I am Wolf
Chapter Twenty - Eight

WOLF

I’m shaking the metal bars of my cage; my beast is losing his goddam mind. The thought of Sasha being alone with Mason has instant panic creeping into my soul like a disease.

I know what Mason is capable of, and the look in her eyes the last time she was here only confirmed the level of crazy she could unleash.

I didn’t think Mason would go this far; we had left things in such a mess two years ago. She told me she never wanted to see me again, but I should have expected this from her.

I’m shouting louder, yanking harder against the metal bars, doing all I can to get the attention of anyone.

I have to get Mason away from Sasha; she’s unpredictable. I’ve seen those crazy eyes before, but never like this. I saw it in her eyes as she retreated; she intended on harming; that crazy look meant she intended on killing.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Caius walks into the hole, looking over at me like I’m crazy as he furrows his brows,

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

His question only irks me more as I keep shaking at the metal bars; my beast growls so loudly in my head that his need becomes beyond feral and wild between my desperate need to get to Sasha.

“PROTECT, MATE, SASHA, MATE, DANGER.”

He’s howling it over and over in my head, and I know she’s in danger; I know we have to get to her, but his howling isn’t helping the situation; I’m going to lose it any moment.

“Hey!” Caius suddenly shouts as he grabs hold of the metal bars from the other side; staring me down, he narrows his eyes.

“I asked you a fucking question; what’s wrong with you?”

But I glare at him, a deep and threatening growl reverberating through my chest. My chest is rising and falling as the tension inside of me increases; at that very moment, I notice Damien standing right beside him, eyeing me cautiously as he asks-

“What’s wrong with him?”

Turning his attention towards him, Caius barks back,

“How the fuck must I know? It’s as if he’s losing his mind; look at him; his eyes have completely glazed over.

Damien turns his attention back toward me,

“Wolf, fuck man, what’s wrong? Hey, focus on my voice; what’s wrong?”

Something strange is rippling through my entire body, something I can’t explain; it’s deeper than ever. The dire need and frantic desperation to get to Sasha is overpowering me; whatever is inside me is pulling away and forming its own strength, unlike anything I’ve ever felt.

Growling fiercely, I can’t even hear them anymore; I watch their mouths moving, but no sound comes out. Every fiber of my body feels alive in a way it never has before.

“Caius, look at him; something is wrong; it’s like he’s possessed.”

“Don’t fucking lecture me; I can see something is wrong.”

“What should we do?”

“Nothing.” Caius snaps.

“What? How can we do nothing? Look at him.” Damien snaps back.

“Do you think I care if he lives or dies?”

“Don’t you need him alive for all this to work? You told me you need the Ultima power buried deep inside him; the full moon isn’t for another two days.”

“I don’t need life lessons on what to do, least of all from you.” Caius barks. Glaring at him, a sudden growl escapes Damien,

“You know what, fuck you. You’re always giving me shit at every corner...”

“That’s because you’re useless, weak; I should have killed you when you came out of your mother.”

“Anyone who isn’t as ruthless as you is considered weak in your eyes.” Damien snaps back,

“Everyone in my pack is more ruthless than you; even Mason has more drive in her than you.”

“Leave her out of this,” Damien growled.

“Oh, that’s right, poor Mason found out she’s mated to you.” Scoffing, Caius rolled his eyes. “There is no way I’ll allow that to happen.”

“What the fuck? You’re my father, but you’ve always treated me like a second-class citizen. Why?”

“Because you’re not my fucking son!” Caius shouts, eyes blazing. Damien’s jaw drops, and a sudden silence fills the air,

“W-what?” He drawls out in confusion.

“Your fucking mother whored around; she tried to pass you off as mine, but I knew the moment you came out of her that you weren’t mine; you don’t even fucking smell like me; you’re an even bigger bastard wolf than just being labeled a rogue.”

Looking down, Damien swallowed hard,

“So Mason and I aren’t even related.”

“Well fucking obviously, you’re not related,” Letting out a sinister laugh, Caius narrows his eyes, “Did you think that you would be mated to your cousin.” Laughing out loud, Caius smacks Damien on the back, “You pathetic, stupid bastard.”

