Mathias (#1 The Chronicles of the Demon Wolf)
Chapter 14

Strange.

That’s the only thing that she could feel right now. The power surging inside of her is a bit alien to her. She never felt this strong and powerful before. It feels like she could do anything now. But, what did it cost her?

Everything and everyone she ever knew.

Arthur was right. Love makes her weak. Maybe that was why nobody ever loved her. They were trying to teach her to survive without being loved. Chelsea wanted to thank them for that because now she feels a lot stronger. She has no regrets. They had it coming to them. They should have treated her better. Instead, they treated her as if she was an outsider. The pain they’ve caused her has become the fuel for the power inside of her now. She would not tolerate it anymore. Their reign is over. This is her show now.

For what she did to Mathias, she still had her consciousness. She knew what she was doing to him. To be honest, he kind of deserved it. He bit her. He didn’t want her as his mate. This curse he gave her had become a gift. A gift for her to make everyone realize their mistakes. She’s tired of their bullshit. It’s time to make them regret everything.

“You should eat, Chelsea,” Arthur says, coming in from the door of the room.

She doesn’t know where they are and to be honest, she doesn’t care about it. After the event at the cemetery, Arthur took her to this castle located in between those snowy mountains. It was said that the castle once belonged to a royal family before they turned it as a prison.

The view here is breathtaking and it calms the rage inside of her.

“I’m not hungry,” she replies to him, still standing at the patio of the bedroom.

“Are you mad because I took you away from them?” he asks as he makes his way to her with two glasses of wine in his grip.

He hands one glass to her which she accepts gratefully.

“No,” she answers before taking a sip of the wine. “I feel a lot better being away from them.”

With one hand tucked inside his pocket, another is holding his glass, Arthur smiles softly to the horizon. Chelsea studies his figure. His actions and words are always carefully threaded. He doesn’t look like a person who wanted to make a mistake. Not even the slightest mistake. The aura emits from his pores indicating he’s a strong leader with big ambition in mind. Even the strongest person could fall for something. Arthur doesn’t look like one. He looks like nothing is bothering him to the core. The smile he always keeps, it’s either creeping someone out or soothing someone. His eyes turn silver whenever light shines on it—just the same color of his hair. Is he old or it’s just the natural color of his hair? She could never tell. He’s too secretive. Despite his secrecy, she put her faith in him. Why? Because he gave her the things they couldn’t. He recognized her efforts and pain.

“Why you did what you did?” she asks him after a soothing moment of silence.

“I’m just like you, sweetheart. Nobody recognized me for who I am and what I do for them. I guess I’ve grown tired trying to catch their attention,” he answers. “So instead of trying to get their attention, I make them pay attention to me.”

He’s calmed but there is so much pain in his words.

“You and Mathias?”

There is a big rift between him and Mathias. She could just tell at the way he talked to Mathias earlier. Is that what Mathias does best? Causing pain to others?

“He thinks I’m lunatic.” Arthur smiles at her. “I think I’m just creative.”

A loud knock on the door stops their conversation. Arthur’s nameless follower enters and bows down.

“Sire, it is ready,” the nameless follower informs him.

Excitement covers Arthur’s face as if he’s celebrating Christmas for the first time.

“The best thing about being an artist, I never stop creating a masterpiece. Come on, sweetheart. You wouldn’t want to miss this. After all, tonight is a feast.”

Arthur extends his right hand to her. Chelsea smiles and takes his hand, letting him escorting her out. They walk out of the bedroom and greeted by the stench of blood but none of it is bothering Chelsea at all. The guards are lying in a pool of their blood. Arthur’s followers are piling those dead bodies before transporting them out. All of those bodies have a ripped neck.

This was Chelsea’s playground earlier. She did all the killings. Oh Goddess, it felt so damn good and relaxing. Those who refused to pledge their loyalty were sentenced to death by her canines. Those who pledged their loyalty, well, their lives were spared.

Chelsea and Arthur go down the stairs and head to the Great Hall where his followers are waiting for his arrival. There is an old throne seat at the end of the hall. Everyone is ready and prepared for anything. But, there is no rush. They have all the time they needed. Chelsea walks to the right side of the crowd but Arthur’s hand prevents her.

“We’re in this together,” he says, guiding her to the throne.

Once more, she takes his hand. He makes her take the Queen’s seat on the podium before he turns to face everyone.

The beeping sound is the only thing that he could hear right now. Mathias opens his eyes and sees someone is sitting on the bed next to him. It doesn’t take him long to recognize who it is.

“Eva…” his voice comes out harsher than he expected.

Quickly, she takes a glass of water for him and tilts his head so that he could take a sip of the water. His throat feels like the Sahara desert. Mathias lost the track of time. How long since he passed out?

“Two days,” Eva answers his thought. “It has been two days since that night.”

