Of an Angel and Monsters
As soon as Darius stops the car, we jump out like the car was on fire.
All of them move so gracefully and quietly. Any sounds they make blend in with the whispering of the wind and the rustling of the leaves. I try to do the same as I climb up the nearest tree, then transfer from one tree to another. I don't know why I'm so comfortable being up on a tree. I might have a monkey ninja DNA or something.
From up here, I have a clear vantage point of everything around me. I can see the building that Milan and five other lycans are supposed to be in. We're approaching it from the back. It's a two-story building. The top level is totally dark, while there are lights in a few rooms on the ground level. Everything seems so quiet right now and it doesn't feel right. I know beyond doubt that they're waiting for us.
I know Constantine is just below me. I make sure not to stray too far from him, and he makes sure that I'm within his sight.
I know exactly where everyone is, except for Darius. For such a big guy, he moves like a shadow. I wouldn't want him as our enemy. I'm glad he's on our side.
I can see one of the cars that was behind us speeding past the front of the building. Suddenly, I hear a howling signal from the pack warriors. Seemingly like hundreds of werewolf warriors jump out from their hiding. Three of them jump right onto the moving car, pulling the doors right out of their hinges.
The uneasy silence of the night is now broken with the sound of the screeching tires, metal crashing against metal, chaotic growling, screaming and howling.
I'm about to spring over to help the two lycans that I know are in that car when I feel Constantine's hand grab me around my waist.
“They don't need our help, sunshine,” he whispers into my ear. “We have bigger fish to fry.”
I lean into his warmth and the safety of his arms for a little bit. To say that I'm not apprehensive and nervous would be a lie. My heart is beating much faster than usual. My stomach is clenching. However, those are also due to some strange excitement building.
“Here they come,” he murmurs before he presses his lips and nose to my neck and breathes in deeply. Adrenaline is already coursing through my body.
I see movements down below. A few tall figures are coming out of the house through the back door. I count five of them. I see Lazarus rushing to the front with Caspian and Serena not far behind him. Suddenly, I see Darius jumping down from the rooftop.
Inhuman growls and snarls fill the air.
“Stay close to me, my love,” Constantine says, then he jumps to meet our enemy.
I climb lower. My eyes are scanning around. I'm looking for only one lycan—Milan. She is not among those lycans down there.
My eyes fall on my mate who is fighting a big blond male lycan. They are both in their full lycan state. They both look menacingly dangerous, circling each other. Already, their clothes are in tatters. Constantine's black leather jacket is gone. There's not much left of the white shirt he put on this morning.
My eyes seem to be transfixed on my mate who moves with graceful aggression. His every step is smooth and calculative. I fight the impulse to jump and push him out of the way when the other lycan lurches at him with claws fully extended.
Constantine dodges out of the way at the very last minute. All I can see is the razor-sharp nails whizzed by dangerously close over his head as he crouches down. He swiftly rolls over to land gracefully back on his feet. He's unharmed, his opponent, however, staggers to the ground, clutching his stomach. Blood is seeping out between his fingers. I know my mate is fast, but I didn't see him striking out at all. He's too fast for me to see him lacerating his opponent's abs with his claws.
I hear the howling sound, and I see more werewolves coming this way.
Caspian is fighting with a lycan the size of Darius. The other lycan's size is intimidating, but Caspian is cunning and elusive. He is very aggressive and vicious when he finds an opening for an attack.
Lazarus and Serena are fighting with their back against each other. Their movement in synch with one another and that only comes from training and being together for decades.
A werewolf army descends on us, and I'm about to jump down when I sense movements in the form of heat from the corner of my eyes. My eyes zoom in on it; very clever swift movements that are meant to fool the eyes in the dark. Milan. She's careful to move in the shadows, but I can still make out the outline of her body. There's no mistaking it. I know that silhouette of hers anywhere. My eyes focus unwaveringly on it. I'm scared that if I missed a beat, I would lose her. She's moving away fast. Oh, no, bitch! You're going nowhere but hell.
I hop from one tree to another, making as little noise as possible. When I reach my intended target, I let go of the branch, propel myself forward and land on my all fours right in front of her.
I have the satisfaction of seeing the shock on her face. She blinks as if she could hardly believe her eyes. Then the shock turns into a hateful smirk.
“I thought I sent you to the pit of hell yesterday.” She sneers. “I see you survived. I didn't know you're a masochist, though. Are you here to be sent back to hell?”
“I'm here to drag you to hell with me.” I sneer back, standing up.
She's about to open her big mouth again when I leap forward with my claws aiming for her chest. I want her beating heart in my hand. She dodges away in time, but my claws manage to drag bloody graze marks on her flawless cheek.
She touches her cheek and yells, “Bitch!” I can see my ring on her finger, and I want that ring back!
This time she attacks first. Her foot landed on my chest, and I land on the ground a few feet away. She jumps on me before I could get back up and sinks her claws into my right arm, while the other tries to grab me by the throat. I smack the heel of my palm under her chin and pull my foot back, kicking her in the stomach, sending her reeling back. Her long nails scrape across my arm. Suddenly, I can feel the familiar awful throbbing pain.
