Chapter 19
1917 Words
No. No. No. No!
I squeezed my eyes shut and dug my fingers into the moist forest floor.
This is a dream. It's all a dream, I chanted in my head with a desperate will for it to be true. But it was all in vain. This cannot be happening!
For the third time within that hour, I raised my head and let out another heart-wrenching scream that tore what was left of my heart to shreds. The piercing sound echoed throughout the woods and cut through the serenity of the night's atmosphere.
But I didn't care. Not while I was relieving the pain that had me in such a fierce grip.
I slumped my head towards the ground and breathed heavily after I'd let it all out, blocking out all my senses as I registered the sight of my mother's corpse in my mind over and over again.
My throat burned from straining it too hard, but the pain in there was nothing compared to the kind of burden I was feeling within my chest.
I would've stayed in that position throughout the night if not for Albus' sudden nearness and his low, wary growl which vibrated from within his massive chest. Those had me snapping back to reality.
I removed the torturous image out of my mind and instead concentrated on my surroundings in order to grasp any sort of potential danger. But then the minute I did, a scent - an all too familiar scent - invaded my nostrils with such an intensity that the immediate intrusion overrode all other scents lingering in the air.
Instinctively, I stiffened at the sweet smell, but after a second of my memories quickly falling into place, all sorts of emotions bombarded me at where I knelt on the ground.
"Hello, Kara." He then travelled his gaze briefly to the creature I stood in front of. "Dad."
The wolf behind me growled at the reference just as I fisted my hands deep within the earth to keep from lashing out at my father whilst gritting my teeth in an attempt to keep my outward expressions in check. There was no way I was letting that monster see my tear-stained cheeks and eyes that I was sure were a deep crimson, although it was likely that he'd heard my scream.
Nevertheless, I kept my eyes closed, not having the strength to look up in case my gaze drifted towards my mother's dead body once again.
I couldn't feel, hear or smell any of the other pack members in the area. It seemed as if he had come alone and made sure that not a single soul followed. And truthfully, I was immensely grateful for that.
My voice was calm while I asked, not giving any emotion away. Just as I wanted. "What do you want?"
"I should be asking you that," my father said. But it wasn't his statement that had suspicion suddenly eating at my brain, it was the manner in which he'd spoken, the amusement in his tone, that had caught me off guard.
Isn't he supposed to be in immense pain? I thought, confusion whirling in my brain. Why doesn't he sound like he's mourning the loss of his mate? Or maybe he's already gone mad.
Wanting to see for myself, I slowly opened my eyes and gazed up at the man standing in front of me. However, it wasn't his face that immediately captured my attention, but the object gleaming in his left hand.
The moonstone? But he won't have any reason to hold it unless...
Subsequently, all colour drained from my face before I looked up to stare into Dad's cold eyes, my lower jaw slightly dropping in horror.
"You did this?" I whispered in shock, not knowing whether to believe it or not because it seemed all too surreal to be true.
Dad, nevertheless, confirmed my statement with a small shrug and a toss of the moonstone from one hand to another. "Looking for this?"
"How?" I asked, not bothering to answer the obvious rhetorical question as my chest constricted painfully. I struggled to compose my facial expressions. "It's not possible. There's no way you could've-"
"No way that you or anyone knows of," he interjected nonchalantly and with a sly grin. "Smell that?" He took a dramatic whiff of the air around us. "I know you've been curious as to why this particular scent has been stuck on me for years now and why my connection to your mother doesn't seem stable anymore."
I pressed my lips together to keep my rising disdain from showing. "Tell me then, you bastard."
Dad chuckled. "If you insist." He placed both hands behind his back before he walked towards Mum's and smoothed a finger across her barefoot. My jaws clenched at the act. "Let me start from way back. I'm sure you already know the story of how my beloved mother broke the bond she had with that wolf lover of yours."
At that, I expected Albus to growl or do something that would warn my father off the subject. But the werewolf remained strangely quiet, as if waiting for him to finish, and I wondered if it had transformed to its human form.
"We're not lovers. You know that's not possible," I lied.
Instead of opposing, Dad just glanced at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes before continuing as if I'd never even made that comment.
