The Monster Within - Book 1

Chapter 47

I finally breath, thinking the nightmare is at a close when I see something shiny in the hand of the hunter. Before I can call to Apollo to warn him, Rigel buries a silver blade into the side of my beast, causing Apollo to release his hold.

'No!' I scream as I watch Apollo hit the floor.

The hunter scrambles to his feet, reaching for his weapon as he turns to face Apollo.

'You should have run while you had a chance.' He threatens him as he aims the gun to his head.

Then a low, vicious growl comes from the woods next to me as a grey, raggedy wolf comes bounding out, running at Rigel. I watch in confusion at the mystery animal that has come to our aid. Within a flash the hunter spins on the spot, raising his gun in the air, before letting the trigger go. Another bang echoes through the clearing as our saviour hits the floor.

'Fucking animals.' The hunter growls as he walks up to the grey wolf, kicking it to make sure it's dead.

When it doesn't move he turns back to Apollo. As I watch my wolf writhing in pain on the floor with the blade sticking out of his side I feel my skin start to heat. A prickly sensation run through my body as Rigel walks up to Apollo.
My mate looks into my eyes as he accepts what is coming his way. I can feel him pushing on our bond to try and get me to move, but my body is still. I can't move and it's not just because Archer's body lays lifeless across my lap.

'Three wolves in one night, I guess this is my lucky day.' Rigel chuckles as he raises the gun to Apollo again.

I see red as I'm unable to control my temper. The anger rips through me as I feel the change takes over my body. With Apollos eyes still on me I feel myself shift quicker than I've ever transformed before. I push Archer from my lap and stand on shaky legs as I start to push myself closer to where Apollo lays. As I trudge forward my body shifts. My bones break and realign quicker than I've ever seen even Apollo shift. With Rigel's back still to me I hope I can reach him before he pulls the trigger. Before he takes away my reason for living. Before he can take a part of my soul away from me, leaving me with a missing part of my very being.

'Just before I kill you I want you to imagine the things I'm going to do to your little girlfriend.' Rigel teases Apollo. 'She's going to wish I'd killed her as well by the time I'm finished with her. I'm going to make her scream my name when I do whatever I want to her.'

All Apollo can do as he lays there with a rifle aimed at his skull is to grunt. The silver blade making it impossible for him to move as the excruciating pain racks through his large, strong body.

'Don't worry, she'll enjoy some parts of it, I'm sure.' He continues to taunt.

Apollo tries to move as he bares his teeth to Rigel, but the pain draws out a gut wrenching howl.

'I guess I should put you out of your misery. We're not all animals around here.' Rigel says, readying himself to squeeze the trigger.

I watch as his finger presses down on the trigger, causing me to throw my body at him in one last attempt to save the love of my life. In that moment the wolf in me is unleashed as I come hurtling through the air at him. My teeth latch on to his arm, biting down enough for him to lose his aim as a loud snap rings in my ears.

The gun goes off, but thankfully towards the sky and away from Apollo. Rigel lets out a surprised and pained scream as my teeth break through his skin and bone, liberating his arm from the rest of his body. With fear in Rigel's eyes and blood dripping around my mouth I stalk Rigel, circling him as he scrambles on the floor, holding onto his bloody wound.

'Please.' The hunter begs, but without another thought I throw myself towards him and sink my teeth into his throat, ripping out a large chunk of flesh as blood streams down his body and over my white coat.

I stand there and watch Rigel's body squirm on the floor as he grasps his throat. The reality of what is happening to him starting to set in.

'Cassandra.' I hear a small voice call from near by, diverting my attention away from the dying hunter.

I didn't even realise I'd shifted back to human form until I kneel down to Apollos side, running my hands over his human form to see if he's okay.

'The knife.' He tells me, looking to his side. 'Pull it.'

I run my hand over to his side and grasp it, pulling it out quickly. My skin burns at the touch of the blade, so I drop it to the floor quickly, confused. Apollos head tips back as relief washes over him.

'Are you... are you okay?' I ask.

'It was silver. I couldn't heal with it still inside me.' He explains.

I let out a breath I didn't even realise I was holding in as his wound starts to close before my eyes.

 'I'll be fine now.'

Everything suddenly takes hold of me. The fear of almost dying, the thought of losing my mate, the thought of having to explain to Apollo what happened to his brother...

'Apollo... I thought...' I start to say before tears break free.

'I know, but we're okay now.' He tells me.

'No... we're not Apollo. It's Archer.' I tell him as I move to the side, revealing Archers lifeless body on the floor.

Apollo doesn't say anything. He pushes himself up from the floor, through the pain and drags himself over to his brother. He pulls him into his arms and rocks him on the floor.

'He saved me.' Is all I can say. I want Apollo to know how he died. I want him to know the selfless heroic thing Archer did for me in his last moments on this Earth. That in the end, I didn't think of him as a monster, or as a bully but as the brother I never had.

As Apollo lays with his brother in his arms my eyes wonder to where the grey wolf lies, only to find the grey wolf was no longer there. The body of a man lay face down on the ground. His head to the side as I look into the eyes of a familiar face. My breathing hitches and my hand shoots up to over the sob that wants to escape as I look to the man who abandoned me before I was even born. The man who brought the hunter into our lives, but also the same man who sacrificed himself to try and save us. My father.