At that moment, Damien loses it. He lunges at Caius, and they’re suddenly tumbling on the ground, fists connecting into each other as Damien takes a blow at Caius’s face. Still, Caius is way stronger than Damien, and before long, he’s got him pinned down and pummeling him with his fist, blow after blow connecting against Damien’s face.

My beast instantly goes berzerk,

“Get you’re fucking hands off him,” I growl, bashing against the bars, and Caius is momentarily stunned by my sudden outburst as he stops and looks up at me with wide eyes.

I want to lash out at him again, but before I get the chance, a sudden sharp, piercing pain shoots through my abdomen, and my back arches as I scream in agony.

“Sasha!” My bellowing voice echoes as I drop to the ground. My knees hit the floor, and I feel like I’m dying.

My breath leaves my chest, and I’m clutching my arms tightly around myself, dropping to my side; I’m gasping for air like I’m choking on it somehow.

Both Caius and Damien stop their bickering as they turn to stare at me in confusion. I’m gulping down the tears; the hurt is too much for me to bear. Sasha is dying; I can feel her pain; my mate is dying.

It’s then that I hear her in my head; her voice is small, weak, and withering away,

“I’m sorry, Wolf, I love you...”

Everything instantly goes quiet; everything stops as I gasp as if searching for my last breath. I can’t feel her anymore; Sasha’s energy is gone, no-no... please, no... my frantic mind spirals out of control.

Growling fiercely, I suddenly replace a strength and determination I never knew I had; I’m instantly up and thrashing against the bars like an animal possessed; I can’t think, don’t want to consider the truth; all I can feel is what my beast wants to allow, he wants to kill Mason, she’s the reason, the one, the poison in my life. She’s taken our mate, destroyed our happiness, and Sasha’s gone...

Lisbon suddenly rushes into the hole, eyes wide as she stares at me in bewilderment,

“What’s going on? What’s wrong with him?” She shouts,

“We don’t know; he just shouted for Sasha and then started going ballistic,” Caius shouted back.

Lisbon’s eyes narrow as a realization instantly hits her,

“Quickly, west wing, now! Something’s wrong...” She shouts at them.

It takes only a second for both Caius and Damien to kick into action the moment Damien grumbles,

“Mason, fuck!” Bolting off, all three of them vanish, but my madness has only begun.

I can’t hear anything besides the howling of my beast in my head; she’s gone; she can’t be gone... I’m throwing myself against the bars, the metal rattling as the hinges shift. I can’t feel any pain; the only thing I feel now is the sudden loss of my mate, and it’s my driving force as I bellow out in complete rage. My thunderous voice is deafening because it’s not only my own; it’s my beast fueling the insanity.

SASHA

Mason is still glaring at me, but I only feel pity for her now; I don’t feel the same anger as I felt a moment ago. But before I can say anything to try and smooth things with her, she pulls something from behind her back; she’s grinning menacingly as she starts taking slow and calculated steps toward me.

It’s a dagger, and I know without even having to guess that the end is made from silver. Silver is deadly to our kind; gulping my brows furrow as I clench my jaw.

“Mason, stop. You don’t want to do this,” I’m pleading with her as I keep my eyes on the weapon clutched in her hand; she flings it around playfully, purposefully enjoying every moment as fear swirls behind my eyes.

Grinning, she chuckles deviously at me,

“Oh, you would be surprised; I really do want to do this; it’s been the only thing on my mind from the first moment we met, and replaceing this silver dagger wasn’t the easiest thing to do on such short notice, but I managed to replace it when I scrummaged through Lisbon’s stuff.”

Narrowing my eyes, I look at her in complete shock,

“Do you have a death wish? You know what Lisbon will do to you when she replaces out, right?”

A mocking laugh erupts from her as she steps right up to me,

“I’m not scared of Lisbon; it will be too late by the time she realizes what’s going on. I would have killed you, released Wolf, and ended that witch’s existence in a heartbeat with the help of every rogue in this place. She forgets she’s right in the middle of a hornet’s nest and she’s all alone.

