Athena
"Shit!" I heard Celine's voice, her facade of bravado seemed to have faded in just a matter of a second.
"I told you once, Vincent. And I am telling you again," I gripped his throat tighter, feeling his bones crush underneath my hold, "No one. Do you hear me? No one is allowed to hurt my child. Not you, not your damn sister, not your wicked mother!"
"Mother?" Sebastian's low voice came floating in my ears.
I threw Vincent against the chair. His body landed on it and broke it into two. He groaned in pain, unable to move at all.
Knowing that he'd require time to get himself moving once again, I turned around to face Sebastian and the other two vicious women.
All colours from Celine's face had already faded, and I could see her slowly backing away, perhaps planning to head out through the door. But Julia stood on her ground, her expression unreadable but her eyes giving away the fact that she was planning something in her mind.
"Yes. Mother– She is Vincent's mother and all of this is her damn plan!" I spoke up, the urge to kill her began to surround me in a haze, slowly I was losing control over myself, "It's all an act, it has always been. She worked for your father for revenge and when his death after your curse didn't satisfy her, she made your destruction the ultimate motto of her life. She only wants to kill you and of course, I and my baby do not fall out of the list of her targets."
Indeed, Sebastian heard my words. But along with the surprise from the revelation of Julia's true motives, there was the shock that painted itself all over his face, his gaze and hesitation— He looked at me as if I was a whole different person, almost as if he couldn't recognize.
And, at that moment, I understood that it was not me in my body anymore— The shadow I had always felt was now awake, not to the point where I could shift but to the edge of the lightning, the phase where it allowed me to use its strength. My wolf was no longer a shadow— It was no longer locked away in the dark nor would it let me get dragged into the abyss.
"It's not true, Sebastian. She is having a misunderstanding," Julia stammered, backing away, trying to conceal something, "I don't even understand what she is talking about. I don't even know these two people."
A look of hurt flashed across Celine's face. She looked at her mother almost in utmost disbelief— She hadn't expected this betrayal, not even in her dreams.
"Sorry to break it to you, Julia. But your acting isn't looking as flawless as before, maybe a few drops of tears would work, no?" My hands fisted to my sides, my claws dug into my skin drawing blood, it was painful to control my anger that only pushed me to the boundaries whereas I had already broken half of them— I was just seconds away from killing her, one more step, and I'd lose it, "What kind of woman are you?! You use your children to seek your revenge, instead of letting them live their life, you pushed them into this deadly game, you filled them with so much venom that they are willing to die but not let go of this sick want of vengeance. What kind of mother are you?!"
She remained silent, contemplating her next move. Perhaps, none of my words were working on her, not that I hoped for them to work but I, at the bare minimum, wanted to rub her own shame on her face although I wasn't even sure if she had any shame left in her at all or not.
"You used your daughter, made her do things that would make any woman stoop in front of their own bloody eyes. It's fucking ironic, that she had her own mate and she has to leave him," I walked closer, "And, of course, it was your influence that made her leave the life she perhaps had the chance to have with him and get here to be someone else's mistress just so she could provide you money and act as your puppet to assemble your sweet-revenge plan, ain't it right?"
Julia's face didn't say anything but Celine's did. It was all true.
"And let's come to Vincent, you made your son believe that his wife's death was not an accident? You injected the same venom, and used the wounds of the past. You being the mastermind, triggered his insecurities and defeat of the past, just to fire him up against Sebastian and in the end, you succeeded in making him believe that it was Sebastian Valdez who killed his mate? Isn't that the fucking truth you bloody witch?!
"It doesn't matter anymore, does it?" Instead of her, it was her daughter who broke her silence.
"Yes, it does. She ruined many lives— First, it was Sebastian's when instead of saving him from the curse, she enjoyed the show. Then it was mine, when Sebastian's curse destroyed the bond between us, and burned it to ashes. Then it was yours, when you left your mate to be someone's mistress, earn his favour to use it against him and finally, it was Vincent's when instead of guiding him to the right path, she pushed him into the dark," I said it out loud, but my voice turned deeper and harsher, like an animal, "She is the only one who had the power to stop this havoc, to prevent every one of the damages and losses we all went through, but she refused the power. She refused to make it better for everyone else and only tried to fill her needs, her revenge and satisfy her rage."
