Lykos ✓

Chapter Forty Two | Fire

Heartbreak is the prison of the mind and soul.

Older brothers are the prison key holders of their sisters.

As promised, Rafael managed to keep Angelina confined to the mansion grounds. There was always one brother with her. A human guard would've been easy to dispose of and Rafael didn't need another scandal on his hands.

Of course, she fought with her brothers and the damages were piling up, until Micah had no choice to sedate her with loverage. That put an end to the meetings with George.

While Theron hated the lengths that Rafael and Micah went to, he was passive, allowing Rafael to do what he wished. The betrayal had Angelina ignoring Rafael whenever he was there until one day.

"I have some news," Rafael announced, as he entered Angelina's temporary room. The room was bare of any of Angelina's personal touches but that didn't take away from the luxurious furniture and fittings. Angelina was sitting on a chair, facing the window. Her actual bedroom's window had been destroyed a while ago and Rafael didn't plan to tell her that they had fixed it.

Angelina didn't react at her brother's entrance. Rafael might as well have spoken to a brick wall.

"It's about your dear lover, George," Rafael continued, yet Angelina didn't move from the window, as she watched the tree leaves rustle. The first time Rafael had mentioned George, he had gotten a growl out of Angelina. However, since then she had learnt to keep all her emotions under wraps.

"He's married." Rafael threw down the papers with the wedding banner and then the actual wedding written up. In the small village of Plumshire, it was big news. News that only reached Angelina's ears now.

Rafael waited for Angelina to make a move to reach for the papers. She didn't. Growling, he left her room, slamming the door behind him.

It was only once Rafael was out the room that Angelina shed a tear of heartbreak.

It was one lonely tear for one lonely girl.

~*~

Despite all restrictions against Angelina dropping, she didn't venture out the room, staying in herself inflicted prison. Rafael didn't know what to do. The head maid poured him another cup of tea, which he finished in a single gulp. He needed to shift, this agitating feeling of guilt was slowly drowning him.

Micah and Theron had left ages ago when Rafael had decided to stop the guard rotation around Angelina. Maybe the lack of all their presence will allow Angelina the comfort to leave her room. Rafael walked out the front door without a backwards glance, going deep into the forest behind the mansion to find a suitable place to shift.

~*~

Angelina was weak, in body, mind and soul. The dosage of loverage that Micah had been feeding her had her subdue and tired, extremely tired. Her mind was loud and chaotic in the quiet. Her soul was shattered by the betrayal of her brothers and her lover.

Time that usually was a blur seemed to be dragging on today. Each second of the ticking clock was an eternity. The pace of the ticking not changing for anyone.

Angelina was lost in thought that she didn't even notice the smell of burning wood. Her senses were dull with the drugs so when she tried to push open the wooden door, she found herself trapped within the room. Something was blocking the door, so the only way out was the window. Before Angelina could take a step in that direction. The floor and ceiling collapsed. The scream trapped within Angelina's throat never to be heard.

Time was endless but Death was the same ending for all.

~*~

Micah was at the market, trying to buy some new herbs to experiment when rumours of a burning bruising floated towards him. It didn't take him long to connect the dots and find his horse to ride ahead of the carriage driver towards the smoky sky. As he was passing, a carriage was driving in the opposite direction, but Micah was far more preoccupied by the ashes floating around.

When he got to the scene of the crime, the building was till burning but Theron was rampaging through the debris of the burnt part that had already collapsed.

"What's going on?" Micah asked Theron. They were never materialistic individuals, so Theron's thorough search was unusual.

"Angelina was in the building." And that's all it took for Micah to join in. The burnt wood was still hot, but the brothers didn't care for the blisters on their hands, the smoke that entered their lungs or the heat from the fire that was till being put out.

Rafael appeared from the forest, weak and dishevelled as if he went to fight some demons. He didn't get a chance to say anything when Theron found her. Angelina crushed, burned and bloody. The worst part, she as lifeless.

Theron's screams of despair turned into a howl. Not caring of the humans who witnessed his transformation. Rafael and Micah exchanged looks of revenge. Someone needed to pay the price.

"It was Lord George, I saw the carriage," Micah spat out before turning into his wolf. The ache is his heart strong but his lust for blood stronger.

"It was everyone since the poisoned me," Rafael replied. His first kill done with his bare hands and then the next with his claws. The only thought on his mind was death.

The brothers were on a hunt and every person within the village was slaughtered one by one. The chances of escape were non-existent. Someone had to pay and the whole village was the price.

Blood marked the lives of the Plumshire village. Ashes marked the end of the settlements. A small human village was a small price to pay for their sister.

The village of Plumshire became well known as a ghost town who angered a higher power. No one had the knowledge of the ending, but all humans knew better than to settle on cursed grounds.

~*~
And now we will return to the present

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