0085
Raven
The crutches were a nightmare, but not from my point of view.
Damien and Dane walk either side of me as though I was going to fall any second. Any stumble, I would hear them catch their breath and I was half expecting someone to say it would just be easier if they carried me. That's what Dane had done to Neah when she first
came here.
I see a slight head shake from Dane that's aimed at Damien.
"I can do this. You may have forgotten Dane, but I did have to use crutches once." I grumble
"When you were seven." My brother retorts, just as we make it to the dungeon. "And for a few hours."
"Then longer won't be a problem, will it?" I grumble
Dane unlocks the door and pulls it open.
I'm met with the stench of dried blood, piss and shit. Every ounce of me has to stop myself from gagging.
'Why are we doing this?' Midnight groans.
'Because it is Salem.'
She knew the real truth, I had no idea why I wanted to speak to him.
Closure? Understanding why he rejected me?
Maybe to stare at the man who had fucked up my ability to do anything physical for a long time?
Who knows, I just know I had to see him.
I had to look him in the eyes while learning how he could be so cruel.
'Oh, looks like we have more guests.' Roan mutters as Dane walks in, in front of me.
"Shut the fuck up!" Dane snaps at him
"You shut up!" It was a pathetic response on Roans behalf. And before I know it, Dane is unlocking the cell door and is punching Roan in the face. His death couldn't come soon enough.
Turning around, I see him, Salem.
Attached to the wall with chains.
Damien hadn't been wrong either when he had told me that Neah took a chunk of his leg. The remaining leg dangled from his hip at an odd angle, the bone still exposed. Damien is already staring at him, his arms folded across his chest, but his face shows no anger, no frustration, it is practically unreadable. A statement I had heard from Neah many times but never quite understood what she meant until now. Salem's eyes are on me.
His snout pulled up into a warning, yet no sound comes from him.
His eyes briefly move to the crutches before locking on mine again.
I didn't know what I expected to feel, but feeling nothing is worse. "Ask him whatever you want." Damien whispers to me. "I am not concerned about what he once was to you."
"You hurt me." I mutter as silence falls. "Why me? I loved you once and you loved me. I always thought you rejected me because of my brother?"
"I did." He pulls on his chains but it makes no difference, his chains had been shortened until he was practically pressed against the wall.
"You did? You didn't reject me because you were a Lycan?"
"Both."
"You wanted her, but Cassandra was afraid you would reveal the truth. Wasn't she?" Dane asks as he locks Roans' cell.
"And you ended up finding out anyway." Salem snaps. "Do you know why she wanted a contract with you?"
""You weren't around when the contract was in place."
"Years you idiot. Years she was planning that stupid contract idea of hers."
"It's true." Damien mutters. "A Wolf had discovered the pack. They didn't have the numbers needed for protection."
"Roan." Dane replies, glancing back at Roan's cell. "Roan was the one who discovered Moonshine. Roan was the one moving in to kill you all. He admitted it to Neah."
Dane tells us that Neah met Roan as a pup, though she can't remember and he became infatuated with her and their kind.
"Are you....serious?" I ask in shock.
Dane is too busy looking at Salem to answer me. He points to Roans cell. "Did he not mention that to you while you were making your little plans? If he had attacked Moonshine earlier, you wouldn't exist." "You don't know that!" Salem growls "They were strong. They manipulated an Alpha."
"You mean a child?" I snap, immediately jumping to Neah's defence. "Your current Alpha?"
"She is not my Alpha!"
"Why are you trying to stick up for them, Salem?" Damien demands.
Can you still not see that Cassandra fucked you over.
She promised you the world and she gave you nothing apart from the desire to be a predator!
" Salem tugs at the chains, growling, though it makes no difference. I'm not sure what he hoped to achieve but he wasn't going anywhere. Dane had made sure of that. The dungeons would be the last thing Salem ever sees.
