Mathias (#1 The Chronicles of the Demon Wolf)
Chapter 18

Mathias takes a seat on the wooden bench at the playground. Despite everything that is happening on the Council land, Mathias managed to replace himself some lone time. Human kids are playing, chasing, and feel nothing weigh their shoulders while their mothers are talking at the side. This reminds Mathias of his own childhood. Born different than others making Mathias and his siblings an outcast from the rest of the supernatural community. He heard all the stories of his mother during her prime time. He sees the fears inside their eyes when they look at him. Whatever he does, they would be always afraid of his kind. The demon wolf kind. The monster of all monsters.

But nobody understood why he did what he did. He never wanted to have a mate. At least not anymore. The monster in him is growing tyrant and monstrous every day. He’s afraid of himself — of what he has become. He knows that one day he would snap out of his control.

“Fancy seeing you here.” Enzo sits next to him.

One serious fight between them ended their closeness. Enzo left the family in search of his own solace. Mathias never questioned him because he knows things have never been the same since that day. Despite their differences, they’re still brothers. Bonded by blood.

“What are you doing here?” Mathias asks him.

Enzo crosses his arms and legs, sitting as elegant as he could get. “Perimeter run.”

“Everything seemed fine.”

From what he understands, the corrupted trees don’t touch those who were born different from normal. That’s because his siblings, his mother, and himself are saved. The same goes for Eva, her siblings, and their mother. It seemed like the corrupted trees didn’t even reach the human town for some unknown reasons. It is nearly impossible there are no supernatural beings living in the town and yet the corrupt trees didn’t engulf them.

“Energy differences,” Enzo speaks with his eyes fixed on the human kids. “The energy that flows into us isn’t the same as the energy that flows into humans. That’s why the corrupted trees couldn’t detect supernatural beings in human towns because human energy hides them.”

“How did you know all of these?”

“I know people who studied this.” Enzo glances at him briefly. “Don’t tell me you’re going to sit here all day here.”

“You don’t know what’s running in my mind, Enzo.”

“Pity.” the younger brother sighs.

“You know I couldn’t kill him.”

“You could never kill him. Not before. Not now. Not ever. He reminded you of your other version—the version that could do almost everything out of rage. You see yourself inside his eyes. He’s your weakness.” Enzo closes his eyes briefly. “And that weakness is destroying the world we’ve vowed to protect. Killing him is like killing yourself.”

Arthur was like a brother to Mathias. No matter what Arthur does, Mathias still couldn’t bring himself to kill him. It’s almost like killing his own sibling. That was why he chose to send Arthur into the time loop, thinking it could contain him forever. But, forever is not always the answer.

“We should return,” Enzo says to Mathias. “Uncle Stefano brought his wife from the other realm. She’s fighting for survival as well.”

Mathias stands up, following his younger brother. “What happened?”

“Arthur attacked the Heart. The corrupted tree trapped Uncle Clavier, making Uncle Stefano mad as hell. He accidentally stabbed his own wife because she intervened in his wrath.”

At this point, what else is new? Mathias doesn’t know what to think anymore. His own father is trapped inside one of those trees along with every person he has ever known. The Enforcers are out of the equation. They are outnumbered because everyone is inside the trees. Mathias could only rely on surprise attacks but he isn’t sure victory would be on his side this time. Not with this small amount of army he has. But, he would do anything it takes to undo all of these messes.

Enzo unlocks his car and hops onto the driver’s seat while Mathias takes the shotgun. They could have just opened a portal to the Council Land but the energy around them is corrupted. It doesn’t need to take a genius to figure out what would happen if a portal opened. A corrupted portal is another way straight to Hell.

“Arthur already attacked a secret archive in the second realm,” Enzo speaks as he drives the car. “Everyone in the archive is dead.”

“That’s where Uncle Stefano sent all the powerful artifacts,” Mathias replies.

Different realm has different species living in it and different terrain. The second realm is one hundred percent covered in green, rivers and lakes. It’s a realm of many different types of elves and fairies. There are few other species living there as well. Called it as one of the strongest realms but if Arthur already managed to infiltrate its defense, it means the corrupted energy already spread to all realms now.

“Only one artifact went missing,” Enzo adds on, taking a second turn on the road.

“I know what interested him. We’re taking the war to him.”

He glances over his side where she’s sleeping soundly. Arthur’s fingers reach out for the few strands of her hair that covered her face. Secretly he smiles. Now, Mathias couldn’t touch him without hurting Chelsea. Arthur understands how strong a mating bond could get. He’s mated to her now. She bears his mark on the crook of her neck. Killing him means killing her. Mathias wouldn’t be able to bring himself to do that. Not after what he had done these past few days. Chelsea might be a demon wolf now but she’s still as naive as before. Arthur is never intended to keep her for long but seeing Mathias refused to fight her in the crypt, Arthur knew he had to take this to a whole new level.

This is a whole new level. Chelsea is his mate now. Long ago, Arthur couldn’t understand the concept of having a mate. Living with a mate together for the rest of their lives is too much of a hassle for a man like him. Don’t get him wrong. He still has his needs. Every man has their own needs but Arthur didn’t feel the need of having a mate. Then, he watched Stefano’s interaction with his estranged wife Adeline. Despite the blonde daemon woman’s reluctant behavior, she was still smitten to the core with her estranged husband. Their marriage might be rocky but their love is as solid as a rock. Unlike the popular belief that all supernatural species have a mate of their own, Daemon could choose anyone to be their mate. Mating isn’t such a mandatory in a daemon’s life. Stefano chose Adeline as his one and only.

“Ugh,” Arthur grumbled under his breath before getting out of bed.

Thinking about love makes him sick to the stomach. He walks past a mirror but stops before reversing again to look in the mirror. The large scars across his chest were the final gifts from Mathias before he locked him away. The Daemons brought Arthur back from the time loop for a short time to attend a trial before he was sent back in. His own best friend betrayed him and that pained him more than the scars. Mathias is a man who is going straight to the kill but that day, he didn’t. Something appeared in his eyes after he wounded Arthur. That was when Mathias reached for the knife and hurled him into the time loop.

Things changed. Arthur is now determined to get his revenge on Mathias and all those people who follow him. Mathias is no leader. He doesn’t deserve to be one.

A soft knock on the wooden door pulls Arthur out of his thoughts. He heads to the door and opens it just to see his follower stands before him.

“The artifact can be used now, sire,” The follower informs him.

Arthur nods. “Prepare the ritual. It is a full moon now. Good time for some old ritual.”

“Of course, sire.”

Arthur grabs a new shirt from the closet and walks out of the chamber, taking a final glance at Chelsea. His work is almost completed. With this artifact in his hands, his work would be irreversible. He would create a whole new world. Everyone would bow down to his feet.

They enter the ritual room where Arthur's followers already stand in a large circle. In the middle of the circle is a stone table that holds a box. His long fingers trace on the engraving on the box with a wicked smile on his lips.

"The Pandora box," He reads the ancient words on the top. "When there is good, there is bad. Light and darkness. Life and death." He turns to face his followers. "Moon Goddess breathed out life to the supernatural world. And this...this is Goddess of Death."

His followers tilt their head to the night sky as they chanting an ancient spell over and over while Arthur unlocks the box. The lid flies open before a purple smoke flies into the air, circling the room then escaping through the air ventilation. The chanting stops and replaces by a sweet humming coming from the outside.

The double mahogany doors open by itself accompanied by white smoke on the floor, slowly coming into the ritual room. The humming grows clearer before Chelsea steps into the room with a smile.

"Hello, boys." Her eyes glow in purple briefly.