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Eveyone has a purpose in life. Sometimes our purpose isn't a mission.
It's a person.
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"NO!" Andrew fought to stand, Dameon and Cantu holding him from coming any closer. He glared at me in a maddened rage, his body emitting a glow as his skin warmed and the wolves struggled to still touch him. Andrew was furious with me and this betrayal.
"I'm sorry." My throat ached as I cleared my mind and focused on what needed to be done. Wasn't this what a real leader would do? Sacrificing their happiness for the people they care about?
Andrew leaped forward as his body began to break, two places on his forehead darkening before the skin broke from the pressure underneath. Sharp horns lengthened from his skin, growing backward to stand above his dark curls. Some of the Alpha's charged forward to keep him back, though they struggled to control him.
"Emily don't do this!" Andrew begged with a tormented whine that made the hair on my neck stand, the veins underneath his skin darkening with the tone of his voice. "We can figure this out together! You and I!"
Cain's hold on my neck tightened as he threatened to strangle me, clearly not wanting me to finish the break because I was the only one to sway Andrew. I clawed at him until his hold on me loosened enough for me to speak. "I Emily Blood wish to break the eternal bond between my mate Andrew Blood, and refuse the Moon Goddess's blessing!"
There was a collective roar of screams, Andrew's body straining as he tried to reach me. I waited for the pain, my eyes angled already to look at the Luna's nervously as they waited with worried expressions. I gasped in relief, my gaze meetings Andrew's once before my head fell back and I was looking at the sky.
Andrew huffed for release, looking down at his body as he steamed from the cooling air around him. He didn't feel any different either, looking at me as the tears evaporated against his face.
"The bond - it didn't break." Cain uttered in disbelief, he let me sag at his side as he looked between us in shock. I pulled my hands up to my throat to stop the bleeding while I could.
"It can't break." Andrew acknowledged, his lip quivered to expose his sharpened teeth, his eyes almost going black. "She's wasn't made from the Moon Goddess and neither am I completely. The mate bond is a gift that Emily and I don't have the power to break."
"Only makes my job easier." Cain snickered as he grabbed me, his nails extending into claws before he dug them into my side. I cried out from the pain and cringed in his hold.
Andrew snarled, the sound leaving my legs weaker than they were before as I slumped, Cain the only thing keeping me standing. "You can take my pack - but they have come here for a fight and they won't leave without one!" Andrew pointed towards the snarling leaders and pack mates, their eyes raging with hate that they hadn't fully released yet. "You won't be able to run from them."
"That would be rather boring if I did, now wouldn't it?" Cain smiled, beckoning with his fingers for the rogues behind him to come forward. There were a few strangled growls of denial behind me, deformed beasts moving to glower behind Cain. "Did you think that because you have a hybrid on your side you'd have the advantage?" The creatures moved to stand on either side of us, their eyes wild as they watched with a hungry whine. "How will you handle these I wonder?"
These hybrids couldn't keep their shape, their bodies in a constant morph between their forms. I shivered at the sight of them, worried at the damage they would bring if the other packs continued to fight against Cain.
What else could they do?
Andrew calmed himself and his body turning back to its natural color as it cooled, his hands reached upward and took hold of his horns at the base by his forehead before breaking the two off forcibly. He tossed them to the side as they disintegrated on the ground by his feet. He stared at the pile of ash, like it would somehow fix our problems and send us home.
"I surrender my pack to you." Andrew looked up at me, his eyes narrowing before they moved away to stare at Cain. "Give me my mate, now."
"Ah, watch that temper. You know the drill, we do this in blood." Cain nodded down to Andrew's fisted hands. "Give me a cut and drop your blood into the ground. You'll repeat the oath back to me once I see you bleed."
"You - you made a deal with the devil?" Andrew's shock was quickly washed away before he cut open his skin with his teeth, letting the blood run down his arm and drip towards the ground. The skin quickly healed and he brushed the blood from his arm so that I couldn't see it.
Cain chuckled at the sight of Andrew giving in, the excitement in his eyes growing. "I see you're finally starting to catch on. The devil will have my soul when I die, but for the meantime I'll have your packs and your extended power!"
"What do I need to say?" Andrew asked with a glower on his face. Gale looked at me expectantly, his eyes pleading for me to do something, anything. Dameon and Cantu could only watch in horror as everything played out.
Cain said the words out loud, though it seemed simple I knew it was something similar to breaking the mate bond. Once correctly said with the right intentions, the oath would be powerful.
"I resign from my position as Alpha of Blood Moon pack, promising to hand over my pack to Alpha Cain without harm."
Cantu, Gale and Dameon lost their grip on Andrew, still uncertain of what they would do now. No way would they just obediently follow Cain, they would refuse.
Cain laughed nervously as his hold on me loosened with excitement. "You know what this means right? If you hurt me, you'll only be dragged to Hell as punishment!"
Andrew looked down at the ground in denial, Cain's words reaching deaf ears. "Let her go."
"Of course!" Cain released me as I landed on my knees on the ground, shaking my head in denial when I felt my limbs numb in fear. The rogues around us vibrated in nervousness, cautiously stealing glances at the hybrids on either side of us as they rumbled with readiness. My eyes widened with fear as I pulled myself and readied to sprint. "That's if my army doesn't get to her first!"
