CHAPTER THREE

She watched as the phantom threw her mother's body on the ground, and there wasn't any response from the other as she fell to the ground and didn't move a muscle.

The world ceased to exist in Mila's mind, and everywhere was void of sound and life. Her eyes never left her mother's body, which lay lifeless at a far end, and the growling sound of the beast was like an echo in her ears. 

It happened slowly in her mind. She stood from the ground, looking with tears at her mother. She felt the vibration that came with the beast's movement on the ground. She felt the winds brush against her face, the coldness of her mother's death sickening her deeper than that of the winds.

The beast rushed towards her. It seemed it wasn't enough for the night. It leaped in the air but growled loudly as something pierced through its legs.

Mark happened to be behind, and he was faster at that moment than the phantom. His claws had penetrated the beast's legs, dragging him before he could land an attack on Mila.

He held the phantom's leg, pulling it roughly against the hard ground and using all of his energy into throwing the beast towards a far destination, letting the beast break through the trees into an unknown destination.

Mila rushed from her position, heading towards the spot where her mother had been thrown into. She fell to the ground with her arms underneath her mother's skin, lifting her with all of her energy and holding her in her arms.

Her hands were shaky, and her lips whimpered her mother's name, assuring herself that this reality never existed. She had tears rolling down her eyes and her heart broken each moment she felt the sudden coldness of her mother's skin.

He stared at where he had thrown the beast, yet there weren't any signs of movement. He breathed heavily until the sound of a weeping lady penetrated his ears, forcing him to turn toward the direction of the sound.

He howled softly at the sight of his mate, laying lifeless in the arms of his daughter. He shifted immediately to his human form, falling to the ground as he crawled toward them both

“Ashley. Ashley!!” He yelled her name in his pain, limping on his ground until he had come closer to her where she lay.

“Ashley! Wake up.!” He uttered in a shaky tone as he fell to the ground, his hands on her body as he shook her lifeless body continuously.

“She's dead,” Mila responded with teary eyes, sniffling her nose as she tried to prevent more tears from falling down her eyes. 

It wasn't helping. Every moment of that night reminded her of her mother, and the coldness of her mother's skin confirmed she wasn't hallucinating the event.

A certain blow hit his heart at the sound of Mila's words. Every syllable of the words sank deeply into his heart, striking more pain in his heart.

He sat down on the muddy ground with his knees up and his hands wrapped around, his face lowered to the ground as he burst into tears. There came a hole in his heart that didn't seem like anything else could fit into it.

How his world had ended. His mate, his everything, was dead. The beautiful moments he had with her would cease to exist.

He blamed himself. He wasn't strong enough. He had fought valiantly just to make sure his entire family was safe from the hands of the monster. Yet no wound on his skin had hurt worse than that which had happened within him.

The phantom growled from the other side, a location far away from where they sat to mourn. Mark looked from afar, his clenched face still had tears rolling down.

“I am going to kill that monster”, Mila grinned with teary eyes. Her hands were clenched into fists as she stomped the ground with her hands, ignoring the pain as she stared at something unworthy of attention. 

She didn't imagine the size of the monster, or how vicious it could be. All she wanted to do was the same which the monster had done to her mother, snap its neck into the end of its existence.

“You can't kill that monster, Mila.!” Her father groaned the words from where he sat, having a smile on his face while the tears still rolled down.

He scoffed inwardly at the way she spoke. Though he could understand her decision was fueled by the anger of losing a mother, she didn't have what it took to defeat a being as powerful as the Phantom.

“No one can!” He whispered with his head buried in the ground in his pain and agony. His hands never remained calm, and his wounds were deeply hurting, with blood gushing out profusely.

“What do you mean?” She cleaned off the mucus drooling from her nostrils and stood up, pushing her mother's lifeless body away from her.

“This is a curse, Mila! Upon every one of us in this pack.”, he stressed as he grinned the words out of his mouth, hissing at the slight pain he felt around his body as he stood up from the ground.

“A curse you say.”, she sniffled as she went on, “My mother shouldn't be a victim of a curse she knows nothing about!”, She grinned with tears.

“Just like others who lost their families too.”, he retorted with a loud voice before he took a second to pause, and then continued, “We are not victims of the phantom's rage”

“But I believe we are the first to strike the phantom hard enough to let it feel the pain of the real world.!”, Mila argued. She remembered the way she watched as her father fought the phantom, landing strikes on him which she thought it would never recover from.

“You can't be so sure, dear Mila.”

“My mother died during that moment, fighting it with her life just to protect mine. And you would stand there and watch all of her efforts waste because the phantom is a curse?” She asked with a stern look on her father, waiting for his response.

He was dumbfounded. His heart was struck by the truth of her statement. She spoke as one who regarded her mother as everything to her, just the way he considered his mate.

He looked back and forth, to his left and his right, and couldn't find the right words to answer that which she had asked him.

“Tell me you will do something to end the terrors of this beast.!” She asked with a teary tone, her inside getting more hurt by her father's statement.

She was eagerly waiting for a statement of his that would change her mindset, and assure her that he was supporting what she said, as he would join her or aid her if possible in defeating the monster.

 “It cannot be done.!” he broke down in another round of tears as he whispered to her, hoping she would understand him and see reasons why wanted her to call off. What do you mean by 'it cannot be done? We started already, and did finish it,” she urged.  

Why wasn't he getting anything, she said. She groaned within her,e tears dropping from her eyes as she spoke.

“You don't have the skills to do it.!” He retorted with a yell. His tone had caused her to stop immediately. Her tears dried off and her eyes widened towards the reality of what he had said.

She swallowed a lump in her throat while she still stared at him, her hands falling to the side of her body, and another tear dropped from her eyes.

“If I couldn't stop the phantom, there's no way you can ever do that.!” He said again. He just had to utter the truth roughly, letting them see why he wasn't supporting the idea in her head.

She was only a werewolf who had learned the act of shifting into her wolf form. Any other thing which had to do with battle, his daughter Mila was unskilled in it.

“ did you learn how to fight a battle, how long would it take you to master such skills with the phantom still out there, wrecking more chaos and taking other lives.?” He asked with a saddened face.

He understood from her facial expression that his words had hurt her deeply, yet he was only concerned about her. He had lost his mate, and now his daughter had the thought of embarking on a suicide mission just so she could stop a monster as powerful as the phantom.

He just couldn't let her walk into her demise, following her mother, all for being brave and bold. 

And his question struck her inside. How long would it take her to learn battle skills while the monster was still unleashed, killing others?

She looked at her father, disappointed that he could spill such words from his mouth toward her. 

She looked to the ground, and while she buried herself in the thoughts of his statement, she felt his hands wrap hers, and could feel his stare on her face. 

“Mila..” he called out to her weakly, letting out his emotions within his words, letting her feel what he felt 

“Understand that I truly care, and wouldn't want anything to happen to you.”, He said to her,

He inhaled deeply before he continued, “Don't do this.”, said before he drew her closer into his arms and hugged her tightly. He ignored the pains and the wounds on his body as he held her tight before he whispered into her ears again, “For your mother's sake, don't” 

Her eyes were closed when she wrapped her hands around her father's body, her head laying on his chest as she heard her father's heart throbbing against his chest.

But her eyes suddenly opened immediately and her mother's name had joined the conversation, and her eyes moved towards where her mother lay lifeless and stared at her face.

Her mind was made up and nothing was going to change it, at least not yet.

“For mother's sake.”, she said as she closed her eyes again before she continued, “Watch me do it.”, She said as she broke the hug and walked away for him, letting him stand in the dark with her mother's body before him.