Chapter 16

DAY 2
Layton slowly approached me, his eyes never leaving mine. He looked at me as if he was amused, excited even. It made me wonder how Layton would actually look at me if he wasn’t possessed by Mavros and his demonic wolf. As he got closer, all I could think of was how screwed up my life was. Nothing ever went my way.

“You came.” He spoke calmly, looking over my shoulder and to where Aspro stood with Rhea. “And you’re not alone.”

“I want my brother.” I demanded, matching the intensity in his eyes.

“You are not in a position to be making demands, Valeria.”

I pursed my lips in disapproval, still glaring at him. “What do I do?”

“What?”

“What do I have to do before you give him to me?” I repeated, lowering my gaze. Even though the beastly part of me hated how I was submitting in a way, I had no choice. Pride would get me nowhere right now. He had the power.

He seemed taken aback by my offer for a moment and then he smiled. A full, genuine smile.

“You really care about him that much?” He looked over his shoulder to where Zayne was and then to my face. “Why? What’s so special about him?”

Looking over at Zayne, I answered. “Everything about him is special. He’s my family, my twin, the one I would love to tease every day I wake up. Zayne is special because there’s no one in the world who could ever replace him.”

Zayne smiled a little at my words and then looked down after inhaling deeply.

“All the more reason for me to kill him.” He said bluntly. From the look in his eyes, I knew he wasn’t kidding around. He really wanted to kill my brother.

I grabbed his hand when he made to walk away from me. I would not give up easily.

“There has to be something.” I breathed, “Please.”

He pulled his hand to himself as if I had burned him with my touch. Having someone look at me with so much distaste made me feel worthless and dirty.

“I want nothing from you.”

With that said, I watched in horror as he clenched his fist and at that same moment, all the blood in my brother’s face drained. His eyes looked as if they were going to pop out of their sockets. The psychopath in front of me didn’t take his eyes off me as he drained life from my brother. I would not have it.

I swiftly grabbed Hannah’s dagger and stabbed him with it faster than he could blink. If he had seen it coming and decided to do nothing, I did not know. As I pushed the dagger deeper into his stomach, a tear rolled down my cheek. When I felt a hand touch mine that was wrapped around the dagger, I turned to the side to see that Aspro was the one who had blanketed my hands with his.

“I’m sorry, Hunter.” He had said before pushing the blade upwards, slicing Layton in half.

I stepped back and watched Layton’s body fall to the ground with a thud. He was dead. My mate was dead, and I had killed him. I chose my brother over him. It wasn’t a really hard decision to make because Zayne was there for me before I found Layton. My twin was by my side since day one. He never left me. I knew he would have done the same for me.

“I’m so-”

I cut Aspro off as I ran to my brother. He was lying on the ground and shaking violently with blood running down his nose.

“Zayne,” I pulled his head onto my lap and moved his hair to the side so I could properly see his face. He was so pale, and it scared me. “Stay with me, please.”

Something tried to force its way into my head and when I let the person in, I immediately regretted it. “You chose me.” Zayne said, closing his eyes shut. “I know I’m breaking my promise by leaving so soon, but I know I’ll be close to you always because I will always be in your heart.”

Tears rolled down my cheeks at his words. “Stop saying things like that. You are not leaving me alone. You will stay alive and make me want to rip my hair out.”

A sob broke through my throat when he smiled. “I love you, Valeria.” He inhaled deeply before exhaling and my breath caught in my throat. “Always.”

Fitia knew she caused me pain and as if to mock me, rain began to fall.

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat and pulled my brother’s unmoving body close to me. He wasn’t dead. Yes, Zayne couldn’t leave me behind. Father had been strict when he warned him to always stay by my side. He had told me the same too, and I was keeping my own end of the bargain. He should, too.

“Get up, let’s go home.” I said to Zayne, pushing his hair aside. “I don’t want to catch a cold because of you.”

“Valeria.” Azura called, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I looked up at her with a smile even though the rain was falling right on my face, slapping me ruthlessly. “Yes?”

“He’s not going home with you.”

I pushed her hand off and turned to look at my brother. “He is. His wounds must hurt, that’s all.” I assured her, “Give him a minute and he’ll say something stupid.”

“He’s dead, Valeria.” This time around, it was Rhea. Like before, she stood in that same spot, unmoving.

I looked around, noticing the pack members who had not left were looking at me as if I had gone crazy. Some had looks of pity on their faces, but I thought nothing of it. I didn’t care if they were staring. I just needed Zayne to get up. The ground was cold and wet.

“Zayne, get up.” I rocked his body. “I’ll smack you.”

I had expected him to immediately get up and when he didn’t, a frown made its way to my face and then I laughed really hard. I knew why he wasn’t waking up now.

“You think I’m joking, don’t you?”

No response. No movement.

I heard Aspro sigh, and suddenly; I was lifted off the ground without warning. This made Zayne hit his head really hard on the ground.

“Are you insane?” I screeched, hitting him so he could put me down. “You made him hurt his head, you psychopath!”

He ignored me and gave Rhea a look. She nodded before going over to Zayne’s body and touching his forehead.

I rolled my eyes at the action. “He doesn’t have a fever, lady. He’s just exhausted.”

“This is hard for me to watch.” Hannah slapped a hand over her eyes and turned around. “I can’t watch her act like this. It’s unnatural.”

“You’ll be fine when you wake up.” I heard Aspro say before his hand went to the back of my neck. “This is too much torture for you.”

Those were the last words I heard on that rainy day.

<<<>>>

Boy, I had the craziest dream ever.

In that dream, I killed my mate with Aspro’s help and Zayne died. How insane!

Rhea was there, even Azura. They tied my brother up, and he was bleeding from his nose and mouth. Perhaps it was Fitia’s way of showing me what she had planned for me. She could plan all she wants. But nothing in this world was going to take Zayne away from me. Not even death.

I mean, we promised each other we would be there for one another forever. I had told him I would be at his wedding and all. Be his children aunty and spoil his kids. We had made plans together, and not even Fitia could ruin it. We would come out on top together. V+Z forever!

I sat up on the bed and looked around only to find out I was somehow back in my room. How was that possible? The last place I recalled being in was the forest where I was told Zayne was in search of me.

Zayne.

Why couldn’t I feel my bond with him? Strange.

As I pushed myself off the bed, Logan walked into my room, wearing a black shirt and jeans. Everything on him was black.

“Thank goodness you’re here.” I put on the fluffy slippers on the floor, “How did I end up here?”

“You don’t recall?” He asked, stepping forward. It seemed like there was something he wanted to tell me, but it was hard to. What was it?

I shook my head. “Am I supposed to remember something?”

He looked at me with pity, and that seemed to trigger something in my memory. The faces of people staring at me like he did, the rain hitting my body. The rain falling on Zayne’s lifeless body.

It wasn’t a dream.

It was real, and my twin had left me.

“He left.”