Chapter 5 ~ Royalty of Nefario

"Ugh! "What the hell are you doing weighing so much?" Astoria squirmed as she attempted to drag Higgins by his weight.

"Hmph... Shit!" After smacking his head on a hedge, Higgins eventually groaned to announce that he was regaining consciousness.

"Oh, thank the goddess, you're finally awake." Astoria released his legs and settled down on a rock formation, exhaustion etched across her face, relieved that he was back to his senses.

"In which messed up memory am I trapped this time?" Higgins asked, his gaze shifting around the enclosed space, trying to make sense of his surroundings.

"What are you talking about? Oh, I see now." Astoria's confusion mirrored his, but in a different sense.

"...You! What exactly did you do to me? What was I just made to relive?" He finally realized that he couldn't be in another memory.

The enigmatic female beta werewolf, who had dared to intervene in his suicide attempts, stood before him. He had never seen her before until she decided to play the role of his savior.

As he wiped his face, the weight of the relentless memories that had tormented him for the past ten years resurfaced. He understood the eerie landscape he had been pulled into. "What the fuck are we doing here? Wherever 'here' is," he demanded.

"These tunnels run throughout the hold's structure," Astoria explained, her gaze sweeping over the darkened passageway.

"Oh really well barbie, that's obvious, why are we here should be the question you'd answer to" Higgins was no longer bothered by his harsh tone.

"Well, that's obvious, you fool. The question is why are we here?" Higgins's harsh tone no longer affected Astoria.

He had spoken to her with unforgiving words, expressing his intent to end the fling that had ignited during their previous encounter.

The pain of that encounter had reminded him of the agony that could befall him again if he allowed himself to be entangled in her web.

"We needed to escape Ramsy, and you..." Astoria began to explain, but Higgins's constant bewildered glances indicated that he wasn't truly listening.

"How do I get back?" He interrupted while taking his index finger to a pool of water, embodying a shred of rage into his voicing over her.

"I'm the only one who knows, but I'm not sure if..." Astoria hesitated, aware of the dangers that awaited him in the depths of the dungeon.

"Shit... This water is disgusting." Higgins wrinkled his nose after sniffing the foul essence of what he made contact with.

"These tunnels serve multiple purposes. I once found a used condom here," Astoria replied, shocking him with her blunt response.

"Forget it! If you won't take me where I need to go then I'll go off in any direction I want until I find it." Higgins stormed off onto an unknown direction, leaving Astoria to drown in the secrets she chose not to disclose.

"Wait... Please, I can't allow you to go off, just hear me out first." She rushed from her resting spot, diving to block his path.

Higgins showed no intention of heeding her words. Instead, he forcefully pushed her aside, dismissing her plea.

"Umph..." Astoria cried out as she stumbled to the ground.

"You don't want to find out why I rescued you? Or why Vladimir knew who I was?" Astoria tried to tempt his curiosity, her words dripping with desperation. "It could lead back to the dungeon and have an even greater reason to warrant you stay."

"I never wanted to hear you out from the beginning... and I care even less about who you are." Higgins halted, told her off, and continued on his way. It seemed he had no interest in uncovering the truths she believed he would be curious about. "The bottom line is, I don't want to stay."

"Help me save my pack!" Astoria's cries grew louder as she knelt, her palms resting on the filthy water, seeking empathy.

Higgins maintained his stance, his back turned to her as he pondered her words. Memories resurfaced as he recalled the former Alpha and his daughter, both lost in tragic circumstances.

"Wasn't the Alpha's daughter killed along with him?" Higgins recalled the memory, a flicker of curiosity igniting within him.

Astoria began to rise and sober up. "I am Astoria Nefario, the rightful next in line to the former Alpha of the Nefario pack. His only descendant that he hid..." She revealed her true identity, her voice filled with determination. But Higgins remained unmoved, even if she were to reveal herself the Luna of the pack.

"As much as I hate to entertain the idea of a hidden heir, I believe you. But why should I help the Nefario royalty? Why would the daughter of an esteemed werewolf Alpha be part of the resistance meant for the liberation of humans?" Higgins blurted out his skepticism, untangling the knots in her story.

"How did you know I was..." Astoria was taken aback, realizing she had never disclosed her true identity to him.

