บท 39: Missing mate - Part 2
Reading the words written on the paper, I couldn't help but laugh. I couldn't believe my eyes. Am I being threatened right now? I crumpled the paper, tossing it to the ground, which made it bounce back several times before finally staying still due to the force used to throw it.
Andrew, picking up the wrinkled paper, sighed after reading it, "Oh please don't laugh, you are scaring me," He then turned the paper over, his brows furrowed as he read, "Hey, did you see this?"
"What?" I barked, still annoyed at the fact that I was threatened by a rogue. He stretched out his hand, tapping into the part of the paper that I hadn't read earlier, as I got mad after reading the first sentence.
I snatched the paper from his hand, reading the passage he had just pointed out. There was written the place and time where they wanted to meet—or more like the place where they wanted me to kill myself. Though the place itself was not far from where Violet was being detained, they wanted me to come at the time of midnight while the sun was still soaring brightly at the moment. What a joke. Why should I wait for you when I have found out where my mate is?
"Should we make a plan or something?" asked Jack, who had just come out of the witch's house, quickly followed by the witch, who looked annoyed that I broke her door.
"Fuck plan," I growled, "I will just kill them all."
"Right," Andrew nodded as he took off his shirt, ready to shift. "Maybe we should bring our clothes. Killing people while being naked doesn't look all that cool to me. We need to kill with class."
I ignored Andrew's suggestion and shifted, tearing the clothes I was wearing. As I started to run, Andrew shouted, "Don't ask for my clothes later!!"
A mountain right next to Gordom—Mount Elard, the dead mountain. It was a mountain located on the outskirts of Wonsvile, far away from the heart of the city. A place where none could live, even trees that grew died, and animals ran away to avoid the dread of the mountain. All the scary stories which gossipmongers liked to spread mostly came from this very mountain, although many seemed exaggerated as time went by.
To get there, it would take me at least three to four hours, even if I ran at my quickest pace. It was unknown to me whether Violet would be able to hold on for that long or not. All I could do was to pray to the Moon Goddess so that she wouldn't separate me from my love, to give protection to my mate and, in return, I would help her to punish the sinners by taking their worthless lives.
I will break their limbs in each wound I found on Violet's body, or maybe I should feed them to the bloodthirsty vampires so that they will be sucked to death. It will be an act of public service to the werewolves, and a present to the vampires. Their deaths will benefit both kinds, so what's the use of letting them live?
As Wonsvile was surrounded by forest, I could easily go to Mount Elard by going around the forest and not being seen by humans. It would be a pain if humans caught sight of werewolves, as they would definitely start a riot to eradicate the werewolves, not knowing that maybe the ones living next door were probably the very same werewolves who they were so eager to kill. Even though most werewolves liked to live deep in the forest, there were some who decided to build a packhouse in the middle of the city and live amongst humans.
Anyhow, humans must've thought that they occupied most lands and were bigger in numbers, which was why they concluded that it would be a good idea to hunt down the dark creatures, unknown to the fact that they were actually considered as an emergency food supply for most of us.
I ran for hours without stopping and finally reached the foot of the mountain, followed by Andrew and Jack right behind. It was still daytime, but there was no way out of the eerie atmosphere that surrounded the mountain. Everything that grew died, leaving only dry trees and withered flowers along the path. The further we hiked up the mountain, the fog grew thicker and more corpses of either animals or humans could be seen, decaying over time. No wonder it was called the dead mountain—no sign of life was in sight.
The whole place was bereft of noise. The only sounds that could be heard were our footsteps and heaving breath. It was as if every other sound fell into nothingness. The weather was unusually cold, colder than any other day of winter—even the sun felt cold. The sky was empty, no flying birds, not even clouds. What could be seen from the sky was the snow falling heavily, slowly forming into a thick layer of blanket that would follow the shape of our footprints as we ran over it, trailing our every step.
[Is it just me or my fur is standing right now?] asked Andrew through the mind-link, but got ignored by both me and Jack [Can you guys please talk to me? I'm scared here].
Still not receiving any kind of response, he decided to just give us a story of his childhood where he got bitten by a squirrel, despite our unwillingness to hear it [...and now I'm traumatized by squirrels. Can you ima—]
[We don't give a fuck, Andrew] Jack groaned, cutting off the Beta's ramble. I was thankful. The words I had at the back of my tongue were represented by those few words. I couldn't be bothered wasting my energy sending out death threats to the loquacious man.
[And here I thought we were friends... was that all a lie?] Those were the last words I heard as I cut off the mind-link in order to keep my sanity. It truly was a big mistake to bring Andrew along with me. He just couldn't shut his damn mouth. I could force him to shut up, but unfortunately, it will involve tearing up a few things.
