Chapter 24 Disposable
twenty-four
Disposable
*SILAS*
Idon’t know if it’s pent-up energy or just too much having been on Marcellus’ mind recently, things he needs to shake off, because my beloved runs so fast, none of the other wolves can keep up with him.
A new sense of pride fills me, seeing him so strong and dedicated.
He never wanted to become an alpha, claiming he would just be one of the pack members, but he has become their alpha so easily.
They chose him, and obviously, he came around and accepted the honor and challenge.
It’s in his nature to lead.
Silas, Alex reaches out to me. As vampires, we don’t have a mind link, but my siblings and I are from the first line of vampires, which comes with its ups and downs. The ups being that we share a mental connection that others don’t. I don’t feel any attackers.
Me neither.
How come we are chasing outside like maniacs then?
Alex has never been one to mask his words. He comes off as arrogant and aloof sometimes, but he is also very loyal. He can dish it out but also take it, without being offended. Marcellus has a gift, I explain. He can sense intruders with bad intentions.
Nice. Wish we’d have that.
We do, I point out.
Yes, but not to that extent.
Just say it outright, that my beloved is awesome.
Alex smirks. So, he is your beloved now?
I guess there is no avoiding it anymore. I found myself wanting to kill a girl who was ogling him when we went shopping the last time.
Yes, that’s when you know it’s about time.
A loud growl erupts through the forest and pulls me out of my chat with Alex.
Talk about timing. I pick up my pace and dash forward, using my own gifts to reach Marcellus as quickly as possible.
I come right in time as a rogue is trying to claw at one of our warrior’s backs. I kick the creature off him.
“Impertinent fools,” I snarl while jumping to Marcellus’ side to help him fend off the majority of the attack.
Lucian, as my right hand, is already here, much to my relief.
I can see more of our wolves and vampire warriors pouring in, Benjamin within them.
I am not sure what he and Marcellus actually talked about, but it seems to have given him a new boost of confidence, because he charges right at a rogue who begins to make his way to the pack ground.
“I thought your pack was located in a very peaceful region!” Alex calls out towards me.
“It is,” I snarl.
Durant has finally arrived to back us up. Seeing how he helps Alex, I turn my attention back to assisting Marcellus. It’s a very uneven fight. These rogues were not prepared for taking it up against an alpha and a number of vampires.
“Is this a joke?” Lucian asks, almost sounding insulted. “They are so weak. I could have fended them off on my own, while sleepwalking, drunk and in a post-sex haze. What a waste of my time!”
“We need to know what this is about,” I tell him. “They are going to run. Make sure you catch a couple of them alive.”
Lucian gives me a curt nod before dashing forward to catch one of our attackers. Before he can do so, however, every single rogue around us stops their attack. For a moment, they just look around before hisses and howls fill the air.
“What are they doing?” I wonder.
Marcellus shifts back to his human form. “Fuck!” he curses. “Someone get Mora here fast!”
“Who is Mora?” Alex asks while one of our warriors runs off to follow Marcellus’ request.
“Our pack nurse,” I explain. “We don’t have a doctor yet. She’s filling the role so far.”
Marcellus’ efforts were in vain, though.
One by one, the rogues around us drop to the ground, their bodies convulsing in the most gruesome way I have ever seen.
Green drool runs out of their noses and snouts, their eyes big in pain and fear.
Marcellus, as the kind soul he is, and some of the other warriors try to soothe their fear by talking gently to them.
But the rogues around us shift to their human form, before all life leaves their bodies, accompanied by blue flame surrounding them.
We all take a step back, watching in horror as the flame wraps around their arms, legs and faces, until it has disfigured them completely.
An uncomfortable silence stretches around us. “By the goddess,” Marcellus says quietly.
“But why?” Benjamin gapes.
“To make sure we can’t find out who they are,” I say.
“Someone clearly sent them to us,” Lucian says, trying to sound rational as usual, but even he looks affected by the sight around us. “They were never intended to get out of this alive.”
“I want to send them off respectfully, even if they attacked us. Going out like this… is just evil,” Marcellus says.
“We should probably ask Cassian to send his pack doctor here to take a look at them,” I point out. “We should know what killed them. But I agree with sending them off respectfully afterward.”
“I can give Nova a call,” Benjamin offers. “We are friends, and she’s helping out a lot in her pack.”
“Yes, do that please,” Marcellus says. “I’ll leave it with you.”
Benjamin nods and runs off back to the pack.
Durant and Alex have remained quiet, but both of them look disturbed at the scene in front of them. “Unbelievable,” Alex mutters.
“Who would be so cruel as to do something like that?” one of the warriors asks.
Alex and I exchange a glance. We both know a couple of people who could pull something like that off. If you live long enough, you see the worst in people. “Do you think it was Aloysius?” Alex asks me quietly.
“He’s certainly capable of it,” I admit.
“Did he already attack you before?” Durant wants to know.
“No, this would be the first time.” I shake my head. “But why now? That makes no sense.”
“Maybe it was someone else,” Durant says.
“Or maybe he wants to toy with us,” Alex adds. “Would be very like him.”
I don’t answer him, mainly because I have no idea what’s going on, and that’s a feeling I hate.
I love being on top of things, and normally, I do understand what’s happening around me.
But this, here, reminds me of the time I was still ruling beside Aloysius, trying to usurp him because of his cruel, vile tyrannical rule.
The time when my former almost-beloved, Julianus, backstabbed me.
I had the same feeling back then, a feeling of unease and foreboding that something bad was going to happen.
