LUNA ASTERBELLE'S POV
The plan to end this mess inside the Crimson Moon Pack doesn't seem to have a bright exit just yet. I really thought that once we got rid of the former alpha, we could rest easy already and just think about how to take Brian out as well. We were foolish to think that no one among our allies would actually dare turn their backs on us to betray us.
If ever my hunch was right, then I highly believe that it would be Jerome to get hurt first, aside from anyone else, considering that Jazpher was the only keeper of the Dark Shadow Clan whom he trusted the most.
Nero still hasn't found where Yuki and Jazpher were hiding. He couldn't get through their mind-link, which only proves that she's in an unfortunate situation right now. "If I see that vampire again, I seriously won't go easy on him anymore!" Nero gritted his teeth.
On the other hand, Jerome seemed to have a lead where he could sense Jazpher's scent, so I went to his side and tapped his shoulder. "Do you know where they are?" I softly asked, trying my best not to trigger his emotions.
Jerome nodded his head with a deep sigh as he pointed to the left side, which only leads to one place we haven't checked yet. "Crimson Moon Dormitories," he answered.
We all gathered at the said destination, and by the second we stepped foot inside, Nero walked ahead of us. We had no choice other than to follow him, even if it would have been great to split ways to save time. However, we can't let Nero find Jazpher first, since he'd surely kill him, and if he does, then Nero ought to face the same fate as the former alpha.
"Yuki! Where are you?" Nero shouted while continuously rummaging through every single thing that got in his way. "Yuki!"
Jerome held Nero's forearm, stopping him from moving forward. "Don't get rowdy here; you'll disturb everyone else. She's in her room. I can hear Jazpher trying to silence your sister," he said.
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as to why Jazpher had changed. He wasn't the type of person to act without a direct command from his king... so, why?
The six of us went upstairs without making a sound from our footsteps until we finally reached Yuki's room. I held the doorknob and immediately rotated it to open the door, which made the beta run inside.
"You f*cking piece of sh*t!" Nero yelled when he saw how Jazpher was beating Yuki physically.
Nero grabbed Jazpher's neck with one of his hands, strangling him to death while consecutively sending him punches in the cheeks. The vampire's face got swollen in an instant, and even his nose was bleeding. He didn't choose to fight back, so I stepped in between them to make the beta halt his attacks.
"Stop! Jazpher's going to die at this rate," I uttered, pushing Nero away from Jazpher as I cupped his cheeks with tears in my eyes. "W-what happened, Jazpher? You're not usually like this," I inquired.
Instead of giving me a response, he removed my hands from his face. "I don't even know you personally, Luna. You're just a woman from a photograph that King Dawn gave me before; how could you act like you've known me for years?"
Jerome pulled my arm, switching positions with me. Even if he didn't speak, his silence and his dark aura were enough for me to realize that he was disappointed in the manner in which his keeper spoke to me.
"Since when have you sided with Shin?" Jerome infuriatingly asked, pinning him to the wall with both of his arms straightened beside his waist, which made it impossible for Jazpher to consider escaping. "You've betrayed me, Jazpher. Don't expect that I'd let this slide with a simple apology; you know how much I despise traitors in my clan," he added.
I glanced at Yuki, who was now being attended by her brother. I couldn't help but smile at how genuine Nero was with his intention to save her. I'm certain that he would have come here even without knowing that this was Shin's final request.
Yuki leaned the back of her head on the corner of the wall while both her arms and legs were shaking. There were spots of gray bruises on her skin, and some were deep cuts that didn't regenerate, so Joseph had to heal her wounds.
"I'm innocent, King Dawn; believe me, I wasn't the one who gave her those injuries; I have no reason to hurt the only woman who I adore!" Jazpher replied.
Those words that came out of him were kind of believable. "Yuki, is Jazpher telling us the truth?" I asked her after I sat near them, knowing that she would be the only one to testify with the keeper's statements.
The youngest Holmes couldn't give me a proper response. She just kept on crying without making a noise, as if her tears were just endlessly falling from her eyes that were already red.
"Innocent? You know we only believe what we see. Anything you say would be seen as an excuse if there's no proof to support it," Jerome said, then he started to strangle Jazpher worse than Nero did. "You're going to pay for doing this to Yuki. They f*cking entrusted her to us, and you still couldn't hold back your lust for her?" he mumbled, which shocked me.
