Samson's howls and wails scare me, so much so that I take my eyes off Marie for the shortest of seconds. She must have gathered all the strength that she had left and used all her anger and hatred towards me to fuel her. My eyes widen when I see her pull a gun, and I just knew it was loaded with silver bullets. Frankly, I don't even care if she kills me anymore. It's enough that she's the weakest she's ever been, and the others will have no trouble in ending her life as soon as they see her. I would like to think they would make it extra painful as payback for shooting me.
I get up from where I was kneeling as the pain brought me down. I am now towering over her, one in front of another, looking straight into her cold and soulless eyes. She raises the gun aiming directly at my heart, pure hatred shooting from her eyes like silver coated daggers.
“Go ahead, do it!” I literally spit the words in her face. I didn't even flinch, I am fully prepared to die, knowing I would be taking this evil girl down with me.
I notice her jaw clenching, her body stiffening and eyes flickering dangerously between her normal eye colour and black.
The last thing I remember is starring into Marie's black eyes when the sound of the gun going off echoed so loudly that it physically hurt my eardrums.
44 - Dead
Samantha
A loud bang echoes through the walls and I feel this bone chilling fear mixed with panic. We all heard it, it was hard not to. Even our enemies flinched at the loud gunshot. Instinctively my eyes darted towards Jason, and I blew a relieved breath when I saw he's alright. I could have sworn he did the same, scanning the room for me and feeling relieved that I was still alright.
I moved my gaze to find that Tyler, Brian and Victoria were also unharmed. Ryan snapped the neck of the man he was fighting with and I noticed that he wasn't shot either. I think that is the moment we all knew something was up and who was in danger. Our mind collectively went to Luke, because he was the only other one of us here in this cave, and he also was the one that went deeper inside with no help. A glimpse of luck for your side glistens when we see another team of fighters making their inside this underground maze to help us.
I am so grateful for the help, because as easy as it is for us to win against these people, they seem to appear from an endless supply of warriors. Every time we kill or knock out an opponent, 3 more come from those hidden rooms behind the rocky door, only to take his place. At this pace, even the strongest of fighters would grow tired eventually. In all honesty, I am feeling quite out of breath already, but refuse to let it show. This is not like training, where you can get a time out to catch your breath or have a sip of water. This is a serious life of death situation and no matter how prepared I was feeling on our way over here, the reality of it and, the possibility of one of us getting hurt or losing their lives was truly like a slap in the face.
“Luke, he's in there!” I scream loudly.
“Where? Where did he go?” Ryan asked fully in panic mode.
Both myself and Jason rush towards the place where Luke disappeared into, but as we try to move the giant rock aside, it doesn't budge.
I make room for the guys to try and move the boulder, while Victoria joins me in guarding their backs, making no one from Marie's side sneaks up on them.
I noticed the battle behind us slowing down, most of the wolves and men in the enemy camp were either retreating or barring their necks in submission, not wanting to fight anymore. That's strange, why would they suddenly give up? We are definitely on the lead, but we haven't won just yet.
I furrow my brows and look at Victoria, only to see that she is wondering the same thing I am. Neither of us gets to say the question out loud, because the guys finally managed to move the rick aside and reveal the entry to a long hallway. We all rushed in frantically searching for Luke. Just a few seconds later we were forced to take a turn and came face to face with Luke.
“Geez, man, are you alright?” Ryan is the first to voice his thoughts.
“It's over. She's dead.”
I am stunned, not thinking I heard his right. The others are looking at him with shocked faces. Could it really have been this easy? Is Marie really gone forever, leaving us to carry on with our lives in peace without any more threats or heinous crimes?
“What do you mean she's dead? Who? Marie?” Jason seems to be the only one brave enough to ask the question that was on everyone's lips.
“The one and only.” Luke replies and I detect a hint of pain disguised as sarcasm.
