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~WAR~
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They were too late, just as Malcom had feared. The battle with Duvein and his men had cost them precious time and no matter how hard they ran, they couldn’t make up for it. When their group arrived on Vincent’s territory, the town was silent but the smell of blood was fresh. Men littered the ground, mostly old kills but a few were fresh. Sirus and his men were there, but the likelihood that they were alive was not great. From the look of things, Vincent had gone on a complete rampage when he figured out that most of his people had chosen to leave him. Malcom could only guess that he would have interrogated anyone who crossed his path. He likely killed whoever didn’t give him the answers he was looking on the spot or tortured to near death. Tatiana gave her men the signal to spread out to cover more ground. They headed off through the town, but the entire area was deserted. There was no sight of Vincent or any of the men who still pledged their allegiance to him.
Malcom picked up the scent of Sirus and followed it. Walking through the streets of a home he once claimed as his own left him with a heavy feeling. The homes were burned, the air stale with death. He had to keep focused, Sirus was still alive, the further he moved into the town, the stronger his scent was. He found his friend chained in the town’s center. The image was an echo of his last moments in the town, just before his world was taken from him. He remembered when it was his turn to be judged by the tyrant that they called their leader. He walked slowly toward him, noting that it was an obvious trap. There was no one around; if they were anywhere nearby, he would have been able to sense them. He wondered what the end game was. Sirus was gagged and the chains were cutting into his wrists. Malcom managed to remove the restraints without causing him too much pain.
“Mara,” Sirus gasped as soon as the gag was removed. He split blood from his mouth. They had really done a number on the wolf. “He wants Mara. He used me to lure you away from her. He is going to kill her!”
Mara couldn’t help herself. She knew she should keep her mind on the mission, instead; she went back to the place they once claimed as their own, their secret meeting ground, the only place they could meet in secret. When his home was compromised, he would meet her just on the edge of town right outside of the limits of his pack and dangerously close to crossing into the neighboring borders. The risk of it made it that much more exciting. She figured it was safe to make the small detour on her path. If anything happened and Malcom needed her, he would call her and she of course would answer his call. She had to sneak away, because for so many binding reasons, she could never allow Malcom to know what she was up to.
It all had started innocently enough. Years ago, she’d found herself in need of Malcom’s help but he was unable to come to her. The vampire blood works both ways in means of connection between the two parties. Though she could not command him, Malcom could feel when she was near and when she was in trouble, as she often was. The vampire found herself in a shitty place with her back against the wall. She never did find out why he couldn’t come, but Vincent stepped in for him and as a favor to his friend, he saved Mara’s life even though she could tell it went against everything he believed in, he did it for Malcom. If it weren’t for his commitment to the man he once referred to as brother, he would have happily watched her die. Hell, he may have been the one to issue the deathblow. He only did it because Malcom asked him to.
She’d decided to go on a mission to take down a small group of vampires who had gone rogue. This mission went against the wishes of the man she, at the time, called father, the same man whose life she would eventually end. She found herself trapped, and was grossly outnumbered and overpowered. They’d imprisoned her with every intention of ciphering off her blood, something she should have seen coming but her judgment was cloudy. Malcom had been avoiding her, and she’d taken on the mission for the sole purpose of avoiding dealing with his rejection. The power that everyone assumed dwelled within her veins had become their target the moment they realized it was her. Everyone knew that Mara had been created from the true vampire, and she was still relatively young as far as vampires go, so they wouldn’t have much trouble subduing her if they worked together.
Vincent bravely fought through those vampires to get to her. He’d taken a few hits himself, none too severe; he would heal without her aid, but it was too late to get her out of their den, the sun was soon to rise. They were held up, unable to leave the place of their battle as the sun was rising. He stayed with her, and protected her throughout the day. When she woke, he slept and she returned the favor allowing his tired body to heal properly from the small injuries he had. Getting him to trust her and rest was no easy task and even then, he only slept for a few hours. That was how it began, that small exchange of trust.
The first time they were intimate she told herself that it was because of her longing for Malcom. Vincent never satisfied her physically in the way that Malcom had, but there was something more there, a connection she seemed unable to walk away from. Even without the power of her blood, he could call to her and she would come to him. She’d spend hours wrapped up in him. She’d loved it, every moment of it. She wanted nothing more than to be able to remain with him, but there was still Malcom, and he stood in their way even though he had no knowledge of it. Her heart skipped just a bit quicker when she saw him. Her breath caught just a bit sharper, and her eyes lingered just a bit longer. Vincent saw it all. It killed him and she knew it, but she could do nothing to stop it.
