Imperial Moon [Complete]

Chapter Twenty Nine - Corruption

"No, no, no. Please-," Kat gripped Saff by the arms as her friend's legs gave out. Saff's head lolled forwards as the blade was pulled sharply from her torso.

Kat caught her as she fell, and cradling Saff in her arms, she sank to the freezing floor. Kat stared, unseeing at her friend's lifeless body. She felt empty, as though her heart and soul had been ripped from her. She looked up at the man holding the knife. A wicked grin spread across his handsome face. His blue eyes, so like her father's, sparkled with malice. 

"Hello, Sister." he hissed, wiping the knife on his leg, a streak of blood striped along his jeans. He dropped the blade on to the ground in front of her.

Kat shook with rage. She held Saff more tightly, rocking her body against her like a child. She willed her to heal as she stared up at her brother with barely contained fury. She drew strength from her devastation. 

"What - a - party." Konan looked around at the hundreds of silent wolves, rubbing his hands and smiling widely. "Happy birthday, Katja. I brought you a present." 

"I don't want anything from you." she spat. Her rage reared in her chest like a snake.

"Oh, but you do. You want what you've always wanted. Knowledge." he grinned, before looking over Kat's shoulder. "Oh no, Alpha. Don't move. You think I'd come here alone? You're surrounded."

At his words, wolves came through the trees. They bared their teeth, growling and snarling.

"Now, where was I? Ah, yes. Knowledge. Want to know your weakness, Little Kat? Love. Isn't that so cliche? But it's true." he smirked.

Kat rolled her eyes at him. She surreptitiously moved her hand to Saff's neck, searching for a pulse.

"The sister I knew is gone, eroded by love. You used to be so powerful, so selfish. Now, you put these rats before yourself. You could have changed our race, but you're just like them."

"You mean our parents." Kat responded, coldly. Her fingers touching on a weak beating in Saff's throat. Kat controlled her emotions. She pushed away her relief. It would not help Saff if Konan realised how narrowly she held onto life.

"Yes." Konan's lip curled with distaste. He ran his hand through his dirty blonde hair. "They loved so deeply, that was their disease. But it was useful. It taught me how to find you. I had searched for so long. You kept evading me. It was so annoying. Why wouldn't you just die?"

Kat laughed bitterly. Konan scowled.

"So I went to the Oracles of Three. To ask them about you."

"What? No. You went to the Three to find out how to kill Papa." Kat frowned in confusion. 

Konan threw back his head and laughed maniacally. "Just one thing you think you know, but you don't Little Kat. I knew how to kill them - and you - for a long time. There are many of us that know. Hush now, big brother talking." 

He grinned over toward Cal again. "Hello again, Vilkas. Nice of you to wake up. I assume it's your mate I just killed? Maybe I should have given her a scar to match yours, too."

Konan moved toward Saff. Kat growled viciously, pulling Saff's face into her chest.

"You were saying, brother?" she would say anything to stop Konan focussing on Saff's dying form.

"When I say, we attack." Cal's voice rang in her head.

"Yes, I was saying," Konan continued, oblivious to the plan forming in the minds of the wolves that surrounded him, "... I asked them about your mate. The Moon Goddess was furious. I used her biggest, most beloved tool for evil. She cast me out."