Second Chance; Re-Mated to his Lycan Stepbrother

Chapter 3: Vendetta

~~MAYA’~~

I stood at the edge of the cliff, tears streaming down my eyelids as I unfolded the bloody letter I retrieved from my dad’s fingers after I ran home and saw him dead.

An empty bottle of Wolfsbane powder was lying beside him and a silver knife which he had used to stab himself multiple times was dug in his stomach.

“I, MAGNUS BILL, will never forgive you, Riya,” was what he had written and my tears rekindled.

Squeezing the letter, I shoved it into my pocket and the pebbles crushed beneath my tennis as I ambled closer to the deadly end of the cliff.

I really wanted to die.

I wanted to erase myself from this cruel world because if I lived, I wouldn’t be able to live with the guilt of causing my dad’s demise.

His ghost would haunt me for eternity, so ending it all was the best decision.

When I also wanted to choose a place, I never envisaged the cliff where my dad and I had woven great memories would be the most effective place to carry that out.

Here, my dad taught me combat and martial arts because I was wolfless from childhood.

Here, he read me stories of past legends which helped build my confidence.

And here, he shared stories of how Mum had cherished me before she died immediately after she delivered me.

Perhaps if I died here, Dad’s spirit would forgive me.

With a deep breath, I shut my eyes and stretched out my arms, and before one could say Jack Robbinson...

I lifted my feet off the ground and floated in the air, plummeting with a high screeching sound.

“Help me!!!”

***************

~~ERIK~~

I was here for answers, basking on top of an oak tree, when my gaze fell on a small creature standing on the edge of the cliff.

Enlarging my vision, I realized the creature was a lady, probably from the werewolf pack on the other side.

She had been standing there for over fifteen minutes and I could not help but wish for her to fall.

There was this tranquility my wolf and I usually felt whenever people were in distress and decided to end their lives.

That cowardice and stupidity they exuded were a source of ecstasy, and we felt more than that at the moment.

Also, the primal urge to know how metallic her blood would taste, and then devour her body after she falls and her brain shatters on the rock, engulfed our systems.

As though the Goddess listened to my prayer, my lips curved into a smile and I swiftly took my camera, which I hung on a close branch, to record how she was falling and shouting for help.

Such a great masterpiece the fall was.

I hung the camera on my neck and jumped off the tree after taking some shots and videos, then raced to the riverbank where she had landed prone.

I tossed her petite figure over, but she was still breathing to my dismay.

She didn't even sustain many injuries like I had expected. There were only mild bruises on her bare shoulders, legs, forehead and...

Why was her face looking somewhat familiar?

However, since she didn’t die and her skull didn’t shatter, I slid back to the woods with the intent of coming back to feed on her carcass.

From my introspection, this petite lady would not last long before she finally expires.

~~

To my consternation, this lady was still alive when I returned to the riverbank in the afternoon.

But how come?

I had come across several werewolves who had fallen off many cliffs, and none of them ever survived. They all died on impact and I did what I had to do afterward.

This lady must be very strong to still be breathing when she was supposed to be long gone. But why would a strong person like her choose to commit suicide when she could have withstood the pain?

That was an irrational decision at its peak.

None of my business, though. Maybe I should stay a little more and record how she’s breathing narrowly and writhing in pain till she dies.

I’d be happy to have that in my collection.

But as I wanted to go get my camera, my eyes caught on a cut that ran from her neck down to her cleavages.

My mouth ached to taste the clotted blood on that spot and my wolf bounced with excitement, prompting me to crouch before her lifeless figure.

As I tilted my head to her chest, my hair falling over her face, a sneeze vibrated in my head, and it jolted me away from her.

“I didn’t die!” I heard a low gasp. “Who are you?” she whispered, barely enough for me to hear when her eyes fluttered open.

“I’m someone who’s disappointed you aren’t dead.”

“W-what?!” Her jaws slackened and slowly, she squirmed to sit with low moans emanating from her.

Wow! How, in the goddess’s name, did she muster the energy to do just that?

“Oh goodness!” I smirked and bent down to my haunches. Now I recollected where I knew her. “You are the lady from those viral s*x videos?”

Her hesitation gave me all the answers I needed, and she averted her gaze to the sky, the river running by. Anywhere, but at me.

Then she burst into a peal of tears. “Since you want me dead, stranger, could you please relieve me of my misery and kill me right away? I lost every–”

I propelled my claws out of my nails before she finished lamenting, and just as I almost slashed my claws across her neck, she puffed out a shocking breath and shut her eyes.

“Thank you,” she acknowledged, but I halted and straightened upright.

“Stay here. I need to get something.”

“Wait!” She halted me in my tracks and with a raised eyebrow, I half-turned despite how hard I tried not to.

“Who are you?,” she pleaded and the pouty lips she made sort of worked. “ I wish to know the name of my misery reliever.”

“Eric Gate Jackson,” I let out unwillingly.

“Seriously?!” She flinched, clamping her hands over her mouth. “You are the cruel Lycan King?”

Cruel?

Goddess knew I was pissed.

My goal was to be seen differently from the normal world.

To see things beyond what normal people see, to stand unique, and become an exceptional collector of masterpieces; and this irrational decision-making lady just called me cruel because of it?

“I am,” I gruffly replied.

“If truly you are…” she floundered, “then you must be Raymond’s–”

“Complete that name and I will make your life more miserable before I eventually kill you!” I growled before veering into the woods with venom etching in my heart.