After Salem rejected me and broke my heart, I questioned the Moon Goddess and her plans. I questioned fate too. Wondering if it was just a word thrown around to make people feel better about themselves and about the future. To give them hope.
But as I stood here looking at all the men, knowing how messed up all this is. I knew one thing for certain, we were all tied together because of Neah. All of us.
I stare at the beast that was once Salem. I don't hear the voice I know. I don't smell his scent. I just see an angry beast. Was I always supposed to be rejected by him? Was this the plan for me? Was I always supposed to have Damien come into my life? My eyes shift from Salem to Damien
"Are you okay?" Damien whispers to me with a frown
"Yes." I mutter. "The smell is a bit much, I just need some air."
'Liar' Midnight mumbles
Damien starts to follow me. I shake my head at him. "Stay, help Dane get answers. I've heard all I need to hear. I will just be outside."
His frown deepens, but lets me go. I feel his eyes burning into the back of my as I hobble away on the crutches.
I drop on the grass outside, rubbing my bandaged thigh before laying back under the warm evening sun. I had been so angry at Salem for so long, but in there, standing in front of him. I felt nothing for the man I once loved.
I had spent so long trying to get over him when in reality, there was nothing for me to get over. He had made his choice.
I feel someone's weight drop on the grass next to me.
"Are you okay?" Klaus asks.
"Just questioning a few things."
"The Moon Goddess?" He asks curiously.
I prop myself up on my elbows and tilt my head to one side. "How did you know?"
"I would too, if I were in your shoes. And because I did."
"Moonshine wanted a contract long before they asked for it. They had already started turning humans at that point. All because Roan discovered Neah when she was a pup." I tell him
He nods his head at me."I had thought that was the case. Have you ever considered that this is what the Moon Goddess's plan was. To try and right something that Neah's family did to her? To give her a better life?" He pauses and puts his hands behind his head, staring up at the blue sky.
"I've had the same questions as you, Raven. The Moon Goddess can't control what we do with our lives, that's freewill, but she can put things in our path and alter our journeys. She can test us. But look at me, my parents bound me once and if Dane hadn't brought me here, I would be living the same shitty life. She put Dane in my path and I've never once regretted it."
"Thanks Klaus." I smile at him. "You have always been good at reassuring my mind when Midnight can't."
He winks at me and gets to his feet. "Glad I could be of some help. Do you want some help getting up?"
"No, I'm just going to lie here and enjoy the evening sun a little longer."
It's not long before I'm hit with Damien's scent. His frame completely blocks the sun as he stands over me. "Did you fall down?"
"No."
"Do you need help?"
"No."
"Just give her a few minutes." I hear Jenson shout from nearby. "She's weird like this."
"I'm not weird." I shout back, remembering how Salem always referred to me as a weirdo before roughly slamming his lips against mine.
Damien is still looking down at me with his dark eyes, and for a brief moment, I was glad he hadn't marked me yet. I didn't need him to hear what was going on in my head.
He holds a hand out to me as I sit up. Pulling me to my feet with ease. His large hands quickly find my waist as he holds me against him.
We hadn't had more than a few minutes alone together since I had woken up in the hospital and the tension between us was just that; tense.
"Did he say anything else?" I ask quietly while bathing in his sweet vanilla scent.
"He's just going around in circles. I think, in some ways, he is too far gone to be able to have a straightforward conversation. We are only hearing snippets of his thoughts and knowledge." "Are you going to kill him?"
"No. Dane wants him to live for a little longer. He wants Mallory to talk to Salem."
"Mallory?"
"She was the one who helped me."
I stumble back, almost out of his grip, briefly forgetting that I needed to use crutches. He keeps his hands on my hips, stopping me from falling any further.
I don't know why I didn't see it sooner. "You fed on Wolves?"
"It's not something I'm proud of." His voice is low as his dark eyes stay focussed on me.
"How? How were you able to turn back?"
"Desire."