Marcellus must have sensed my uneasiness through the bond because he comes to me and takes my hand. I don’t usually like displays of affection in front of others, but this man clearly has changed me in ways I didn’t realize he had, because I find myself not minding.
Actually, it even brings me comfort.
*BENJAMIN*
“When you called me and told me what happened, I thought you were exaggerating,” Nova admits.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” I say. She and Cassian arrived two hours ago. Marcellus and Cassian left to deal with the bodies of the rogues. They will be taken to Cassian’s pack for further investigation, and then get their send-off on a pyre.
“I’m okay. Don’t apologize.” She sighs. “The poor guys looked horrifying, but I can’t close my eyes, from this type of thing. I want to help my brother as best as I can.”
“Say, are you going to get a rank in your pack?” I ask.
“Cass wants to make me gamma or delta,” she explains. “But we said, we’d wait for me to find my mate.”
“I get that. Your mate is definitely going to be a strong wolf, probably an alpha.”
“I’m not sure,” she chuckles. “Me? Luna? Can you imagine?”
“Yes, I can.” I shrug. “So, you’d be more the hands-on luna, a warrior luna even, but I think that’s cool.”
“We’ll see.” She stretches slightly. “I’ve heard that you are going to become gamma?”
I blink. “How did you hear that so fast? That’s very fresh news.”
“My brother told Isla and me when we met for breakfast today,” she explains.
“Seems like Marcellus has planned it for a while.” She laughs.
“Should have seen Isla’s expression. Her eyes almost bulged out of her face.
” Nova grins and fortunately, doesn’t notice me flinching slightly.
Hearing Isla’s name still hurts. Nova turns to look at me. “I think you will be a great gamma.”
“I’m not sure,” I admit. “And I certainly am not ready yet. But Marcellus is counting on me to put my all into this. I don’t want to disappoint him, so I’ll be working my ass off.”
“Don’t worry too much,” she reassures me. “You will grow into this task, and I think you will do very well. You have it in you.”
Something about her words is comforting. Actually, everything is so much easier with Nova around. I don’t feel embarrassed or awkward with her, and she doesn’t make me feel less. Why could she not have been my mate?
Maybe it’s better this way, though. I don’t have many friends, and it’s cool to have a close friend like her.
Nova chuckles when she watches Maddie running into Marc and Silas’ house, confidently walking up to Lucian, who is discussing something with Silas and his brothers.
Lucian pretends to be annoyed by her presence but then scoots her into his arms, not even wincing when she tugs at his long hair and giggles.
“She is so adorable,” Nova chuckles. “Sweetest kid I’ve ever seen, and I’m not a kid person usually.”
“She is the best,” I say softly. “She is like a little sister to me.”
Sheila hurries inside and frees Lucian from Maddie, apologizing for disrupting their meeting. Nova gazes at the vampires, curiously eyeing them. “They are kind of hot,” Nova says. “How do you cope living with so many hot men?”
“Well, might come in handy that I’m into girls,” I grin. “But I will tell them later that you have the hots for them.”
Nova smacks me. “Don’t you dare,” she grins. “Unless you set me up with one of them. I certainly wouldn’t mind a hot vampire mate.”
“Not sure if I can do that,” I muse. “They are all pretty old, and Silas is with Marcellus, and-“
“I was kidding, Benji,” she chuckles. “I want to meet my mate, vampire or not, I don’t care.”
“Thank Goddess,” I sigh in relief. “I thought I’d need to play wingman. Pretty sure I’d suck at that.”
“Now I wish I’d let you give it a shot,” she grins. “Curious to know how you’d have tried to set me up with that sexy, long-hair there, or that dark-haired god.”
She is clearly talking about Lucian and Alexander.
Despite her joking, she has a point. Silas and his brothers are very attractive, so much so that I sometimes need to make sure I’m not getting any more complexes.
It helps that Marcellus is around and doesn’t give a dime about any of them, and instead is all confident and unimpressed.
Nova tells me more about her work at her pack, and we both speculate about what the fuck happened today here, and who it could have been who attacked us. I still feel sick to my stomach when I think about how these wolves died. They might have been rogues, but we don’t know their past.
Not every rogue is evil, not every rogue had a choice.
This is just incredibly sad.
Unsure how to help, Nova and I decide to support Micah and Sheila instead. The new wolves are finally arriving tomorrow. One of them gets their own small cottage; it seems like that’s what they wanted. Something to tinker with, something quiet.
When we return, Silas’ brothers have already left, and Silas is in the middle of preparing a dessert. “What’s he doing?” Nova asks, blinking several times as if she can’t believe what she is seeing.
The whole kitchen is taken over by whatever monstrosity of a dessert Silas is planning. There are small balls of some sort of dough, and he is preparing some vanilla filling for them.
Marcellus and Cassian are watching, too. The first, with an expression of amusement and the latter, just looks at the scene in disbelief.
“Seriously,” Cassian mutters. “What’s this going to be, Silas?”
“Croquembouche,” Silas says, as if that’s in any way going to help us.
Marcellus grabs his phone and begins searching for something. “Here,” he says. “I misspelled it first. Even three years of French classes in school didn’t prepare me for my mate.” He shows us an image of a pyramid made up of pastry puffs, bound with threads of caramel.
“It says it’s usually for weddings and bigger celebrations,” I recite. “And it’s apparently really difficult to make.”
“And takes several hours,” Nova adds. “Goddess.”
Marcellus looks at Silas, shaking his head. “You are actually insane, you know that?” When Silas glares at him, he clears his throat. “In a very sexy and amazing way, of course.”