“What did you do?” I hiss even though I already knew the answer.
“I dipped my fingernails in venom.” She grins. Her sharp white teeth glisten in the moonlight. How stupid of me. I should have known she would have a trick up her sleeves.
The scratches from her nails on my arm burns. I surreptitiously survey our surrounding as we circle each other. All of a sudden she barges again, this time her poisonous fingernails are clawing for my heart. I leap away, but she manages to grab my shirt, tearing it to bits. I spring up fast to grab onto a tree behind her with one hand. Before she knows what's happening, I drop down, planting my feet on her back. I wrap one arm around her neck, while the other hand grabs onto her hair. I grip tightly, like pulling on a reign while I'm straddling her from behind. She growls furiously as she reaches up and her fingers grip both my arms, digging into my flesh. I can feel the poison of her claws. I feel it burn. I feel my arms weaken. I don't have much strength to choke her with my arm, so I lean down and sink my teeth into the scruff of her neck.
She screeches loudly. Her grip on my arms tighten, and I bite down harder and shake my head violently. I pull back up with a chunk of her flesh in my mouth. Blood sputters out of the wound. I spit it out as she falls on her knees. Both my arms are on fire, and I'm starting to see dark haze swirling in my eyes for a while. She makes a move to get out from under me, and I sink my teeth and canines into her shoulder in desperation. I am not letting her go. Her grip on my arms loosens until she lets them go completely by the time I sink my teeth in deeper.
“Viktor!” she suddenly calls out weakly.
I suddenly notice a lycan standing in front of us. He stalks closer. I know I have no chance of winning the fight with this Viktor. My arms are burning and pretty useless now. That's why I'm using my sharp teeth. I know he's going to kill me. No matter what happens, I'm not letting Milan go. I'm going to do as much damage to her as I can.
He grabs my shoulders to pull me off Milan, but I just growl and clamp my jaw harder. NO! I'm not letting go! I feel the bones and flesh separated in my jaws as he tugs me hard and flings me back like a ragdoll. My back hits a tree with a crack. My arms hurt. My back and my neck hurt. My head, I'm not even sure what's wrong with my head, but blood is trickling down my temple. Everything hurts, but I'm feeling victorious. My front is completely drenched in Milan’s blood. Her shoulder is still clamped in my jaws. I bit her arm right off its socket. Her blood is dripping out of my mouth as I let her arm drop and roll down on the forest floor.
Her loud piercing cry is seriously hurting my ears as she thrashes about on the ground. One arm is still attached to her. Unfortunately, that's the arm that still has my ring. I spit her blood out and hiss furiously. Damn, wrong arm!
The other lycan, Viktor, doesn't seem to pay much attention to her scream and suffering. His eyes are focused on me. His face is austere and forbidding. I bet he's a good poker player. I open my bloody mouth and bare my teeth to him. I can tell this Viktor guy has no sense of humor.
He reaches for me, and I duck down, trying to evade his grip, but I'm not fast enough. He is so big...and with no sense of humor, and he's going to tear me to pieces.
***
A loud fierce growl reverberates through the air just before a set of sharp claws wraps themselves around Viktor's chin, pulling Viktor off of me. Viktor's head is being pulled back, leaving his neck arching backward as far as it can go. One clean swipe of another set of claws on his throat and his neck is ripped wide open. His skin is torn out like ribbons, and he makes a sickening gurgling sound as his blood splatters everywhere.
Constantine.
He looks like a terrifying avenging angel. Blood splattered across his naked upper torso. Dark veins protruding and snaking around his bulging muscles. His black eyes are wild and vicious. His lips are slightly parted in a snarl, baring his sharp teeth and canines. For a few seconds, Viktor is writhing on the ground with blood gurgling from his neck. Then he's struggling to get up on his feet again, his hands are clamped around his neck, trying to hold it in place. Lycans recover fast, but he's no match for a very angry mate. Constantine tears through him again without missing a beat. I turn my face away from the spraying blood.
My arms are still burning, my eyes are seeking out Milan. She's crawling on her stomach with one arm, trying to get away. As soon as she sees me crawling after her, her eyes widen. My gaze turns hungry as I stare at her other hand. I want that ring back.
“Hello again, Milan,” says Caspian. He's stepping right in front of her with a wide menacing smile on his face. Lazarus and Serena are just a step or two behind him.
Two strong hands on my upper arms pull me up to my feet.
“What did she do to you?” My mate hisses as he picks up my hand to inspect my still bleeding arm. Viktor's body is lying broken on the ground. His vertebrae are torn out and lay in several broken pieces in a dark puddle of blood. I can't see his head anywhere.
“She has the poison in her nails,” I answer. It's painful but not nearly as bad as the hell that I went through last night. I can ride this one out, I think...then I see that dark haze appearing in my eyes again. Constantine wraps his arms around me to stop me from falling. He lets out a string of expletives in Russian.
