Lucian's Redemption

Chapter 1 Lucian could feel his heart pounding as he made a run for it, it was his only chance to get out and, just maybe he could survive. He spotted a large window, and he knew it was his only way out. Behind him, the vampires were getting ready to finish him off, he was three stories high and could not take the risk of running down the stairs. Hope filled his body when he looked out the window; he felt renewed as he spotted the sun rising on the horizon. He pushed a little harder, he knew the fall from three stories would hurt, even the glass cuts that he would get from the window would hurt, but the vampires would not be able to get him once he was out the window. Even though he was not able to shift to his wolf form at that moment, he would have enough time to escape, by sunset he could be miles away and no one would ever be able to find him. He needed time to get rid of the poison that stopped him from shifting. He knew that it was wolfsbane, a slow poison that could slowly kill a wolf but there was a cure, belladonna berries. He knew where to find them and that was where he intended to go, once he was out the window. “Get back here mutt!” He heard the vampire say and laugh at him. From the stairs he could see other vampires running up, he launched forward towards the window, feeling hands grab his ankle, he looked up to see the vampire grab hold of him. Lucian kicked with all his strength and when that did not work, he used all his body weight to pull the vampire down with him. He could feel the glass pieces piercing his skin as he landed on the ground. The smell of flesh burning stung his nose. Next to him, the vampire was on fire, the rays of the sun had set him on fire, and he screamed as his flesh melted in the fire. Lucian stood there for a moment watching the vampire burn, it made him feel some form of comfort, knowing that this very vampire had been part of the death of his beloved Alpha. He took a deep breath and quickly walked away from the burning vampire as fast as his legs could carry him. It took him a few hours, but he made it into the dense forest, in the heart of the forest, the belladonna berries grew wildly. The bush itself was beautiful, green, and luscious while the fruit was black, almost a similar colour to a blueberry but darker and shiny. While belladonna was a cure for wolves for wolfsbane poisoning, belladonna was a poison to humans. Back in the years when werewolves were not accepted, belladonna was used to tell if someone was a wolf. Any suspect would be fed belladonna berries and if they did not fall ill the villages would know that they were wolves. Lucian grabbed as much as he could, put them in his mouth and chewed, he quickly swallowed the berries and ate more until he could feel his wolf stir. Now he needed to find some fish, the magnesium in the fish with the belladonna would kill off the wolfsbane poisoning. Lucian listened carefully, he could hear a stream, after loading his pockets with berries he followed the sound of the water. The forest was tranquil. While walking his mind drifted to the months before the m******e, before his pack was destroyed, before he had failed his Alpha. Lucian was the son of the Beta to the Alpha of the Red Crescent Pack. Before the world's chaos, they lived in a village further south of the original vampire coven and the Lost City pack. They never mixed with other species as the Alpha was too concerned for the wellbeing of the pack. While the Lost City pack lived amongst vampires and werewolves in harmony, the Red Crescent Pack lived in isolation away from everyone. Lucian grew up in a sheltered life, training hard and following in the shadow of his father. He was raised from birth to know that his position in life was next to his Alpha no matter what. Everything else came after the safety of his Alpha and pack. Lucian lived only to please his father and Alpha. While his relationship with his father was strained, the Alpha played a vital role in his upbringing. When the Alpha-female of the pack finally gave birth after years of waiting, it was a joyous occasion for the pack. She had lost her first baby and that was never talked about, it was a sad time for the pack, but he didn’t remember much of it as he was very little then. The pack celebrated the birth of Gina with a feast and while most packs would have been disappointed that the heir to the throne was a female, the Red Crescent Pack was overjoyed to have an heir at last. Gina was spirited, she lived for adventure, and from the moment she was old enough to walk Lucian was always chasing after her to keep her safe. She would discover some way out of the village, and he would run after her and bring her back. He had no idea why she was so fascinated with leaving the village, but he was always happy to protect her. She was ten years his junior and he loved being able to protect the future Alpha of the pack. As Gina grew into a beautiful young woman, Lucian was at her side as her Beta, advisor, strongest soldier, and protector. Their world was perfect, they