Damon's POV
"Any moment now," said Zach rather excitingly, sharing a long look. Whereas he was amused, I was never more frantic. After feeling the scratches over my abdomen and seeing them appear out of nowhere, I couldn't stop holding it and the blood had just stopped coating my fingers. Nora.
Zach watched my movements with a curious eye. "I'm not the type of man to separate loved ones, Damon. I do feel emotions still."
I couldn't even voice my disbelief when there was a sound of someone's muffled screams and someone's heavy footsteps coming from the darkness behind Zach and his flanking wolves. We all but Zach turned to meet a thrashing Nora in another's arm.
She wasn't sitting still, no, she was tossing, trying to scream when I noticed the dried blood and talon scratches on her stomach through the ripped rags. Compared to the man's brutal physicality, Nora looked so small with her pregnant belly. She glared up with hatred to Zach before her raging eyes grew wide with recognition.
At the sight of her Xavier swore, Ryan whispered something like a prayer for strength and Zayn gave like a low growl. My mind though stopped dead.
Zach, on the other hand, never battered an eye when gesturing to the altered werewolf to put her down just inches besides him.
Despite Nora being put down softly, there was still the rage. Dylan and I wanted to hurt this bastard Zach til his 8th generation ancestors felt the pain. Never had I ever felt this scared in my life; so much hurt and fear, that my heart quaked from the thoughts. There were tears wetting my eyes before I felt them drop down my cheeks. "Please."
...
Nora's POV
"She lives, splendid," The man I knew as Alpha Zach spoke humorlessly, looking disconcerted until the other man brought in the limp body of Emma.
Zach growled at the sight of his sweaty sister tied with blood matting her hair. She was set down besides me flat on the ground, face sideways. I would've crawled to be closer and called her name if there weren't a rag tied around my mouth. They had dressed Emma in a dress and tied us both before coming; only I was fortunate to awake though.
My jaw was already sore from trying to chew through the clothe but seeing Damon's shock written on his face and Emma's limp body made me bite harder.
I hated this place already, it was no better than one of those mad scientists laboratory with the blinding tube lights, fuming flask, boiling beakers and that nasty rancid odor. It also smelled of burnt flesh, not surprisingly, and of desperation within the metal plated walls.
Last I remember, when I met Zach during our early high school graduation, June had a feeling something was off about him. He had that familiar scent to his being too, like I known him from before. I hadn't met him since, and unlike then when he was grinning with bright eyes, his green eyes were now drily hollow and anger filled. He didn't hesitate when beckoning the two wolves closer and slaughtering them with a single slice of his extended nail. Blood sprayed his pants but couldn't be seen. It hadn't touched the whiteness of his shirt either.
He watched the bodies collapse and I turned to sneak a glance at Damon ahead of me. Damon was nudging his head to the right subtly and my chest rose from the thought. I couldn't move quickly enough with the stomach of mine. For once and only this once, I regretted being pregnant with twins.
Zach following my line of sight, lowered his eyes to me. "You might want to stay down, or else Erick here won't hesitate in taking a taste of your babies."
Erick was the huge wolf with auburn fur standing on Zach's right. Erick growled to show his modified canines, daring me to take a step out of line with the way the light reflected his silver teeth. I wisely gulped, sitting myself comfortably.
"Tell me Nora sweetheart," Damon flinching more than me when Zach used the word. "Do you remember Cadence?"
I didn't know to whom Zach was referring too until Ryan said in his bleak voice, "Cady's dead. She has been for some time."
It hit me then. Cadence, Cady. Angel's sister was a beautiful girl but she had been ill since birth. Angel and her family knew just as well she was going to pass away but didn't know when. And whether if Cady would meet her Mate or not.
"Thank you Ryan for telling us of her unfortunate demise. Yes, she died some time ago and I, being a good Mate, intend to bring her back." Zach said rather plainly, turning his eyes to me again.
"You're insane," Xavier heaves, more blood starting to leak from his lips. He must have wounded his old wounds again, especially that bad rib he constantly kept breaking.
"Bullshit," Ryan hisses.
There was a madly wicked grin on Zach's face. "Why, this is what the BlueMoon Pack is known for. You should know the history Damon."
I have never see Damon look more confused, even with his emotions for me back when we hated one another. Zach continued, "You all know the story of the Lost Luna and the tragic conclusion to their epic love story but what if, hypothetically speaking, that the Alpha never died when he jumped off that cliff?"
