Chapter 46 Remember

Chapter 46 Remember
The Senator’s clawed hand started its downward arc, aiming for the back of Vesper’s neck to sever his spine.

What sort of a father would do this to his own child— his only child for that matter. All that seems important to this man is his bloodline. His wife just died and now he wants to kill his son?

No, the voice inside me screamed, amplified by the terrified rage and desire to save him. Not this time.

I didn't think about the danger. I didn't think about the fact that I was throwing myself between two shifting Alphas.

I dove.

I slid through the dirt, throwing my body over Vesper’s prone form just as the Senator’s hand came down.

The blow meant to kill a werewolf struck my shoulder instead. It felt like being hit by a falling anvil. I heard something crack—my collarbone, maybe a rib—and agony, white-hot and blinding, ripped through my left side.

I screamed, collapsing onto Vesper’s sweaty, trembling back.

The Senator roared in frustration, yanking his hand back as if he’d touched a hot stove. He towered over us, his face half-shifted, his red eyes burning down at me.

"Move, girl!" he bellowed, his voice a distorted growl. ”If you do not, you’ll die for this failure!"

Beneath me, Vesper was still snarling, thrashing weakly. He didn't realize I was protecting him. The feral thing inside him only knew it was being held down. He bucked, snapping his jaws, trying to throw me off so he could attack his father again.

"Vesper, stop," I sobbed, pressing my cheek against his damp, muddy shoulder, holding onto him with my good arm even as he tried to shake me loose. "It's me. Please, it's me."

He twisted his head back, trying to bite the thing pinning him. His teeth grazed my neck.

"I will not ask you again," the Senator growled, raising his clawed hand again, prepared to cleave through both of us if necessary. "Move!"

Something inside my chest snapped. 

A surge of power, thicker and darker than the blast I’d used before, flooded my veins. 

I looked up at the Senator.

"DON'T TOUCH HIM!"

My voice wasn't my own. It was deeper, resonant, echoing with an edge that made the dirt floor vibrate.

A wave of violet-black energy erupted from my body. It slammed into the Senator with the force of a battering ram. The massive, half-shifted Alpha was lifted off his feet and thrown backward into the stairs. He hit the stone steps with a bone-shattering crash and tumbled down in a heap, groaning, temporarily stunned.

Silence fell in the small space, broken only by my ragged breathing and Vesper’s low, confused growls.

The energy dissipated, leaving me weak and dizzy. The pain in my shoulder came roaring back.

I looked down at Vesper. He had stopped thrashing. He was lying still beneath me, his head turned so he could look up at my face.

His eyes were still silver, dead and reflective in the dim light. There was still no recognition in them. 

"Vesper," I whispered, tears dripping off my nose onto his cheek. I reached out with my shaking hand, cupping his jaw, forcing him to look at me. His skin was burning hot. "Listen to me. I know it hurts, but listen."

He blinked slowly. A low whine built in his throat.

"It wasn’t me," I said, pouring every ounce of my will into the words. "Hera mind controlled me.I wasn't me."

The silver in his eyes seemed to swirl, agitated like mercury. He went rigid. His breath hitched.

I pressed my hand over his heart, feeling the frantic, bird-like rhythm beneath the muscle.

"I am here, Vesper. I am alive. We can still figure this out together. Come back to me."

A shudder ripped through his entire body, violent enough to rattle his teeth. He squeezed his eyes shut, letting out a sound that was half sob, half snarl.

When his eyes opened again, the flat, dead silver was gone.

They were a chaotic, swirling mix of gray and storm-cloud green, filled with an agony so profound it was hard to look at. But they were human eyes.

"Sylvania?" he choked out, his voice sounding wrecked.

I sobbed with relief, collapsing against his chest. "Yes. Yes, it's me."

He raised a trembling hand, his fingers brushing my hair, then touching the tear-streaked skin of my cheek as if checking to see if I was a ghost.

A groan from the stairs made us both freeze.

Senator Bianchi was pulling himself up. His shirt was shredded, his nose broken, blood streaming down his face. The red Alpha glow in his eyes had dimmed to a furious, muddy brown. He looked at the violet energy still crackling weakly around my hands, then at his son, who was no longer feral.

The Senator stood up, swaying slightly, regaining his composure with terrifying speed. He wiped the blood from his face with the back of his hand.

"So," the Senator spat, his voice thick with disgust. "The witch has her claws in you too."

Vesper flinched at his father's voice. He pushed me gently off him and rolled onto his hands and knees, coughing up blood into the dirt.

He slowly, painfully, got to his feet. He was naked, covered in filth and bruises, swaying with exhaustion. But as he stood up, I knew the submissive, broken boy who had let his father drug him was gone.

Vesper looked at his father. His eyes had settled into a hard, cold green, devoid of any warmth.

"You were going to put me down," Vesper said. His voice was flat, dead. "Like a dog."

"You were a threat," the Senator replied coldly, not an ounce of apology in his stance. "You were broken. An Alpha does what is necessary to protect the pack."

Vesper took a step toward his father. He didn't shift. He didn't need to. 

"You are right about one thing, Father," Vesper whispered, the word feeling like a final severance. "I was broken. But you didn't fix me. She did."

He reached down and took my hand, pulling me up to stand beside him, steadying me when I swayed from the pain in my shoulder.

He looked at his father, and for the first time, Vesper looked like the Warlord from the vision—a man who toppled kingdoms.

"Get out," Vesper commanded. It wasn't a shout. It was a statement of fact.

The Senator bristled, his eyes flashing red again. "You do not command me, boy. I am your Alpha."

"Not anymore," Vesper said. "If you ever come near me, or near her, again... I won't just fight you, Thomas. I will finish what we started on the battlefield a thousand years ago. I will end your line. Doesn't seem like you even have a problem with it after trying to end your own, ONLY, child."