Bite or Howl

Chapter 34

Chase POV

My heart grows heavy and I fall to the ground. My body aches and a wash of emotions cover me. I feel like I'm dying, screaming, crying, all at the same time. My mind circuits and I feel myself drowning. That heavy hole that had shot right through my heart had indicated to me that Phoebe was dead. My beautiful wife was dead. And I didn't even know where she was. I could feel her spirit being lifted, leaving me one and for all. "Nick," I grit. My anger boils and I can feel myself slowly starting to lose control. Nick stands at the very end of the Mountain, near the edge with a worried expression painted all over his face. My wife is dead. And Nick is there. Nick.

"Chase-" He chokes out. "Chase, there's so much we need to tell you. Phoebe, she's-" Her name slips out of his mouth and I lose myself in anger. My body runs rapidly towards him, knocking him just barely. My feet hover over the ground, making my height just over his while my hands hold onto his collar. "Phoebe is dead!" I yell at him. He steps back in fear and his lip quivers. "How dare you speak of her name." I growl at him. My intentions were clear.

Crystal. I was going to kill him.

"Chase, I don't know what you're talking about. We were in the gardens-" He rambles. "All this time, it was you." I mutter as he continues to ramble on about Lupus and Felix. Nick was delusional. And I was going to end him.

"Come on, buddy," I tease, letting go of his collar and hovering back down to ground level. "Look around." I yell, my hands flying outwards and spinning. "Let's recreate the scene where my uncle almost slices my father's throat off. Instead this time, they'll finish the job. Who'll play who?" I stop for an effect as Nick shakes in fear. "Well, we'll just find out." I pounce on him and send him flying. He knocks down onto the floor with a grunt. The dust around him puffing out of the ground. He coughs and uses his hands to pull himself up.

I jump again, pouncing myself on his frame and landing right on top of him. My body rages with anger and I can feel my eyes start to heat up. It burns through my skull and makes my head tilt back. My arms open out wide and I yell out into the sky. The clouds start to rumble as they start to pigment themselves into a dark crimson color. Lightning comes crashing down on Mount Verona in red streaks of light, making ear splitting roars as they fall down onto the land. Nick fights back as I'm in my trance, landing a punch to my face and bringing me back to my senses.

We keep twisting and turning, landing on top of each other and fighting for survival. The atmosphere around us is cold and red. The clouds roar like a mighty crowd, cheering for me as I continue to bash my fists into every area of Nick's body. A huge lightning clash comes together in my power as I feel the world turn to midnight. The ear-deafening streak of light soars power inside of me that I never knew I had. It makes me roar in strength as I extend my right hand out, a long, sharp red sword lightning at the touch of my fingertips. I grin at the sight while Nick dreads it. He shakes underneath me as I slowly start to near the sword closer to the bottom of his neck. "Chase-" He struggles as I start to draw circles just underneath his chin. "Well, this looks familiar." I whisper into his ear.

Cassius was on top of him, holding a knife to his chest. I leaped out for him, "No!" I cried.

They both turned their heads in shock as they saw me approaching. My uncle Cassius looked at me, my father and his knife. I remember it all like it was yesterday.

Cassius then took out his hand and used all his force to strike me with a blinding black light. It shot me right at my chest. I remember being knocked to the ground with dark mist covering my eyes. When I got up to apply pressure to my wound.

It was untouched. There was no wound or scar left. Nothing.

I looked back at my uncle and he smirked at me. "Do me well kid, do me well." And with that, he fell to the ground. Dead. That day, my uncle had passed on that darkness into me. And there was no escaping anymore.

My grip on the handle tightens and I slowly start to pierce it into his skin. His eyes close shut and I push deeper but then something stops me. A loud cry comes into my ear that makes my body halt. The sword drops from my hand with a clatter, bouncing off the ground as my eyes grow wide. "Chase, stop!"

My head turns to where the voice comes from. A face I thought I'd never see again erupts into tears as she sees me. She runs barefoot, panting hard as she rushes towards me. Her pink dress torn and dirty, covered in blood stains. My Phoebe.

She comes closer to me and yells. "Chase, what are you doing?" My mind had been washed completely blank and my anger started to decrease. The clouds slowly started to return back to their original color and my eyes had been cooled off with a tint of blue. My eyes don't leave her as my feet slowly start to carry me upwards. Phoebe steps right in front of me just as my arms wrap around her body, crushing her against my frame. She yelps in surprise as she stiffens but then coils her arms around my neck and digs her head into my chest. I pull back and cup her face with my hands before swooping down to her height and kissing her like my world depends on it. I completely forgot about Nick and how I was about to kill him. I only think about Phoebe.

"I thought I lost you," I whisper, so breathless as I rest my forehead against hers, not daring to let my eyes stray from hers. She smiles and kisses me softly. Nick clears his throat and gets up from behind me. Part of me wishes he can disappear but then another wants to pull back and demand for an explanation. Phoebe then pulls back from my embrace and turns to Nick. "Now that you're here, Pheebs, Chase's darkness has been tamed. Also known as, he's not trying to kill me." He explains. Phoebe laughs and steps closer but my grip on her waist pulls her back, afraid of what Nick could be capable of. Phoebe then turns to me with a distressed expression on her face. "Chase, you need to listen to me." She demands, placing her hands on either side of my face.

I don't let her speak though. "Where were you?" I demand, suddenly getting angry. Phoebe then opens her mouth to speak but I cut her again. "I was so worried, did anyone hurt you?" I quickly check her, inspecting her arms and legs and checking for any injuries. Phoebe pulls back and tries to make me look at her in the eye. "Chase, I'm okay. I was with Nick, Felix and Lupus." She starts. As soon as the name of Nick and Felix leave her mouth I snap at Nick. "Why did you take her!?" My voice roars. Nick stumbles backwards in fear and he hesitates.

I leave Phoebe's embrace and start storming towards Nick, bombarding him with questions. Phoebe runs after me, pulling at my shoulders and begging for me to stop. I keep walking towards Nick who stands at the edge of the mountain. "Chase! Stop! Nick didn't do anything to me. Catherine-"

I shrug her off, pulling her cling off of me and walking closer towards Nick. "Did you drug her to make her tell me all of this?" I yell at him. Nick shakes his head furiously and opens his mouth to speak but then Phoebe steps right in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. She pulls herself up and kisses me deeply. Her arms circle my neck and her eyes close. I fight the urge to pull back and push her aside but my body continues to melt right into her. She's like a drug, addicting and leaving me wanting more. She pulls back, tears glistening in her eyes. "Chase, please," She starts. "Please just let me explain." She begs me. My gaze then halters between Nick and her until I finally sigh and give in. "As you wish, my love."

"Chase, Nick, Felix and Lupus took me to a seer. We all had our suspicions about Catherine so we had to see if they were true. Chase, Catherine was behind all of this." She tells me. I shake my head in disbelief but she keeps talking. "Catherine is your half sister, Chase. You don't share the same father. Catherine's father was a powerful black witch. She had some sort of darkness inside of her too but instead of taming it like you did, she went out to grow it. The black witches helped her with that, Chase." She tells me. All those times Catherine had watched me with my powers slowly started to flood back to me. "No," I mutter but something tells me Phoebe is right.

But I don't want her to be.

"Catherine used Felix to distract everyone so no one suspected her. She wanted me dead, Chase. She told me herself. With me gone, you'd eventually kill yourself with your sorrow, leaving the throne for her." She repeated. She then continues but then she chokes, not ready to speak the words trapped in her throat. She holds my hands in hers and looks me in the eye. They're rimmed with tears and regret. "Chase," She starts. "She started the fire that killed your parents."