Chapter 203 The peace I always wanted
>>Seraphina
By morning all the men who came into the forest were dead. As dawn came, the wolves started cleaning up. I didn’t ask them how they planned to clean up because I didn’t want to know how they were going to dispose of so many human bodies.
Somi’s body was taken out of the backyard as well. I was told that the disposal would be perfect. I learned this against my will, but they were going to leave the bodies to be eaten by wild animals, and a few days later, they’ll go and dispose of the bones.
A few on our side did receive injuries but none of them were fatal. Apparently normal bullets don’t damage werewolves too much if they don’t hit vital spots. I believed that because when Azef was hit, I saw him bleed, back at the seaport. But when I woke up in the forest, he was fine.
Everyone assured me that everything had been taken care of nicely and they all pushed me to go get some sleep.
I thought it wouldn’t be possible.
I was still a little rattled from almost getting my brains shot out. In a span of two days, extreme things had happened and in a span of a few weeks, my life had turned into something else.
Yet when I went to hit and my head hit the pillow, exhaustion came over me so strongly, I passed out immediately
My eyes opened softly, my mind stirring me awake
“Sera!!!” I woke up in my room and to my pleasant surprise Eris was sitting by my side.
She called out my name in happiness when she saw me open my eyes, “You’re up!” Seeing her there made all the sleep in me vanish in an instant and I sat up immediately.
“Eris!” I grabbed her and brought her close, hugging her small form, “Oh! You’re finally up!!” The relief I felt with her in my arms was something I couldn’t describe.
Seeing her healthy and energetic made me feel better.
She hugged me back and for a moment we stayed like that. Then I broke the hug and placed a hand on her forehead to check her temperature.
Her body was cool
“I’m fine now!” She passed me a bright smile, then hugged me again and I hugged her back, “Sera?” She called my name.
“Yes?” I had my eyes closed as I took in her scent. She nuzzled her face against my neck.
“I don’t want to go back to Mom,”
!!!
I opened my eyes and embraced her tighter
“You won’t,” I said, “Brother Azef will make sure of it.”
This time she broke the hug and looked at me, “Really?” Her eyes sparkled, “I don’t have to go back?”
I shook my head, “We’ll stay together now.”
“Forever!!?” There were sparkles in her eyes, full of hope.
I wrapped my arms around her and brought her back in for another hug, “Forever,” I’m going to trust Azef on this one.
He gave me his words.
Eris and I went downstairs to look at how things were going and apparently I was the last one up. Or maybe it’s that no one else went to sleep. Which actually makes more sense because how else would they have gotten so much done?
Everyone seemed busy. So I tried to find Calliope.
We went around the place to look for her and found her in the living room.
I was going to say hi to her when I noticed how focused she was. She was sitting on the couch going through some documents. Her eyes were glued to the papers and I could see how hard she was focusing.
Oh
Is she going through some stuff for the pack? It dawned upon me that since she is the Luna, she does have to do things like these. I heard she’s finished her college too and is going to move in with Matthew along with her mother
Maybe I shouldn’t bother her. I’m the most useless person here, I shouldn’t disturb the people who are actually putting an effort.
“Sera?” Eris moved my hand with which I held her hand with.
I looked down at her, “Let’s go, she seems busy.” I whispered and she nodded.
We turned to leave when she noticed us, “Sera!!” She stood up from the sofa and walked over to us, “You’re up.” I turned and smiled at her. She noticed Eris, “And you’re up too!”
“Yes!” Eris raised her hand and Calliope gave her a high five. That made Eris giggle and I liked the sight of someone being so friendly with my sister.
Then she looked at me, “You’re up now, so let’s go and have breakfast.”
“Oh? You haven’t eaten yet?” I was a little shocked, “It’s so late now.” I glanced at the clock on the wall, “It’s almost noon.”
“Well, we’ll all have brunch then,” She smiled, “I wanted to eat together.” She put the document she was holding on the decoration table near us and then came and wrapped her arm with mine, “Let’s go,” She passed me a smile.
It felt nice, so I gave her a smile in return, “Sure,”
It was like I had gotten a friend
The morning sun streamed through the kitchen windows, casting a warm, golden light across the room. The scent of fresh coffee and sizzling bacon filled the air, mingling with the crisp fragrance of the forest just outside.
"How are you feeling, Sera?" Calliope asked, her voice low and gentle as she sat next to me.
I took a deep breath, feeling the warmth of the tea seep into my fingers. "Better," I replied, managing a small smile. "Just… still processing everything." A lot happened last night. Most I had prepared myself for, but being taken as hostage was not part of it.
