NALEDI’S POV
I watched in shock as I saw Draken turn over and over again to his werewolf side. Each time, screaming more louder than the last.
Korah skipped into the place, giggling as she watched the man turn over and over again, his bones rearranging and bending in terrible positions with every transformation.
Only to go back to the original setting in the same gruesome way. There was no one in here but him. He was doing it to himself. I faced Ezra with a questioning look. “Why?”
That was all I could mutter, all I could manage to say.
“The witches are long gone, Naledi.” He chuckled, “Brilliant, isn’t it? They figured a way to keep him perpetually chained to the wall while he is forced to transform into his wolf.”
Draken’s eyes were red and he breathed harshly, weak and naked.
“You.” He spat, wheezing in pain and anger, “You fucking betrayed me.”
He looked like he had more to say but the witches wouldn’t let him. They put him through another long and torturous round of transformation that had him bending and breaking in ways that were just… painful.
“I will get back at you, Attai.” His words were a vow. “I promise I will get out of here and hunt-” The witches had a knack for time.
A guttural growl erupted once again and the painful round began again.
“Don’t think too much about it. I promise he can’t get out of here, not until they have their time getting revenge for all that he and his ancestors have done to the tribe.” Ezra noted, placing a hand on my shoulder.
“And that’s going to be a pretty long time,” Korah said in a sing-song voice. “The witches know how to collect their pound of flesh.”
“At this rate, he’ll probably die before they get satisfied,” I muttered, taking in the sight of him. “It’s not like they are here to watch him die.”
Ezra and Korah broke into a laugh. I felt offended. “What’s that for?”
“The witches released might not be here, but don’t be deceived, there are plenty who lived and died in this part of the dungeon.”
Explains the rotten smells.
“They were literally bound to this place and their ghosts lurk around, looking for some entertainment.” He chuckled. “It’ll be a disaster if he was made to die without at least helping them alleviate the anger they have felt for centuries.”
Another painful growl.
“So they are just going to leave him here? Shaking the entire place with his growls and forever walking in and out of transition?” I couldn’t wrap my head around the thing playing out before me, and neither could I understand my feelings.
“Do you have a problem with that?” Korah said, watching me with a suspicious look. “Don’t tell me you fell in love with him while playing bride-to-be.”
Her tone was sharp and cutthroat. I could tell her perception of me lay in the weight of my answer. I took a deep breath and said the things that plagued my mind since I stepped foot in here.
“I can’t help but think where I stand in all of this. I always wanted to be the one to kill him. In every phase of my life, I had survived by letting others bear the burden of the reason I was a mess and did bad things.”
“When I decided to become a killer, I did it with the mind of getting revenge on the ones who killed my father. When I betrayed my mate, I forced myself to believe it was because I needed to get revenge on Arturo and the Cosa Nostra for what they did to my pack.”
“Even when I was bundled in here by Nicolai, rejected and found that my father was the actual devil, and not so much Caellum, I decided to make my betrayal easy by devising a plot to recover the things I had caused Caellum to lose over me.”
“Only that in doing that, I made myself a traitor once again.” Now, Korah was shaking her head, she made to speak but I held a finger up, signalling I was not done speaking.
“Now, I have done it all. I have gotten Draken on his knees and right before my face, he is paying for his crimes and that of his predecessors. Who will pay the price for the evils I have done with the excuse of a greater good?”
“I always told myself that I’d have a feast killing him, making him pay for everything his father has done, but now I look at him, I think I am no less than him.”
I didn’t know when a rogue tear dropped down my face.
“I have been a fucking hypocrite all my life.”
Korah covered me in a hug. “What gives me the right to judge him so harshly when I am in the exact shoes he’s wearing? Why should he pay for the sins of his father and I am left to go scot free?”
I didn’t know the last time I cried, but I broke down to pieces, sobbing my heart out. “You are nothing like them, Naledi. Don’t you ever think that.”
I didn’t buy a word of what Korah said.
“You were trafficked at a young age. Just like I was. You don’t get to judge yourself for the cards life dished to you.”
I walked out of her embrace. “What about him?” I pointed at Draken. “Why do we get to judge him for the cards life dealt him? He didn’t ask to be born into this godforsaken family! He was brought up around the madness, it’ll be a wonder if he was normal.”
“We don’t need to be having this conversation here.” Ezra butted in, his tone even and leaking nothing of what he thought of my outbursts.
I suddenly felt overwhelmed. I needed to leave. I couldn’t breathe. My entire life decisions were catching up on me and I couldn’t face it. I couldn’t face the reality of who I was without an excuse for the truth.
I was a cold-hearted killer, traitor and the daughter of the devil. My body felt like it was shutting down and as I looked at Draken, I felt I was no better than him. I should be facing the same thing he was.
They knew that too. Everyone knew that but for some reason, they couldn’t bring themselves to do what was right. I dashed out of the place with Korah hot on my toes.
“Naledi! Where are you going?!”
I didn’t look back. I kept on running, running until I got to my supposed room, shut the door behind me and sat on the floor. Korah appeared right in my room with Ezra.
Fuck his fucking traveller shit.
“I want to be alone.” They didn’t seem to get the memo.
Instead, Korah got comfortable, and sat by the wall, a few metres away from me, while Ezra remained unmoved. Time flew and soon, I felt lighter. I stood up, ready to order them out of my room when Ezra spoke.
“Alpha Caellum just recovered his shipment stored in Russia.” For the first time ever, I fight the urge to smile.
I fucking knew he could do it.
Ezra turned off his phone with a smirk. “We travel to the Cosa Nostra tomorrow.”