Chapter 269 Chapter 269
Chapter 269 Chapter 269
BELLA
The growls and the grunts of the war are something I am already used to. Nothing can move me, no pain, no scream, nothing, but why does it feel like I should be outside? Like I should watch for something or someone? It can’t be Brad. Everything I had for him bled out of my child that day I woke to see his pale body. I feel absolutely nothing for him but why is there a yearning to watch the war?
I sigh and close my eyes, trying to tune out the screams of everyone, but the feeling worsens. It almost feels like I am a puppet and someone is tugging at my strings, causing my entire frame to move toward the balcony. I cross the room in quick steps, brushing the curtain aside as I stare at the field. The moon is at its peak already, illuminating the field that is already soaked with blood.
The land must be drunk with how much blood it has taken. My eyes quickly latch onto Brad unintentionally, the way he crosses the field effortlessly in his human form. No matter how much I hate him, I have to admit that he is a graceful fighter. I scan the field for anything else, the real reason I had felt the urge to leave my room, but nothing seems remarkable. Suddenly, Brad is skittering across the field as someone slams into him.
I squint at his frame, he is still moving. I lock eyes with Dominic. He pauses for a second and then snarls before pounding toward me. My feet become too heavy, almost like lead, as he rushes toward the house before he is tackled and Brad sweeps in again.
Brad growls in pain a few seconds later as Dominic sinks his claws into his chest. I wait, for some form of pain, pity or sadness, but all I feel is a void. A fragile hollow bubble that is surfing across the air. I shake my head, there is nothing going to happen between us again, this confirms it.
I sigh and turn, about to enter my room again when a little figure catches my eyes. The figure is running from the east side of the house, the figure is little. It looks like a child, it almost looks like…my eyes snap wide as I realize that it is Damien. I thought they said he was going to be kept safe! Is this what they call safe!? Letting him roam around when there is fucking war going on!?
This is the same fucking carelessness that Brad had displayed that made me lose…I drag a deep breath. No one seems to have noticed him yet, I don’t want to scream his name and drag attention toward him. I need to get him out of the field, somehow.
My heart thunders as he stumbles and crashes to the ground. The temporary break has given me the opportunity to think hard, how do I get there without being seen and in time to stop him from running toward the war?
“Damien!? Damien!” Ariana’s voice pierces through the screams of the war and my heart sank into the bottom of my stomach.
How oblivious could she be? The entire field becomes quiet and I can feel the slow gaze as everyone turns toward the distraction from bloodshed. It feels like time itself froze as Damien runs across the field. I snap in the direction of Dominic whose eyes are fixated on the boy, like a golden retriever spotting a luscious stick wagging indefinitely.
Almost immediately, Ariana pauses like she had become aware of everything, she turns, facing Dominic directly. He is on his feet again, his eyes looking past her toward Damien. I grip the edge of the slab, ready to leap down if he gets through her.
“I will not let you take him,” she says with fake bravery. I can smell the fear dripping off her like sweat. The way her hand quivers and her voice shakes, I know she is still afraid of him.
“If you want to get to him, you have to go through me first,” she says, causing me to wince. Surprisingly, he pauses and stares at her for a while before stretching his paw and landing a heavy blow to her side.
“Mom!” Damien screams as Ariana soars across the air and slams into a jutted road from the fence and tumbles toward the dirt. Fuck this, there is no way I am going to let this man take that boy again. The distance isn’t that high, I place my leg over the slab and leap, landing on the bush and tumbling across the ground to distribute the impact of my land.
A wolf tears across the field and rushes toward Ariana, he doesn’t look like one of us, he shifts and I realize I have seen his face sparingly but don’t know who he is…or do I?
My eyes widen with shock suddenly and I gasp—it’s Draco!
He cradles Ariana’s face softly, before whipping toward Dominic. I tear in that direction, slamming my weight into Dominic’s side.
I glare at him, breathing hard. He raises his paws about to strike when the strange wolf slams into him. Confusion riddles Dominic’s eyes.
“You fucking hurt her!” he thunders as he slams into him again.
“I watched you for so many fucking years treat her like shit and I endured, hoping that one day she would fall out of love with you and realize that I am the one for her. But no, she stayed with you ungrateful bastard!” Dominic shakes his head, gathering his bearings as another blow is delivered to him.
“Damien? Are you okay?” I ask, cradling him and pulling him close to my chest. His heart hammers inside his chest like it is about to burst. I can sense the fear in his breath, “mom” he mutters and points toward Ariana who is dragging heavy breaths on the ground. I don’t want him to see this, I don’t want him to see his mother in this state.
“Let’s take you in, I will ensure mom is fine, okay?” I say even though I don’t know how I will keep the last promise. I just want him to be out of sight.