Elijah leans over him until the blonde opens his eyes. He stares up at him but he doesn’t cower, there’s no fear in his gaze. He’s accepting of his fate as he stares up at him. Elijah is weakened but it doesn’t take much to kill a man.
“My human counterpart wanted to kill you himself but I’m going to have to do it for him. Elijah reaches down, I stare at his hand, it’s covered in fur and his claws extend. I watch as he slowly pierces the blonde’s flesh. He cries out as claws dig into his chest slowly. He can’t do anything but lay there and wait for it to be over.
“Do you have any regrets?” Elijah asked as they stared into each other’s eyes.
The blonde’s eyes widen and for a second he just stares at Elijah as his claws continue to sink into his chest. His mouth slightly hangs open. There’s an emptiness in his gaze and I wonder for a second if he’s going to unload before he goes to meet the Goddess.
“There are too many to count,” he grunts as Elijah’s hand stretches out as he starts to wrap his hand around his heart.
“You don’t have much time left. Choose your next words wisely. I’m showing you a mercy I don’t think you deserve,” Elijah growls.
“Then why?” I asked.
“There’s something about the look in your eyes that says you are so far broken, you’ll never find peace. Yet, I feel as if you aren’t fully responsible for the way you are,” Elijah said as he stared into the man’s eyes. He shakes his head and his lips twitch as he stares up at the ceiling.
“I’ve done too many things to ask forgiveness for but… if I were to be able to go back,” he coughs and blood starts to seep through his clothing. “I would stop myself from the first one. It was like a rock in my path that I tripped over. It didn’t matter how hard I tried to stop, I was unable to catch myself. If I had stopped then, I think I could have lived differently. My one regret was helping him… rape…” Ethan’s hand is wrapped around his heart now. “Your Gamma.”
Before I can stop him, Elijah yanks, and his heart is ripped from his chest but it feels like my heart was yanked out of my chest. The dead man’s words replay in my mind on repeat as I realize that he was there. He was one of the men that hurt her, he was there when Olivia was kidnapped. He had the chance to help her and he didn’t. I squeeze my eyes shut and fight the urge to howl.
If I had known, I would have ripped his heart out of his chest myself. Orders be damned. I’ve never disobeyed and I think Ethan would have forgiven me. Had he joined in? My blood was boiling and I could feel my wolf pushing forward, demanding that I get revenge, demanding that her death be repaid in blood. It didn’t matter that she was dead. Hell, it didn’t matter that he was dead. I wanted to rip him apart one piece at a time. I wanted to bathe in his blood while I gave her a little bit of justice.
“Beta.”
His voice was far away and muffled. He called me again and I was hurled through the fog and brought back in front of my Alpha. He stared at me, his eyes told me he knew what I was thinking, how I was feeling but how could he? His gaze told me it was time to get up and I clenched my jaw as I fought the overwhelming need to disobey and tear through the body on the ground.
“Odis. We need to move before the Beta comes back,” Elijah said.
His eyes glowed as he stared at me. I knew he was right but I couldn’t move. It took longer for my body to listen to my brain. I had to fight my hands to move. He threw his arm over my shoulder as I leaned in. I got to my feet, gripped his waist, and helped him up. He got to his feet but just when I thought he was as steady as he was going to be, he cried out.
His chest pushed forward as his head fell forward. His hand darted to his chest. I grunted as I tightened my hold on him. I almost dropped it. It felt like I’d been down here for hours but I couldn’t be sure. For all I know, it could have been hours or minutes. The pack could have awoken and the Beta could be on his way right now.
I swallowed the lump down in my dry throat as I pressed forward. We will make it out of here. I will have my revenge, even if it kills me. There are a couple of flights of stairs. Ethan slumps forward as we take the stairs one step at a time, his arm pushes down on my shoulders. He presses his weight into me and I can tell he’s close to passing out.
I don’t ask him what’s wrong, I know without asking. It’s happening again, Shane is taking her again. We don’t have time to cry or be in pain, we don’t have time to stop or for me to ask if he’s okay. I don’t even know if we have time to get out of here but I push that thought down as we near the top of the stairs.
The door flies open and the bright hallway lights blind me as I leave the darkness behind me and walk out the door. The sight we’re met with has me taking a step back. My gaze darts back and forth between Leo and the body on the floor. Leo stands above Briana. Her neck is bent and twisted at an odd angle. Elijah groans in pain but I don’t look at him. My gaze is on Leo, he holds my full attention.