046 Willa's Gift

Taran's POV

I put Willa down on the ground.

"Taran..." Kirsch muttered as he saw me going toward Rachel. Was he trying to stop me? Or was he understanding me? I didn't know and I didn't care.

I grabbed Rachel on her hair and pulled her backward so she was looking at the sky, just like the way she treated my mate. I really wanted to snap her neck right there.

"Taran, please..." Rachel burst into tears. She could barely speak as she choked in that position. She finally realized my anger, "I'm...sorry! I didn't...mean to hurt--"

I added some force, choking off the rest of Rachel's words.

"Your lie is insulting me," I said in an icy voice, appreciating the fear in Rachel's eyes. She grabbed my arm with both her hands, struggling for air.

I wanted to just watch her die in that way.

"Taran!" A shout burst through the woods. It was Nat. Of course Rachel mind linked her. Nat shouted before she could reach us. I moved my eyes in Nat's direction slowly. She was naked. She just shifted back.

"Taran, please! She's still a kid!" Nat threw herself at me with a horrified look. I grabbed Nat by the arm before I threw her backward.

"Keep your distance from Willa."

Nat's face was red from the running and now was pure white because the blood drained from her face after she heard my words.

"Who broke Willa's fingers?" I asked, looking into Rachel's eyes.

Rachel's lips were trembling as tears poured out.

"You make me ask again, you will wish you were dead." Cerberus curved our lips when he heard my words. There was only coldness in our eyes.

"I did!" One of the twins came forward. It was David, the naked guy who gripped Willa's collar. Just great.

"Put your hand on the ground." I stared into Rachel's eyes after I gave him the order. Rachel whined in tears as David knelt down and put his hand on the ground.

"You do it." I let go of Rachel's hair and pulled her by her neck till she was close enough to stomp on David's hand.

She shook her head in horror.

"Fine, I'll do it," I smirked.

I stomped on David's hand with Rachel's neck still in my hand. He howled before he leaned forward and hit the ground with his forehead in pain as he curled his wounded hand to his chest, just like my mate did.

Rachel cried.

"Again." I tilted my head a little, appreciating Rachel's horror and fear. Blood drained from her face and she stopped crying in shock.

"Please, he paid the price..." Rachel murmured, begging with a horrified look.

"I will keep this on until you do it. Again." I narrowed my eyes. Whatever pain and horror she gave my mate, she was going to experience it ten, hundred times more.

Rachel closed her eyes in desperation as she stomped on David's hand before she burst into tears.

I curved my lips.

"Again." I felt the urge to burst into laughter, I was so ecstatic, and at that moment, I couldn't tell whether it was my feelings or Cerberus's.

Maybe both.

I was at the edge of losing it.

Rachel stared at me in disbelief: "You-you said--"

"Who, broke, Willa's finger?" I cut Rachel off coldly, and I saw the fear in her eyes. I didn't need the Alpha aura to know that she lied, and I didn't want to use it to force her to tell the truth.

I would rather use pain.

"I did! I did it! I'm sorry but she was reaching for a weapon!" Rachel burst into tears, and her whole body went soft. She wouldn't be standing if I didn't have my hand gripped around her neck.

"What weapon? Could you see any weapon on her?! Look at her!" I growled in anger, "You almost stripped her anyway! Tell me what you see!"

"She was reaching for the chain on her neck..." Rachel cried so hard that she started burping.

Willa wore a ring with a silver chain on her neck, which was still inside her blouse.

"Your mate offered to take the fall for you, even though he was just as horrible as you in participating in this crime, his action was brave." I forced Rachel to look me in the eyes, "That's the only reason you get to keep your hands intact today."

"Yes, Alpha..." Rachel stammered in tears.

"Good." I curved my lips, but no one else joined my smile.

"Please, Taran, this is enough. Rachel has suffered now. I'm sure it was only an accident." Nat came forward again, this time tamed and mild, approaching me slowly and cautiously.

"Accident?" I let out a short laugh, "I hope you can see it that way when I break Rachel's neck later."

"Taran!" Nat shouted in horror, "She's just a kid. You are scaring her!"

"A kid who took four wolves to a wolfless girl and beat her nearly to death after torturing and humiliating her!" I growled, finally over the edge, "You had your chance with Rachel, Natasha. And now you both will live the consequences!"

Natasha flinched at my outburst.

I dragged Rachel close, feeling I almost break her neck as I shouted: "What did you use to slap Willa's face?!"

Kirsch blinked in confusion before he turned and checked on Willa's face.

"I didn't slap her! I just tapped her face with the piece of wood she brought with her!" Rachel tried to look around, "I, I threw it away..."

I closed my eyes in frustration, trying to contain the anger that burst out in me. The smell of Willa's blood was driving me over my edge. I didn't dare look for the wood with the smell because I just might kill Rachel right there.

"I found it!" Kirsch grabbed something off the ground, but then he hesitated on giving it to me.

"Kirsch." I frowned, eyes fixing on him. Though I wasn't currently the Alpha, it didn't mean I could tolerate disobedience.

"Alpha, you might want to let Rachel go first before you see this." Kirsch addressed me as Alpha, noticing my discontent toward his hesitation.

"I have enough control over this, don't make me repeat myself again," I said impatiently, the worst I could do was to smash that small piece of wood into Rachel's face. She wouldn't even be badly injured, unlike my mate.

Kirsch handed the wood over.

It was a finger thick piece of woold block, around the size of my palm. It was light, white in color. I knew why Kirsch wouldn't want me to see it. It was soaked in Willa's blood.

But when I looked at it, I felt something explode in my head when I saw the two little words carved on the corner--

To Al.

This was a gift for me?! Willa left the pack to give me this gift because I disappeared for three days straight! I was the reason why she was ambushed and badly injured!

"Alpha, please, allow me to slap Rachel for you!" Kirsch suddenly suggested. I snapped out of my shock, only to realize I nearly choked Rachel to death. Kirsch was trying to remind me without going against me.

I let go of Rachel's neck as I looked down again at the piece of wood.

On the other side was a piece of engraving.

The most complicated engraving that I had ever seen, but in itself, it delivered beauty. Unlike most engravings, it wasn't symmetrical. Usually, patterns of engravings are what give you the experience of beauty, but this one was different.

It was like a flower with thorns spiking out at will when the petals also had their own wish on how they wanted to present themselves. But as a whole somehow all these involuted lines echoed with each other just right.

I couldn't make out any part of the engraving, but it looked familiar. It was in the style of Willa's tattoo.

I felt like the picture sucked away my soul as I touched the lines. It enchanted me. Cerberus was peeking at it from behind my eyes as well, and I could feel that he was enchanted too.

It was like magic.

All of a sudden I heard the sound of the sea.

I didn't know how, but I just did. And in that second I calmed down, or, Cerberus calmed down. He sat up straight like the king he was born to be, but no longer mad.

Unlike Kirsch's worry, Willa's gift didn't make me angrier at Rachel, but instead, it calmed me down.