"Well, the mystery behind that is nothing complex." He shrugged. "She did it on her own. Alba had been practising the reverse of a particular mating bond spell after she'd gotten incorporated into the hunter's maid's body. Told me she'd learnt it from the Night Witch before she got cursed into this moonstone with Albus. And apparently didn't give up reversing it the first opportunity she got."
He faced me and grinned deviously. "Let's just say, she'd gotten some spells up her sleeve, so what better way to get immortality than use her for that purpose?"
"Immortality," I repeated in a breath. And though I had managed to figure that one out for quite some time, it still came to me as a small shock, especially knowing that my mother was helping him achieve that.
"Oh, don't act so naïve. You knew there was a reason why I didn't die each time you tried to murder me." His grin widened as he returned his stare to the hanging corpse. "It was Alba that did all the spells and the dirty work. Your mother always got so scared after she got control back over her body and threatened to leave with you that I knew I just had to slowly break her, bend her until she wouldn't dare come against me. It was no good letting her tell every one of my plans so soon when the deed wasn't done yet."
Dad reached up and held my mother's fingers in his, rubbing them gently as if they were a precious piece. I gritted my teeth at the seemingly tender gesture and hastily got up to rip his hand away, but a firm hand clasped my shoulder and halted me in my tracks. I didn't have to look back to know that it was Kane since his presence behind me never faded away.
"That doesn't explain how you could do such a thing," I said, the sorrow in my heart giving way to a growing anger that made me clench my fists as I hissed, "She is your damned mate."
"Well, not anymore." Still holding Mum's fingers in his grasp, my father didn't even have the decency to face me. "One of the spell's side effects was to break any ties I had with anyone, any kind of connection. And though I only felt its full effect tonight, I admit, it feels odd not to feel a thing." He chuckled darkly. "But it gave me the will to end your mother's life and go in search of another female vessel for my own sweet mother because yours was too weak. Too docile. And I need someone stronger."
Pure hatred washed over me so fiercely that I was grateful Kane had his hand tightly clamped on my shoulder, otherwise, I would've done something stupid - like lunge at him and claw his heart out - which would lead to my death.
"I can't believe I ever called you father," I spat out, disgusted by the man in front of me. A man who I couldn't believe my mother had protected and defended.
"Father?" His eyes darkened, all traces of dry humour gone.
I flinched when he abruptly let go of my mother's hand and took a threatening step towards me. Kane chose that moment to attempt in pulling me behind him, but I stopped him before he could do that. I wanted to face that monster alone.
Noticing this, said person made another move towards me. "You think you're so special, don't you, Kara? So unique that you can stand up to your wolf and appear like the strongest she-wolf ever. That you can kill your mates one at a time without becoming insane like the normal lot because you simply don't want any ties and apparently have the unknown willpower to."
He proceeded menacingly as his pupils began to change colour. "Well let me tell you something. You're not special, and you're not my daughter."
I froze. My mind ceased working just as my heart ceased beating for a nanosecond. "What are you talking about?" I questioned. "If you're implying that my mother was sleeping with someone else-"
"I never said she was."
"Then you're lying." I pulled out of Kane's loose hold and moved closer. "I don't want to be your daughter either, but that doesn't change the fact that I am."
He studied me for a moment before saying, "She didn't tell you, did she?"
At my confused expression, my father shook his head. "And I thought you two were close."
"What did she not tell me? Say it," I demanded through gritted teeth.
He tightened his jaws before answering, "She was engaged before I came for her the night I bit her and claimed her as mine. Not knowing, she had already done the deed with her fiance before with me, so apparently it was no surprise that you weren't who I expected you to be. A werewolf at heart. Instead, you were a measly human who had gotten fortunate to have an inner wolf because I had made that happen. My bite must have affected you in your mother's womb and due to that, you ended up being a quarter werewolf.
That's why your wolf is weak, and that's why you've been able to dominate her all these years. You're nothing special, Kara, just an unwanted nuisance. I hated you the very second you were born and I still do."
"You know what?" I said with a glare directed at him, anger coursing heatedly through my veins. I no longer bothered with keeping my emotions in check. "What you just told me made my night despite how hard it started out from here. And although I'm positive my real father's dead now, I thank God that I don't share your blood because trust me when I say, I will have it on my hands. Tonight."
I took more steps closer until I was boldly standing in front of him. "Now, give me that moonstone."
- Writer
