Clentine:
Now that everything had been decided and I knew we had lost too much, I chose to move forward. I wanted to let go of my initial anger, but the grief of losing my child kept rising inside .
I never even got the chance to cherish my pregnancy. That loss hollowed sothing inside .
We were still standing there, discussing what to do next, when distant screams reached us. They were not the sounds of an attack. They were screams of grief.
Fauna reacted first. She drew in a sharp breath and pointed toward the sound.
"That... that’s my sister’s voice," Fauna whispered, her words shaking.
We all stared at her. What would her sister be doing here?
"That’s Mariana’s voice," she insisted, urgency tightening her expression.
Hearing her sister in a place like this was a shock on its own.
"Wait a minute," Haiden said, grabbing her from behind when she tried to run. "This is the North. Anything can happen here. Sotis monsters mimic the voices of your loved ones."
He tried to reason with her, but she kept shaking her head.
"No. That’s her voice. I just need to see once," she pleaded, turning toward him.
After a brief exchange of looks, we agreed it was better to check.
"She’s right, Haiden. If it’s a monster, we need to know which one. Rember, ignorance is not a blessing," I reminded him.
When my eyes shifted to Ian, I noticed he was smiling.
"It’s good to have you back," he said, giving a small nod.
I returned the nod, steadying myself.
We moved toward the direction of the screams. By the ti we arrived, the cries had stopped, but we knew exactly where they had co from.
We did not have to go far. The scene was already in front of us.
My steps slowed when I saw soone sitting with his back to us. Three dead bodies lay around him.
Mariana stood in front of him, facing us.
"Mariana!" Fauna called out, rushing ahead of us.
Mariana lifted her head and narrowed her eyes as if she were trying to process what she was seeing.
The two sisters fell into each other’s arms and began to cry.
I walked forward and stopped in front of the man sitting on the ground.
"Yorick..." I murmured, my fist tightening without warning.
I had not expected to find him here.
He slowly raised his head. A broken smile ford on his face.
"Look, Clentine. I lost my entire family too," he said quietly.
A surge of heat rushed through my body.
Beside him lay his brother, the one who had turned into a monster. The sa brother who had once tried to devour mine.
His mother was dead. His father lay nearby.
Yorick sat between them.
The others gathered around . I knew Haiden and Troy felt sympathy for him, but no one stepped forward to comfort him because he did not deserve comfort.
It felt like an opportunity had been placed in my hands.
I strode toward him. I pulled the dagger from his father’s chest and pressed it against Yorick’s neck.
"You know why I’m killing you," I told Yorick, my emotions spiraling out of control.
He was the man I had once felt a mate bond with. He was the man I had once dated.
Of course I was emotional, and it was not my fault. Tears stread down my face, carrying both my anger and everything else I had buried.
"I know. You have every right," he replied, holding my gaze.
"Clentine, think about this once," Haiden urged.
I turned my face slightly and noticed Troy giving a small nod. Even then, I did not listen.
My finger tightened on the trigger. I do not know whether I would have kept my mind steady until the end, because Mariana suddenly stepped between us.
She moved in front of Yorick and folded her hands in front of .
"Please don’t kill my mate," she begged, dropping to her knees.
The tears spilling from her eyes slowly forced my hand downward.
"There’s a bag. It has files in it. You’ll find a diary with Yorick’s na in it," she continued, her voice shaking. "Everything his parents did to him is written there." she cried.
"He was under their control," Mariana added quickly in his defense, while Yorick sat in silence.
He looked too numb to react.
Fauna ca to her sister’s side and placed a hand on her shoulder. Mariana remained on her knees in front of .
I did not know they were mates, but the fresh marks on her neck told enough. They had already marked each other.
What shocked was that they had not waited for their second chance mate. They could have rejected and chosen a second chance, but instead they hurt and seed to believe that saying sorry would fix everything.
"I swear those files contain everything his parents did. The largest file is about Yorick," Mariana insisted.
I stepped back.
"He’s been under their control since he was five. They shaped him the way they wanted," she explained. "Do you rember how Charles beca a monster? One of the dicines they gave the children backfired. The sa thing could have happened to Yorick. They kept him on those dications constantly."
As she spoke, my anger began to fade. I forced myself to think clearly.
"You were only there for a few days. Imagine what they did to him. He lived in it since he was born," she said softly.
The pain inside had not disappeared, but sothing else surfaced.
I suddenly rembered.
Yorick never gave the dicine. He only pretended to.
He had deceived his parents for .
And because of that, they attacked him and drugged him right in front of .
Then I rembered how Yorick had fought against them to protect . I rembered how he had argued with his mother, telling her he had been drugged as well.
My head slowly lowered. I dropped to my knees.
Mariana began sobbing harder. Then she turned and wrapped her arms around her mate.
He had been numb until then, but the mont he closed his eyes, he broke down and held her tightly.
Ian ca and sat beside . He pulled into his arms from the side.
I rested my cheek against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. The steady rhythm grounded .
I noticed Troy reached for Leysa, while Haiden wrapped his arms around Fauna as well.
All of us stood there, mates holding each other, searching for comfort in familiar arms.
When the hatred finally drained from our hearts, clarity followed. We realized we were trapped in the North.
And the worst part was that the dangerous ones were still plotting against the mainland.
User Comments
0 comments from readers