Athena Crimson ✓

CHAPTER 45

(Athena's POV)

"STOP!" I scream and Victor stops immediately and turns to look at me.

"Love, he needs to die... Mom take her inside" Victor says calmly and turns to aim the wooden stake again.

"His mate is alive! STOP!" I scream again as I get up and quickly run to Victor. Victor takes me in his arms. I can feel Lucius' eyes staring at me with disgust.

"Lucius' mate is alive" I tell again.

"What?" Victor asks confused as he pulls me away, putting more distance between us and Lucius.

"I had a vision... I can explain. His mate... she is born-again. He needs to save her. He can actually save her this time. Don't kill him." I plead trying to reason with him. When he doesn't respond, I go on and explain the premonition to Victor as shortly as possible, fully aware that Lucius is listening.

"The universe is giving him a second chance. And this time he can save his mate and even marry her. Please Victor, let him go..." I tell him.

"You wretched woman...you are trying to do what Agatha did to me aren't you? giving me hope... Only to torture me. What kind of satisfaction do you get in seeing me go crazy? I can bet that you didn't even have a vision. You are a lying psycho... You are such a..." Lucius gets interrupted when Z throws a punch to his face.

"Athena, I believe you... But that doesn't mean I will let him live. He is too dangerous. There is no saying that he will become sane again after meeting his mate. Also, I don't want anyone threatening my mate's life, to live." Victor tells me grimly.

"Yes! Kill me! Don't listen to her. Kill me and put an end to my misery. Your mate just wants to enjoy seeing me suffer. KILL ME" Lucius screams.

I have had enough, I walk towards Lucius, and give him a tight slap, taking him by surprise. Victor is quick to come to my side and pulls me away from Lucius, creating enough gap between us and Lucius again.

Protective Alpha! I am not complaining... Back to important issues...

"How dare you?" Lucius sneers

"SHUT UP! You blithering idiot." Even I am surprised by the tone of my voice. I continue, "You killed my Best Friend. You killed her fiancé. You stalked me and tried to kill me. You killed Agatha. You have injured so many of our pack members. All for what? The only mistake Agatha did was finding you and telling you about the premonition, in hopes that you will get to your mate in time. But you failed. Killing other people in the name of getting revenge won't calm your craving for blood. You are doing all of this because you hate yourself, for not being able to get to your mate in time."

Tears start rolling down my cheeks, "I have my life on the line here. You may kill me the moment we set you free. My mate wants to kill you and won't hesitate to do so if I don't stop him. All of this madness will stop if you die. Still, I am willing to give you your life back to you. Because, I pity you. Because, I will never want to be in your shoes. I can't imagine the pain you went through when you lost your mate in front of your own eyes. Now there is a second chance to save your mate, I don't want you losing that chance as well. I don't want your mate to die, when you can save her. You didn't look crazy in the premonition. Your eyes were not red. You saved and married your mate in the vision. I don't want you to lose a chance to live a happy life, as a sane man with your mate. I don't want you to lose this chance, not when I know that things will turn out to be better"

Victor hugs me as I sob. Lucius looks confused, "I didn't kill Agatha" he mutters

"What?" I ask, wiping my tears.

"Agatha lived in hiding for several years. When I finally got to her, she had died of old age." He tells us.

I turn to Victor, "Victor please, let him go"

"Its too dangerous Athena, I will not risk your life" He, tells me exasperated.

"Victor, just imagine, if it was us... even if you lose your mind, wouldn't you want a second chance?" I ask him

He growls and hugs me tight.

"Your mate is right Athena. Let's say I believe your premonition. But if I can't save my mate again, then I won't be able to stop myself from wanting to kill you. Don't let me go. I don't want to see my mate dying again. I definitely don't want to see it happen just because I was late to get to her. I can't take it. Not anymore" Lucius sobs.

"You won't let your mate die. I saw you saving her from the snow leopard. You even married her." I tell him and he still is unconvinced.

Z starts talking, "Luna? A snow leopard you say... Are you sure? Because I have heard that snow leopards don't attack humans generally."

"I don't know about that Z. But I am sure it was a snow leopard. His mate took shelter in a cave. Maybe the snow leopard tried to attack her because she came to its den. Maybe it was scared and got defensive. When Lucius threw it aside, it didn't fight with him, it just hissed and went away." I tell him.

"Okay. This is what I can do" Victor starts, "Athena, you have never asked me anything before. So, listening to you and trusting your judgement is something I want to do. But I also want you to be safe. Lucius got inside the borders in spite of the shield, there is no saying that, he won't try to get in again..."

"Alpha permission to speak" The witch asks.

"Yes?" Victor asks

"The shield didn't work for Lord Lucius because he is an ancient. But we can make a shield over the existing one using a special potion that uses a bit of his blood. That will effectively prevent him from entering" The witch tells us.

"Are you sure?" I ask

"Yes Luna, I am sure. We can even test it before you let him go." She tells.

"Alright, draw some blood from him and make the potion and create the shield. We will let him go after testing the effectiveness of the border." Victor says and I finally smile.

"Lucius... I will be honest with you. I don't trust you one bit. But I trust my mate. And I agree with her point that everyone deserves a second chance. Which is why I will leave you alive. But know this. If you don't find your mate within 3 days' time or if your mate dies again, I will personally hunt you down and make you suffer until you regret the day you were born. Don't try anything stupid or act smart. Just find your mate and live your life. Don't bother us." Victor tells Lucius and he nods.

It takes about an hour to take Lucius' blood samples and make the new potion and meanwhile, I explained my vision again to Lucius so that he can find the mountain and get to the cave as quickly as possible. Turns out there is a mountain range nearby where a skiing festival is being conducted at the moment. We are hoping his mate is there. It is early morning now, we just finished testing the new shield by forcefully pushing Lucius through the boundary, making him scream in pain. It is barbaric to do so honestly. But Victor couldn't be convinced anymore. So, I choose to look at the brighter side- which is Lucius remaining alive. Also, Nora and the guards who were lying unconscious beside him, were alive and well. Of course, they were injured badly. But they healed quickly.

Finally, the witches make a small opening in the shield and the pack warriors push him out of the pack border. Lucius is almost healed now and leaves quickly.

I turn to Victor, "Thank you for trusting me" I tell him.

He pulls me in for a kiss and lingers for a moment longer than necessary, "I trust you but I don't want to regret this decision, Athena. I really hope he finds his mate and his sanity this time."

"You wont regret it, Victor" I tell him and he swoops me into his arms, bridal style and walks towards the pack house.

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