by Unknown
Too deep into the insubstantial, I must look – I must find it.
"D-do you ac-cept this-s-s o-offering, Alpha?" I hear the voice hissing out the gurgle of vowels, understanding the words even if I can no longer see what's happening right in front of me.
The darkness is unfolding, a whiplash sound rippling inside the bond with its next command. What I see emerging from it...
The hand that's been holding mine slips away, the lack of contact like a trigger that's been pressed to send my mental body flying back to my physical one, leaving me colder than before when I've felt its icy touch on my skin.
The man who's been standing next to me has taken a step away, a step towards the female who seems to be waiting for him.
Standing in nothing but a transparent white robe, her body is flush with the same desire I can see in her emerald eyes. Her raven hair falling to the middle of her chest, rose nipples perky underneath the silk, there's nothing left to the imagination down below, her generous curves showing under the fabric.
Glancing at my male I see the same hunger mirrored on his face as I see on hers. My male, my Alpha, he's no longer by my side but a step closer to her. Enthralled by her breathtaking beauty.
"Regan." My voice sounds so small, the word nothing but a plea for him to remember who he belongs to. It is not this female he should look at with desire.
He brings his hand up, fingers grasping the soft material, slowly exposing her shoulder to his eyes, the skin bare after the trail his hand leaves. Traveling lower, I watch it caress the tip of her breast, settling on her waist, bringing her to him in one swift motion.
He bends his head to her hair, his inhale of breath audible in the quiet as he lowers himself to hover over her exposed neck.
Even from where I stand I can see his jaw flexing, the bones adjusting, canines elongating inside his mouth seconds before he bites down to claim another.
There's only one thing I can think of to stop him...
But before I can even move an inch, there are hands that are wrapping around me, a voice that's whispering in my ear, "He's not the mate, Scarlet. He's the shadow to your soul."
Words I've already heard tonight.
(52) The Dark Side Of The Moon
|Scarlet's POV|
Clutching my chest with my hands, there's so much pain in the world I can no longer keep the air inside my lungs. He's tearing it all apart.
The teeth piercing her skin, they are ripping my heart too. The pleasure of his bite - a dark, chillingly cold sentiment that flows through the bond, it's nothing like what I've felt from him. Slowly, it's becoming my torment.
How can he do this? Why is he doing this after completing the mating with me? Will this simple act break the bond between us?
Averting my gaze toward the Moon watching above, I can still hear the words ringing in my ears long after they were spoken.
What do they mean? Why is she telling me this now? What am I supposed to do?
With the corner of my eye, I see him raise his head and then, casting my gaze down, I can see the mark gracing her skin. Why is my chest hurting now? Have I finally fallen for him only to allow him to break me again?
Pieces. Shattered pieces of glass. That's what my heart feels like.
Like a tidal wave of hot, I can feel the rage inside my body rising. Muscles tense, burning for release into the motion, I cannot stop it.
Breaking Sasha's grip on me, with a fractured vision, I see my hand flying up in the air, its flesh stinging from the impact when it connects with his cheek, the slap loud in the quiet that has descended like a blanket over the crowd.
"How could you do this, Regan? How could you?" My own screams ring across the place, lips that don't feel the words coming out, it's only my ears that are hearing them.
A person who has finally lost all that's sane inside of her, this is what I am now.
"Why the hell are you doing this to me? Why?" Fists that are hitting his chest, nails that are scratching the skin on his face, those spring eyes that are looking back at me... blank, empty.
'Scratch them out until he sees your hurt, until he's hurting as much as you are,' that voice is saying from the pits of misery inside me.
"Why?" Shaking him. "Just tell me! Why?"
Not a word. Silence. Like I'm talking to a wall.
"He won't tell you, Scarlet." It's her - the girl who was my friend once, who turned into an enemy, she's the one who grabs my shoulders, trying to pull me away from him, trying to stop the insanity.
"Let go off of me!" Struggling against her, another set of hands joins hers, then another. They are holding me back from my mark. They won't let me close to him. They won't allow me to hurt him like I wish.
"He's not your mate, Scarlet!" she says.
Whipping my head around to look at her, her face is sad, nothing alike that of the girl who has tormented me for those two years but much more similar to the one I remember from the time before him. A friend looking back at me, a friend reasoning with insanity when, in fact, she's the one who's crazy.
"What are you talking about?" I snap back at her, fighting against the two others that are helping her hold me.
"Be reasonable and get your shit back together, Scarlet. This isn't how a Luna should act," a threat, that's what I get from him now.
"Were you ever my friend, Cole? Did you ever care about me or was it all lies?" I question, wanting, needing to hear that truth spoken from his mouth.
Looking from Cole to his brother, then back, I can see it. This person, this 'friend', he was never my friend. All along, he's been on the wildlings' side. All along, he's been lying to me. I just missed all the signs.
"I do, Scarlet, and I always will. I just--"
"Shut up and get your dirty hands off of me! I don't want to hear your excuses," I say in a voice that sounds nothing like my own. Bleeding. Broken. Betrayed by every single person that matters.
