Chapter 98 : Bloodline

MAXINE.

Horror fills my body, going into my mouth like seawater as I drown in the middle of the ocean. Suddenly my mouth feels strange and thick, like my own lips is struggling to get away from the rest of my body. The only thing I can do is hold onto Theo as we continue to look down at the scene, unable to look away.

I can’t believe it, but it’s right in front of me now and there’s no dismissing it. So that’s their strategy? Or at least one of them? Sending their young good-looking soldiers out into the Human world to lure women here and turn them.

I have wondered before, but now I’m dying to know: where on earth dd they get the others?

I remember the child in the underground prison. What did they have to do just to take her? Who did they have to hurt? Are there more out there that we just didn’t know about?

The soldier gets to his feet as soon as he’s done with the first woman. I can see the tears lining his dirty cheeks, creating very vivid lines on his face. The woman is left trembling and bleeding, both blood and venom leaking from her puncture wounds, making crimson and yellow streaks on the ground.

Draco steps back as though admiring the falls, his gaze hovering from the gasping woman to the soldier who’s basically quivering in shame.

“The next one,” he commands, and his voice is as frightening as ever.

But the soldier doesn’t move.

Draco frowns, advancing towards him. He grabs him by the jaw like some kind of unruly child, making him face him. His nose crinkles in disgust when he sees the tears. I find myself fearing that he would spit on the soldier’s face, but thankfully he doesn’t.

“You’re crying?” he just mutters, his voice dripping in repulsion. “You’re weeping over this girl? You knew perfectly the only thing she’s good for right? Why are you crying for her like some sort of a wimp?”

The soldier just shakes his head, unable to speak. He’s starting to let out huge sobs, looking like he wants to crawl out of his skin and get away from here. I don’t blame him. I don’t believe all of them are horrible, really, much less on board with all the shenanigans that the Alpha Supreme and Draco are coming up with.

“He needs to be taken away from there before he turns the other four women,” Theo tells me through mind-link. “We need to get them all away from each other, now.”

“But Draco is still there.” I exchange a wary look with him. “If we go now, he will order his men to attack us.”

Theo knows I’m right. He slinks back into the shadows and thinks hard, while I just watch as Draco pushes the soldier away from him, almost making him stumble into the empty river. The women all moan under the binds around their mouths, but Draco just kicks one of them in the leg to signal them to stop.

“This is fucking stupid,” he mutters, then he starts to use a mocking tone. “Shame Dad won’t let me turn these Human filth anymore. He says I already did my part. After all, I did most of the attacks. Is it my fault that I had no clue that would weaken my venom? If that fucking thing didn’t happen, then these whores would be running into the forest by now, tearing into the first Human they find. But no. I had to do all the attacks and now my venom is weak….”

He trails off, still whispering to himself. I don’t know if he’s just angry or if he’s legitimately going mad.

Either way, we just wait as he finishes his tirade.

He snaps back into his usual slimy authoritative state. “Very well. I will give you one more chance. I will not punish you… yet. But when I get back, these bumbling worms should be pumped full of venom. Do you understand?”

The soldier nods, getting into a kneeling position as Draco turns around and shifts into his wolf form to leave. The soldier seems to make a move to bite one of the women, but his body is so stiff and so solid that it’s safe to conclude he doesn’t really want to do it.

Theo and I look at each other, and an understanding passes between us. Slowly, he gets to his feet and shifts into his wolf form, running down the cliff in one fluid motion. He doesn’t miss a step, even with the rocky terrain stretching unforgivingly beyond him.

I stay in the corner, scaling my way down behind the grass and the bushes and the fallen branches. I’m completely unseen, but I’m ready to take the women away as soon as Theo drives him off.

The soldier looks up when the sounds of Theo’s descent reach his ears. His eyes go wide, and he immediately backs off from the woman.

For some reason, the soldier kneels in front of Theo.

“I’m sorry, Alpha Supreme,” he mutters. “I will get to it now. Please, just give me some time….”

Theo freezes, and so do I. Why did the soldier mistake him for the Alpha Supreme?

My hands grow cold as I grab onto the tall grass. Is there something I don’t know? I mean, I have never seen the Alpha Supreme’s wolf form. I have only seen Ajax’s and Draco’s. Now that I think about it, their wolf forms do look eerily alike. Same brown patterns, same build, same proud and almost royal stance. Theo’s form is just bigger, more majestic.

Maybe almost like the Alpha Supreme himself.

I watch Theo, but he just shifts back into his Human form as quickly as possible, as though he can’t wait to get rid of it. In Human form, I can see his discomfort at the comparison very well. But in Human form, I also realize some kind of resemblance to the Alpha Supreme that neither Ajax nor Draco has: that natural energy of being the one in control.

“Let the women go,” he says. “We will take care of them. Just tell Draco you got attacked by someone in the forest.”

The soldier doesn’t say anything. He just gets to his feet like he’s dazed. But I can see the tension in his arms and legs and I can tell that he’s going to fight.

I get out of my hiding place and leap onto the slab of rock that he’s on. “Don’t bother.”

He faces me, trying to plant a punch, but Theo grabs him from behind and twists his arm behind his back. “Go back to Draco and tell him you got attacked.” He twists the soldier’s arm to its breaking point, making him scream. “That’s for realism… and for trying to punch my girl.”

He pushes the soldier and this time, he doesn’t hesitate. The young man runs for the hills and doesn’t look back.

Theo and I start to untie the women. They’re shaking and crying. One of them has passed out from the stress of it all, but we just carefully let them go. The rest of the women are not talking. They’re just trying to wake the other two girls up, but the one that got bitten is no longer budging. Her eyes are open, glassy and reflecting the sky without seeing anything.

My heart breaks. “I’m so sorry.”

“We need to get them a ride out of here, into somewhere safe,” Theo whispers, his voice thick with emotion. “And we need this girl to get taken back to her family, given a proper burial.”

He’s right, but I’m worried. What if she comes to life as a Werewolf right close to the other Humans? I almost ask that to Theo through mind-link, but then we hear two sets of footsteps up the cliff.

We both look up, only to see the familiar faces of Ajax and Jonathan, looking at the scene with wide eyes.

“What did you do?” Jonathan asks. “What’s happening here?”