Before the Fall

Chapter Fifty-One - The Next Time

Namjoon

"You...lose."

I kept my eyes on Li, pouring all of my hatred into my stare. He slowly stood to his feet and with a swift tug, he jerked Aster up next to him.

My hands itched to be around Li's throat.

"I will give credit where credit is due," he said, raising his voice to be heard through the rain. "But I still have her. So really, who's the loser?"

"You," I said, my mouth sliding up into a smirk.

"For being so intelligent, you sure are a slow learner."

I watched as he casually walked away from me through the rain, Aster stumbling behind him. She was digging her heels into the mud, struggling to get loose. I charged after them, but I was stopped.

A large body plowed into me, knocking me to the earth. It was Sana. She couldn't fully shift, but she definitely had her claws and canines out for blood. My wounds across my chest that had been stretched thin by my fight with Xander, were now torn open once again and I grunted through the pain.

I fought back, shoving her off and trying to scramble after Li again, but she jumped onto my back, her growls and screeches making my ears ring. I was done with all of this.

I grabbed Sana from over my head and dug my claws into her back. They hooked onto her shoulder blades and she screamed as I tossed her over my head and into the mud.

I didn't give her a moment's attention as I turned and called to my men. "Save the survivors! Don't back down!"

All hell immediately broke loose. I saw Jungkook spring from the trees, landing among a group of Li's men. He began tearing into them just as Jin and the rest shifted. Everyone but Taehyung was fighting, leaving him to try and corral the survivors to get them out of harms way.

I turned back to Sana, who had now gotten to her feet. I should have finished her off while she was down.

"Why are you following him, Sana?" I had to ask, even though I knew what her response would be.

"He gave me a new life. He cared about me when no one else did!" she yelled over the thunder, circling me with glowing red eyes.

"He gave you nothing! What kind of life do you have now?"

"How hypocritical of you," she snarled. "You live the same life as me."

I stared her down, trying to anticipate her movements. "There's one big difference between you and me, Sana."

She laughed and began running towards me.

I stuck out my arms and grabbed her shoulders, spinning around with the momentum she had and landing her in the mud on her back. I stomp my boot into Sana's chest, and pressed down, holding her in place.

The snarling and snapping, screaming and shooting, it all filled my head with such frustration and anger. Nothing had worked out for us and as I stared down at Sana, her unrelenting scowl staring back at me, I allowed a coldness to settle on me, an indifference of sorts.

"The big difference between you and me, is I have people who actually care about me," I hissed, leaning down into her face.

And then I raised my foot and dropped it onto her throat.

* * *

Taehyung

Li's men lay scattered around the clearing, some missing limbs, others missing their entrails. Well, I can't say they were missing when they were clearly laying in a heap beside them.