"You're pulling theories out of air," Zayn finally snarled.
"Tsk, tsk. Alpha Zayn, no need hate. And besides," He leers, "What a coincidence, we're so close to some cliffs ourselves. Strange."
"Bullshit," Ryan mentioned again.
"Perhaps," Zach shrugged nonchalantly beginning to pace side to side, "But I know for a fact he didn't. The Alpha survived and resumed his work to bring back Scarlett in silence. These wolves," he gestured down wildly with a wave of his arms to the wolves, voice growing, "Is what his work made possible. We can survive with silver implants and bring the dead back. This modern day achievement is in his debt and we're choosing to overlook it because of morals!"
There was a wild flame in his pupils now, replacing the stale coldness when looking at Damon with new eyes. "Yes, Damon. The BlueBlood Pack and RedBlood Pack are intertwined like the same tree that two leaves fall from. The Alpha remade his Pack, collected his followers over the years, and made another Pack, sister to his own original. He bred only once to produce an heir for keeping his work alive."
My brothers and I stared glances between the two men; Damon's mouth opened but he said nothing. "Cousin," Zach called, eyes softening with affection. Damon's jaw clenched.
It had to be that vial Emma fed me because my head spun heavily and I felt like I was swaying slowly. "Why me?" I mumbled.
"I beg your pardon?" Zach asked politely. The other four stared down at me as if that could shut me. Zach must have realized the restrain over my mouth was difficult to talk with, for he knelt to remove it softly with a tug. He was still as I remembered him, beautiful up close with his mellow blonde hair and crisp lines for his jaws.
"Why need me?" My voice faltered.
"It's nothing personal Nora," Zach said, considering how to put it, brushing my hair with his agile fingers like a lost lover. "Consider it faith that you befriend Emma years before discovering your Mate. A Mate who happens to be our distant cousin. It would be fun to test out the aftermath on someone related by blood, especially now that you're expecting, and on someone I wouldn't have had care for."
They all four growled their displeasure, Xavier leaping first before the second wolf jumped to tackle him. "NO!"
Zach held me with a vice grip, coaxing me when the wolf bit Xavier on his arms. There were more wolves darting from behind us, Zayn and Ryan were tackled down but not bitten. They were so fast, I couldn't tell Damon was under the wolf's paw until I felt the weight of the press on my own heart. I must have gasped out loud from Zach's arm because he rose a curious at my baffled expression.
I couldn't even register the pain when Zach waved a hand and the wolf left Damon alone. He was still on the ground though, shaking his head and groaning.
"Not that it matters really at the end," Zach said to me, staring longingly in my eyes. "I would have offered you a spot to the throne with me after we got rid of Damon anyway. With all he's lied to you, I wouldn't want to be with him either if I were you."
There was a moment of silence between us, I said nothing but Zach must have read it all by my face. "Did he tell you I was the one to attack on you the night of your appearances?"
"Yes," I replied breathlessly. I couldn't bring myself to move away from Zach. He was holding my shaking body and it relaxed me in an odd way.
"Well, one thing doesn't change everything. Did Damon tell you of how his father's Beta planted the seed of doubt and began the war in your parent's time, resulting with their timely death? And how Damon knew of it all in his adolescence and was in fact, going to kill you too to complete the deed."
Xavier, Ryan and Zayn snapped their heads to Damon. Instead of doing the same, my mind repeated some of Stephanie's final words from that day.
"You said you were to kill your Mate when you got the chance but instead here I am doing the job for you like the loyal servant I am of yours!"
"Damon refrained from mating and marking you so he could use you Nora to sacrifice your brothers with the bond you all share interlocking your lifespan with theirs." Zach informed me, lacing our fingers together.
June was beyond furious. I began to tremble more than I had before. "You didn't know that either, did you?"
"You know nothing," Xavier hissed.
"Oh, I have done my research for this," Zach said, turning his head to look at them ."I know all about the reports and paper trails your parents had covered when Nora was born and you happened to stash away in your personal bank safe. And of the way you limit every aspect of her life, thinking it would help. I heard all about the poor Nora Faith, people talk you know. The diary of your mother, Damon, I know about that too. My family has also kept tabs on your Packs and the Alphas since we spilt and I know of everything you done."