It was finally quiet now that I blocked the mind-link, though Andrew did not seem happy with it. I continued to run in serene, eventually finding peace as it was nice and quiet without the Beta's yapping. Leaping over the rocky paths, the familiar stench of rogues roamed in the air, piercing my sense of smell. Soon after, several poorly constructed huts could be seen in the distance. I halted, squinting my eyes to observe the surrounding area.
A few people—rogues, were seen standing guard around those shacks. That must be the place written on the paper, a large clearing in the middle of the dead mountain. It seemed like they were really eager to see me die, looking at how they were so openly inviting me to their hideout so that their entire group could see the scene unfold with their own two eyes. Watching the fall of the Supreme Alpha must have been like watching an opera. It was a delight to their eyes—a solace to their wicked souls.
As I continued to scrutinize the area, one rogue came into my sight, and he looked oddly familiar. The surrounding guards hurriedly ran over to him by his presence, only scrambling away after he walked into the shack. He must be their leader. Who is he? Why do I feel like I have seen him before?
Though I was itching to kill them off, right now, my main purpose was to find Violet and to take her to safety. These rogues will be another matter to be solved, only after I have secured my mate. They will have to pay dearly even for touching the ends of her hair, let alone hurting her.
If that was their hideout, the cave must be located somewhere around here. I ran past through the dried trees, keeping a safe distance from the rogues to not be discovered. Each of my steps started to accelerate at the thought of meeting my mate, to have her safely in my arms. I couldn't stand another day away from her. Being away from Violet was also one of the reasons this terrible thing happened to her. I felt guilty—and stupid, for actually stepping right into their trap. It was the dumbest thing that I've ever done in my life. Though stepping into their traps solved one problem, it caused another. A huge one at that.
I climbed higher and higher up the mountain, breathing into the air in an attempt to catch Violet's scent. Going up the steep mountain slope, I finally caught a glimpse of a cave at the end of the slope. As I got closer, I could smell blood, Violet's blood. This must be it. This is where my Violet is.
I hurriedly leaped over, shifting in the middle of it. As I shifted back to my human body, the cold weather pierced my bones, but I couldn't care less. All I could care about was having Violet in between my arms, having her smile again for me, and keeping her safe by my side.
I ran towards the cave, meeting two rogues who were standing guard outside of the cave. They were having a nice idle chat before I decided to take part in their chat, "Having a good day?"
Bewildered, one of the guards inquired, "Who the—" though he couldn't finish his question before I lunged myself and slammed his head to the ground, immediately knocking him out. Using only my brute strength to break his neck, I proceeded to throw him down the slope, leaving the other guard dumbfounded at how fast the whole thing happened. One minute he was talking to his friend, and by the next minute, he was lying on the ground—lifeless.
After I threw the rogue's dead body, a loud thump was heard, followed by Andrew's shout, "Hey!! Why did you throw him straight to my face?!"
I ignored Andrew and said to the remaining one, "Time to go to hell." Feeling the danger threatening him, he haphazardly ran to save his life, but I killed him faster than he ran to escape the brink of death. In one swift movement, his body lay lifelessly on the ground with his head lying a few meters away.
I covered myself with the clothes acquired from the dead rogues, then marched to the cave in impenetrable darkness. As soon as I got inside, what could be felt was the stagnant air. It had the smell of something festering and rotting, and it was absolutely still. No breeze could be felt—but it was undoubtedly colder than the outside.
Even though at first it seemed like I was engulfed in complete darkness, the deeper I got into the cave, I found a few burning torches hung on the wall, giving great help to my eyesight along the way. As I could perceive my surroundings better with the help of the torch, I started to run, even without knowing what could show up in front. I was simply following Violet's scent, hoping that it would lead me to the right place.
After a few minutes of running, I finally found my mate. She was lying on the cold prison floor, heavily stained with blood. I rushed to her and held her in my arms. "Violet! Violet!" I called out her name a few times, but there was no response. "Please... open your eyes," tears threatened to escape my eyes when I saw how severe her condition was. She was wounded—in almost every part of her body. Her face was swollen and bruised. I didn't even know how much blood she had lost, but I do know that a massive amount of blood had escaped her system. She looked pale, like she was so close to death...
I could feel my heartbeat accelerating as I raised my hand to feel her pulse, and exhaled my breath when I could feel it on my fingers, even though it was weak. "Violet, please... I'm so sorry that I'm late," tears streamed out of my eyes, drop by drop fell and landed on Violet's swollen face.
I gently lifted her off the ground, scared that even the little strength I used would hurt her. "Please... please stay with me," I felt weak. It was as if every energy I had in me had left my body. I walked out with my trembling legs, carrying her with all that was left in me. I couldn't stop my tears from falling, and it was when I felt something wipe the tears away, that I did stop.
"D-don't... cry..." The voice was weak, but it was more than enough to give me strength.
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