My feet dug into the ground as I sprinted towards Andrew, his feet moving to come get me as his demon form began to surface again. It was like time had frozen, everything moving slowly before my eyes like I was planted in cement and couldn't escape. Like they had been caged and suddenly released, the hybrids chased after me on Cain's command and his pack of rogues began to attack the Alpha's and Luna's around us.
I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand from the breath of the hybrid behind me, my hand extended only inches from Andrew now as he was reaching out to me.
Then time resumed, and suddenly everything was going at a quickened pace now. Andrew grabbed me with one arm and covered my eyes as he held out a scorching palm to the face of the hybrid behind me. Flames cooked the engrossed face until I could no longer tell what the beast was, it's screams ringing through the air as it tried to get away. Andrew's torment from this whole experience surfaced as he yelled in anger and pushed his powers to catch the beast with his mind and bring him back to the flames.
While the first hybrid was burnt to a crisp, and the second busy tearing through those that continued to fight, Andrew pulled me with him as we raced past others in search of a safer place to collapse. In a small secluded spot not yet tarnished with blood or bodies, the ground pressed against our bodies as we fell and gasped for air.
I clung to Andrew, calling out his name as I cried while he held me in his arms. I didn't know if he could hear me over the snarls and sounds of battle from in front of us, but it looked like he understood. His arms wrapped around my body as he hurried his face in my neck, a muffled sob adding to the constant noise around us as we cried together.
I rested my hands on either side of his face, bringing his lips to meet mine as they burned me. Andrew groaned and his hands went to the back of my head as he strained to control himself, forcing his body temperature to cool as a means to not hurt me. Andrew kissed me with longing and his muscles lost some tension under my firm hold.
"Andrew - you came for me."
Andrew rested his face in the crook of my shoulder, his lips and fangs brushing my skin as his words vibrated against me. "I would've exposed myself to the world to find you." Andrew looked pained as he lifted his head to look at me, a snarl ready on his lips that had every right to be directed at me. "Emily, don't you ever try to break our connection again, do you hear me? I don't care how hard it gets, I've waited centuries to have you and I can only be with you for a short amount of time as it is. Don't fucking do that to me again."
I nodded my head and I cried silently against his chest, his hold on me tightening as he kissed my head and nuzzled deeper into my hair.
Andrew parted from me with a groan as his shaken fingers touched my wound across my neck, the warmth coming from his fingertips telling me he was using his powers to heal me.
I pushed his hand away, "Andrew, it will make you weaker if you heal me. Save your strength."
Andrew's face showed he didn't understand, the slight shake of his head like he hadn't understood my words. "What are you talking about? You're what I have left now and I need to heal you so we can leave." Andrew placed his fingers against my wounds again, denying me. "I only live to serve you. My powers are for your benefit."
"Andrew." He lowered his lips to meet mine, refusing for my thoughts to be made verbal. Andrew was tired of me interrupting him, the heat intensifying as he tried to hurry to heal me. I pulled away from him, when the sounds of their screams became too much for me to ignore, my mind filling with constant worry for my pack mates and friends who were still fighting. "We can't leave them, they need your help."
We looked back at the tense Alphas and Lunas as they stood with their comrades and our extended parties as well, fighting Cain's bunch together as best as they could.
"Help them?" Andrew's gaze found the pack, a sadness clouding his eyes as we watched them scramble out of the way of the deformed hybrid's wrath. "If we run now, there's no guarantee that Cain won't hunt for us again. To hunt for you."
I gripped onto his arms tightly and he felt my desperation. "Save them Andrew, please!" The rogues and hybrid behind us roared their rebellion, Andrew closing his eyes with a groan before understanding as well.
"We need to finish this." Andrew smiled lightly but it didn't meet his eyes. How could it in a time like this? He kissed me again, his lips shaking against mine. A whine left him and I grazed his cheek with my fingers, trying to soothe him though I couldn't tell what he was thinking. Andrew pulled a cord from around his neck, my ring hanging from the end as he placed it back onto my finger. He stood, holding his hand up for me to stay where I was.
"Come back to me Andrew." My lips shook as I watched him ready himself to leave.
Andrew, turned from me and headed towards the hybrid, my gaze on him faltering as the fighting around us swallowed him in.
Gale skidded to a stop beside me, shaking me into his hold as he pulled me further away from the battle. "We need to go, Luna. Now!"
"What?" The hair on my body stood at the tone of his voice, my mind playing back the moment Andrew had left me.
He hadn't said always -
I could see his flames before I could gather what else was happening, the heat chasing away the others who stood too close to him. The enemy hybrid was dying as a storm of wolves slaughtered what remained, Andrew stalked away from them with his eyes in a deadly glare. He wasn't heading toward where Gale continued to drag me, my body in a complete numb state as I watched Andrew hunt for his next victim.
There was one thing I hadn't quite learned yet while being with Andrew.
When he really wants something, Andrew doesn't stop until he gets it. And right now -
Andrew wanted Cain.