trained hard and studied even hard. The Alpha insisted that every member of the pack should know everything there was to know about the world, the enemies, the things that could harm a werewolf and the cures. He insisted that if they ever were forced to leave the village then they would know to protect themselves. No one ever thought that the day would come when vampires would burst into their village, Lucian could still remember how peaceful that night had seemed. They all sat by the fire talking when they heard screams coming from the gates. The soldiers immediately gathered and got ready to fight but they never expected to be shot with poisoning arrows. The moment the poison got into their bodies, they were unable to move, and the vampires had the advantage to kill whomever they wanted. Lucian stood in front of Gina and tried to protect her as best he could, they both fought, hard, they had killed a few vampires, but they were too many, they seemed to keep coming and Lucian could see all around them soldiers were falling. “We have to leave Alpha!” Lucian said. “No, we can’t just leave our home,” Gina replied. “Alpha, we are only useful to our pack if we are alive. We need to leave and take whomever we can save now with us.” “Lucian, this is a command, we will stay and fight,” Gina replied, her eyes red. “Yes Alpha, as your wish.” They continued to fight and over the chaos, Lucian heard the vampires say, “She must be the Alpha, get her!” They were coming for Gina, Lucian called in the soldiers still standing, most of them were hit and could not shift but they surrounded Gina and kept her inside a circle. The vampires would have to fight head-on to get to her. It felt like forever but slowly the circle started to fall apart as the wolves could no longer fight, the poison had paralyzed them, and Lucian hopelessly fought until he felt his body cave as he watched them grab his Alpha and drag her away. When Lucian woke up, they were all locked in a dungeon, the Alpha had been tortured and he went to her side pulling her to him, “I am sorry Gina, I am sorry!” Lucian said fiercely pulling her to his chest. “It isn’t your fault, Lucian.” “I should have just carried you out of there.” He replied feeling his heart constrict. She was like a little sister to him, he loved her and cared for her so much. She was his family. After their parents had died in a battle with the bandits, they had been there for each other. They had stood together to keep the pack safe and now everything was lost to them. “Lucian, you must get out, you must save as many as you can. They only want me!” Gina said coughing, she choked and then coughed up blood. Lucian used his shirt to wipe her mouth and she smiled at him. “You smile at a time like his Milady!” he said gently placing her head down. “You have always been there for me, I hope when I am gone you take care of yourself, find your mate, live your, life, and forget all this fighting.” “For long as there is life in me, I will always be at your side, mated or not!” “Oh Lucian, I wish we had chosen a different path, I wished we allied with other packs, maybe we didn’t live the right way.” “Everything will be ok Gina, we will get out of this, rest now.” He said gently. Lucian had watched over her all night, she took shallow breaths and moaned in her sleep, but she was still alive. It took weeks before they had come back and when they did, they took Gina and some of the other wolves. Lucian fought them as they dragged Gina away, it earned him a beating and more poisoning. He was too weak to fight, and the poison would not allow him to shift. If only he could shift, he would rip their heads off. Week after week they would take Gina to torture her, experiment with her, and throw her back into the dungeon to heal just enough so that they could do it all over again. While Lucian could do nothing but watch. Finally, he could see that Gina had nothing left in her, he held her hand as she looked at him. It was just the two of them left and she said, “When that gate opens, run, get out!” “I can’t leave you!” Lucian said. This time tears dripped down his cheeks and he didn’t bother to hide them. “Lucian the Great is crying.” She joked but could barely laugh. “Don’t leave me, Gina, you are all the family I have.” “I will never leave you; my spirit will always be with you.” She replied and touched his face. “I am sorry I failed you, Alpha.” “You did not fail me you kept me alive for this long.” “Gina!” He whispered and kissed her forehead. “Promise me, Lucian, promise me you will leave and not die here like the rest of us.” “I promise you Gina, my Alpha, I promise you I will get vengeance for what they have done to us.” Slowly she took another deep breath and then she closed her eyes and as her chest fell and the air left her body, her life flowed out and she was finally free. Lucian held her, he had carried her since she was a baby, he held her hand when she learned to walk, and when she run, he ran next to her proud to be her Beta. He placed a kiss on her head and said, “Until we meet again.”