Alpha Axton swallowed and made his way into the room, closing the door noiselessly behind him.
"Never in my life did I think the great Axton would be so fear stricken on seeing me. Death does have its advantages."
Alpha Axton smiled as he took the rocking chair, then turned his eyes to Nicholas. "Will you give him back?"
Selina shook her head. "Why would I? I only kept him alive for a day like this."
Alpha Axton tried to hide the agitation he felt. "I presume you are not here to chat with me."
"Always so straight to the point. Be it with the knife, or the mouth." Selina said, then stood up and walked to him. "You are all injured...the stab in your hand...the burns on your fingers and back...all for a woman?"
He nodded and stood, towering above her. "She is not just any woman."
"Same to me too. She is not just any girl...she is my girl. How melancholic, right?" She gave a small laugh. "Here," She said, pointing to Nicholas' lifeless body. "This is my gift to you. And to him for taking my child."
"Knowing you, you probably left her." Alpha Axton said, his patience running low.
"You do not know a thing about me. If you did, you would have preferred to stay with the curse. And yes, I did leave her. What am I to do with the spawn of a human, a result of a mistake? She did not even have a single drop of my craft in her." She said, then turned to the door.
The lights in the room slowly diminished as she walked away. "Let us see, Axton. Who wins in the end." And with that, she cleared off. Like she was never there.
Alpha Axton released the breath he didn't even know he was holding, and released his clenched fists. His palms had turned white from the pressure of his nails digging into them.
He didn't bother talking to Nicholas or trying to wake him up. That message was the purpose of his soul and now that it's done, she has taken it with her. It was cruel, but he wasn't any different.
He slowly left the room, and went to Natalia when was still asleep. He arranged her hair slowly, then lay beside her, wrapping his arms around her as she fit perfectly into him. He would hold her like that till the morning, to prepare himself for the inevitable sight of her losing her mind.
It came earlier that he expected, and the night of the eclipse cleared away to reveal a beautiful dawn.
He hadn't blinked even once through the night, his mind filled with the dread of the morning. Nothing in his life had prepared him to break the news of death, and he wasn't sure how to start now.
"Good morning, Natalia." He said to her once she stirred, the coolness of his voice doing nothing to betray the fear in his heart.
She turned to face him, her eyes half closed her body stretching. "What happened last night?"
She mumbled, her eyelids fluttering open.
"I brought you home. It wasn't safe back at the pack, so I brought you home."
She finally opened her eyes, and smiled up at him. "Was it too hard?"
He lowered his eyes. He didn't feel much of it before he brought her..but after that...his breath stuck in his throat as his eyes filled.
Never in his life has he experienced the feel of tearing up. But today...
He looked up to her and smiled. To hide the tears that were filling in his eyes.
"It was not so hard...you were really light."
She smiled and kissed his forehead. "Thank you. Have you met my father?"
His tears froze in his eyes. He shook his head slowly as he bit down on his lips to stop them from quivering.
"It was...it was so late by the time we got here...I decided to just let him sleep."
"Let me check on him. He should have woken up by now, right?"
Alpha Axton nodded. "He should have woken up."
She lifted herself to a seating position, and then with a small pat on his shoulder, she started to move away.
"Natalia." He said and turned to her as she stopped.
"Yes?"
"Can you please stay here for a while? I want to..." He took a deep breath. "I want to breathe you in."
She watched his eyes as he lowered them, tears threatening to spill once again.
"Fine, I will stay with you. Father can take care of himself anyway." She pulled herself to him and brought him close, keeping his head right below her neck.
His eyes filled as he held her closer, feeling her heart beating in her chest, and his tears spilling down his face.
"You are not hurt anywhere, are you?"
She shook her head. "Who would hurt me when you are right here?"
Tears filled his eyes again. He didn't know how to contain the deep sadness he felt. It was something he did not feel often, something he thought he would be far from.
He slowly lifted his eyes to her, and he hated the worry he saw take over her eyes. It meant she saw the broken version of him he wanted to keep concealed, the part of him he never, in a thousand years, expected her to see.
"Is something wrong?" She asked, touching his cheek and gazing into his eyes.
He shook his head. "I just...last night it was...I was so scared." He was, but he knew he could protect her.
He wished he had been able to do the same for her father, even though he didn't really care much for him, he had raised her and she was bound to love him.
"But you protected me through it, Axton. There is nothing to be scared of anymore."
He nodded as she pulled him to her again, letting his head rest on her shoulder. He wished he would be able to comfort her like this when she eventually found her father's body. He wished she would lean on him and cry this way, and he would promise to always be there for her.
He wished for a lot of things, but slowly he was starting to believe none of them came true.