carefully walked I heard the faint breaths of Sin next to me and soft footsteps behind me.
Erik, Sin and I were leading a group of werewolves into Torben's territory. Markus insisted on coming along with us. I didn't want to involve him in this fight, but he argued that he was trained in battle and was well capable of fighting and protecting himself. We all agreed on taking him with us under one condition. To stay back, only come out to help if it was needed. At the end of the day, we needed him to use his gift when the time was right, not to get himself killed.
The packhouse slowly emerged into our view. All the lights were off and it was dead quiet. I got a glimpse of a werewolf sitting in front of the slave quarters, and one other werewolf guarding the front of the house.
Everyone else must have been asleep. They didn't even guard their borders. How foolish of them. There were most likely more warriors sleeping in the house, but this mission shouldn't be hard. I thought to myself.
We stopped between the thick trees surrounding the packhouse, making sure we weren't seen by the guards. We planned to let go of the slaves while capturing Diana and her son and kill everyone else. Everyone in Erik's group was aware of our plan.
"Reine, you take the one sitting down, I'll take the other one" commanded Sin with a hushed voice.
I nodded, while we got ready. With my vampire speed, I ran towards the werewolf guarding the slaves and Sin towards the other one guarding the house.
The werewolf was half asleep when I appeared in front of him. Kicking him into his midsection, he fell backwards to the ground. Before he could react, I stabbed him into his heart with my silver hunting knife.
I glanced towards Sin while I pulled my knife out of the beast's chest. The werewolf was already lying lifeless at his feet. He waved his hand, gesturing Erik to come forward with his werewolves and I quietly opened the door of the slaves quarters.
When I walked in, it looked exactly as I remembered. All the memories of my years as a slave rushed back to the surface. I hated this place with passion and would love to see Torben's face when he would arrive and see his slaves gone and everyone dead.
I walked into the middle of the big room and shouted "everyone gets up and run!"
Everyone shoot up from their beds in shock not knowing what was happening. Numerous eyes shot to me their faces laced with confusion and fear.
"This pack is being attacked, you are free to go. If you stay you'll end up dead" I explained loudly then exited the room.
Running towards the big house, the lights were on, screams came from the house. I quickly got in, werewolves fought each other, blood spattered over the walls and few bodies laying in their pool of blood. I quickly ran up the stairs looking for Diana's room.
I found her fighting one of Erik's werewolves on the first floor nearby the stairs. Suddenly, behind her emerged a big man, his broad chest was covered in scars oozing with blood. He lunged at the werewolf who was fighting Diana.
I immediately grabbed one of my throwing knives and threw it in his direction. He spotted me and jumped out sideways, the knife missing his chest by inches.
Then he ran towards me, rage and fury flashed in his eyes. He jumped and shifted into his wolf mid-air. Before me stood an enormous grey werewolf snarling and baring his canines at me. He leapt at me so fast, before I could reach any of my weapons I was tumbling down the stairs.
Once I was back on the ground floor in the foyer, I quickly stood up and saw him running down the stairs in three large jumps. Fury took control of my body.
He leapt at me again, his massive paws pushing me to the ground and his claws sinking into my chest while he went for my neck. I realized just in time what he was about to do and took out my hunting knife that was covered in wolfsbane mixture.
Pushing me to the ground with his heavy form on top of me, with one hand I pushed with all my strength his face away from my neck, while my other shoved the metal into his chest. He froze then whimpered in pain as his body covered mine, life slowly left his body.
Pushing his massive body off to the side I got up. I was covered in blood both mine and his. I ran upstairs towards Diana, she was where I last saw her, finishing off the werewolf.
She glanced at me giving a last blow to the werewolf "well, well, well, who do we have here?" She asked mockingly. "I finally get to kill you" she growled her voice full of hatred.
Not waiting any second, she charged at me throwing punches and kicks. I evaded every single of her attempts to hit me. I wanted to hit her so badly, but I was keeping my promise to Erik. I wasn't going to hurt her unless necessary.
"Why don't you fight back!" She shouted, frustration evident on her face.
My eyes moved behind her seeing Sin with Erik watching us. She narrowed her eyes at me and then whipped her head behind her.
A boy stood next to Erik, I assumed it was her son. Erik held his hand while the boy had relaxed look on his face. I took advantage of her distraction, whipped out one of my knives and moved forward. I put the knives to her throat, the second she felt the cold metal on her neck her body tensed. Standing behind her I said, "you're coming with us, or the boy will die".
When the boy saw the knife in my hand on his mother's throat, he froze, his eyes widened, terror plastered over his young face.
She screamed at Erik "why are you doing this?!" Her voice was laced with despair. The boy squirmed at her outburst.
"There's no choice," Erik said calmly, but his eyes were full of pain. I could tell it hurt him to see his cousin like this, powerless and full of misery. However, I didn't mind it at all.