“You can’t be serious; you saw what she did to Wolf, what she’s capable of; what makes you think you’re any real match against her?”

Cocking a brow, Mason smirks as she lifts the blade up and begins running the sharp end up my arm, a thin line of blood tracing as the blade glides up.

The burning sensation of the silver as it slices effortlessly through my flesh has me wincing. Still, I keep eye contact with her, not looking away as the satisfaction of my pain has the corners of her mouth turning into a wicked grin.

“You see, the difference between you and me is that I’m not weak. I’m not scared...” She drawls as she forcefully slices the dagger against my wrist, gashing open the artery fluently.

“Urgh!” Gasping in pain, I wince as I clench my jaw, instantly looking up at my wrist, the gash wide, blood starts flowing from the open laceration as a steady crimson stream flows down my arm; I can feel my blood draining from my body with every heartbeat.

“And most of all...” She continues, “I’m willing to fight for what I want.” Lifting the dagger to my other wrist, she slices through it like it’s nothing, wincing my entire body tenses; the blood gushing from both severed arteries instantly makes me woozy as I continue staring at her.

Stepping right up to me, her face is suddenly so close I can feel her breath fanning my face, her wolf swirling around in her eyes as she smirks,

“You are weak and not worthy of being mated to Wolf...”

Trailing the dagger down my collarbone, an icy shiver runs through my body as ragged breaths escape my lips. I know I’ve got to do anything; I can’t just give up. So, without wasting a second, I react in the only way I can; I instantly grip the chains attached to the shackles, hoisting myself up in one swift movement, wrapping my legs around Mason’s waist, pulling her towards me before thrusting my forehead against hers.

She yanks her head back, and blood is pouring from her nose like a faucet; she’s completely caught off guard as her one hand flies up to cover her bloody nose.

“Fucking bitch!” She yelps, my ankles locked in place, not releasing her as she squirms to get free. I begin squeezing her with all of my might.

She gasps as she groans in pain, her eyes wide as she stares at me. But then something happened that I wasn’t expecting when she suddenly rammed into me; instead of trying to get away, the dagger between us instantly drove straight into me.

Gasping loudly as I choke on a breath, my mouth opens wide the moment I feel the silver dagger lodge itself deep inside my stomach; my eyes widen in horror as I choke and cough, and I’m suddenly convulsing within seconds. My legs drop from Mason’s waist, and the mess on her own face as she looks down at her hand still wrapped around the dagger has her instantly stepping back as her jaw goes slack.

“Fuck,” She gasps as a frown spreads across her face. Looking down at the dagger protruding from my stomach, the blood begins to pool as it drenches my shirt.

The moment I look up at her again, she’s just standing there shell-shocked, staring at me, completely bewildered.

I go to speak her name, but it comes out in a gargled mumble as I start choking and coughing as blood spills out of my mouth.

I’m gasping for air, dying... The last thing I’ll see before I die is Mason’s horrified look in her eyes; mind linking Wolf, I whisper, “I’m so sorry, Wolf, I love you...” As tears spring from my eyes.

I’m dying.

Mason’s eyes are still wide as she mutters incoherently to herself. I see uncertainty in her eyes for the first time, but I’m gasping for my last breaths; I can feel myself slipping away.

I hear Wolf howling in my head, shouting, screaming my name, but everything starts to fade away the moment I slip into darkness; death doesn’t feel cold; it feels warm and comforting... are my last thoughts as it all falls away.

MASON

Fuck, fuck... I killed her; she’s dead; I killed her. I’m standing there shaking as I look down at Sasha’s blood covering my hand; the sticky, dark liquid suddenly makes me feel sick.

Grabbing my stomach, I suddenly hurl, vomiting and heaving as I go to wipe my mouth with the back of my other hand.

What the fuck is wrong with me? I’ve killed so many before her, enjoying it, so why am I shaking? Why can’t I stop shaking as I look at her now?

Her head hanging low, with no signs of life. This is what I wanted. I wanted her dead, out the way, so I could finally be with Wolf, right?

