351- Multiple times
POV Viktor Averwyn:
When I stepped out, she finally moved, stepping in front of me and pleading softly:
“Talk to me…”
I looked at her, towering over her, my gaze fixed. Her damn scent shook me, my libido rising uncontrollably. I wouldn’t let it blind me again. I would do everything to let my human side control the beast.
“What do you want to know that you don’t already know, fuck?”
Her eyes widened at my harshness, but she didn’t step back.
“We… we didn’t think—”
“You definitely didn’t think! You’d be dead now if I hadn’t gone after you. Or do you still think Konrad wanted to protect you?”
“No.” She took a breath, pale. “But I didn’t know that. Everything happened so fast. I just wanted to go back to my home, my life. And Adelina… she thought this would end the war.”
“It ends when I die. Or when I kill everyone.”
She swallowed hard, her voice soft.
“You saved my life. You fought for me. Why?”
“That’s what I’m still asking myself. My daughter should be here—not you.”
I moved toward the door, dismissing her. She followed.
“I don’t even know what to say. Now I see that you helped me when I was attacked in the village—that if you hadn’t brought me here, I might already be dead. You’re not a murderer. Konrad is.”
I stopped and turned back to her, a wild urge rising to grab her neck, to shake her.
“I am a murderer—and I have a cemetery full of human women to prove it. If you don’t want to be the next victim, stay out of my way. Leave my room now and go to the guest room. I don’t want you here when I get back.”
I grabbed my phone from the table and walked out, leaving her silent and frozen.
I hated her with everything I had in that moment. But it also unnerved me—the fear that had struck me when I entered that room and saw her weakened.
Maybe my lupine cells were already inside her, killing her fragile body. I had no idea how that shit worked—but if she were smart, she’d take the chance to survive. And for that, she should stay away from me. Disappear from my sight.
Before I reached the kitchen, my phone started ringing. I stopped in the hall, seeing Edric’s name. I almost threw the phone away.
“What do you want?” I snapped.
“To talk. Aldren is here with me.”
“And all of you out there in the forest, surrounding me. Why don’t you just come already?”
“What did you expect, Viktor? Fuck, you killed Konrad! This turned into a disaster!”
“Too bad I didn’t have time to tear him apart piece by piece. Just his arm and head. That’s what I’ll do to anyone who invades my territory.”
“You started this war.”
“No. This didn’t start now. It started when we submitted to the Elders’ rules! When we believed in their lies!” I paced, furious. “That’s why I stopped going to meetings in Noctheria. I started watching everyone. A staged farce that can’t hold anymore!”
He sighed, exasperated.
“The Elders are weakened and grieving. Only the blind one remains firm, mourning all of this. They declared your eternal imprisonment. They won’t kill you, but you must surrender—be kept in the dungeons under magic until—”
“Fuck what they want! If they’re so desperate, let them use their magic to come flying here and take me!” I exploded.
“You can’t talk to him!” Edric complained to someone, and Aldren took the phone.
“Many lives will be lost. Konrad was dear to the Elders, had a good relationship with all of us. Wolves from other packs are coming. This is going to spiral out of control. Listen, Viktor: if you surrender, the Elders guarantee the safety of your villagers—and the human.”
If I still trusted those old men even a little, I might accept. But I didn’t.
“You think I believe their word?”
“Edric and I will personally ensure your people are safe.”
“And will you find out why they want Seraphine dead so badly?”
As soon as I said it, a thought struck me. I paused, analyzing, while Aldren continued:
“You’re fixated on that. Konrad wanted her and—”
“He tried to kill her yesterday. Multiple times. I was never the target. It’s her. Doesn’t that seem strange, Aldren? When Elowen arrived at your property, they tried to poison her. More than once. Now the same thing with Seraphine.”
He fell silent. And I delivered the final blow:
“Konrad was on your property when that happened.”
“It wasn’t him. Felibér confessed before he was killed—he did it for Kehin.”
“Are you sure? Would you risk it, putting her in danger without knowing who the real enemies are? I won’t. Just know this: if anything happens to my daughter, I’ll destroy every single one of you. Tell that bastard Lucian his fate will be far worse than Konrad’s if he so much as touches a single hair on her head!”
“Viktor—”
“Prepare your armies. Make your choice. Mine is already made. Whoever comes—dies.”
I hung up and went to the kitchen, too agitated to think about food, but needing to stay standing.
This wouldn’t end anytime soon.