She broke his heart. He loved her and yet, when she found out about Malcom and his choice to be with Serene, she was torn up. She couldn’t help it. Vincent couldn’t stand how hurt Mara was over the fact that Malcom had chosen Serene, a human, and yet he couldn’t fathom being with her because to be with her was a disgrace. How could she ever tell Malcom that the reason Vincent lashed out was because of her, that Serene’s death rested on her shoulders? That is why she felt indebted to help him now. It wasn’t because of the bond created through bloodletting, but because she felt entirely responsible for triggering his turmoil. Vincent simply wanted to cause Malcom the pain that loving Mara had caused him.
How could he watch Malcom live his happily ever after? Malcom had not one, but three women who loved him, each one of them wanted to give him the world, and yet he had chosen the lesser of the three, a lowly human! Over his alpha sister, a fucking human over the beauty and power that was Mara! In response to her reaction, Vincent had come to Mara in the very spot she stood with a question to ask her, one she wasn’t prepared to answer.
“You love him, don’t you?” Vincent’s eyes were red from the tears he’d already shed while mourning the loss of his vampire love even before they ever had the chance to say goodbye.
“Vincent, please don’t do this.” Mara pleaded, she knew where her response would lead. If she told him the truth, it would devastate him.
“Answer me!” He yelled. “That’s the reason you rarely come anymore and when you do your mind is not here That is why you ignore when I call! Your heart is not with me, it with him.”
“Yes! Okay,” she refused to cry. “I’m sorry, but yes, it is. I have tried to love you more, but I can’t.”
“Even now as he lay with a human you’d still go to him if he called.” Vincent sounded defeated. He couldn’t battle her love for Malcom; he had tried for years and failed miserably.
“You know I’d have no choice.” She softened her voice. She was no stranger to Vincent’s temper. The look in his eyes was more crazed than even she’d ever witnessed.
“Fuck that! Blood or no blood you would go to him.” He punched the tree next to him and it trembled. “Don’t lie to me!”
“Yes,” she admitted. “Vincent, I-”
“No, don’t say another word to me.” He dropped his head in defeat. “Just go, leave me.”
“But I- “
“Go!” He ripped into his wolf form and bared his teeth to her. Afraid that he might attack her, afraid that she might hurt him more, she turned and ran.
That was the last time she’d seen him. It wasn't long after that when she received a message delivered by one of his lackeys. It was a threat, a promise to make both her and Malcom suffer, a promise he’d delivered on. She thought that eventually Vincent would get over her, that he would move on. She figured he would find a female of his own kind to love and live his life as Alpha. That is not what happened. Instead, he stewed in his hatred for her and spent his time fashioning a plan to get his revenge.
“So, you did show up, I wasn’t sure that you would.” Vincent spoke, interrupting Mara’s memory.
“Yea, guess I couldn’t help myself.” She turned to him and gasped. He stood in front of her white suit atop caramel skin and covered in blood. “Nice of you to clean up for me.”
“I’m a little messy, I do apologize.” He ran his hand through his hair, matting it with the red liquid that coated his hands.
“A little blood never turned me away, you know that.” She smiled. The smell of him was both sickening and yet enticing. How long had it been since he’d cleansed his skin of the blood? Fresh blood covered old which layered older. He looked crazed, and she blamed herself.
“I didn’t think you’d come. You have been lost to me for so long Mara.” He moved towards her slowly with a murderous look in his eyes. She stilled herself; the last thing she would ever do is show fear. He was a monster, that much was obvious, but she was worse.
“Yeah, I just took a little vacation I guess.” She joked.
“Stop it!” he growled. “Don’t start in on your little games, I know you. Joking will change nothing!” He yelled and then softened his tone. “Be real with me, Mara, please.”
“What do you want Vincent? Why are you doing this?” She dropped all pretenses that she was okay with him. Instead she was real as he asked, she let him see the disappointment she felt, the disgust.
“I want,” he smiled, “for you to die.” Just then, a net of silver dropped from above Mara and trapped her on the ground where they once made love underneath the stars and the moon.