My male, he's standing next to her now. Arm wrapped around her shoulders, he's hugging her close to him, every once and then glancing at the scene unraveling in front of his eyes while leaving me stand...
Alone.
Their hands fall off of me, my skin at last barren from touch. Is this how my life will be? Will I always be on my own, deprived of all that the Moon offers freely to others?
Tears welling up in my eyes, just by looking at them - so comfortable standing next to each other, bodies pressed together as they stay in comfortable silence, nothing in the world mattering to them but their own private happy bubble, I think I believe what those words.
He's not my mate. My mate will never do this but then...
Turning towards the girl who has come to say those words to me, away from him - them, I look straight into her eyes. "What is he to me if he isn't my mate?"
"Do you remember that tale, Scarlet. About Her other gift to Her children. About the mate and the--"
"Shadow? But that's just a story. It's not true."
"Isn't it? Then why did this happen? From the moment he came, he's caused you pain and nothing but pain, Scarlet. He was supposed to make you happy and complete but he didn't do this. He didn't recognize the connection for two years and he--"
"That doesn't prove anything. There are many cases where mates don't know who the other is until they both shift and I wasn't a shifting wolf when he came here. The rest - him not making me happy - is just a coincidence. Besides," - I gesture towards Cole - "how do I know that you're not telling me this now because he made you do it?"
"You don't believe me." Spoken so softly, it feels like there's just the two of us in the silence of the night when, in fact, others are listening to our conversation, taking pleasure in a Luna being brought down in the dust.
One night, it's how long my rule has lasted.
"Why should I believe you?" I ask her. "For two years you did nothing but hurt me. Again and again and again. After they took you away, you came back different. From being my closest friend you turned into my biggest enemy
. You'd be the first to bully me, the first to say things to me. You hopped from bed to bed and then you found yourself in his. Even after you found out I was his mate, you'd still come after him and try to take him away. Why should I believe someone like you, Alexandra? Why will I believe you now?"
"But don't you see, Scarlet? That's exactly why I did what I did. Because I knew. Even then I knew and I tried my hardest to keep him away from you. I did everything to keep you two apart."
"You could have just told me, you know? Why are you telling me this now when you had so many chances to tell me before?"
"I didn't want to be the trigger. I couldn't tell you before I knew that my interference won't cause more problems than solve. You have to listen to me. You need to let him go or you will destroy my home and--"
"Your home? So I guess it all circles back to your selfish reasons." I cut off, my chest heaving with the burden that's now weighing on it. Heavy, like a ton of bricks that could crush you underneath any second now.
Am I believing that tale? Is it true that, like the two sides of a coin, you can have two of them? One person who is supposed to light up your life and bring peace to your soul, and one who will give you nothing but misery, who will destroy you from the inside... Break you to pieces?
Is he really the one who's going to do this to me? Didn't he already do this?
"I am selfish," she admits, her head hung low in shame, feet shifting in her own discomfort. Any other day I could have accepted her reasons, understood the fear behind her actions but, tonight, I can only hate her for everything she did and everything she didn't do.
"You go on then and be selfish on your own or better yet - with them, Sasha," I hiss out at her, then turn toward the watching pack wolves.
"I'm out of here and if there's anyone who is as fed up with this as I am, you're welcome to join me," I announce before swinging on a heel.
Marching away from that place of heartbreak and betrayal, I can hear the shifting of bodies as people follow in my footsteps, distancing themselves from the wildlings, my former family, their own Alpha and that female who's now wearing a mark that should have been placed just once.
I don't turn back to look at them. He doesn't deserve a single glance from me after what he did. Mate or not, this is not how you break someone's heart.
"Now, Scarlet, do you actually believe I'm going to let you go like this and no less but take my wolves with you?" Not even several steps away, I hear Cole's shout and then his snicker.
So close, I can feel his breath on my back.
Hands like steel grasping my elbows, twisting my hands and holding them in his behind my back, I am fighting and kicking him, screaming, "Let go!"
"He didn't teach you right, Scarlet, but now I will. For your own good, I will," he whispers in my ear before dragging me back to his people to be swallowed in the throng of monsters.
(53) Forsake
|Regan's POV|
Flashes of reality, words echoing like they are spoken from a distance, coming into the catacombs of my mind. Locked inside, I listen to these bits and pieces coming through. A loophole he missed or one he's allowing?
I don't know. Perhaps I never will.
All that I know are those flashes of her. Hands that are dragging her towards the crowd, screams that are breaking over her lips, ending as abruptly as they came.
An unexpected fortune or a curse to know what's happening yet be helpless to do anything?
Was it all in his plans or is this just a turn of events not even he could foresee - having me under control while she's fighting... fighting alone now and I am not there to save her?
The thought is killing everything in me.
Wishing I could climb up the abyss, everything around me is dark but these flashes. Eyes watching, not seeing all they need to see, they are released for a second and then blindfolded. Still alive, the man has been buried inside his own body while the beast is left alone to fight something he couldn't fight alone.