"Yes, I did! I fucking did what I wanted to and if I am given the chance to do it all again, I'd do it with no remorse and not a drop of regret," Julia finally shouted out, "I am ready to sacrifice everything and everyone, whether it's my children or my life. As long as I don't see Sebastian dead, nothing would please me."
Both Celine and Vincent watched her in utter disbelief. But I could see the pain hidden beneath it as well.
"Do you know how many times I wanted to choke him to death in his sleep? Every time I saw him, I felt like killing him at that moment. His tears made me smile, every time I saw him cry when he was a child, every time I saw him missing his mother and suffering in his loneliness all alone, it was a delightful sight to see. Every person related to Elijah is my enemy— It doesn't matter whether it's his friends or foes, his family or victims," Venom was what dripped from her voice and she was lethal; Her words were malicious but not even near to the malice she stored within herself, "I want all of them dead. And you don't even know what extent I can cross, and in fact, I have crossed too many extents already– Hailey did not die because of Sebastian, it was one of my son's guards that I had instructed to push her into the hit if something similar to my anticipated situation arises and it did because Vincent was sure to lose his temper, so the guard pushed her and bam! She was shot dead and Sebastian's demolition became Vincent's only motive."
"What?" A horrified gasp left Celine's mouth.
"You got your daughter-in-law killed just to seek revenge from me? She was fuckig pregnant, Julia. She'd a child in her womb!" Sebastian said, looking disgusted by her acts.
"Yes, she had but guess what? I didn't give a fuck about that and I still don't. And before you ask— I have no regrets. I needed to sacrifice her in order to get what I wanted, and I did what was required."
"Killing my mate was what required you to fire me up against Sebastian?" Vincent finally spoke. I saw him struggling to get up, but he somehow managed to get on his feet anyways. Holding the side of his hip, giving away the sign of a prominent bone injury, "My child is the one who got in the way of your mission?"
I could see the pain in his eyes— The betrayal left him shattered from within. The truth was hard for him to digest, especially when it was his own mother who turned out to be the actual murderer of his mate only so that she could turn him into a living monster, deprived of any love for his life, and live to kill.
"Yes. It was and I had to do it," Julia's voice was cold, void of any emotions, it astonished me to see how insensitive she was, "You know I can sacrifice anything to take my revenge."
Despite everything she did, not even a drop of guilt brushed past her.
"What revenge? What kind of revenge is this that requires you to ruin your own children's lives? What kind of satisfaction do you wish to seek from it?!" Celine shouted out loud, unshed tears glistened in her eyes.
"Don't ask her, Celine," Vincent sighed, " She doesn't have the answer."
"No, I do." Julia suddenly spoke, as the silence began stretching across the room, "You want to know what kind of satisfaction I look for? I'll show you." And before any of us could notice it, she snatched the knife from Celine's hand.
"This is the satisfaction I want— This is what I want!" She took the chance to stab it in my chest.
"Julia, No!" Sebastian shouted, making a run to get to me but the distance between us at that moment was huge compared to the time we had in our hands.
For a second, I froze, thinking that she might have succeeded in pushing that sharp object through my heart. However, as I looked down at my chest, and then my gaze drifted to spot the figure standing in front of me, I realised what had happened— It was Celine who took the hit— Placed herself between me and the knife so that it didn't touch me.
"No!" Vincent's shout buzzed in my ears, followed by Celine's quivering breath and the sound of blood pooling around her feet already.
"Oh god...." Realisation drew upon Julia, her eyes widened and her hand let go of the knife which was still inserted deep in Celine's chest, perhaps, it'd made its way through her heart.
I broke out of my daze, and as Celine lost her balance, blood gushed out of her mouth and nose.
"Celine," I held her, preventing her from falling to the ground as I sat on my knees.
"Why did you do it, Celine?" I sighed, my voice trembling.
"How can you be so stupid? Dying for your fucking enemy? This stupid bitch?!" Julia had the audacity to look furious and not give a fuck about the fact that she had just stabbed her own daughter, given her such an injury that she might not survive, "I'll not let her and her child get out of here alive, I will—"
Multiple bangs of the bullets of the bullet interrupted her, seizing what she had to say forever.
My eyes darted to look at Vincent, who had just emptied all the remaining bullets in his gun on his mother.
"Sorry, Mother. I promised myself that I'll kill Hailey's murderer and unfortunately, it turned out to be you." Vincent spoke, a faint smile spreading over his lips, "Rest well."
