Chapter 108

Natasha:

“Mom, where are we going?” I asked, frowning at my mother who seemed to be pulling me away from the garden. “Eleanor is getting married, I am not going to leave her halfway…”

“You are going to come with me,” she said, making me frown in confusion. “We are going to have to get out of here as fast as we can.”

“Mom, what is going on?” I asked, pulling my hand away from her. She glared at me and the growl that escaped her took me off guard as I took a step back. The anger that I saw in her eyes was one that I don’t remember seeing before, and the fact that I knew that she had no reason for it made my heart race. “You are scaring me,”

“I am your mother and you are to listen to what I tell you, no questions asked when I don’t want to answer them. Therefore, if I said that we are leaving then you are going to come with me without asking anything,” she said, and I took a deep breath. I shook my head at her. This was never how she acted or treated me, and I knew for fact that if she was doing this now, then something was going on, but whatever it is, I didn’t know how it was going to end.

“I am not a child for you to control. As far as I know, I am an adult, and the fact that you are being the way that you are all of a sudden does not make sense, and do not tell me that I do not know what I am talking about. I have a friend who is getting married, and a man that I grew up with as a brother; the last thing that I am going to do is accept losing a moment with any of them right now.” I said, and mom scoffed. I frowned in confusion at her action, and she raised an eyebrow.

“I tried to get you in his bed. I worked my life to ensure giving you a Luna’s position and you went ahead and lost it like everything else that you always tended to lose.” She said, her voice darkening and I took a step back. She was not being serious right now, right? The woman must have been completely out of it, otherwise, my mother, the woman that raised us as siblings, wouldn’t be saying this.

“Mom, I don’t understand what you are on, and I do not want to know. Right now, we are going to go and attend this wedding. We can talk about whatever issues you have in your head later. But now is not the time for it, and I really do not have the energy to process all of it.” I said, looking at her and she shook her head with a mischievous smile. “Please, let us go and whatever it is that is bothering you, we can talk about it later. I will even get you a cup of coffee to sober you up.”

“He is going to be inside within a few minutes. He is already within the pack grounds, and the last thing that I am going to do is put your life in danger, Natasha.” Mom said, making me frown in confusion. “Therefore, you are either going to come with me or I am going to drag you out. And believe me, what I allowed to happen to Nikolai, is not going to be the same thing that I allow happening to my own daughter. At least I raised him, but that never meant that he was of my blood.”

“What?” I asked, taking a step back. Her eyes were fixed on mine for a second and I shook my head, refusing to believe what I was hearing. The way that she was talking to me and the way that her eyes met mine, the darkness in her tone. “No, mom, you wouldn’t…”

“Wouldn’t what?” She asked, stopping me. “Wouldn't I want to build a life, a better one, for my daughter? Wouldn’t want a life away from the fucking Ivanov family who have enslaved me for years for simply saving me and you from my an abusive husband that I married in their home?”

“Mom, this is not a matter for you to joke on, nor is it one for me to let go of easily. Therefore, please, do not…”

“I am not going to ask you for permission about what I am to and not to do.” She said, stopping me. “I am done fighting the urge of killing each and every one of them. And I am done allowing them to live off on my back as they make empires while we serve them. You will be the woman that I always wanted you to be and you are going to get out of the reign of the family that had you cleaning their toilets for as long as you can remember.”

She grabbed my arm, wanting to pull me toward the door, and I growled before pulling mine away. Her eyes were fixed on mine and I glared at her, shaking my head. She did not expect me to be accepting this, I was not going to betray my family, the one family who took me in when I had nothing to give as an infant. 

“I would rather clean their shit, one by fucking one, than live or die as a traitor to them.” I said, taking a step back. “As for you, you are going to be paying hard for what you just did.”

I ran toward the garden, my heart racing against my ribcage as I found myself fighting the urge to vomit after what I heard. It was mom all along. She was the one allowing them in and was the one helping them out, and if she, of all people, was in this, I didn’t know who else was. The woman not only betrayed the family that took her in, but her own daughter too.

I pulled my gun out of the strap of my thigh. After Nikolai, I learned to always have it with me. I loaded it and my heart raced as I took in the scene before my eyes, trying to process what was going on as guns were fired, neither one of them were here, but I knew that it was only a matter of time before Elton used his own gun. And judging by the distanced sounds, mom helped them breach the security team.

“You are mine, Eleanor.” His voice was toxic to my ears, and I watched for a second as he raised his gun before I pulled my trigger. His body froze for a second before he dropped the gun, the shot hit his back, one that would most likely immobilize him, but I knew that an easy death was his runaway, and that was not something that I was going to allow.

“Over my dead fucking body,” I said, taking a step toward him. His eyes met mine as tears brimmed my vision and Killian, who was standing in front of Eleanor, rushed toward me. I frowned at the sight of water between her legs, and Killian cupped my cheeks, snapping me out of my daze. “Killian, I am going to take care of Eleanor…”

“Natasha, I owe you…”

“It was mom, Killian.” I said, ignoring the clench that I felt in my chest. He froze, processing my words, and I took a deep breath. “I will take care of Eleanor’s labor, you go and find my mother. S-She is the traitor among us. She is the one who let the bastard in…”