Athena
"Julia! Make it stop right now!" I shouted as soon as I stepped outside of the car, my eyes constantly taking glances at Aaron who fought with the group of rogues continually attacking him.
This was a fight for survival where he could lose at any time if by any chance the situation fell heavy on him.
I knew their sole intention was to kill him, the injuries they were giving him were not light enough to make me believe that they only wanted to prevent him from saving me or make a way for me to safely head to the Jeep.
There was something I did not know or perhaps, couldn't see.
"Athena, it's not your duty to worry about it. Just get in the vehicle right now." Julia spoke.
She sounded as if she did not give a fuck about the lives of these people who had no fault in any of this mess at all.
Her careless demeanour bugged me—It made me wonder if she was the same woman I talked to, whose eyes were drenched in tears whilst telling me the story of Sebastian and his curse.
"Athena, get in the damn car! You don't know who they ar—" Aaron's voice got cut in the middle with the howl of a rogue who tackled him to the ground, his words remained left finished so did the unknown revelation.
He fought back with the same amount of strength as prior. Neither his bleeding injuries nor the amount of energy he was supposed to lose considering the dead bodies of rogues laying on the road in piles, nothing succeeded to stop him.
But that did not conclude that he was not going to fall weak if this continues.
Rage crawled up my skin like blood-sucking leeches, and it drained away every drop of serenity I had within myself.
"What the fuck are you talking about, Julia?! Did you really think I'd fucking leave them here to get killed by these disgusting bastards just so I'd succeed in saving myself from the miseries that are solely my responsibility to deal with?!" I nearly shouted, losing my calm, "Tell these rogues to stop, right now!"
"Athena, it's not time to think with emotions. Be practical and get in the damn jeep before he comes here and takes you with him, again!"
"I don't give a fuck about it, Julia. I want to be free and step into the new world away from that monster but I'd not do it over the dead bodies of people who have got no fault in any of the things I have gone through. I am not letting you kill them for no reason, no matter how pure and valid you consider your intentions!"
"You don't even know what you are talking about, you think the whole time they had no fault or they were simply your well-wishers? You are so naive and this habit of yours to see good in everything will ruin you someday," Julia chuckled, her voice somewhat got darker, giving me a hint of something else than her 'helpful nature' she showed me till now, "These guys you think innocent are not so innocent and just remember about one thing— They work for Sebastian. The same man who made your life a hell show. How could the companion of a monster hiding beneath the skin of a man ever be innocent?"
I was stunned and speechless. Not because of the words she used, but because of who she was talking about.
Her perspective regarding Sebastian sounded contrary to what I had known she thought of him. Was it me who had mistaken it or was it her who hid her true viewpoint??
"You don't know their intentions, but I do. You wanna know? Let me tell you about—"
"Athena, get in the damn car, will you?!" Aaron's shout cut through for the last time, and as I turned my head around to look at him, all I saw were rogues that attacked him at once.
A gasp left my mouth, out of concern and terror. But the gasp leaving my mouth, ended with an ever louder and high-pitched scream as, all of a sudden, a rogue's headless body flew and landed right at my feet.
My hands trembled as I stared at the sight of blood and raw flesh, the smell made my stomach twist in disgust and I immediately stepped away.
But then a loud howl broke the momentary daze that consumed me in it. It was not a howl from the rogues— The one I heard gave away nearly as much powerful energy as an alpha.
My eyes moved to look at the sight, and I saw the sight of the Dark brown wolf. The familiar colour of the eyes told me they belonged to none other than Aaron.
The reason why he shifted after so long was not uncertain— He had thought that he wouldn't need to shift to tackle these rogues, nor he actually needed to if only these creatures had just a tiny amount of love for their lives. But judging by the way, they were throwing themselves at him, no matter if their bones were broken or limbs were missing, they just wanted to kill him no matter if it was at the cost of their own lives.
Aaron was not going to survive for long if this kept going.
"Julia, stop this shit show, right now!"
This time, the unknown man in the driver's seat spoke up, "Don't act stupid, woman. Get in the damn jeep so that we can leave, we are not going to get anything from it, it's for your sake."
"I haven't asked any of you to kill someone for my sake, so stop trying to make the reality seem the opposite of what it is. The way you two have brought these bloodthirsty rogues with you, it seems to me you are rather here to take vengeance from these people than help me!"
Julia's face showed dismay for a very short second but she masked it with lines of confusion draping over her features.