None of the rebel lycans were spared, except for one. The unlucky one. He was taken to the palace to be interrogated and most probably tortured.
Darius and his men left to let us deal with Milan. We can either bring her back to the palace to stand trial and be prosecuted, or we can be the judge and jury and prosecute her ourselves. We earned that right since she tried to kill me and that could've caused direct and dire consequences on Constantine as my mate as well as to all my pack members. This is how justice works in the lycan world.
Torn limbs and dead bodies are everywhere. The sickening stench of death permeates the air. The “cleaning crew” will arrive soon to burn the bodies and clear the area. It will be as if nothing gruesome ever happened here.
Milan is on her knees. Blood has stopped pouring out from the stump that was her arm. Her designer dress is gone. She has nothing but mud and blood covering her body.
Caspian is standing behind her. The rest of us are standing right in front of her, blocking her in.
“Constantine? You would kill me? You would kill me over this...this...lowly mutt?” Her eyes flash hatred as she glares at me. She then turns her attention back to Constantine. Her eyes are big and pleading as she stares up at him.
“Закро́й свой рот, су́ка! (Shut your mouth, bitch!)” snaps Constantine. “That's my mate you're talking about. You almost killed my mate. My mate!”
“But I can be your mate! Constantine, Я люблю тебя (I love you)!”
“But I feel nothing but disgust and hatred for you. You tried to destroy the one I love,” he hisses. His sinister black eyes glisten eerily. His voice is gravelly and threatening. His canines gleam in the moonlight. I feel his burning fury.
The four lycans are now staring at the kneeling Milan with a bloodthirsty look in their eyes. I grin at her and lick my lips hungrily myself. I want blood. I'm thirsty for her blood...and her pain. The four of them move in closer. Their fingers are twitching like they're itching to crush her right away.
“NO! STOP!!!” I hiss out.
Four sets of cold black eyes like polished onyx stare back at me incredulously.
“You want to spare her after what she did to you?” growls Lazarus in disbelieve.
“She won't stop until she kills you,” snarls Caspian. “We have to end her. Now!”
I look at Milan who sits kneeling on the ground. She's looking up at me in disbelief, relief...and some disdain. I understand that look. She can't believe her luck. She thinks I am stupid, weak, and naive.
“We can't let her go free,” growls Constantine. His jaw is clenched tight. I can feel his mounting frustration, his burning rage, and his need to get rid of her. I can feel his blood thirst for what she did to me. “I need to end her.”
“Don't kill her,” I interrupt him. I bare my sharp teeth and canines at her in a semblance of a smile. “Not yet...I want my ring back before things get messy.” Boy, my voice sure sounds strange.
Constantine kneels down and pulls the ring roughly off her finger as she struggles to keep it.
“And another thing,” I add. Time to deliver just as I planned it. “She killed Antonia.”
Loud fierce growls and hisses rumble out like a volcano eruption from all the lycans.
“Make it painful. Make it as painful as possible. Finish her off,” I utter while I stare fixedly into her eyes and smile. I had been waiting patiently for this moment. I want them to know she killed Antonia just before they rip her apart. I want them to be filled with nothing but hatred and fury for her, more so than they already do. I want them to be ravenous anew for her blood. This one is for Antonia.
“пизда́! (cunt!)” spits Caspian. He grips the hair at the very top of her head and pushes her head back roughly. He's gripping it very hard that she winces. She is now forced to look up at an odd angle. Caspian makes a move to swipe open her throat, but Lazarus puts up a hand to halt him.
“Why?” growls Lazarus.
“Why did I kill her? Because I hated her, obviously. There were always the four of you—Caspian, Constantine, Lazarus, and Antonia. You had no time for anybody else. You gave me no time of the day. She's weak, yet everybody loved her. After she's died, I was finally one of you.” Her eyes try to seek out Constantine. “I was there for you, wasn't I? I've been there for you through everything. I can be your mate! I can!!! We have a special bond. I can feel it.”
I feel my mate's fury rises with every word she utters, but she keeps talking. He is so furious that I feel my chest bursting into flames from it.
“I'm doing this for you! For us! You'll be the king and I'll be the queen by your side,” she says. “We'll rule together. We'll kill anybody that comes between us.”
Constantine growls fiercely. His eyes narrow with contempt. He's done listening. One quick powerful swipe and her jaw is severed from the rest of her face and falls with a clack on the bloody muddy ground twenty feet away from where she's kneeling. The gurgling shrieking sound that comes from her throat is sickening to hear, but I want more. I can feel my mate's hunger to do more damage, but he steps back and lets Lazarus step in.
I know Caspian and Lazarus have so much anger to unleash on her too. Even Serena takes her turn. There's a lot of fury in her. She is like a mama bear when it comes to us.
In the end, they pulled her apart till there is nothing recognizable of her left. Lycans are monsters they say. Now I know it's true. I'm one of them. I try to find it in my heart to feel a bit of remorse for what we did to Milan, but I find none.