Jason looked ready to ask Luke more questions, and frankly I had more questions too, but without warning, Luke just collapses, wincing in pain. The guys caught him before his head got to collide with any of the sharp rocks around and cause some serious damage. As Ryan and Jason each grab one of Luke's arms and start carrying him outside.
All signs show that nobody is fighting anymore. One of the warriors helping us came to let us know all Sang Noir's members, including their gravely wounded Beta, are surrendering. They have said they don't have any more reasons to fight.
That only reinforces what Luke told us. Marie Gaston must really be dead, and it looks like it's all thanks to Luke.
“I think we should go and check out... you know, the scene. Make sure she's really... taken care of.” Victoria suggests and Tyler and I agree. The 3 of us start walking cautiously and inspecting each room we find in our way.
“Over here, guys.” Tyler shouts and we follow him into a bigger room. The moment I walked in and looked on the floor I saw Marie's body peacefully laid out on the stone cold ground. She looks like she is only sleeping, even her hair is carefully arranged in such a way that is framing her face, making her look pure, innocent, and demure. This look on her reminds me of the friend I used to love as if she was my sister, my very own flesh and blood.
If not for the large pool of blood around her body, seemingly streaming from her chest, you would think she's resting. I felt no need to investigate further, it's as clear as day that Marie is the one that got shot. We can only imagine that the silver bullet was meant for Luke and somehow he managed to get the gun and point it at Marie instead. I didn't want to say anything, not until we got to speak to Luke again anyways, but I know all 3 of us were thinking the same thing upon seeing Marie's body. She looks like she was placed carefully in this position, like someone took the time to make her look as decent as possible in death. A single tear escapes the corner of my eyes as I silently mourn the one that used to be my best friend since we were 3 years old. I cursed the Moon Goddess for giving Marie this destiny, this path in life. Because of her parents, she never stood a chance at a normal life. she was doomed just like the rest of us. I hope she'll finally find her peace.
“I think we should go.” Tyler urges me and Victoria out of the room and neither of us says or does anything to stop him.
This Victoria that I see now, she confuses me. I can't actually hate her, to be honest, I just can't. The more time I spend with her, with the real Victoria, the more I get why Jason would be attracted to someone like her. She is impossibly smart and fierce in battle, and not to mention that she proved just how loyal she can be. Her looks are something I don't want to get into because it stirs too many of my insecurities. It' funny how Victoria basically has two sides to her. A side that is the typical queen Bitch, the Classic Barbie doll type of girl, all seductive and playing the damsel in distress to get attention from the men she wants, but her best side, the one she showed today and is still showing right now, this side is bigger and it makes in impossible for me to hate her. Sure, I am just a tinsy bit jealous, but let's face it. If I were a man, I would choose Victoria over me in an instant. Is as simple as that, and I am happy for Jason that he found someone like her. Getting to know Victoria a bit more made me be certain of my decision. And now that Marie is no longer a treat, and we can all get back to our normal lives, it's time I talked to Jason.
With that thought in my mind I join the others in making our way to Blood Moon territory. Since we have their
Alpha, unconscious and we can't seem to find anything wrong with him physically, we decided it's best to take him to his pack grounds, and have Jennifer examine him. For all we know Luke could have some internal damage, although it doesn't explain why his wolf is not healing him.
Apparently Ryan thought that the young witch might have put a spell on Luke, but the child was with Ariela, when Luke ventured deeper into the cave alone, plus the young witch didn't possess enough knowledge of her abilities do to such thing.
We're only a few miles away from Luke's pack. The warriors that helped us went straight to Crescent Moon to get some rest before they all return to their respective packs. New alliances will be formed and new peace treaties will soon be signed between all the pack that pitched in to help us. Their help was invaluable and I am so happy that we didn't lose a single life from our side. There are a few wounded, some quite badly, but neither of them have sustained life threatening injuries. This is beyond lucky, or maybe due to the fact that Luke killed Marie so soon into the battle.
