Chapter 55

Lucien

Honestly, I would’ve forgiven her. I swear. Penny might’ve done what she did due to her fierce hatred for me and my family and she might have even be justified if one looked at it from a certain point of view but what I could not forgive was the move she made next.

Just as I was about to tell her that I was going to let her go if she showed penitence and remorse for everything she had done, she had to go and mess it up.

One minute she was standing there and then the next she was grabbing Olivia by the neck and was holding a knife to her throat. The move was so swift that it only took a second, a second too late for anyone to react.

“I’m leaving, with or without your permission,” she murmured to him, her eyes glaring, her head pressed against the crook of Olivia’s shoulder, a knife to her neck.

Penny spun them around so that she was backing the path to the front door and the look on her face told me she was desperate enough to do anything. To me, the most dangerous person in the world was the one without anything to lose. And right now, it was Penny.

I tried to control my breathing because it started picking up speed. There was little I could do but control myself. If I made too reckless a move, she would not hesitate to slit Olivia’s throat.

Where on earth had the knife even come from?

I stretched out a hand at Penny’s direction, hoping I looked as calm as I was trying to sound, “Penny, calm down. Put the knife down.”

Tension surrounded me. I could feel Xavier’s body tense up, especially when Penny pressed the knife deeper into Olivia’s skin and a drop of blood dripped down her pale neck. Sydney’s breaths were coming out in pants and Ginny looked physically tormented.

“Let me go,” Penny hissed at me, edging closer to the door. I followed her with each step she took, the rest of the team following behind me, making sure to keep my eyes steadily on her footing. “Or I swear I’ll end her life.”

“Do it,” Olivia murmured, then cleared her throat. “Do it, you fucking coward!” she yelled, to my displeasure. Was she trying to force Penny’s hand, pun intended?

Penny shook her violently. “Shut up! Shut up or I’ll kill you and that… thing you have in your stomach.”

At her words, my eyes travelled down to Olivia’s stomach. Her stomach protruded roundly; the size of the mold almost imaginable. Our child. I wondered how she’d found the strength to fight all those men.

“Penny, I think you want to think about your next move very carefully.” Xavier said, his eyes hardening. I saw him flash his red eyes threateningly at her and knew he cared about Olivia, even if it wasn’t as much as I did.

“Put those away,” she chided. “I can kill her faster than you can get to me.” Her eyes flashed and then changed direction. “Do not even think about it, witch.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Ginny put down her hands in defeat. “Just let her go,” she said in a small voice. “She’s not the cause of your problems. Your mother was used by a man that is long dead. It was in the past, move on for goodness sakes. Why do other people have to pay for another person’s sins?”

For the first time since I’d known her, I saw a tear drop down Penny’s face. I should’ve felt something, anything just be looking at the tears on her face but, surprisingly, I was not moved. Ginny had the right of it. Why should every other person pay for what her father did?

“Do not tell me what you think my life should be,” Penny said to her. “Do not make the mistake of thinking I care about anything other than making them pay for abandoning me and my mother. I have lived this pathetic life for more than four decades. Watched my mother die right before my eyes while my father gave everything he had to his legitimate son, struggled to make something of myself so no one would ever have me at their mercy again. The only thing that kept me going was the thought of revenge and fuck you if you think I’ll let my driving force go because of a few touching words. Fuck all of you!”

Suddenly, Olivia started to choke. Penny had tightened her grip on her neck and her face was turning red.

I didn’t think before acting. I shot out quickly, giving Penny a quick push from the side so that she lost her balance and fell over, catching Olivia’s fall and steadying her on her feet. Handing her over to Sydney, I focused all my attention on Penny who now lay on the ground with a stunned look on her face.

“I would’ve let you go. Really,” I said to her, growling. I could only see red. My fangs popped out and I howled loudly, just so she anticipated the amount of pain I was about to put her through. “But trying to kill my wife and child? Nah. Wrong move.”

Since the wolfsbane had completely cleared from my system, I felt my strength returning. The rage that flowed through me reminded me of those times where I lost control and it was exhilarating to feel that again, just one last time.

Reaching down, I grabbed her the neck and lifted her so that she hung from the air. She choked against my hand, her words coming out muffled and incoherent as she struggled to no avail to release herself from my hold.

Her eyes began to pop out and roll to the back of her head. No, I thought, that would be such an easy way to go; something she didn’t deserve. So, with my free hand, I grabbed the top of her head and shifted my hand on her neck so that it stretched through to the back of her neck.

And then I pulled.

As hard as I could. I mustered all the strength I had in me, yelling at the force as I directed it to my hands and a few seconds later, her head gave way.

The gasps behind me fueled the adrenaline that flowed through my being as I threw Penny’s severed head to the ground. I watched it roll away, savored the terrified sounds she’d made right before I dislocated her head from the rest of her body, enjoying the dead look and the lifelessness of her eyes.

I was still reeling in satisfaction from my kill when Olivia let out a scream. Spinning around to face her, I saw that her mouth was open in a small ‘o’ and her eyes widened in surprise.

“The baby,” she whispered. “I think it’s coming.”

****

An hour later, Olivia lay spent on the ground, surrounded by Sydney, Ginny, Xavier and I and on her chest lay a tiny bundle of red wet skin, it's mouth opened as a shrill cry came forth. My heart swelled with joy.

I had been right; it was a boy. Damp hair glued to his tiny head and while the baby was as small as a pea, I could not stop wondering how she’d managed to push him out of her after all we’d just been through.

The look in her eyes when she’d come to meet me had been that of anger and vengeance. And like a warrior queen, she’d set all her enemies ablaze.

Boy, was I proud of her.

As I watched her cry and laugh at the same time, her damp face a mask of pain, happiness and exhaustion, I realized that this was where my life begun. With Olivia.

I loved the way she’d survived; survival looked good on her. There were no dark marks under her eyes. Maybe deep down inside but I loved the way she would walk through fire and still find a reason to keep going on. She didn’t bend nor falter and it made me want to be impossibly stronger, for her sake.

Surprisingly meek yet exhilaratingly wild; soft yet with a touch that left you wondering what it was about her that made you hard. She was the type of woman one went to war with, not against.

I’d wanted her; I’d chosen her. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d made a choice so right.

Now, as I watched her laugh tiredly at our child, I knew no matter what came, I would spend the rest of my life showing her how much I loved and cherished her.