Words were failing me. The silence spoke itself. Each of them were brought to their knees, kneeling in a line when Damon called my name. My eyes were more numb than before, tears slipping gradually.
I didn't know what hurt more; the fact that Damon wanted me dead and never wanted anything to do with me. He never denied it that day and nor now. Or the fact that my life was limited with my brothers and how they each knew and said nothing. I never thought I'd shed tears because of those three, they were meant to be the ones to brush them away.
Then were was the matter of how my parents died. Damon knew what his father had done to destroy my family and despite that, he promised to change. He swore he'd change and treat me as his equal which could imply no lies or hiding. Then this. I was so foolish to forgive him. He promised to not step out of line and he had shattered every ounce of trust. Him and my pathetic brothers.
I'm not a child! How hard it that to understand? I don't deserve to be this hurt every single time whenever I trust my heart; I have a human heart too.
Zach was gentle when brushing a single tear, his finger cold. "You were born 2 months too early and your wolf wasn't fully developed to the point where it could survive without a host. Your parents, especially your mother, were desperate for you to live. They had a witch bound your life to your brothers so you could survive, which is why you're so effected by one another. There was a catch too. Your Mate, after marking you, would latch his life with yours. The life you live Nora is because of Damon's. Your life will always be forfeit because it needs another's to thrive off."
Each word stung but it was the truth. I was slowly leaning more and more into him, and he only wrapped me closer. Damon was fuming with his jaw clenched. Zach's finger swept my hair and he learned to whisper in my ear. "It's the truth, which I provided for you."
A sob broke from my throat. I was too slow to stop it from cracking my voice.
"Nora? Stay away from him." Damon growled. "Mio amore."
"Just shut it Romano," June seethed from my lips. "I've had enough of you and Dylan."
"It shouldn't matter now, June, Nora," Zach said, helping me with an arm around my waist and pressed to my lower back. "Should Damon consume silver by your hands, his passing will be a mark of victory for you. After every death he's done for the fun of it, this is mercy.
"Yes," Zach said, passing me a small open vial with metallic liquid. We were standing before Damon, one of Zach's shifted wolfs bringing Damon out of line ahead. He had tears too. "He and his Beta caused so many innocent deaths, it was sadistic to describe how it was done. Sophie, a girl of no more than 12, was raped by his Beta Kaden when Damon sat outside the cell, playing games on his phone."
His finger let go of my waist, coming around me when palming my enlarged bump from behind. "He heard every plea, every scream from the poor girl and allowed the rape to happen. Even after finding you, there's been reports of it still happening. He still goes to the cells when he's stressed, isn't that right?"
Shame flustered Damon's features. "Then here was my Beta killed in New York, which wasn't exactly his doing but Taylor's younger brother's blood is on his hand. You were here in the forest when they were burned. You tried to help and saw how inhumane Damon can become. Do you want your children around him? These innocents?" He held my stomach from the sides.
My eyes were more glassy than they had been. June would've done it, she wanted to do more than poison. I had the impulsion too, probably because of some leftover hatred. I never truly forgave Damon, I was suppose to test our relationship to see if it was dependable. The bond must have had clouded my judgement. I gave too much of myself and now again, I felt unworthy.
"Mio amore," Damon said. "I'm so sorry."
My fingers seized the back of his head, tugging his hair by the darkened roots. Fingers shaking I smashed the contents right on his lips and cried my frustration out loud. Eyes wide, he caught my forearm with a gasp before falling and his body began to convulse rapidly.
The sound of my scream ricocheted the walls as I sunk to my knees, holding Damon's hand. My brothers stared, trying to fight but were held back by the henchmen. They called my name, but I just kept weeping. Sobbing out loud and I couldn't stop. Suddenly, here was a terrible explosion overhead which I chose to overlook as I felt the bond and my breathe slipping away. I caved to the darkness before the cloud of rubble and dust came.
...
Two days into Summer school and already an unit test on the third day. WHYYY...!
By the way, just curious, I am the only one whose hair can grow back to its original length within 3 months? It was to my waist and I had cut to brush slightly beyond my shoulder and collar bones. It's close to my waist again, just an inch away. I'm tall too. 😫
The Author;
xbookgirlx15
P.S. Third consistent update within a week, I deserve a medal😂👏🏼