Moonless

Chapter 37

AN; This chapter is a little intense, so a trigger warning is now in effect. If you are triggered by themes of suicide I suggest skipping over this chapter. At the bottom. I  do provide a short summary of what happens if you still want to know what happens in the chapter, without some of the more triggering imagery or if you are just confused. The summary states things more plainly. Anyways thanks for the 2956 reads and the 486 votes!
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The air in my ears reverberated with the sounds of my heartbeat. He knew I was Grayson's mate, there was no doubt about it now.  Even though I dreaded this moment , it was sort of relieving, in a way, that it was all going to be over soon.

"Do you know why I'm here?" he asked.

"To kill me," I replied the words spilling out of my mouth before they could be stopped.

Alpha Luka crossed the room and sat on the cot in front of me. The springs creaked under his weight. The only detail I could make out of him was the suit that he wore. It looked expensive and I wondered why he hadn't changed out of it before coming up here. It would be stained with my blood very soon, I had no doubt.

He had something in his hand and when he extended it to me, I saw that it was a picture in a metal frame. But I could not make out the image within it in the darkroom.

The Alpha reached over and turned on the lantern at the end of his cot and the room was cast in eerie, long shadows.

It was in the dim light from the lantern, that I was reminded how much he looked like Grayson, and I hated it.   My eyes were also able to now see the picture in my hands. It was of a dark-eyed woman with thick brown hair that framed her face in fine feathers. She had a small upturned nose and wore a wide grin on her lips. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought it was a picture of myself."

"This is your mother. She was friends with your former Luna and my mate. Although I must admit, Helen Gray hadn't crossed my mind in quite a while. That was until I correctly assumed that my son's mate was from her bloodline. So, I had her picture brought to me tonight, and the family resemblance was uncanny between the two of you. And that's when I connected my son's unusual interest in you and his mysteries mate. Don't think I hadn't noticed that he seemed to always end up in the same place as you."

Grayson you idiot. My mate who I was never going to see again. You couldn't protect me, see. He had figured it out so easily.

I stared down at the picture numbly. In any other scenario, I would have been overjoyed to finally see the face of the woman that loved me so much that she had died for me. But her face was now the thing that just ended the life she had desperately tried to save.

"So I see that you carry the other abilities of your line too," he pointed to my head and my hand wandered up to the spot a scar should have been. "It also explains why my cameras malfunctioning all the time when you were around. Magic use disrupts them," Alpha Grayson's eyes shifted towards the exit.

"There's a bag over beside the door, I want you to go get it. I wouldn't try to escape through. I'm a lot faster than you, and I have Connor waiting for you at the bottom of the stairs."

I set the photo down on the bed beside me and stood up. It almost felt like a dream, while I walked towards the door. If only it could have just been a dream, a nightmare. Even in the dim light, I spotted the red sack waiting for me on the floorboards. I picked it up and held it against my chest. It felt heavy in my cold hands.

I turned when something caught my eye near the window, something golden. The Alpha's back was facing me, and I let my eyes darted towards the window at the opposite end of the room, where the golden image of Liam was watching us from behind its glass. Even though we were on the fourth floor, somehow he stood right outside in the snow drifting down from the dark sky. His green eyes were wide with panic and he was motioning me towards the window.

The Alpha turned to look at me suddenly and I tore my eyes away from him and reclaimed my place on the cot with the red bag now on my lap. At this point, there was little Liam could do to help me. It did make me feel better that he was here, even if it was just in spirit. At least that meant I wouldn't die alone up here with this monster.

The Alpha nodded at the bag. "Open it, see what is inside, take it out," he commanded and I did what he asked.

I reached inside and my fingers wrapped around something small, and I pulled it out. If was a bottle of pills.

"There are sleeping pills and also a rope in there," the Alpha explained. "I figured that I would give you a choice with how you would wish to end your own life. I love my son and my pack, and I know you do too. He'll be able to move on faster once he knows you killed yourself, which is better for the pack. I have no doubt now that he is in Black Lake trying to find a new mate as we speak. Maybe I will allow him to take a few more trips, with the sole purpose of finding a suitable mate."

I took out the rope he had been talking about. It was long, blue, and tightly braided. Its texture felt course in my hand and I imagined it would feel worse around my neck. I laid it across my lap and let my eyes drift back and forth between the pills in my hand and the rope across my legs.

The pills would probably be the least painful, but they could also not work. The rope would work for sure, but it would be horrible for all my friends to come back and find me hanging from the rafters...

"EVERLEE, COME TO ME NOW!" Liam's voice shouted in my head.

I ignored it, even though it came with the strong urge to move towards the window and a growing sensation of pain along my spine.

I knew what I was going to do, and I wouldn't be able to do it if I made a mad dash towards Liam. I was suddenly overcome with a great sense of pride with how calm I felt.  I had decided how I was going to die.

I replace the pill bottle with the photo of my mom.

"Thank you for the picture, "I said.  "I think I made my decision on how I'm going to die."

The Alpha Luka leaned forward to take the photo from and I thrust the picture upwards and slammed it hard into his face. The glass shattered upon impact and in sliced his check.

I jumped to my feet. "Fighting," I said. "That's how I will die."

The Alpha stared up at me in shock while I stood with the broken frame in my hand. The image of my mother drifted from its prison and onto the group, while some of the Alpha's blood dripped onto her face.

I brought the frame down to hit him again, and the next instant, the Alpha exploded into a whirlwind of sharp teeth and white fur.

He lunged at me, now in wolf form, and landed on top of me. The picture frame went flying from my hands and clattered to the floor other side of the room. The Alpha's razor-sharp teeth sank into my arm and tore at my flesh. But I didn't feel it much. My body was already engulfed in pain from ignoring Liam's call.

But still, I meant what I said. I would die fighting.  And so  I clawed at the Alpha's bright yellow eyes with my uninjured arm, even though I knew it was pointless. His growls filled my ears and I snarled back at him.

So preoccupied with this last task of mine, that I didn't notice my body was being pulled across the floor by an unseen force until my back slammed against the window and it shattered. The Alpha yanked his teeth from my skin, just in time to stare down at me from the broken window, while I fell backward into the night.
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Summary; Alpha Luka comes in and shows Aurelia a picture of her mom in a picture frame, and explains how this is how he figured out she was Grayson's mate. He then gives her a bag and a choice of a way she wants to die. Liam appears at the window outside using astral projection and tries to get her to come to the window. She ignores him, even though he commands her to come to him, and the magic of the binding spell starts to take effect. She is relieved he is there with her but doesn't think he can save her.  Aurelia attacks the Alpha with the picture frame because she chooses to die fighting. Alpha Luka shifts into a wolf and attacks her, and she continues to fight back. She is so consumed with this that she doesn't notice she is being pulled towards the window by the magic of the binding spell until she is slammed into the window. The window shatters and the Alpha lets go in time to watch her be dragged out the window into the night.