"No!" The scream shook my body as I raced to stop him, Gale couldn't hold me back as he yelled my name and ran after me.
I was sprinting towards him, too late in my advance when Andrew took hold of the back of Cain's neck while Cain was fighting another. Andrew ran his his flamed fist through Cain's back before yanking it back out of him, his heart crushed in Andrew's palm.
Cain's mouth went agape, blood beginning to trickle then pour from his lips as he collapsed to the ground. He looked at Andrew who stood solemnly over him as Cain was dying, Cain's eyes sliding to meet mine as I neared them. His head fell forward like he would collapse on the ground, but Andrew had caught him by his long dreads and lifted his limp body like a display. Andrew let his body be a warning to any others who continued to fight, dropping it to the ground when the battle had finally dispersed.
Andrew looked at me, a smile saying a thousand silent apologizes on his lips as he watched me run to him, stumbling over bodies and corpses as Gale chased after me. Andrew looked over to Dameon with a nod before Dameon came to chase for me too. "Take care of her for me."
They didn't understand, the ones who stood in my way and held on to my arms to keep me from reaching him. I couldn't stop myself as I slung off their grip and continued making my way forward. "Andrew!" I yelled as they tried to stop me, this ache in my chest becoming too painful for the tears to be held back.
We hadn't yet become everything we wanted to be, all the plans, cautions and work we put in - would obtain to nothing.
Tears fell from Andrew's eyes as he smiled with the nod of his head, a light blush tainting the tops of his cheeks. A broken laugh came from Andrew without meaning to. "Emily - I can hear you again." His fingers rested against his forehead as he sighed. "You've already became everything and more, my moon."
The ground began to break beneath his feet, splitting open to form a gaping crack in the earth. Screams and wailing echoed from below, ringing louder than my yelling.
"Wait!" I couldn't comprehend what was happening, the speed of everything seeming to move too fast for me too keep up with.
Andrew held his hand up for me to stop, the look he gave me froze me in my place.
"If you come any closer to me, you could get pulled to Hell as well." Andrew winced as he felt what I was feeling, his eyes shutting so he wouldn't look at me. "Stay back."
Andrew didn't understand.
"I'd rather burn than spend my days without you!" My feet planted into the ground as I closed the distance, my hand extended out to reach him. Hope replaced the feeling of betrayal and abandonment as my hand nearly grazed his body, the heat coming from his skin underneath only inviting me more. With one more step I would be able to hold him.
My body was lurched backwards as arms enclosed around me like a cage. A scream tore it's way from my throat as Dameon held onto me, a sob raking over his body as he prevented me from going any further. I clawed at his hands and arms trying to get away, shadowed forms rising from the earth and taking hold of Andrew's feet and legs as they began to drag him under. He collapsed to his knees, fighting to stay above. "Emily - "
"Stay out of my head! I have to think - I have to fix this!" Dameon forced me to kneel so that I could no longer run, my body still pushing as I leaned towards Andrew's direction in denial.
"Baby, listen to me. " Andrew said with a grunt as he pushed to stay on the surface, fingers digging into the ground as anchors. His waist and above were the only thing left of him to remain.
"Andrew - please!"
"I love you, I want you to know that I was excited to have a future and a place to call home with you. I'm sorry that I've failed you, I couldn't become the person you saw in me - and now we've run out of time together."
"Andrew - " I sobbed at the thought of this being the end, after all we had gone through. "- don't leave me!"
"I wanted to lead our people at your side, watching and being impacted by your influence and leadership. You deserved to see what our life together would have been like, what I could've have been like to you - you deserved that life more than anyone else." His arms flexed as he clawed into the ground, trying desperately to hang on.
I cried out his name again, resting my head against the ground as I screamed for Dameon to let me go with him. Dameon shook against me and Gale tried to soothe me with his words as he kneeled Bessie us. I couldn't hear them, I refused to.
"You've taught me how to love and be gentle, how to restrain my anger into kindness instead. I wish we could've had more days together for you to see the man you possessed to become into that serving being. One who would've given you the world - !" Andrew cried out in pain before grinding his teeth. " - if you had wished for it!"
I looked at Andrew through my tear glazed eyes, shaking my head to rid them because Dameon wouldn't let my arms free. "Come back to me! Come back so that I can love you properly - without fear!"
Andrew snarled as the shadows creeped over his shoulders and under his arms, his strength weakening the longer he struggled. He looked at me and forced himself to smile, tears rolling down his face as he choked on a sob. "To our little infinity, Emily. Have many more now - and think of me fondly sometimes." Andrew looked at us, directing his words to the wolves around him. "Protect her, and help her grow well."
"Why?!" I screamed and Dameon and I cried together as he held me with enough strength to hurt me. "Andrew - I love you! Do you hear me?"
"I hear you-"
Andrew pulled under as he whined in release, falling underneath the earth as it began to close around him. "I love you, my moon."
You couldn't hear our screams over the rumble of the ground as it began to bury him, taking him deeper within until it left no trace of ever being disturbed.
Dameon would not let me go as I thrashed against him, throwing my head back until my face was lifted to the sky as I screamed at the pain.
God?
Where are you now?
"ANDREW?! ANDREW NO!"