'Jazpher harassed Yuki?' It was a query that would never be answered, as I couldn't ask anyone about it unless Yuki voluntarily did so.
Jerome's pointed nails pierced through Jazpher's neck, while his other hand hit his chest. He forced his way inside until his whole wrist was already in.
"This heart of yours would stop beating if you dared to move, Jazpher," Jerome warned him.
"Is this really necessary, Jerome?" I conversed with my mate through our mind-link. "If you kill him now, you're going to end up all alone in the Dark Shadow Clan," I added to convince him more.
"I have a lot of men there. Losing one wouldn't make me less of a person, Luna. And besides, I'd be merging the Crimson Moon Pack with mine soon. Nero would be there and anyone else worthy to be this traitor's replacement," Jerome replied.
I took one last peek at Jazpher, hoping that he'd at least remember me before his last breath, but it was absolutely redundant. Jazpher's eyes released bloody tears at the same time that his face turned gray; Jerome probably crushed his heart at that point. The vampire's body dropped to the ground as his blood continuously flooded him.
Being a vampire doesn't guarantee one's immortality after all.
Yuki wailed all of a sudden, which made me look at her. I thought that she could no longer suppress the pain she desperately endured all this time, but that wasn't the case since I saw that she's already healed. She bid her appreciation to all of us who were present in her room, her voice cracking.
"Nero," I called the beta before I stood up from my spot. "You wanted my blood, right?"
Nero nodded his head once. "Even just a drop."
I smiled at him, and just as I was about to cut a portion of the pulse in my wrist, Jerome covered it. "What do you think you are doing, Luna?" he furiously asked.
"We had an agreement before all of you returned here: I'll give him my blood if Shin gets killed."
He had no rebuttals, respecting the decision we've made and knowing that I can't undo what I promised the beta. I let my blood flow inside a small tube that Nero had in his pocket.
"Thanks. I'll give this to Zen and ask him to direct this to our pack doctor for a while and get back here," Nero said before leaving the rest of us.
Left with nothing else to do in the pack, we decided to go to the Dark Shadow Clan. Yuki also went with us, saying that she already missed the atmosphere of Jerome's clan.
***
I couldn't stop staring at Jerome, who had his shoulders stiff. I'm assuming that he's still thinking about Jazpher and also the fact that it was him who had to end his life. It might not be obvious to others, but I can feel the emptiness in Jerome's soul right now.
I tugged at the edge of Jerome's shirt, which made him look my way. "Can we talk for a minute?" I invited him to his office.
"What?" Everything about Jerome right now was cold: his gaze, his aura, and even his tone. "I'm not in the mood for a useless conversation, Luna. If this is not important, let's talk some other day."
Jerome turned around to exit his office with his head down. Afraid that he wouldn't look at me anymore, I ran to him and wrapped my arms around his waist from behind. I thought that he would escape from my warm embrace, but he stayed and even held my hands.
"I chose the right path, didn't I? It wasn't my fault that Jazpher opted to do those immoral deeds to Yuki, right? I wasn't the one to be blamed, right?" Jerome consecutively asked, and I felt a change in the way he breathed in and out; he's crying.
"You don't have to worry about anything, Jerome. All of this was destined to happen either way. Even if you didn't kill Jazpher back there, he would've died on a different day, but still in your hands. Jazpher was fated to lose his life through the person he chose to follow all throughout the years of his existence." I randomly talked about the keeper. "You can grieve all you want. Your feelings are valid; it doesn't matter if you're different from us; even if he was a vampire and you're a werewolf, that doesn't change anything."
I've lost more than enough, which is why I could sympathize with Jerome.
"I didn't even give him a chance to explain. I got too reckless!"
"It's alright; he wouldn't hold a grudge against you. I'm sure of it."
I got out of our embrace and stood in front of him. I tiptoed just to give him a tender kiss to at least make him feel better.
"It's not like Jazpher would go back to life if you continued to blame yourself. He wouldn't want to see you in this situation. Let's go back to our allies and sort things out with your pack, okay?"
Jerome went silent; he stopped crying, and he didn't even blink. "Luna, can I have you as my partner?" he whispered with such a serious look.