"Come with us willingly and we won't touch you or the boy," said Sin cautiously "if you want to fight, both of you will get hurt....either way, you're coming with us. You choose" he added.
She was tense not moving or making a sound. After a minute of considering her options, she signed loudly and mumbled "ok, I'll come with you" her gaze went to the floor and her shoulders slouched.
Sin and Erik let go of the boy and he ran towards his mother. When I saw his movement I put down the knife and stepped away from her.
The boy jumped into her arms "I was so scared" I heard him whispering. It was meant to be only for her ears, but everyone in their presence heard it. My heart sank upon hearing it, he was only a child, innocent in all this chaos. But to kill Torben it had to be done.
Diana left with us willingly, she didn't start any fight or attempt to escape. She knew very well her options. What she didn't know was, we wouldn't hurt the boy which was to our advantage. After travelling for hours, we finally got back to Erik's packhouse.
I finally got into my room, after a night of fighting and a day of travelling I was exhausted, not to mention hungry. When I got in a glass of blood was sitting on the table. I walked over and drank it greedily. I felt my power coming back to me. But I still needed sleep.
When I got into the bathroom I glanced at myself in the mirror. I jumped back a little bit at the sight. My face was smeared with blood and dirt, I had deep dark circles under my eyes. My skin that was usually olive was now pale and my hair was matted with dirt and dried blood. I took off my clothes throwing them in the corner of the room and jumped into the shower.
As soon as the lovely hot water touched my skin, my muscles relaxed, and I watched the water that was dripping from my body turned reddish-brown. I stood there under the stream and watched the steam rise around me. After a few minutes of enjoying the water, I started scrubbing my body and hair.
Entering the bedroom, Sin sat at the edge of his bed, drinking his glass of blood. His face had droplets of blood splashed over his cheek. His black hair was messy sticking in all directions and his clothes were covered in dirt and blood.
Once he spotted me he put the glass on his nightstand and pulled me closer to him when I tried to pass him. He was still sitting down, I was standing in between his legs. My hands were resting on his shoulders and he was boring his onyx eyes into mine, fear flashed in them "I was worried about you when I saw you fighting that huge werewolf " he mumbled.
I moved my hands upwards until I reached his cheeks "I don't want you to worry about me, I can take care of myself" I mumbled back giving him a reassuring smile.
He signed, dropping his gaze down "I know. I was just worried something happened to you when he jumped on top of you."
"Look at me" I gently lifted his face with my hand holding his cheek. His eyes found mine again "nothing will happen to me"
In response, he put his hands on my lower back pulling me closer to him and buried his face in my chest. He breathed in my scent "since you said that you don't care if you die in the battle, I can't stop worrying about you. It's bothering me a lot" he explained, his voice trembled.
"Why? Because we are the only ones left from our clan?" I asked softly.
He gazed into my eyes intensely locking me in " because I love you and I don't know what I'd do if you die" he roamed his eyes over my face.
My eyes widened and I took a step back leaving his warm embrace. I was shocked, never expecting this from him. I knew he had feelings for me but never knew they were this deep. I guess the war and killing Torben kept my mind busy from this.
When I glanced at him, he looked away from me, but before he did I saw a glimpse of pain. My heart sank at the realization that he thought I didn't feel the same way. The thing was I didn't know if I felt the same way. I had feelings for him but never really thought about it. One thing I knew was, my feelings for him grew every day.
He suddenly stood up, grabbing his clothes and left into the bathroom.
I was always going to love Luca, even though he wasn't alive, he was still deep in my heart. Could I love two men? Was it possible? Then why did it hurt me so much seeing Sin in pain? I missed his presence when he wasn't with me, he always kept me calm and collected. Maybe I do have deeper feelings for him than I thought. I don't know what I would do if he would die.
I was still standing in that same spot since he left. I was drowned in my thought I didn't even hear him entering our bedroom again. His voice snapped me out of my thought. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. I thought, maybe there would be something more between us, but it's fine. Forget this ever happened" he stated calmly.
When I looked in his direction he was only wearing pyjama pants, revealing his chiselled torso. His hair was wet, messy and sticking to his forehead and his eyes still held that same pain. He smiled at me as if nothing happened but it didn't meet his eyes.
He walked over to his bed and lied down and I sat at the edge of my bed facing him.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting anything like this. I was in shock." My voice ended the statement in nearly a whisper. He looked at me "as I said, it's fine" he said with a tinge of annoyance.
My eyes widened, he was mad at me. I never got this from him. I gathered all my courage and moved to his bed, sitting next to him on the edge. I was fidgeting with the hem of my long t-shirt and bit my lower lip. He looked at me as I did so.
"I was only figuring out my feelings towards you. I wasn't rejecting your love. In fact, I think my feelings are a lot deeper than I care to admit." I mumbled. The end of his lips curled upwards. "Really?" A hint of happiness flashed in his eyes. I nodded smiling at him, he looked at my lips and I lowered my head until I touched his soft lips.