“Sam, I need to tell you something.” Tyler pulls me to the side once we safely deliver Luke in Jennifer's care. She didn't ask what happened to Marie, and I didn't tell her either, but judging by her tear stained face, her mate might have mind linked her and told her already.
“What's wrong?”
“Nothing's wrong, but Luke didn't kill her.”
“What do... How do you know?”
“I just do. Look Sam, it's hard to explain it, but I know he didn't shoot Marie.”
“Then who did? There was no one else in there!” I whisper yell at my Beta in frustration. It shouldn't matter who did it, the most important thing is that she's finally gone, but for some reason I want to know the truth, it's all a bit too weird and I can't stop thinking about the peaceful manner Marie's body was positioned in.
“I guess that's for your friend to tell us once he's awake.”
45 - Rejected
Samantha
It's been over two weeks since the day of the battle. We eventually found out what happened between Luke and Marie and it was not what any of had expected. Them 2 being mates, just wow. This is even more messed up than what happened to me. In a cruel twist of fate it would appear that both Luke and I have drawn the short sticks in regards to our chosen mates. You know, his mate being the vengeful, murderous, backstabbing Alpha bitch and my mate being the one that bedded me and then tried to reject me. Yup, we are like those kids who always get picked last for any teams.
What Luke did was an immense sacrifice, nobody can imagine what it was like for him, not that anyone would like to feel that. I know it must have been the hardest decision he ever had to make in his life. He keeps telling us he felt nothing towards Marie, only pure hatred and disgust, but the image of her body keeps flashing in my mind. He took care of her, laid her to rest peacefully and in dignity, and to me that shows there was something there. I know from my own messed up mate bond, that no matter how hard you try not to have any feelings towards your fated mate, it's not that easy.
In Marie's case, as per usual, the human side is the one that got corrupted, because from what Luke told us, her wolf spirit was fighting her till the very end, and did not want to take part in her absurd vengeance. Luke's wolf is still mourning the death of his mate, the bravest wolf spirit that was there on that fateful day. She fought to gain control, using the last bit of her strength, and saved Luke's life. Marie was going to shoot him, she didn't even flinch at the thought of harming her own mate, but luckily her wolf took over and pointed the gun towards her own heart. No wolf could ever survive a silver bullet straight to the heart. She was gone in seconds, and our lives went back to normal, well, kind of. In the end, Tyler was right. Luke didn't kill Marie, her wolf did.
Right now I'm headed towards the protocol house, where the shitshow between Jason and I started. I'm planning on leaving England and going back to the United States tomorrow morning. The sooner the better, really. Luke is feeling a lot better and is almost back to his normal, positive self, and everyone else has fallen back into a comfortable routine. It's only time that my visit here comes to an end.
I'm pulled out of my thoughts once I arrive at the house where Jason and I shared the best and the worst moments of our relationship, if I can even call it that. This is the place where hope beginned to fill my heart after all the awful things that had happened to me. I let my guard down and I allowed Jason in, believing it will all better, that HE will make it all better, only to have my heart crushed the very next day.
I understand that it might be spiteful of me to still hold on to that grudge, to do anything and everything to ignore my feelings for Jason, but I can't allow myself to be that vulnerable ever again. At least not now that I got to see him with Victoria. I nearly passed out at Victoria's suggestive comments about their love making. The girl returned to her old antics as soon as she stepped foot in Crescent Moon territory and there was no longer a threat. She either is dumb and still didn't put two and two together, or is too smart and wants to slowly chip away at my confidence, making me look like a crazy jealous woman if I ever said anything. And we all know men run the opposite way as soon as they smell crazy and jealous.
“Hi.” Jason smiles as soon as he sees me walking in through the front door.
“Hi.” I smile back, trying to contain the blush that threatens to creep up my cheeks.
“I'm glad you called. I've been meaning to speak to you, but...” I cut him off, not letting him finish.