It was terrifying and Azef gave me a sleeping pill to get me to sleep, and I’m glad he did. I needed that. But still, I didn’t sleep much. I woke up after six hours.
She kept her eyes on me, her gaze meeting mine with understanding. "Yea, I understand," She said softly, “I’ve been in a similar situation.”
“Being mates to mafia comes with down sides I guess,”
She let out a soft chuckle, “It’s worth it though,” She smiled, “Normal men don’t panic the way wolves do for their mates.”
I smiled at her words, “True,” Azef was coughing up blood because his wolf didn’t want him to be even a little rough with me. And he came running each time I was in danger, “It is worth it.”
I just hope that all the things I went through, I won’t have to go through them again.
Matthew joined us at the table, while Lila came and placed a stack of pancakes in the center.
"Here you go," She said with a grin, trying to lighten the mood, “Enjoy the food!”
“Thank you!!” Eris exclaimed, she was excited and I put some pancakes on her plate, “Thank you,” She said to me and it brought peace to my heart that she was next to me again.
Matthew was doing something on his phone, he’s a busy man so maybe he was busy with work. I remember how the first time we met, he immediately recognized me. Well, he knew I looked similar to Sarina, but yesterday night, he was the one who came and saved me.
He had the deed and he offered it to Cyrus right away.
“I heard how you saved Azef when he was a kid,” I smiled and he looked up at me, “He told me about it. He talks about you very fondly.”
Matthew put his phone down on the table, “He’s my brother, it’s something I had to do.” He smiled, “It’s something I’ll do for him all over again if I have to,” My heart felt fuzzy at his words.
“Did Azef do something for you in return?” Calliope asked as she put some eggs on her plate.
“Yea,” He chuckled and his gaze wandered off. We looked in the direction he was looking and saw Azef walking towards us, coming to join the breakfast table, “He killed my step mother,”
!!!
That came as a shock to both me and Calliope. Our eyes went wide and we turned our heads to look at each other. I’m sure the same thought went through both of our heads
‘Why are we even surprised?’
“Oh,” I wasn’t expecting that.
Azef took a seat beside Matthew, “I always wanted to do something for him, Like what he did for me. And I always hated how his step mother treated him.”
“I see,” I said
“So I killed her,” He passed me a smile, “In the same way, she used to torture my brother.” He turned his head and poked his cheek. Matthew didn’t react to that at all. Azef then let out a scoff, “Her death was the start of the downfall of that pack.” He hummed, “That one is the most fulfilling victory I’ve had.”
“I told him not to bother with them.” Matthew said.
“Impossible,” Azef shook his head, “That woman deserved what she got.”
I slowly nodded at him, and then turned to look at Eris. Luckily she was very busy with her pancakes and didn’t focus on our conversation at all.
Azef grabbed some too, then reached for the syrup, pouring it over his pancakes with a focused intensity that made me smile.
I really did not want to know the details and neither did calliope. So we focused on eating, the conversation after that was light, the usual banter a welcome distraction. Azef told a funny story about a mishap during a hunt, and Matthew rolled his eyes. Calliope and I enjoyed it, playfully chiding him for his recklessness.
The breakfast was so simple and nice, that it was hard to believe that the forest was filled with human screams the night before. I do understand that they all were enemies but they all were human too.
Like me.
It’s not that I felt bad for them. It’s just that it is disturbing to hear constant screams. But the relaxed atmosphere now helped me calm down more. I do hope something like that doesn’t happen again but then again, if it does, I’ll try to be more alert. I am a mafia member’s mate after all.
“Now that you’re free,” Azef suddenly spoke as we all finished eating and everyone looked at him but he had his eyes on me, “What do you want to do now?”
“Free?” The words escaped my mouth. I didn’t catch what he meant right away. After all, it hadn’t crossed my mind yet.
“Yes,” He said, “Free, you don’t have to go back to your old life now. You’re free from it.” And then all eyes were on me.
And that was the moment I realized, I was free.
No more debt.
No more thugs after me.
No more dealing with the mafia either
And most of all, no more dealing with dad.
I didn’t need to go running around from one part time job to another and then constantly worry about Eris as well.
Something inside of me felt weird. All of the sudden, I didn’t have to do the things that haunted me daily. It was odd. Almost hard to believe. Life had been going downhill for so long, I had no idea it could get so better after just one day.
I looked down at Eris, and then back at Azef
I couldn’t believe it. I think I needed time to absorb the reality that I no longer had to deal with shit
And now, I was now going to have the peace I’ve always wanted
“I’ll think about it,” I said softly
He smiled at me, “Take your time.”