Louisa's POV
I tried to calm down, but I felt that my whole world was collapsing in front of me.
"Please... Help..." I whispered.
I couldn't recognize my voice. The abrasion in my throat was excruciating.
"I can't help you. You have to heal yourself." Lucian shook his head and said.
"Help... Darren..." I gathered my strength and said.
Lucian stroked my hair gently and said, "Louisa, you have to cheer up, so you can help him yourself."
"No..." I shook my head and whispered. "I don't want... I can't live like this... anymore..."
Lucian said, "Don't say things like that. You can't give up."
I said in a trembling voice, "Lucian... He will... beat me to death... I can't... continue..."
Lucian looked into my eyes and said, "He needs you to be alive. I need you to be alive. I don't care how painful you feel. You have to keep on going. You're not allowed to die. Focus on healing yourself, Louisa."
"No," I said briefly and turned away my head.
Let the bones stay broken.
Let the marrow get into my blood.
Let the blood bleed.
Let it wash away all the misery in my life, for a dead person couldn't feel humiliation or pain.
"Soldiers," Lucian raised his voice.
"Yes, Beta." The two soldiers approached. They looked very panicked.
"Take the warlock here," Lucian commanded.
"Yes, Beta."
Two of them immediately withdrew to Darren's cell, grabbed him, and dragged him all the way into my cell.
After being pushed down roughly on the ground, Darren struggled to get up, but he failed.
His head remained low. He looked so fragile and weak.
The thudding pain in my heart was flinging me about like an old rag, a filthy torn rag doll.
"Beta, Sir..." Darren whispered.
"On your knees, warlock," Lucian said in a monotone voice.
"Yes, Sir..." Darren tried to push himself up but fell again on the ground.
"Sorry, Sir..." He said in a trembling voice.
"Ask her to help you," Lucian said.
Darren lowered his voice and said, "Please help me."
"Say it louder," Lucian said.
Darren raised his voice and said, "Please help me, Miss Louisa."
Lucian grabbed his hair and lifted his head up.
"I said louder. Are you deaf?" He looked at him cruelly and said.
I had never seen Lucian being like this before.
"Sorry, Sir..." Darren looked at Lucian with fear and said.
The vulnerability and desperation in his eyes made me feel like I had swollen thousands of razor blades.
"Leave... him... alone!" I shouted with exasperation.
At the exact same time, I managed to pull out all my strength and pushed Lucian away.
The two soldiers jumped at me, trying to stop me from attacking Lucian.
The humiliating, sickening scene which happened just now appeared in my mind again. The adrenaline kicked in, followed by a strong impulse of destruction.
Before I realized what had happened, the two soldiers' bodies had already dropped heavily on the ground, with two giant blood-dripping slashes across their chests.
As their bodies hit the ground, I could hear the shrill howling sound getting out of their bodies.
How could that be possible? How could dead bodies screech? Their chests had already been ripped into two halves. There were no lives in these two ugly chunks of dead meat.
The splashed blood sprouted out of their wounds and got all over my face and chest.
I stood there, bathing in warm blood, wondering what had happened just now.
I looked down and saw my hands slowly changing back from fury paws into human hands. I could still see the blood and flesh that got caught on my razor-sharp nails.
Did I just... partially change into a wolf and slash these two grown-up men open?
Only Lycans were able to achieve such a remarkable feat of changing part of their bodies, which required tremendous willpower and years of practice.
I looked back at Lucian with bewilderment.
He had an incredible look on his face. Even though it was only a flash, I still managed to capture it.
Then, I felt it.
It was the most transcendental experience I had ever been through.
I could feel the bones and muscles in my body clicking and clinging, including the bones and tissues in my fractured face. It was extremely painful, but as soon as I regained sight of my left eye, I became overwhelmed with waves and waves of ecstasy.
I was refreshed, reborn, and rebooted.
It felt as if I was...
Invincible.
"You haven't seen that coming, have you?" I said in a cold deep voice, lowering down and closing the wide-open eyes of the two dead corpses.
I couldn't recognize my new voice. It felt so alien that it was like someone else was talking on my behalf.
Then, I pulled off a blood-drenched cape from one of the dead soldiers and wrapped it around my naked body.
I turned back to Darren, who was looking up at me on the ground.
I bent down and stretched out my arms, trying to hug him.
But he withdrew back in a panic as if he was trying to stay away from a monster.
"Darren, it's me. I won't hurt you." I kneeled on the ground in front of him.
Darren kept withdrawing and gasping.
Fear seized all his bones like water and entangled his legs like barricades.
Tears made patterns on his bruised cheeks, like wax trickling down a candle.
I looked up at Lucian, who was looking at me without saying a word.
I noticed that his hands were placed on the sword on his belt, but he didn't pull it out.
"What are you going to do?" I stared at him and asked. "Kill me with that sword of yours?"
I tightened my fists. I was ready to fight anyone at that very moment. What the worst could happen? Death? That was exactly what I was asking for.
Try stopping me from getting what I want, Lucian.
Lucian still didn't say anything, with his hand holding the hand of the sword even more tightly.
I pulled off the cape and revealed my chest to him.
"Come on," I said. "Take out your sword. Stab right here. Right at the center of the branding mark. That's where my heart is. You stab right at it, Lucian, and everything ends here today."
At that moment, Darren crawled towards Lucian and begged, "Sir, it's all my fault... I was trying to lure them, so they could help me to escape... Please... spare her life and take mine instead..."
Lucian lowered his head and looked at him. His emotionless face made him look like a frozen statue.
Eventually, he raised his hand and waved.
Several more soldiers came in and pulled away those two carcasses.
"You've got three days to treat him, she-wolf." Lucian walked off without looking back and said, "And after that, he'll be taken away by his uncle."