“You’re not healed.” he nods to the bandage around her right arm.

“A wound caused by a demon wolf takes time to heal.”

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

Eva looks away for a moment before looking at him once more. “When were you going to tell me?”

Confusion clouds his face. “About what?”

“That you’ve found your mate.”

Mathias wanted to speak something but he feels his mouth refuses to cooperate with him. Eva shakes her head as tears pool in her eyes. She gets up from the bed and pacing back and forth in front of him.

“We’ve made a promise, Mathias. Did you forget?” she asks him. “You promised me that we would let each other go when one of us found a mate.”

“I don’t think I could,” he replies truthfully.

Eva looks baffled by his answer. “How could you do that? Rejecting your true mate?”

He sits up, groaning at the sudden pain on his ribs. “Tell me you feel nothing for me.” He places his feet down to the cold floor. “Tell me you never think, not even once, that we could be together.” He walks to her as she’s rooted on the ground. “Tell me everything we did so far is pure lust and nothing else.” He stands before her. “Tell me you never love me.”

Eva closes her eyes, inhaling the intoxicating scent of his that she has become addicted to. Tears escape through her closed eyes, falling down her bruised cheeks. She wanted to be selfish for once—but the cost of that selfishness would kill everyone around them including her own mate and Mathias’ mate.

It’d be a lie if she said she never once think about being together with Mathias until their last breath. She always thinks about that. She always prayed to the Moon Goddess to make him her mate. She loves him with all her heart and that’s what’s killing her the most.

She reopens her eyes and tiptoes to kiss his lips. Mathias responds instantly but she pulls away as if his touch burning her alive.

“I can’t be selfish,” she says to him with her teary eyes. “You’re not mine, Mathias. You belong to Chelsea…” she trails off, picking the last bit of her courage. “I belong to Sebastian.”

“Chelsea’s brother?”

“Yes. I wanted to tell you that but things happened.” Eva retreats backward. “You and I aren’t destined to be together. Not in this life or life after.”

“How could you be so sure?”

“Because our mistake brought the war to our doorstep. Our selfishness would get everyone killed. I can’t let that happen.”

She spins around and heads to the door when his voice stops her. “You do love me.”

Her hand froze on the doorknob. Eva exhales and glances to the floor briefly. “Yes, I do but I won’t reject my mate for you. Sometimes, we have to sacrifice our own feelings for someone else.”

With that, she leaves. The moment she steps out of the room, Eva feels her heart torn into thousands of pieces. Tears fall down from her eyes as she makes her way to the emergency stairs exit. She sits down on the stairs, bawling her eyes out.

Pain is evident on her chest until she couldn’t breathe. This is the sacrifice she must make. Mathias already did a mistake when he chose her over his own mate. She couldn’t do the same. The Moon Goddess chose Chelsea as Mathias’ mate for a reason. He was stupid enough to doubt it.

“Painful, isn’t it?”

She looks up and sees her mother, Jazmine, standing before her. Jazmine sits down next to her, wiping her tears away.

“It was just my arm,” Eva lies.

Jazmine chuckles. “Honey, I don’t need to be a genius to know what’s broken in there.” she points Eva’s chest where her heart is. “Love is not about getting together until death separates them. It’s about sacrifice.”

“Was that how you met dad?”

“For a starter, your father was a stupid man.” both of them laugh softly. “He left for five years because he thought I was too young to be his mate. Then, he came back with full force. I realized why he did what he did.”

“Why?”

“He needed to make the sacrifice to protect me from the war raging on his doorstep. Also, he didn’t want me to think the mating bond was mandatory. He wanted to give me choices. He wanted me to see the world and discover what I really wanted in my life.” Jazmine stares at her. “Mathias might not see the sacrifice you’ve made. But, I could assure you one thing. One day, he would understand why you did what you did.”

“Life is about sacrifices, isn’t it, mom?”

“I know my words wouldn’t be able to fix your broken heart. Honey, one day, you would love your mate more than you love Mathias. On that day, you would realize it’s either worth it or not at all.”

“Thank you for everything, mom.”

“I’m your mother. I’m always there for you when you need me.”

A/N

I believe that everyone who read this book is losing their freaking mind. LMFAO. I read all the comments and I'm sorry I couldn't reply because I was too busy laughing on the floor. I didn't expect everyone to lose their shit in the previous chapter. I feel so terrible and satisfied at the same time. I get it. At first, you guys were getting mad at Chelsea for being 'spoiled'. Then, the table turned. You guys mad at Mathias for what he's done.

I'mma tell you one secret. The previous chapter is created based on the comments I saw from Chapter 1 until 12. [evil laugh]. Y'all hated Chelsea too much. Boom, I knew I had to make y'all hate the main character too. Because, why not? It's fun.

Anyway, thank you for all the comments that I couldn't reply. It's amazing.

- Zhensachiko