"What are....are you talking about, Athena? Why would I have any sort of enmity with these people? I am here because you told me that you wanted to escape, to a location that Sebastian would not know," Julia nearly stammered.
"I am saying what I can see, Julia. You have said it by yourself that I have only told you to help me get out of here," I spoke up, rage coursing through my veins, "I have never, even for a fraction of a second, mentioned that I wanted Sebastian's companions to get hurt in the process or cause them any harm in any manner yet you have the brass neck to try and convince me that it's the right thing?! Why the fuck these rogues are here and why aren't you making any move to stop this bloody attack?"
"You are actually fucking naive. No wonder why you loved a monster like Sebastian," The man finally decided to take off his mask, revealing a pair of sinister ashy eyes, and sharp features that matched the malice of the venom that dripped from his words.
There was absolutely nothing bizarre about his face, but the energy he gave away with eyes that stared at me as if he had a deep-rooted stored for me since the start of the time was so vicious that it left me wondering what I had done to make such amount of hatred spark in his orbs.
Julia seemed to get alert soon as the man spoke. It was not fear, it was worry that crossed her countenance but before she could utter anything, or spare a response on her part, he decided to speak,
"Do you really fucking think that we are very delighted to get the rogues here to attack your so-called mate's companion? What are we even going to get by hurting these bunch of greedy shitheads Sebastian keeps around? Nothing," He said, his tone accusing yet his words making sense and not any at the same time, "We are here to help you only. We have got no other intentions other than that, but as you can see it with your own eyes, do you think the beta would have let us take you out of here with peace and no fight? Indeed, we could have fought for you in that case and taken you away but why would any of us want to get hurt for no reason, just to help a woman who's basically a stranger?"
I did want to say something back and question his intentions but I had no way to do that. What he said might be harsh but it made sense.
Aaron was no ordinary wolf. He was Sebastian's beta, trained with him and was used to his ways of fighting that are beyond brutal, beyond the imaginations of most people.
But, something just didn't feel right...
The voice within me told me that what he said was only half true, that too shaded with treachery.
"Athena, my dear, please get in the Jeep. We are running out of time."
"No. No matter what you say, I won't be able to live with the fact that....someone paid the price for my freedom, my life and...my child's. I don't want—"
"You are pregnant?!" Julia nearly shrieked, interrupting my sentence midway, her eyes widened and lips parted in shock.
"Yes, I'm pregnant. This is why I am leaving Sebastian because—"
"Because you don't want your child to end up like him, and witness him treating your kid just like his father treated him." The man finished my sentence as if he knew I wouldn't be able to say the truth myself.
His voice was cold and unnerving. There was a strange sort of amusement flicking in his orbs.
"Oh you poor thing," Julia rested her hand on her chest, looking at me with sympathy, "I am so sorry that you had to make such a tough choice. Why didn't you tell me about it before?"
"I didn't get the time, now please will you stop these rogues? I don't want anyone to die, try to understand me, Please Julia. I beg you," I requested with my pleading voice, my restless eyes glancing at Aaron's side every now and then.
Before Julia could speak, the other individual spoke on her behalf.
"Okay, they will stop. But we need to be out of here, I can't risk the beta following us because I am certainly not looking for an unnecessary fight."
"But—
"Don't think about it too much, sweetheart. Trust me, once we are out of here, the rogues will leave. It's my promise to you."
Would counting on her promise be the right thing to do?
This time as I looked at Aaron's side, I found his gaze shooting at me as if he heard the words Julia said– Loud and clear. It didn't take me much consideration to be sure that he heard it– He was a fully transformed wolf, and having difficulty hearing even the lightest sounds was the last thing he would struggle with.
Though he couldn't communicate or reach me crossing all these rogues, nonetheless, I received the message he tried to send me.
He was still trying to prevent me from leaving. And the reason was not a surprise anymore— He was just following Sebastian's order, not caring whether it was right for me or not.
"Don't waste time, Athena. Let's go." Julia spoke, softly.
Not seeing any other choices vacated for me, I emitted a sigh of defeat before I got up inside the Jeep. There were thousands of doubts swirling in my mind regarding this sudden decision I was forced to take because of the given circumstances.
But I had no options left other than to stay silent and comply.
The man whose identity was still anonymous to me threw the mask in his hand away and started the Jeep, and with a roar, the vehicle took off to an unknown destination.