“Vincent, please.” She choked out. The metal was lightweight but coated in poison. Vervain, deadly to vampires if enough was ingested. He’d used just enough to subdue, not enough to kill. He wanted her to suffer.
“Mara, my love.” He leaned across her and sniffed the smell of her burning flesh. “How I have missed you, the years I spent longing for you, loving you and never once being able to say it aloud.” He lay next to her and began to stroke her hair through the netting. “I never could have had you, could I? You always belonged to him, to Malcom. Your heart, I was foolish enough to think that it belonged to me.” He traced his finger above her heart and then pressed his lips there leaving their bloody impression between her breasts.
“Vincent,” Mara struggled to say his name. The silver weakened her even more, quickly pulling from her the strength given by the magic that made her vampire.
“Yes, my love?” He held himself above her steadily, breathing in the smell of her.
“Please, don’t do this.” She whispered and a tear fell from her eye, crimson red. Blood tears as vampires all produced. He watched the drop fall across her skin and licked his lips. How many times had he entertained the thought of drinking from her? If he drank her blood, maybe he could make her love him. Maybe that was the secret behind the hold that Malcom had over her.
“I have no choice, I must end my suffering, the only way I would ever be able to do that is to destroy the cause of it. All this time I thought it was Malcom, but now I see how blinded I was. It was never him, it was you. You wove your web of lies, tainted with that evil that courses through your veins, you trapped me. You claimed my heart, even though you never wanted ownership and then you crushed it. The only way my pain ends is with your death!” He reached above her head and pulled from beneath a pile of leaves a wooden stake. He turned it in his hands so that she could see where he had carved her name in the side of it. “This, my dear, is meant for you and only you.” He smiled and ran the tip of the stake down the length of her torso and back up to hold it just above her heart.
“So, this is your grand plan? Lure us here to kill me? Why, why would you possibly sacrifice so many of your own kind for me?” She struggled to keep her voice steady; she had to appear strong. She would allow him to see her no other way.
“My kind, fucking hypocrites, is what my kind has become! All of them are fucking outside of our race as if I don’t know it, as if I can’t smell it on them. They are all dealing with vampires, getting a payoff to betray me! I know about their ill doings. I am not as foolish as they may hope to believe I am. I can smell their sin! The stench of it suffocates the scent of nature, the purity of our lands. I miss that smell, goodness, Earth! I miss it.”
“How can you claim to be any better than them when you yourself admit to loving me, a vampire?” She hissed, and he pressed the tip of the stake deeper into her skin, enough to add to her pain, but not nearly enough to kill. He wasn’t ready for her to die, not just yet.
“I never claim to be better than anyone, no; I only speak of how hurt I am that they have all gone astray!” He leaned into her and ran his nose along the side of her cheek. “They are all so lost, Mara. I could do nothing to reclaim them from that evil.” There was true sadness in his voice. He felt as though he had failed his people. He promised to protect them, to guide them and he was incapable of doing that.
“You could have tried to lead them better.” Mara suggested.
“Are you saying that I am the reason for their sins?!” He yelled, and she flinched beneath his weight and the pain of the silver, which was keeping her motionless.
“No.” she coughed, “That is not what I am saying.”
“Then what are you saying, Mara? Explain yourself!”
“I am saying that by giving them a leader to look to for guidance and protection instead of one to fear, that they may have followed the path you had hoped for them. The one you’d laid out for them.” If he was going to kill her, there was no need for her to hold back the truth.
“Perhaps you are right,” he stopped as if considering her words, “but it is too late now for your suggestions... isn’t it.”
“Maybe not, you can change and so can they.” She didn’t believe her own words, there was no hope of change, not for Vincent. His heart was blackened with hatred, he reeked of the evil he set out to destroy.
“No, there will be no change, only death, true and complete death.” A smile spread across his face, a grin of sadness and anger, one that in the same instance displayed his sense of loss and perfectly matched the tears that fell from his eyes and blended with the blood that smeared his cheeks. He lifted the stake above his head. “I will miss you my love. I will love you for an eternity, but my suffering must end.”
