Chapter Six
RILEY
I replaced the flowers on Axel’s grave. Just as I had been doing for the past months.
“You used to be someone I could always talk to.” I began. Staring at his grave, his name had been engraved on the tombstone Beta/Commander/Soldier -Axel Dean of the Nightshade‘.
“So much has happened since you’ve been gone. It turns out that Thane has been keeping some things away from me. It doesn’t make me mad though. I know whatever he does, he does to protect me, but sometimes I wish he could see that I am a big girl and I can handle stuff.”
There was complete silence, still I spoke on
“The baby is growing well; that’s what the healers said, and I’m excited, but at the same time, very… scared I don’t want to mess this up. Thinking about the baby had taken my mind off so many things, like who I really am. I discovered a while ago that my ‘wings‘ might be having a little issue; they haven’t healed up since the ‘incident, ‘but I’ll keep ignoring it; maybe it just takes time.”
I paused again. This felt stupid. I rose to my feet. “Goodbye Axel.” With that, I walked back to the packhouse.
That’s when I noticed the stares.
I was used to having eyes following my every move, but there was something unsettling about the way they stared at me.
I heard the murmurs, though none of them were brave enough to speak to my face, but I could only make out one word. ‘Cursed Something told me they were referring
to me.
I walked past them, coming to a stop before the set of double doors. I pulled it open and walked in. A smile formed on my lips; this had been the very place Axel had brought me to; he taught me how to use a bow and an arrow, as well as how to shoot guns. It felt like a long time ago, but I couldn’t forget even a single memory I had with Axel. I still remembered the reason he brought me here–we had wanted to pass time.
I picked up a bow and inserted an arrow in it. I fired at the target, and it landed
squarely in the center of the target board. Next, I selected a gun, I aimed and shot at the wooden mannequin, which had mutilated holes in its parts, and once again it hit
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+25 BONUS
Chapter Six
right in its heart.
I wondered if anyone had been here since I and Axel’s last visit to this place. From the dust coating the furniture here, I doubted it, the more reason why being here felt very calming.
Hours went by in a blur, and finally I placed the bow back in its place.
糖
There was one more thing I needed to do. I took off my shirt, and I let out my wings.
It still hadn’t healed even a bit. The hall was spacious enough; I could try flying, but when I tried, I was barely able to lift myself off the ground; pain radiated through my body.
Well this was fucked up.
I didn’t have my wolf, and I couldn’t use my wings either.
Just then the door was pulled open. I turned, expecting to find Thane, but it wasn’t. It was Gloria. The very same one that had been in a relationship with Axel before he ended it… because of me.
“Hey.” I say, willing my wings back and putting on my shirt.
“It’s true,“s
gasped. “It’s true what they said. You are… cursed.”
“What does that even mean?”
I took a step closer, and she took one backward, a frown edged on her face. “You are a devourer, a cursed one… your wings, it’s real.”
“I am not ‘cursed‘. And please, keep what you saw to yourself.”
“The whole pack already knows.” She said to me, “The whole pack knows what you are.” With that, she took more steps backwards before she dashed away.
She had called me a ‘devourer‘.
Now it all made sense; the whispers and unsettling stares from the pack members finally made sense, they believed I was cursed.
