Chapter 4 The Death of Celeste

Magnus

"Painful for us to watch, painful for you to feel." I laughed at Celeste, who was writhing in pain, the mate bond broken from Blake's death.

She blew him a kiss, how touching. Why didn't she save him so she could heal him? Honestly, she looked sick. Maybe pregnancy was taking a toll on her.

"Magnus, we agreed I would have Blake!" Lilith whispered to me in a deep voice. " You gave me your word." I grabbed her by her arm and twisted it. She yelped in pain. I pulled her towards me so she could smell my horrid breath.

"Blake doesn't love you and he will never love you even if Celeste is gone from this Earth. Why would he settle for someone ugly and used? He will find someone prettier and fresh. I am doing you a favor."

I saw her eyes glaze over for a second, a clear sign someone was communicating with her. It must be the girls telling her to walk away.

"How would you know? You have never experienced love. Not all wolves are like you, Magnus." Lilith pulled away from me so I let her go. I turned to Celeste, who was on her knees, still consumed by her pain.

"Celeste, if you had only decided to be with me, then none of this would have happened. Well, you made your bed, now you must lie in it. Girls, bring her forward," I ordered the witches.

Jinx uttered a spell and Celeste flew in the air towards me. She was crying. Huge tears fell on her face and her mouth quivered ever so lightly. She blinked and looked up to the ceiling. She was begging for the Moon Goddess to help her. I laughed at her pitiful face. I may be full of scars, but after this, I will be left standing and breathing.

Blake's lifeless body lay on the floor in front of my feet and I stepped over him like he was worthless piece of animal. I took Celeste's neck in my hands and started to squeeze the life out of her. Her eyes began to pop out of her head and she began to gag.

"Promise me. Promise me," Celeste said, her voice faint. Her eyes rolled around to look at Lilith whose head was bent low. Lilith couldn't stand looking at her bestfriend die? After all we have been through? She should be celebrating. Without Celeste, we would become invincible.

"Die Celeste! Die!" With all my strength, I squeezed her neck with my hands, wilfully hoping she would just die. Her eyes fluttered and she looked up in the sky for one last prayer. Then, with one last gagging sound, her head fell forward with her tongue sticking out. Finally, the High Priestess Celeste is dead!

I threw her body on the floor next to her dead mate. Her head arched up and we were all met with her amber eyes. Lilith gasped. Celeste's eyes held vengeance.

Suddenly, the lightning clapped and thunder roared through the territory.

"Everyone, look for their vault!" Torrential rain started to pour. It was so loud I had to yell out my command.

I went inside Blake's office. If there was a vault in this mansion, it would most certainly be in here. There was one specific item I was looking for, the yellow diamond ring of Celeste.

I started looking behind the magnificent paintings that hung on the wall. None of them had a vault behind it. I looked through Blake's desk. Nothing.

Their room! I exited the office and was about to go up the stairs when my Beta came running inside the mansion.

"Alpha, the whole territory, it is flooding! We must evacuate immediately."

"Order a retreat. I still have something I need to find." My harem was also turning the place upside down, looking for the vault. "Upstairs in the rooms. Look for the vault there," I yelled at them. The witches nodded their heads and headed to the stairs when suddenly, water started coming into the mansion.

"Alpha, there is no time! We must leave now or we will dro-..." My Beta stopped abruptly as he felt the mansion move beneath his feet. The walls started shaking and things started falling on the floor.

The chandelier that was hanging above the grand staircase fell to where Celeste was standing when we found her. The witches screamed in fright and one by one, they ran out of the mansion into the flood waters outside.

"Alpha, let's go!" My Beta pulled me outside where the water was quickly rising. My Beta shifted and sped off to the gates of the territory. I followed suit and shifted into my wolf, Malachi. As I sped off, I looked back at the mansion. The earthquake had caused it to collapse and topple down. The same with all the other homes and buildings found in the territory.

As I approached the gates of the territory, vines had began to sprout out from underneath the water, creating a wall. "Malachi, hurry or we won't be able to escape." Malachi sped up, going as fast as he could through the murky water. He jumped over the wall, out into the path that lead us out from the territory and continued to run until we found a place where it was not flooded.