Crowd parting to take her in, hold her where she no longer belongs - never did, clawed arms are weaving around her, chaining her in place without the need for real restraints.
Wounded animal howling the hurt out, calling me out just like I'm reaching for him. Out of grasp, no contact is possible when he's standing in between, oppressing the beast and commanding the man.
Imprisoning them both.
Collen is walking in the middle of the circle. Gleaming with insanity, yellow eyes are watching those steps, wild creatures taking in every word he's offering.
"ShadowFang, tonight I'm standing before you as your Alpha. A true leader who won't promise you a better life or a peaceful existence. No, I can't promise you any of this but I can give you what you deserve. A glorious battle. A name others will fear. A reputation that will precedes you. An identity." Voice breathless, he's letting me listen to every word.
Who is really that man who took reign over something that has never been tamed, never conquered? Who is that monster? How is he possible?
"Tonight, ShadowFang, is a night of changes. And the choice is yours. Stand by me, fight with me, follow me instead of this shell of a man who is too weak to lead you and too fickle to stay loyal or this girl who's always running away, who couldn't keep her own mate by her side. Stand by me and taste everything your nature can give you or die underneath these illusions."
A flash of him - arms open, raised on both sides, he's holding them up, pointing both directions - mine and hers, like a statue pointing the flaws that need to be removed.
Pain like poison running through my veins, I can feel it as well as I can feel his pleasure. Knowing that he is the reason for this feeling, the source of my torment, he's giving me more and more of it until there's no space left to be filled and then he's pouring out more.
"A night of changes, ShadowFang! A night of choices! Are you ready to take what's rightfully yours, ShadowFang? Are you ready to forsake weakness and fear and fight for what was taken from you? Are you ready to embrace all that you could be, each one of you could be? Are you ready, ShadowFang?"
Words like fists of steel hitting a brick wall until it starts crumbling under the impact, more and more of it, the chokehold he has on me is slowly getting loose, allowing the flashes to turn into reality, at first a blur of images and then a sight that's crystal clear.
Standing in the middle of the circle, no longer just his own watching him, with each moment he stays, with each word that sinks into realization, more and more eyes are turning to him. Hopes for a future, as dark as it is, still a future better than any I can give them.
At last, my gaze finds her amidst the crowd of wildlings and wolves. Body limp in the arms of her captors, the fight is gone out of her, replaced by a quiet desperation I can see written all over her face. The storms in her eyes are gone, tears illuminated by the Moon making them look like two mirrors staring back at nothing and everything at once.
Reflecting.
Why did I keep her here? Why did I want her to be by my side? She would have been safer without me. Now, surrounded by my enemies, by those who always threatened us, it's my fault and, finally, I know I have nothing of what I thought I had.
What I have, what I am... Nothing.
Weak.
Hand resting on cold flesh, the touch is burning on my skin. It's not her skin I can feel against mine.
Cheater.
Begging for that chance, promising to be the man she needed...
Liar.
"Will you follow me, ShadowFang?" A shout in a desert, an echo from the words of a god, eery with a promise that will be fulfilled, unlike mine.
Minutes passing by, wasted in stillness and indecision, the Moon is watching from above like she always does.
Watching as her children are about to betray her, every one of them for their own private reasons. Right or wrong, hopeful or hopeless...
Doing nothing.
There's only one direction to this road. She knows it. They know it. The man kn
ows.
The beast, at last, in agreement with the human side that has been buried inside, will follow.
"Well? Who's going to be first?" Engaged in his victorious speech, there won't be a better time than the present.
Reaching out, twisting flesh and bones that are not real but feel like they are, exploring the inside like neither one of them has done before, completion is what they seek, what we need to be freed from these separated cells the monster's holding us in.
Only I can hear the howls. Only he can hear my screams. A song that only the other can understand.
Fingers digging into that feminine flesh, sensation coming back on a tide that will bring my ultimate destruction, I can finally understand what the growls mean.
'Let me out, let me reign, let me lead,' he says.
Pulling away, breaking the contact with her, the red, still bleeding mark on her skin mocking everything I've ever thought of myself, it's just a step. Putting one foot in front of another, moving just a few inches away from where I stand, it's a so small thing to do, yet it means so much.
"I will but, please, Collen, I beg of you, let her go. I will do everything. You just let her go. Please."
Whipping his head around to look at me, arching a brow in surprise, Anything? Are you sure, Regan? he asks, never saying the words out loud but sending them to my mind instead.
Anything... Alpha.
(54) Live And Die
|Scarlet's POV|
Marking another, now asking him to let me free, what is this man doing?
An Alpha on his knees begging for mercy, letting go of everything that should have mattered to him for someone who may never love him, why?
Why is he breaking my heart again and again? What am I supposed to think of his actions? What is the reason he's doing it now when all he should think of is the other?
He's thinking of me. He's pleading for me. Giving away what he's taken from me, giving it back to someone who deserves it even less.
"Everything," he says with tears in his eyes, barely glancing at me, barely able to move his eyes away once they meet mine.