"It takes a hunter to recognize another. Your attire, the badge, everything about you reeks of hunting down werewolves and beast-folk," Higgins revealed, explaining how he had deciphered her purpose. "What I can infer is some heroic tragedy to avenge your father and vindicating the rightful heritage of your ancestors, please prove me wrong."

"And if you're so curious, then you must also want to know why the resistance sent me in the first place," Astoria added, hoping to pique his interest.

"Actually, no. I couldn't care less. I just want to... find my way back to the reason I allowed myself to be taken to this damn hold in the first place." Higgins ventured further into the uncharted tunnel, his determination guiding his steps, but stumbling and colliding with obstructions.

Astoria watched his unwavering resolve, realizing that pleading with him would be futile. Perhaps she had another way to persuade him. Her clenched fist tightened, bracing herself for her next words.

"I need to save the pack from Ramsy, and I mean everyone in it, humans included." Astoria confessed.

"Why, did he do anything bad?" Higgins replied, hinting the unsavory humor in his tone.

"He's going to throw Nafario into anarchy, seeing as Damian is threading towards no longer following his every whim without an ounce of protest, haven't you seen how..." She relentlessly tried to match his pace, but he wouldn't even think to consider her.

Her marching strides were abruptly halted by the same debris of the tunnel that he had collided his head with.

He was about five inch taller than her so the disparity in struggling to walk was evident.

"I've seen how Ramsy is. I also know of Damian and his developing antics. Why not just go after Damian yourself. The blood in your vain can actually ascend the role of Alpha if you..." Their conversation had become filled with intrusions at this point, with each making to correct any lawless observation from the other's.

"I don't care about being the Alpha, I care about the welfare of everyone in Nafario. I want to see children not having to bare the grunt of their parents paying inflating taxes to the rich masses cooped up in the hold every full moon for their safety. I want to see humans and beast-folk living as one, not as petty trinkets that can be toiled with or raped on a whim."

Her plea was solid, but so was Higgins' heart.

"Well that's a mighty fine story, but I can see a light over there. You have been marvelous step down entertainment. I think it's time we part ways." He said.

He had noticed the sole light that had paved his path thus far, finally revealing it's source.

"Did you not listen to a word I have to say." She added.

"I did, but I also told you I never wanted to hear it in the first place. It's like the situation of an unwanted pregnancy, you bare the child, not me." He said.

Astoria's patience had now crossed the thin thread that managed it's persistence, she was now above trying to plead with him. perhaps it was because she now had leverage, but her tightened fist spoke of so much clenched into her next words.

"You'll never make it," she asserted, her voice laced with a hint of challenge.

"Of course, I will. Where there's light, there are people," Higgins retorted, twirling to see to her gaze once, confident in his conclusion.

"Where there are people, there could also be Ramsy," Astoria added, her words injecting a dose of caution.

"I don't think I'd mind. It's time I put an end to everything and finally rid myself of the anguish I've felt for far too long," Higgins affirmed, rehearsing the resolve he had embraced.

"I'm pretty sure that would be hard for you at this point." She added, atop his already one sided determination.

Higgins then wore a perplexed expression as he turned to her, searching for an explanation. "Hard you say?"

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"You've stumbled, collided with your head multiple times, and yet, have you felt any pain?" Astoria questioned, drawing attention to his actions leading up to this point.

"I... I've been..." Higgins reached up to touch his head, realizing that she was right.

Each time he had bumped into something, it had merely halted his progress, causing no physical harm.

"I am a hunter of magical prowess, even the inquisitor couldn't..." Higgins boasted a fast-paced reply, Astoria although was quick to interject, correcting his false assumptions.

"Vladimir could inflict pain that you felt, a hunter like yourself who has grieved for so long should be impervious to showing pain. But these ones didn't even do a thing, you couldn't even try to show because it was never there." She corrected the falseness of his conclusion for the second time.

Again, Higgins was able to draw truth from her words. "How the hell does she know all of this?" He inquired within himself.

His prior arrogance had now disappeared and all that emanated form his person was distraught.

"What? Are you saying that I am unable to feel pain now, how the hell is that even possible?" He panicked

"It's not that you are unable to feel pain, you can still feel after prolonged infliction, but your goal to die a peaceful death will never come true. You are now a half-breed beta werewolf.' She concluded, allowing for Higgins' gaze to bulge.