Mara said no words, simply waited for the inevitable. She had lived long enough, maybe it was her time. She wasn’t ready to die, but whoever really was? Just as he lowered the stake to her chest, a splinter of a moment before it pierced her skin; a large wolf barreled out of the trees and knocked Vincent away from her. It was Malcom, she could tell by his scent and the chocolate blur created by the movement of his coat. His large body slammed into Vincent, but within a second, before his back could hit the ground, Vincent shifted. His white suit was shredded to reveal his tan and creamed toned coat. His wolf landed on all fours and howled at the moon.
Mara watched in horror as the two wolves sized each other up. This was her doing, two friends turned enemy because of her. She wanted to call to them, to ask them to stop, she cared for them both as foolish as it was. The net was lifted from her skin by the gloved hand of Sirus. Silver didn’t hurt the wolves as much as it did the vampires. To do any serious damage, it would have to penetrate the skin, but the affliction was still there. He removed the net and pulled her away from the two wolves that were just moments from fighting. He pressed a bag of blood that Malcom had given him against her mouth, “Drink, now!” He ordered and she quickly drained it.
“Thank you.” She looked to him.
“You’re welcome.” He looked down at her body, which was quickly beginning to heal from the wounds inflicted by the silver.
Mara couldn’t help but take note of how warm his skin was against her own or how he didn’t hesitate in holding her close to his body. He protected her without question. In that moment, she hated herself more than she ever had before. She hated herself for even allowing her mind to go down that path knowing what she had done to Malcom and Vincent, how her want for their kind had destroyed so much. Hell, they were just a few feet away about to rip each other to shreds and her mind was elsewhere. Hadn’t she done enough damage? She couldn’t explain it, why she had the need to be with a wolf but it was there. Vampires didn’t do it for her, humans were lacking, her body craved wolf. The deep howl of Malcom caught her attention bringing her mind back to the two wolves in front of her.
Vincent was on the hunt, killing Malcom would mean nothing to him. He held so much anger inside of himself that the life of his once best friend seemed meaningless. Whatever he had to do to complete his task of destroying Mara, he would do. He growled low as he waited for his opportunity to strike. It had been years since the two of them had combat training together but he still remembered his friend and his weak points. Vincent took in a deep pull of air before lunging into Malcom’s body. He knocked his friend-turned-foe across the field into a line of trees. Mara flinched at the sound of branches snapping beneath Malcom’s weight. Vincent lunged into the shadows eager to take Malcom out, once and for all.
To kill Malcom would mean for Mara to suffer as he did, the perfect complement for her death. It would all be over then; all who had hurt him would be no more. When he landed, the wolf was nowhere to be found, he could tell by the scent of the air that Malcom had shifted back to his human form. Vincent did the same.
“So, you wish for a battle as men?” He called out into the night.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Malcom called back and Vincent focused himself to find the source of the call.
“Then come out of the shadows, old friend.” He challenged.
“Friend? It has been many years since you have held the right to claim that title.”
“True as that may be, here I am...and, where are you?”
Malcom stepped from the shadows, his nude form under the moonlight. “I’m here.”
“There, yes, you are. Nice to know you haven’t gone soft over the years.” Vincent eyed Malcom.
“Well, you kept your men on my tail, how could I?”
“True enough.” Vincent feigned boredom.
“Why?” Malcom called across the small wooded area that separated the two men.
“Excuse me, am I supposed to know what you are talking about?”
“Why, why have you caused so much misery? Why have you taken so much away from our people?”
“Why? Well, you ought to know the answer to that question. You are the one that took everything from me. Why wouldn’t I return the favor?” Vincent paced his small area but kept his sight trained on Malcom.
“I took nothing from you!” Malcom yelled.
“You took the only thing that mattered!” Vincent laughed. “You know, they mourned you! These people, they cried endlessly about how I did YOU wrong, never mind all of the pain you caused me!”
“What pain have I ever caused you? How could my love for Serene hurt you so much?”
“Serene?” Vincent laughed again, this time with more anger. “And that is what hurts the most. You don’t even notice that she is there! Even in this moment, she doesn't come to mind for you!”
“Stephanie?” Malcom asked incredulously. Could all this truly be the act of a brother wanting to protect the honor of his sister?
“No! Not my idiotic sister... Mara!” When Vincent spoke her name, he felt all the pain echoing inside the cavity of his chest. His love, he’d lost her to a man who wanted absolutely nothing to do with her.
“Mara?” Malcom asked truly confused by Vincent’s announcement.
