Escaping Duty

Chapter 39

Valentina ran faster than she felt she ever had. She had to reach him. She had to help Mason before something happened. Despite trees hitting her in the face and knocking her down, Valentina continued running until she saw him.

She saw the large wolf she knew had to be Mason, she could feel it was him. Seeing him her heart jerked so painfully in her chest she gasped. From the way he lay on the ground defenseless she knew something was wrong.

She saw Markos drive the sword into him and lifted Roland's gun with a scream. Shooting the hunter in the chest, she made him drop the sword. Markos stepped back a hand on his chest, surprise crossing his features when he looked up, seeing Valentina walk through the trees.

"Get away from him!" She warned, shooting Markos again and making him tumble backward.

As she approached the large black wolf her lip trembled, but she held back her tears. She moved to grab the sword and pull it free of Mason's body hearing him groan. He was dying. She didn't know why but since their kiss she could tell clear as day that he was close to dying, and she could tell she felt a lot more for him than she had first thought.

Clenching her fist she turned back towards Markos, shooting him wherever a bullet could land. She shot him each time he had shot Mason, for threatening her and making her feel weak. He didn't deserve to call himself a hunter, he was a murderer, plain as day.

Markos continued stumbling until he had fallen back into the fog, dragging his body away from Valentina, who only continued advancing on him.

"Wait, wait just -," he attempted saying, but Valentina didn't stop.

She only did when the gun clicked, empty in her hands. She threw the gun down, breathing raggedly as Markos lay gasping for breath. She hadn't shot anything vital but he should die from those wounds. Watching Markos to be sure he wouldn't get up Valentina turned to walk away but stopped when she heard growling.

At first, she thought it might've been Mason waking up, but then she realized it came from behind her. Turning around she saw Markos standing behind her, eyes bright, hands like claws, and fangs showing in his grin. His hand lashed out, clenching her throat and he gave a deep cough, blood splattering his lips.

"If this is what it feels like being a monster then I've been wrong. Those wolves didn't wield the power correctly. They could've been faster, stronger, sensed more than any other human, and survived almost anything but they wasted it on forming bonds like packs. They could've been gods." Markos said eyes shining like molten gold and squeezing Valentina's neck so hard spot began covering her vision.

She grabbed his hands in hers attempting to make him release her, but it didn't work. Darkness crept inwards in her vision, and her heart fluttered in her chest. Before she could pass out the pressure left her neck, and she dropped to the ground gasping and coughing. Clenching the dirt between her fingers, and with a hand, to her neck, she looked up shocked. Markos looked down at her, bright gold eyes dimming until they returned to their normal brown color.

As sunlight turned the darkness of night grey Valentina saw a dark splotch spread on Markos's shirt. Wide-eyed she saw his body sag to the floor, him landing on his knees and finally hitting the ground with a thud. What shocked her the most was the dark hollow in his chest where his heart should've been.

Behind where Markos had stood Valentina saw Mason as a human, a dark object dripping in his hands. His body was covered in blood and deep gashes, but her eyes were drawn to his. Bright gold met chocolate brown and his fangs showed in his grimace. Mason's hand fell, dropping the object Valentina realized had been Markos's heart and her stomach twisted.