“But Victoria is probably the one getting all of your spare time.” As soon as I said it, I felt instant regret. This is not me. I don't do things like this. “I'm sorry, that was uncalled for.” I mutter an apology to Jason, not looking him in the eye. When he still doesn't say anything, I lift my head to look up at his face and I see him smirking.
“Jealous?” He asks me with a cocky grin playing on his face. I resist the urge to lose myself in his eyes and in tracing all his enhancing facial features, so I just clear my throat instead.
My heart is racing and I'm starting to doubt my plan, I'm starting to second guess all my decisions and get cold feet.
Am I doing the right thing? Probably not, but I feel like I need this. Truth be told, Jason has apologised over and over again, he explained what happened that morning and what drove him to attempt and reject me as his mate.
I find myself once more having the little devil on my shoulder whispering to me that I should pay Jason back, make him feel the pain and hurt that I felt. The little angel on my other shoulder is much too quiet when laying down all the reasons why I should give my mate another chance. This is why the little devil wins once more. And the truth is I can't get over Jason's rejection, that's just going to come back to me always.
I'll just keep telling myself that until I believe it. Oh, Goddess, who am I trying to convince here?
“Look, Jason, I can't do this. It's not fair for either of us.” I start my speech just how I've practiced by myself in the mirror, and in front of Tyler, more than a dozen times. By the way, Tyler was suspiciously on board with me rejecting Jason. I say suspiciously, because after they met and got to spend some time around each other, Tyler stopped with the nasty comments regarding him. He didn't have anything mean to say and it kind of threw me off. I mean before they met, Tyler was looking around for body dumping sites, planning to dispose of Jason's body, and now it's nothing, like he doesn't want to have an opinion about Jason anymore.
“What do you mean, Sam?” He looks confused, but I wouldn't be if I were him. Not allowing myself to get distracted from the task at hand, I start explaining to Jason what I want to do.
“We should reject each other. We need to get this over with and... and be free. Having our bond and being apart... it only makes us weaker and will eventually kill us.”
“It won't be if we are together, if you would just give us a chance. Give me, another chance Sam. I know I fucked up...” Desperation flashes in his eyes, and my heart aches.
<
br /> “This way you could be with Victoria. I know she's the one you want, and she clearly wants you just as much.”
“I don't want Victoria or any other woman. It's true, I slept with her, but that was before I knew we were mates, before we... made love. Listen Samantha, there hasn't been another woman since you, I promise you that. Nor do I want another woman.”
“Stop. Please stop. Just give me this, just for this once do this for me. We could both get our second chance mates if we are lucky.” I can't help the tears flowing freely down my face, anymore. I don't even care about appearing weak in front of him.
“Is this what you want? To find someone else, a second chance mate? Fuck, Samantha! This is about Luke, isn't it?”
“This has nothing to do with Luke!”
“Oh, but it had everything to do with Victoria, didn't it?” Alright, he got me with this one. I don't know what I could tell him, because he is right. I am jealous but won't allow him to be. That's not fair and I get it.
After neither of us said anything for a few minutes, Jason finally speaks. I can tell by his voice that he's holding back tears.
“Are you sure about this, Samantha?” The sound of his voice and the way he's looking in my eyes, almost like begging me to say 'no', is close to making me back out on my plan, but my stubbornness prevents that from happening. So instead of what he's hoping I would say, and despite what my heart and my wolf are begging me to do, my answer is a positive one.
“I'm sorry, Jason, but yes. I need this, we both do.” This is it, once we go through this, we can't go back. Why do I feel like I'm making the biggest mistake of my life?
“I would always give you what you need and what you want, Sam. I've been an idiot before, I didn't trust my instincts nor my heart, and that led to you getting hurt. I would never hurt you ever again, and this is why I will do what you ask of me, even if it might just kill me in the end.”
Fight For The Highest Wolf Rank Page 22