Disbelief never faded from her face as her body dropped to the floor, and she took in a deep breath, her eyes wide and mouth ajar and then she did not breathe again. Her blood pooled around her, painting her red.
Vincent dropped the now empty gun, his feet on the verge of getting into a motion as he glanced outside at the glass walls.
It'd not be possible for a human to break it through, but for a werewolf...it certainly was.
He looked at Celine, flashing her a small smile as if to give her a message.
"No...don't." Celine managed to muster.
"But I want to. She's waiting for me." Tears gathered in his eyes, but there was a strange happiness that shone through them.
It was then it hit me. He was planning to jump.
"Vincent, listen to me. There's so much more left, it's not the end. Don't do this..." Sebastian seemed to understand Vincent's intention, "Trust me."
"Yes, but I don't want what's left. Where I want is waiting for me on the other side," He replied, "Have a good life, Sebastian. Don't make the mistakes that I made— Protect her." He motioned at me.
"Please....Don't do this, Vincent," I requested.
"I am telling you because I know what it's like to lose your soulmate—Love her, cherish her, take care of them, cause some chances only come once." He smiled, "Goodbye."
And then he turned around and took off at full speed.
"Vincent, No!" Sebastian made a move to stop him, but unfortunately, he missed it.
Breaking through the wall, Vincent jumped off the floor.
I saw Sebastian staring down at the bottom of the building through the broken glass wall, probably where Vincent's body landed.
"Do you think we have a chance to save him?" I asked, somewhat hopeful even though I knew none would survive after falling from this high. And his silence gave me my answer."
I didn't get the chance to think about anything else, as Celine's voice interrupted my thoughts.
"I am sorry, Athena," Celine breathed out, visibly struggling to draw any air into her collapsing lungs, "I never wanted to be this woman I am today but see, how could I know that my mother would betray me? I am sorry for everything I put Sebastian through. I never hated you, I just wanted to go back to my mate and..." She coughed blood.
"Celine, hold on...don't speak," I blurted out, panicking, "We'll take you to the doctor, you'll be fine."
"No, I won't, sweetheart. It's too late," She let out a small chuckle, the pain beneath her laugh made my heart heavy, "Besides, I think this is the only way I can make up for all my mistakes, so don't snatch this chance for me."
"But Celine—" Sebastian tried to speak but she cut her off.
"No, Sebastian. You can't save me, I have already fallen deep and this is the only way out. I am sorry for everything," She said, "I hope you two can forgive me. Neither I ever wanted to get dragged into this nor Vincent but you see...some lessons are learned the hard way. We made the mistakes, and maybe...in the next life— It won't be like this."
I had never thought there would ever come a situation where I would shed tears for Celine, but today I did.
"Listen, if he comes...tell him the truth, okay?" She asked, restless and barely able to keep breathing, "Tell him what I had become, tell him what I had done and tell him why I died. He needs to learn the truth or else, he'd just turn to another enemy, ending up like us. You will tell him, won't you?"
"I will..." I sniffled, holding her hand tight as the pain of death coursed through her, knowing that she was talking about her mate.
"Tell him..that I loved him, and I always will. And don't let him give like...my brother. He has to live again," She gasped for air, " And one more thing. No one can be trusted, there are enemies everywhere....and--" Her sentence remained incomplete and she let out her last breath.
Her eyes went still and her hand fell to her side.
I slowly closed my eyes, trying hard not to get overwhelmed. Everything that had happened in this one night, was more than I'd ever imagined, even in my nightmares.
"Athena, get up, love," Noticing my stillness, Sebastian grabbed my hand and lifted me to my feet.
"Are you okay?" He asked, cupping my cheeks. But suddenly, my eyesight got wholly blurry.
I could see him, but it seemed as if I was looking at him through obscured and damaged glasses. My body was giving up for some strange reasons and it scared me to my core.
"I—" I couldn't finish what I'd to say. To be honest, I didn't even have an idea of how I was feeling— My emotions were in a blunder.
Out of the blue, I felt a sharp pain in my lower abdomen. It started slow like a subtle ache but it intensified ten times more within a matter of a second.
And then...my eyes glanced at the back of my dress, there was blood all over.
"My baby..." My voice was barely audible, but Sebastian heard it before darkness engulfed me from all sides.