Fuck.

I’m still lost in my own rendition of hell when my head whips to the side as I stare into Lisbon’s crazed and furious face.

“What have you done!” She screams as her hands fist out in front of her; turning her head to look at Sasha, she suddenly shouts a bellowing scream of rage before looking back at me.

“I can’t harvest her powers unless I use the spell under the full moon, you stupid bitch!” She yells, and I’m still standing there in shock for some unknown reason. Fuck, Mason, snap out of it, I scold myself.

I noticed Caius and Damien as they stepped out on either side of her; they were staring at me in shock and anger.

Lisbon lifts her hands toward me, her fingers clawed out as her eyes glaze over, the white of her eyes disappearing with the dark of night as black smoke suddenly pushes from the palms of her hands, exploding towards me like a thundering cloud.

“Umrijeti ugušiti gušiti,” frowning at her strange, witchy words, I’m suddenly hit with a wave of despair so dire it has my windpipe closing; I instantly drop to the ground, my hands wrapping around my throat, and I can’t breathe; it’s like the oxygen has completely been cut from my lungs, I’m gasping, but there’s no air filling my lungs.

My eyes widen as I realize I’m about to die the moment I start seeing stars. That’s when all hell suddenly breaks loose. Damien launches himself at Lisbon, shifting into his wolf mid-jump, knocking her from behind; he bites into her shoulder, tearing a chunk of meat from her arm. She screams out in agony, and it’s as if her hold around my throat instantly loosens.

Gasping, the air suddenly burns my lungs as it fills them to the brim. My eyes focus on Damien as he stands beside Lisbon, his brown wolf snarling, his canines protruding, ready to attack.

Lisbon clutches her shoulder with one hand, but her face hardens as she glares at Damien.

“Simpatija limit!” She shouts at him, and I watch in horror as Damien instantly howls in pain, hitting the ground, bones cracking, breaking... she’s crushing him, she’s going to kill him, she’s going to kill my mate!

I instantly lunge forward, without any care for my own life, as I jump at Damien, placing myself between him and her. I fell to my knees before her, tears pouring from me.

“Please stop! Please... please...” I’m begging her to stop hurting him, his pain slicing through me like a hot knife. Praying for someone’s life is such a foreign concept to someone like me, but Lisbon suddenly stops her chant as she glares at me; she’s about to spew more venomous words at me, but then Caius shouts at her.

“She’s still alive, barely, but she still has a pulse!” Our heads whip towards where Caius is standing; he’s beside Sasha with his hand against her throat.

“She needs to shift; it’s the only way to kick-start the healing process.” He calls out as he quickly yanks the silver dagger from her stomach. Lisbon stretches her hand out toward Sasha’s lifeless form,

“Oslobadanje Pomak,” and her words linger in the air for a moment, but nothing happens; her eyes widen as she shouts again, “Pomak!” But nothing happens still; clenching her jaw, she looks at Caius as he growls,

“She’s too weak, Wolf- we need to get her to him; he’s her mate; he’s the only one who can force her to shift now.”

The dire realization hits Lisbon as she nods frantically at Caius,

“Take her, quickly! The bondage of the stone has been released. Hurry, I’m right behind you.” She yells.

Caius nods nonchalantly as he loosens the shackles around her wrists; scooping her up in his arms, he immediately starts running with her.

Lisbon turns to glare at me. I’m expecting her to finish the job and kill both Damien and me, but she merely hisses as she gets up on her feet, holding her bloodied shoulder before hastily heading in the same direction. Caius ran with Sasha.

I’m left shaking as I turn my head to look at Damien; he’s shifted back into his human form, his naked body curled into the fetal position against the damp ground; he’s unconscious but alive.

I instantly approach him, scooping his head up and placing it against my lap.

He’s still breathing and alive, and a sudden feeling of relief rushes through me. I’m wiping away tears as I sniff in between sobs; the moment I realized that he could die, something shifted inside me; it happened so quickly that I didn’t even have time to process it.

I fucking hate him so much, but I love him far more than I hate him; it’s so messed up.