147- Blood of the Innocent
POV Lunara Grimwald:
I felt sad about the male’s death; he had been caught by surprise too, on the wedding day, when Alessio and Kellan deceived everyone. He could have stopped Elowen and me from escaping, but he didn’t.
“How are you going to manage that? Break the bond?”
The Eclipse guard who accompanied us stood at the mouth of the cave, his back to us and facing the forest, patrolling, watching everything around us carefully, trying to detect any sign of Edric’s presence—anything at all—so he could warn his alpha.
Alessio turned to me and smiled.
“It’s not that easy,” he remarked, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “Since everything involves blood, it must be done with blood.”
My stomach tightened in fear.
“Blood?”
“I have to take your blood, drain you almost to death, then force you to drink the blood of an innocent so you can be purified.” He gestured with his hands. “Anyway, there’s an entire procedure, and that’s why so many people die during these rituals.”
I swallowed hard, tasting metal in my mouth. Sweat covered the back of my neck and my forehead.
“You’re so sick, Alessio!” I whispered. “You’re nothing but a piece of shit.”
He rolled his eyes and snorted.
“And you’re a bitch who slept with the first male who showed up in front of you.” A fleeting smile crossed his lips. “Do you think I don’t know you only used that alpha? That you lured him into mating with you because of the scent of your heat? You needed to hide from me somehow, find a way to protect yourself. He’s nothing but a poor bastard who had the misfortune of crossing your path.”
“You’re so delusional you believe your own lies.” He growled and stepped toward me.
“And you’re a whore!” He went to Alpha Giovanni’s table and pulled the knife he had raised on the wedding day—the one we were supposed to use to cut our palms and seal the agreement. “My father’s right, I should have killed you when I had the chance.”
I rose in unsteady motions, lifting my body from the ground. I stayed pressed against the wall, feeling the cold stones at my back. I cast a look toward the she-wolf with the pup, who watched me, and silently begged her to help me somehow, so we could escape his claws. She ignored me, lowering her gaze and rocking her pup in her arms.
“Yes, he was,” I said firmly.
Alessio walked toward me, spinning the knife between his fingers, toying with it. When he stopped in front of me, he stared, examining me.
“I was ready to go to the shed and fuck you tonight to get some relief,” he said. “But then your alpha attacked us and ruined my plans.” He lifted his arm and touched my face with his fingertips. “No matter how much of a whore you are, you’re still a beautiful, interesting wolf. I love the sounds you make when you’re feeling pleasure, the way your muscles tighten…” He sighed. “I hope you don’t die so I can fuck you again.”
I scrunched my nose in disgust and spat in his face.
“You bastard! I hate you, Alessio. I hate you with everything I have in me, with all my strength.”
He snarled and lunged at me, slamming me against the wall. I tried to break free, but he was stronger, and I was weakened after healing all my injuries—and starving on top of that.
I shot a kick between his legs, smashing his dick. The sound he made from the pain was like music to my ears, forcing a satisfied sigh from me.
He stepped back, hands grabbing his groin, dropping the knife. I didn’t wait, didn’t hesitate. I threw myself to the ground, grabbed the sharp object, and hurled it at him, piercing his thigh.
He screamed and growled loudly, staring at me with dilated pupils, eyes burning dark brown, his fangs elongated.
I tried to pull the knife out, but he struck my face. My head slammed into the wall, and dizziness took over. Alessio ripped the knife from his flesh, seized my arm, and pinned it against the wall above my head.
“Never has causing pain made me feel so satisfied.”
With my free hand, I transformed my nails into claws and slashed the skin of his face, dragging a cut across the whole side of it, marking his cheek. He growled even louder, becoming a rabid animal.
I tried to hit him again.
He kept my arm raised with one hand while, with the other, in one swift motion, he grabbed the knife and drove it into me. The blade pierced my skin, tore through a vein, and lodged itself between the divided bones of my wrist.
Nothing had ever prepared me for that pain. Nothing.
Blood erupted from the wound like a waterfall—hot, pungent, staining the wall, my arm, my clothes, spreading into a pool across the floor. It was so intense that I already felt weak, my body slowly going numb, just like the pain.
I was dying. Me—and my pup.
Alessio left me pinned to the wall by the blade and stepped back, putting distance between us so he could admire his masterpiece.
“Now, yes. Beautiful, in pain, pinned and losing blood, just the way I need you for the ritual.”
“I hope you live a very long time, Alessio. As many years as you possibly can, because the moment you reach hell, I’ll end you. I’ll be there waiting, ready for my revenge.”
He laughed and moved away.
“So much love! You’re going to die thinking about me and spend your whole afterlife unable to get me out of your head? That’s amazing—love that crosses boundaries.”
My eyes felt heavy, as if my eyelids weighed tons.
Alessio walked to the she-wolf and yanked the pup from her arms. She screamed and tried to stop him, but failed. The pup woke and began crying.
“No, please, not my pup.” She sank to her knees and begged him.
He held the pup in one arm and struck her face with the other, knocking her to the ground with the force.
“Shut up, you bitch! That pup belongs to my pack, therefore he belongs to me. Just like you and all the other miserable lives that follow me.”
He turned away with the pup in his arms.
“What are you going to do?” I whispered in a faint breath.
“In the ritual, it says blood of an innocent is required.” He shrugged. “I thought about taking some virgin, but then I remembered you claimed to be one to your parents. So I can’t trust something this important to the word of a female. That’s why I chose a pup—nothing is more innocent than them. No risk of mistake.”