I found my harem, panting underneath a tree. They apparently looked frightened.

"The Moon Goddess is very angry. She brought the rain and shook the ground," Mary said while she tried to catch her breath.

"Have you gone insane?!" I slapped Mary, bringing her to her senses. "When the rain has stopped, we will go back to the territory. The flood may carry the wood of the house, but a vault is impenetrable. It will be left standing once the water is gone."

"Don't you see the wall of vines that grew from the flood waters? It will be impossible to enter the territory through that wall," Lilith said, pointing through the darkness. From where we stood, a tall wall stood around the boundary of the territory.

"It's just vines. I shall tear them down with my teeth. We will wait until the rain stops, then we will enter Autumn Moon." Vines will not hinder me from getting what I want. I will find that vault and get that ring!

After hours of downpour, the rain suddenly stopped. The dark clouds disappeared and the Harvest Moon shone from above. I sent my Beta to see if the waters had receded and to give me a full report on the condition of Autumn Moon.

It did not take long for my Beta to return and I found that to be a good sign. However, when he shifted back to his human form, he held his head low, and I knew it wasn't good news.

"The flood waters have gone, Alpha, but a wall of thorns now stand around the boundary of Autumn Moon territory. I climbed the tallest tree to see the damage to the properties. Sadly, Alpha, nothing stands. It is now barren," he said regretfully.

"What do you mean barren?!" My voice couldn't hide the frustration I felt.

"It is a wasteland, Alpha. No houses, no trees, no vegetation, no animals. There is nothing left inside the territory." My Beta pointed towards the east. The rising sun was already casting a rosy hue across the sky. "Let us wait for light so you may see for yourself, Alpha."

I kicked the wet earth beneath my feet trying to control my anger. The Moon Goddess was laughing at me, spitting in my face! Damn Her! Damn HER! I looked up at the sky and I growled, unleashing all my anger.

____________

Emma

I sneaked out of the mansion, holding the baby near my chest. I had to get to the barn as quickly and quietly as possible. It was near, but with rogues roaming around, it seemed so far.

Luna Celeste would always go to the barn during her spare time. She had made a small garden there where she grew many important plants she needed for her elixirs and potions. When she would come back, she would have a basket with her, filled with petals, leaves, even roots. Luna Celeste would then go to her conjuring room, spending hours, concocting a specific elixir. Alpha Blake would sometimes sleep there, not wanting to sleep alone.

I ran to the path that would lead me to the barn. All the rogues had gone to the front of the mansion, trying to witness the confrontation between Luna Celeste and the Rogue Alpha. I kept running as fast as I could without looking back. I had to leave. I had to bring the baby to safety.

The red barn was lit by the moon above. I approached the barn doors and slid them open, hoping there weren't any animals inside. I was surprised to see the barn was a garage. Two cars were parked inside the barn. One had a baby carrier while the other didn't. I placed the baby inside the carrier and checked the trunk for the provisions Luna Celeste had said she had stashed inside. There was a suitcase of money, clothes, shoes, jewelry, a box of elixirs of some kind, as well as a baby bag full of diapers, baby clothes, baby bottles, milk and bottles of distilled water. I made a bottle for the baby, stashed some cash inside the baby bag, and placed the baby bag in the passenger seat.

I heard a clap of lightning as well as a rumble of thunder. Strange. There was no news of a thunder storm on the news. I closed the trunk and got into the driver's seat. I grabbed the keys that were on the dashboard infront of the steering wheel and turned on the ignition. I needed to put some distance between us and the rogues.

I drove off not knowing where to go. I did have a friend who could help me, but I couldn't bring the baby. If Magnus puts a bounty on the child's head, my friend might decide to betray me. With a temptation as large as that, no one in the wolf world should know where the daughter of Luna Celeste is. It would be better to leave her with humans.

I know of a friendly couple Luna Celeste and I had bumped into when we visited Whitefish. I'll leave the baby with them.

Moon Goddess, please guide my way.