“I loved her, and all she could do was think of you, want you, long for you! And you barely even noted her existence outside of the battlefield!” Vincent wanted to shift, to attack but he held steady.
“This is over Mara? You have got to be fucking kidding me! You banned me for loving outside of our people and you are pining over a vampire?” Malcom felt his anger rise, all that he had gone through, the loss, the suffering and life in exile was because of Vincent’s love for Mara.
“Yes, I know, here I am, a man against his word. Nevertheless, you took her from me, and without even trying. She was crushed, devastated when she found out about you and Serene and no matter how much I loved her, no matter how much I gave to her, it was never enough! She only wanted you!” Vincent pointed angrily at Malcom.
“And that is my fault? Or better yet, the fault of our people?”
“Yes, it is your fault, and it is theirs for loving you so much. For choosing you over me! My own people chose a fucking traitor to our kind!” Trembles raced across his body as he held back this shift that threatened to turn him back to wolf.
“And what are you? Do you think that we were all blind? Do you think they could not smell her on you, or sense the changes that loving her had caused within you?”
“You don’t know what you are talking about! No one knew about us!” Vincent stepped closer to Malcom for the first time, a movement that Malcom echoed. He was not afraid, he would not back down and Vincent needed to know that.
“We all did! Hell, I walked in on you fucking her! You were so into her you couldn’t see how everyone had already turned away from your lead. Hell, your own sister wasn’t even backing you up anymore. All this time, the only thing they were doing was waiting for you to lose your shit!” Malcom pounded his chest. “I was the one who backed you up! I was the one who stood in your corner no matter what! It was me that kept you sane! You tossed me aside for some vampire pussy while I stayed here protecting you and all our people, even though I could have run with Serene, I stayed! You turned your back on us! Not me!”
“Shut up, Malcom!” Vincent growled.
“Why? Is it hard for you to hear the truth? Have you planted yourself so firmly in your denial that the facts burn you so badly?”
“You don’t know what you are talking about. You stand here spitting your lies as if you know me so well. That is all you have ever done!”
“Man, you really have lost it. I thought they were over exaggerating somehow, but it’s true. You’re completely gone.” Malcom shook his head and looked on at Vincent with pity. For the first time in years, he really saw his friend, only now his eyes were crazed, and his heart was completely black. There was not one shred of hope left in him.
“I told you to shut up!” Vincent lunged at Malcom and the two men brawled in the nude. Fists landing to jaws, knees to guts, they tore into each other. This would be a fight to the death; there was no holding back. They rolled in the dirt connecting blows. Malcom had Vincent pinned down, his knee in his shoulder as his fist pounded into his face, creating a fresh coat of blood. It was a fair fight that Malcom was winning until Vincent called his wolf forward forcing Malcom off him. Malcom rolled back and when he landed, he was planted firmly on all fours, as he allowed his own wolf to reappear.
This time it was Malcom to attack, and he landed a blow to Vincent’s side as he tried to dodge him. Malcom’s claws dug into the left side of Vincent’s torso and spilled the blood of the alpha. His soft colored fur turned dark and matted as he fell to the ground and dirt mixed with his blood. Vincent didn’t stay down for long; he returned the blow with his back paw and left a gash beneath his adversary's eye. Malcom’s tongue wiped the cut causing it to begin healing. Vincent lapped at his own injury but it was a pointless process, the healing properties of his saliva would not be enough to stop such a severe wound. Malcom stalked the wolf, Vincent’s injuries were critical, he had to act and end it. Before he could, Stephanie appeared between them, in her wolf form. She was trying to protect Vincent. She growled at Malcom, ready to attack him if it kept him from killing her brother. Even after seeing all the evil he was capable of, she would still lay her life on the line to protect him. Unfortunately, her brother did not share her point of view and instead of being his savior, she became his bait. It happened in a moment that seemed to last an eternity, Vincent’s large jaw wrapped around the throat of his sister, snapping it. She fell limp to the floor and the coward ran. Malcom fell to the side of Stephanie; he did not pursue the chase. There was no point in it. With her death, he had lost everything.
The howls of Tatiana and Sirus combined told him that Vincent wouldn’t get far. They were already on his tail and would no doubt take him down before sunrise. He would stay with Stephanie, he owed her that much. Malcom pulled Stephanie into his arms and held her; he could still feel a faint pulse, the last of her life as it faded out.