Lethal✔️

Chapter 19

A/N: PLEASE NOTE THIS IS THE SECOND LETHAL I HAVE POSTED TODAY. PLEASE READ THE PRIOR ONE IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY.

I tossed and turned for the next few hours, unable to fall asleep. Axel didn't come in again, and since Gwen hadn't barged in, I assumed she didn't wake up from all of the commotion due to her intoxication.

I don't suppose you're awake, I mindlink Thane, and within a few moments, he responded back.

It's 5 a.m, Ares, what the hell are you doing awake? Thane asks, although he sounds too alert to have been sleeping.

Your beds feel like they're made of rock, Alpha, you should look into that, I say, using a joke to deflect the truth.

Yeah I'll get right on that, Luna, and I can practically hear him rolling his eyes through the mindlink.

Come to my office, he invites me, and with nothing better to do, I tell him I'll be there in a minute.

I find my way to his office, where he's sitting behind his desk that's piled with papers, and his hair is disheveled. The bags under his eyes tell me he's been awake for awhile.

Your desk is a disaster, I tell him, taking a seat across from him.

"You look like a disaster," He smarts off, and I chuckle lowly. "What would the rogues that cower in fear at the name The Reaper say if they knew that she was a small blonde girl wearing sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt?"

I scowled as I said, Usually I don't give them the opportunity to talk.

Thane shrugs. "Not like you could say much in response anyways."

I roll my eyes. You're not looking so good yourself, Thane.

"Liar. I'm always devilishly handsome," He retorts, raising an eyebrow, which makes me scoff.

Why'd you want to meet me in here? I ask.

Thane sighs, his expression suddenly serious. "Did Cain ever tell you about how my parents died?"

I frown. No. I never asked.

"They were killed. By Wilson, to be specific," He says casually, no emotion whatsoever on his face.

My face falls. Even before Cain kidnapped me from Red Crescent, I knew that Blue Moon and them were enemies.

I... I didn't know that. I'm sorry. Wilson never said anything about that, my frown deepens, as does my hatred for my birth father.

"He wouldn't have. Because then he would have to explain why he killed them," Thane states, his green eyes looking at me so intensely I shift uncomfortably in my seat.

Why would he have killed your parents? And why would he want the reason to be a secret? I question, confused.

"The answer to that question goes back hundreds of years," He says as he takes a sip from his coffee cup. "And it all begins with this dagger."

I stare at him for a moment, but there's no dagger anywhere on his desk. Thane, I think your old age is starting to hinder your vision, I tease him, although my voice is tense.

"Says the girl with one eye," He mutters. He held his hand over an empty spot on his desk for a moment. He begins to slightly move his hand up and down, gently. Soon after, a white fog swirled around the desk until fading, revealing a dagger. Not an ordinary dagger, but one that was adorned with white stones all over the hilt.

I don't understand. What's so special about the dagger? I ask him as he simply stares at it.

"It's been in Blue Moon's possession for centuries. Over time, the true purpose of the dagger has been lost, the information long forgotten as generations of Alphas owned the dagger. All we were told is that it is the most important weapon in existence. Strong enough to kill anything, even the most immortal, the most powerful of all beings," He explains, his voice pensive.

What does this have to do with Wilson? I ask.

"He killed my parents in an attempt to obtain it. He snuck into our territory, undetected, and threatened to kill my parents if they did not give it to him. Though my parents did not know what made the dagger so special, so important, they died in order to protect it. If Wilson wanted it so badly, he was up to no good, and they knew that. They died that night to make sure the dagger never fell into the wrong hands." He took the dagger in his hands, looking at it in a mixture of disgust and confusion.

How did Wilson know it existed, much less what can do? If even the pack that's had custody of it for centuries doesn't know it's purpose, how would Wilson? I ask in confusion.

"I don't know the answer to that. All I know is that Wilson can never get it. If this knife is as important as legend says, if my parents were willing to die in order for Wilson to not obtain it..." His voice trailed off.

So why trust me with this knowledge?

"Because the dagger is now yours," He said, and slid it over to me.

I looked at him in bewilderment. Thane, I can't take this. It's been in your family for centuries. You can't just hand it over to me.

"Yes, I can, and I am," He answered, his face deadly serious.

Why? I whisper, my eyes trained on the dagger, it pulled me in, a moth to the flame.

"The other night, when I attacked you," He starts, his tone slightly apologetic. "I realized that I would do anything for Onyx. No matter what. I wouldn't be able to do what my parents did, allow someone to kill her just to keep some stupid knife safe."

I just stared at him, unable to find any words. "I trust you to keep the dagger safe more than I trust myself. I know you would die protecting it, and not let anyone extort or blackmail you into giving it to them. I do not have the strength to do what my parents did, as selfish and as cowardly as that makes me. It's yours to protect if you want it. I will not be offended if you decline it."

My throat closed as I choked up while speaking. The dagger will be safe with me, Thane. I swear my life on it.

Thane's face was grim. "Thank you, Ares. I know there... there are no words to express my gratitude for everything you are doing for me, for my pack, for my mate, above all."

After a moment of silence, I finally decided to speak, to bare my soul to the Alpha that had given me his most prized possession to look after.

I always wondered... Wondered what my purpose was. Why I wasn't ever able to just die, despite how many rogues I encountered and lived to tell the story. I think one of the reasons I put myself in so much danger, intentionally seeking out rogues, making myself a Gamma despite the fact that pack leaders are the most likely to be murdered... I think on some level, I did just want to die. To not deal with the pain of being alive, of being an orphan, an outcast, unable to feel anything for years. Now... I think I realize. That I wasn't supposed to die just yet. I... was meant to help you, your mate. All that I went through, all the training, the killings... prepared me for this.

I stop talking, and look at the dagger in my clutch. The dagger... I can't explain it. I... I was meant to have this... I can feel it.

When I look up at Thane, I can see tears streaming down his face. I touch my cheek, and the wetness reveals that I had been crying too.

Thane gets up from behind his desk to kneel on both knees in front of me, his eyes shining in reverence and submission. "I owe everything to you," He says, his voice hitched in his throat. "Anything I own... Anything you want... it's yours."

I drop to my knees and wrap my arms around him, and his do the same to me.

We stayed like that, clutched in each other's arms, not a single word spoken but everything said, until the sun rose.

A/N:

OH MY GOD GUYS THIS CHAPTER WAS SO EMOTIONAL TO WRITE EVEN MY STOIC ASS WAS TEARING UP.