Chapter 5

 

Crescent’s Pov

 

“No!” my voice thundered through the silent night. Filled with pain and rage as I watch Aaron drop to his knees.

 

He wasn’t dead, just knocked out. But that still didn’t give me the reassurance that all was well. I had watched Anton kill a guard, someone who had served him for years. He wouldn’t even remember Aaron’s death.

 

“Why deny the crows their meal,” his menacing voice sliced through the air, sending cold shivers down my spine.

 

There are two kinds of people: those who smile with glee while instilling fear. And then there are the cold calculated ones, the ones that look anything like they were enjoying the torture. Those ones; the aim high, also leaving dead in their wake.

 

That was Anton Storm.

 

“It is only right that he finds his peace,” I blurted out. My eyes snapped wide; my sharp tongue has always been a thing. The impulsive need to explode before analysing has always been my doom.

 

“You must watch Crescent, learn and then act,” my mother’s voice echoed in my mind.

 

I winced; she may not be here but I knew that she hated how I handled things most times.

 

Anton moved closer, “I guess I should be killed for wronging the laws.” His eyes bore into mine, as if he was searching into my soul, trying to find the truth in them.

 

I avoided his gaze, keeping my focus on Aaron. “Please be fine,” I whispered in my mind. I would have prayed to the moon goddess for her grace. But just like the sick game fate and destiny played, I am the least favoured in her sight.

 

Anton tilted his head, his eyes following my gaze, like a predator tracking its prey. Something flashed through his eyes, it happened so fast that I thought I had imagined it. “Kill him,”

 

My body moved before I could process what I was doing. I could hear my mother’s warning clawing at the back of my mind. The problem was, I already had the weight of one death on my shoulder. I wasn’t ready for another, not when I was barely holding on.

 

“No, punish me instead. I coerced him into doing this,” I begged, my hand reaching out to grab the sleeve of his habit.

 

He tore his gaze from Aaron, the guards pausing waiting for his next command. He tilted his head, his nose scrunched up as he sniffed the air. “You smell nothing like a man, wolf,” he hissed.

 

My heart lurched. “Don’t move,” I could hear my mother’s panicked voice at the back of my mind. “A twitch and he will be unto you,”

 

“Men don’t drop to their knees to beg. They fight, claws out,” he growled, there was more than anger in his tone. Beneath that raspy low baritone voice was something dark, -- sinister.

 

I released a breath I had no idea that I was holding. “The coin isn’t tipped in my favour,”

 

He smirked, “Would you like an even ground?” his breath fanned my face, sending dread through me. I clenched my jaw, this time not from anger, but from holding myself from screaming in pain at how tightly he was gripping my neck.

 

A groan sounded, and our heads snapped in unison eyes fixed on the intruder with different emotions in them. Anton had the dead look in his eyes. And me? I was back in the rabbit hole of fear.

 

“Your life for his, huh?” he mumbled, his voice sounding like he was deep in thought. His thumb pressed against the crook of my neck, sending warmth across my body.

 

Near-death experience reveals the darkest things about us. The darkness that we have used a thousand lights to destroy. In this moment of fear and pain, all I could think about was the strength in his grip. The warmth it provided, it felt like I was trapped in a muffled world, away from everything.

 

“Focus!” my mother’s voice in my head.

 

I blinked, snapping back to the present. One flickering glance towards Aaron, “yes,” I gasped, forcing my voice not to quiver.

 

“Take him away,” he ordered the guards.

 

“Please… please… please,” Aaron cried, his panic and fear slicing through my already throbbing heart.

 

I turned my glare towards Anton, “my life for his,” I growled, unable to hold back the frustration in my voice.

 

“I have your life… his life is on a beam, you tip, he dies,” he whispered, his tone sounded like the forbidden myths in our lore.

 

Hands grabbed my arm, pulling me away from Anton. His eyes darkened, and then he blinked, shaking his head slightly like he was shaking off a thought. “Keep him in my wing. He is my personal slave,”

 

He didn’t wait to hear the acknowledgement. He walked into the darkness, accepting it as his cloak. I stared at what I assumed was his retreating figure. My mind and heart screaming at me. I should have run the minute the voices echoed in my head.

 

I should have prayed for Aaron’s soul to be accepted by the moon goddess. He was already passed out; he wouldn’t have felt any pain. But these were excuses I was giving. No matter how hard I try to pretend, I could never be as cold as my mother.

 

“Move it,” the guard growled, using the hilt of his sword to hit my back.

 

I pulled my lips between my teeth, holding back the cry that threatened to break out of me.

 

“You should have wished for death,” one hissed, his sneer dripping with venom.

 

They weren’t higher in rank. They were just guards, disposable just like he had proven to them a few hours ago. And yet they taunt me, acting like their lives aren’t on a thin thread like mine.

 

“His last slave, the one before you?  A girl, she thought she had the beauty to tame his wolf. We all took a turn on her, before tearing her limb from limb,” he whispered, his voice filled with glee.

 

“And the young boy? The spoil of war that he had given himself, when he grew bored, he sent him into his gladiator cage to fight blind warriors, who had missed the taste of action.” He paused, wincing as if his next words would be brutal. “Slowest death I have ever seen,”

 

They must have sensed my fear. Because they laughed, eyes gleaming with malice.

 

One moved closer, his hand reaching for my backside, “I wish he would let me have you before he decides to end you,” he groaned, giving my bum a sharp squeeze.

 

I gasped, jumping like I had just been electrocuted. I needed to be careful. If I made a wrong move, I was going to pay dearly for it. I fought my hands, forcing them to be still by my side. If I raised them up, I would wrap them around my chest.

 

“But you are lucky… until he gives the order, I will only be wanking to the imagination of you,” he moaned, making a show of tugging on his hardened member.

 

The rest laughed, unbothered by his lewd character.

 

The Stormbringer pack was a lot of things. Sex, crime and death. It was beginning to feel like life was becoming a luxury.

 

Will I afford this?