“Where is she?”
“S-s-she’s gone, General,” The tall wiry man stammered in fear as he watched the man famous for his ruthless killings looming over him. His greatest fear was going to be lived any moment from now.
The General was going to kill him.
He just knew it.
And knowing the General, it wasn’t going to be a quick, easy death. Every second was going to be torture.
“What do you mean by she’s gone? How did it happen?” He heard the blond haired man ask, and he quickly responded, replaying the whole scene for the man whose face became redder and redder with each word that flew out of his mouth. By the time he was done, the General was positively fuming. “I GAVE YOU ONE TASK! ONE FUCKING TASK, AND YOU FAILED AT IT.”
“I-I thought she was dying sir, and I knew if I didn’t do anything to help her out too, I w-would be in trouble if s-something should have happened t-to her.”
Alaric Macintyre knew that the soldier was right, but he was too far gone in his fury, in his bitterness to see reason.
Kendra Sullivan!
Beta of the famous Silver Crest Pack.
Oh, he knew who she really was now. She had been there with him, there the whole fucking time. She had heard him pour out his heart to her on why he hated wolves and had probably laughed within at how much of a pussy he was.
All the signs had been there.
All the signs had visibly pointed to the fact that she was no ordinary woman, but he had been so blinded by love— so smitten, that he had ignored all of them.
If he loved her before, you could bet your last dime that he definitely hated her now. Hated her for throwing his heart to the ground and stomping on it right before his very eyes with her betrayal— but even in his hate, he still wanted her.
She had broken his heart, and yet, some sick, twisted part of him still wanted her all to himself. It was why he had brought her here— so he could get that much needed space to think.
But now she had escaped.
Slipped past his hands like she had been doing all this while— like some slippery eel continually evading a fisherman’s net, she had, and the funny thing was that he couldn’t even blame tall, wiry man over there for anything.
But all wasn’t fair in love and war, was it? Either way he had been partly responsible, for not being able to see past her clever machinations.
And for that, now he was going to die.
Alaric told himself that this time he was going to be kind though, for the man did not really deserve what was coming his way.
He was therefore going to make his death an easy one.
“Where are the other soldiers?” He asked.
“A-at their post, s-sir,” Came the reply. “I-I did not make her know of their p-presence, and so hopefully they caught her t-trying to e-escape.”
“I see. At least you were wise at some point,” The General mused out loud, a smile breaking out on the soldier’s face at the compliment. Perhaps there was still some salvation for him after all.
That thought had barely processed when the wiry man’s eyes widened in shock and then froze in time, the only evidence of anything having happened being the single bullet wound on his forehead, and the faint wisp of smoke still emanating from the General’s pistol.
See? Alaric was a man of his word. This was an easy death.
Just like he had promised.
***
Kendra had managed to evade the other soldiers— who were now dead as well in case you were wondering.
For her to have had truly escaped only meant one thing.
She had met Morgana.
His secret weapon.
The one thing about him that almost no one knew about— not even his soldiers. Lots of rumors had gone round about his Silver Witch, but most of it was false anyway. The only thing true being the nickname she had surprisingly been given, but no one knew exactly who she was, because he kept her well hidden.
When he made it into her secret quarters, it was so obvious that she had been expecting him, and not being one to beat about the bush, he went straight to the point. “You helped her escape.”
It wasn’t a question, more like a statement— an accusation if you may.
“Yes. Yes, I helped her escape.” The Silver Witch admitted.
“Why?”
“Because she is not the one for you, my lord,” Came the reply, “Her destiny lies somewhere else, and she made that decision on her own.”
“IT WASN’T YOUR FUCKING PLACE, MORGANA!” The General exploded, face red with fury, but the witch refused to cower in submission. She was one of the few people who were not afraid of him.
Kendra was one of those people as well.
Kendra.
First, she had been Andrea to him. And then she had been Lady Artemis. But even then, Alaric had had this weird feeling that none of the names did her any justice. Oh, but Kendra did.
Kendra was just the perfect name for her.
“It wasn’t your place, Morgana…” He repeated again, softly this time— his defenses falling off, revealing the young, naïve boy Morgana had known before he had turned into the monster he was today.
She had had a hand in that— in creating that monster, and she had done that by helping him harness that special talent that Aphrodite had blessed him with— that special talent that allowed him to sense people’s aura— but then, she had had no idea that it was going to lead to him turning into this blood thirsty beast leaving devastating destruction in his wake.
She saw that now.
And for her, this was her way of making atonement.
“Fuck, Morgana… I could kill you right now,”
“Oh, Alaric, but you won’t,” She threw at him proudly, her silver, dreadlocked head lifting in confidence, “You need me too much to do that.”
He hated that she was right. He did need her.
“I don’t care!” The General roared out the lie. “I can survive just fine without you since you are already going about, betraying me. Choosing some she wolf you have just met over me.” His disappointment knew no bounds. She was the last person he expected to do him like this. Taking in a deep breath, he tried to get a hold of his emotions. “Where did she go?”
“I have no idea.”
“You’re lying.” For some reason, the Silver Witch was incapable of lies. Even when she tried, it was always all over her face— the truth. Or maybe Alaric knew her so well that he could always notice the telltale signs.
“She has bewitched you too like she charms everyone else, hasn’t she? Tell me where she went, Morgana.”
“I will do no such thing Alaric, because we both know what you will do with that piece of information, and I cannot have that.”
So she did know where the wolf went.
“Fine. Just know that I will not rest until I find her and claim her as mine.” He swore solemnly, “I will turn the entire world upside down if I have to just to find her, and before I claim her, I will make her pay for lying to my face and then for betraying me.”
The Silver Witch felt a shiver run down her spine at the promise, her conscience prompting her to reveal the she wolf’s location to the General in fear of the chaos that was coming.
Then again, what was the use anyway?
It wasn’t going to change a thing. Innocent lives were going to be lost either ways whether she liked it or not.
But at she consoled herself in with just one thing.
Better later rather than sooner.