67: He looks a lot like you.
**Bane pov**
I woke to the taste of blood in my mouth and dirt caked between my teeth. It wasn’t hers blood, thank the Goddess, it wasn’t hers.
But the taste in my mouth was hard to explain. Metallic, sour and unfamiliar, like rust and the stench of old times.
My ribs screamed with every breath, and my face felt half torn open. When I blinked against the sun filtering through the trees, for a second there, I feared I was still trapped inside the monster who had made my body his and ruled everything like it was his own.
However, as I sucked in another painful breath, I realized that the world wasn’t burning, there weren’t black streaks covering my vision and the now familiar weight of helplessness didn’t force down on my chest.
I raised my hands slowly, they looked like my own, no blackness covering my skin. I blinked and looked around - she was gone. Just.. gone.
Panic surged through me before I could stop to think rationally. I scrambled up, nearly collapsing again when pain lanced through my leg. I hissed, dragging myself upright using a tree trunk. Bark split under my claws, no, fingers. My own fingers, not his.
I was alone in my own body again and Goddess, did I love the silence.
No whispers, no gnawing need, no burn in my throat demanding blood, demanding to get her. All I could feel was pain - real, surging through my body with every breath I took. As much as I hated it, I fucking loved it because it was mine and he wasn’t claiming it as he had claimed my body like the parasite he was.
I stumbled forward, dragging my limp leg, not sure which direction was home, but needing to move.
Deep down, I knew he wasn’t gone - just sleeping. The monster inside me was dormant for now. I could still feel him, sleeping peacefully as if he hadn’t just tried to get rid of the only good thing in my life.
As I struggle to limp away from the forest clearing, I recall the moment I saw her. For the first time since Zion had helped her escape, I caught a glimpse of her and I swear, Aife looked even more beautiful than I remembered her to be.
My Aife.
The shockwave had hit me like holy fire, fast and sharp as it cut through enough to let me see beyond what he allowed me to witness.
I hadn’t known how much I needed to see her until I did. It was just a flicker of a second - her face, her eyes wide and alive. She looked terrified, but fiercer than ever before. And fuck, she stood there in silver light like some ancient Goddess reborn right before my eyes.
When she looked at me, I saw recognition and then, right after, she was gone. The next moment, I was on the ground and the monster was asleep.
I knew that I didn’t move now, didn’t get home, he would break through any obstacle to get to her. I couldn’t let him, couldn’t allow it to happen.
The next few miles were a blur of agony and instinct. My leg was useless, my face crusted with dried blood, and half my skin felt raw from something I didn’t remember happening. But I moved, one step at a time, one breath after the next.
By the time the estate came into view, I collapsed just past the edge of the clearing. I heard the guards shout in the distance and soon after, someone grabbed me and tried to haul me to my feet. The world around me spun, I had no idea if I had any food prior to what happened, but I sure as fuck felt like I was about to throw up.
When I came to senses, somewhat, I was on my back, there was a rough cloth shoved under my head and somewhere next to me, still distant, I could hear a voice shout, “he’s alive, awake! Get the others. Now!”
I coughed up blood, tasted it in my mouth as I turned my head to the side to spit it out. “Thane,” I coughed, “Torin, Kieran.”
After a tense moment, I saw three shadows until they hovered over me. I could finally see them without the sun blinding me. Thane stood the nearest, sharp-eyed and silent as always. Next to him stood Torin, his jaw was tense with what I assumed was worry. And Kieran stood aside, his arms crossed like always like when he didn’t know what to do with them.
Thane crouched next to me, slapping his hand on my shoulder, making me grit my teeth in pain. “Alpha. You’re back. We didn’t think we’d see you again after you broke out of the cells.”
I tried to sit up and failed miserably as I hissed in pain. “The rogue. The forest. I saw her. I saw Aife. She’s alive.” I gasped, unable to form sentences anymore.
Torin blinked. “What?”
“I saw her,” I gasped, trying to sit fully. “Just for a second. The fucker attacked her. No, no, it attacked someone else, a rogue, I think. She was there, she tried to fight the bastard. I got a glimpse of her, barely, but still. And shit, she glowed, I swear I didn’t dream it, she glowed.”
Kieran stiffened, glancing around at others as if he was silently relaying the message that I had lost my mind. “You’re sure?”
“I felt her.” I whispered, looking down at my blood-covered hands. “I felt her before he found her there. I tried to fight back, I don’t remember much, but I know I clawed at my own ribs to hold him back with pain, I even broke my leg on purpose just to slow him down, but the fucker forced a shift. Shit, it wasn’t my wolf.” I swallowed hard and looked up at them. “How is it possible? It wasn’t my wolf.” I whispered.
All I get as a reaction is silence. None of them reacted the way I expected. There was no relief, shock or questions, just nothing and a few occasional glances exchanged between them.
Thane spoke first as he stood slowly, “you said.. The thing inside you, Alpha, it’s dormant now?”
I nodded weakly and choked out, “sleeping. But not for long.”
“We don’t have much time then,” Torin muttered.
“Exactly,” I said sharply. “I need your help now that I know where she is. Someone has to move her to a safe location, one I or he doesn’t know. We have to keep her safe. I don’t know how long it’ll stay buried, but if it wakes up again and she’s nearby-”
“Alpha,” Kieran cut me off with a growl. “You sure it’s really you in there?”
I blinked at him. “What?”
“Because last time you were ‘you,’ you still murdered twelve of our own,” Kieran growled, taking a step closer to me.
“That wasn’t-” I tried to protest, my throat tightened as I recalled a snippet of what he did. “You know that wasn’t me, Kieran.”
“Do we, Alpha?” Thane asked. “Because he looks a lot like you, he walks like you and he kills with your hands. Must I remind you that it’s not always the black strokes that appear on your skin when he’s in control?”
“I fought him! I’ve been fighting him for months. You think I wanted this?!” I growled at them, desperate for at least someone to believe me.
All I cared about was that I needed to get Aife somewhere safe, far away enough so he couldn’t reach her ever again. I’d rather burn in the flames of hell than let that bastard get close to her ever again.
I half expected my men to speak up, to tell me they believed me and they would stand by me, but instead, what I got wasn’t an answer - it was a fist right in my gut.
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