Blood Legacy Chapter 140: 138. Not your fault

Wait. No!

"Nate!!" I was right up against that door within the span of a second, my hands pounding against it as I screamed his name. They took him away. They locked us in here and took him away.

"Nate!"

"Please!" My voice wavered as panic started to increase within me. What if they punished him again for my rebellious behavior? They've already done it once back in that clearing.

"Naaate!"

"He's okay. I would feel if something happened to him. And so would you,"

I whirled around at the sound of his quiet and defeated voice, taking fast and determined strides to where he'd seated himself. On the floor. With his back against the wall.

His head hung low, those ebony locks partially covering his eyes from my view. Still, I could tell that his gaze was lowered somewhere to the floor, his elbows casually resting over his bent knees.

"Seriously? This was your grand master plan? Having us all locked up in here with the freaking mice?" Those words came out before I could even try to stop myself, immediately regretting them.

Yes, there was so much anger and frustration brimming up within me, after everything that had just happened to us. But he didn't deserve to take the brunt of my wrath. He was suffering, just as much as I currently was. If not even more. He'd just murdered most of his royal court. His family. For me.

Shit. I mentally berated myself, my heart filling with sorrow and remorse as I looked at him. Quietly sitting there, looking so miserable and defeated. Like a man that had just lost everything. A man whose life had been ruined. It really wasn't his fault, for trusting the man that had contributed to his creation. The man who raised him. He thought that they would respect his decision. Let him make his own choices.

A puerile act of naivety from his part.

The was no choice for him to make. From the very beginning. From the moment our families had sworn themselves under that vow. Our lives were forfeited. Done deal. And just now we were finally beginning to realize that.

I nervously stood there, hesitating for a few fleeting moments. Nice. Good job, Care. Way to talk to your soulmate who had just lost his father because of you. Who'd killed his entire court just to keep your pretty little cunt safe and unharmed.

*Fuck.*

I started to pace as furious tears pooled in my eyes, threatening to spill. My breathing increased, in sync with my heartbeats but I forcefully pushed it all down with a painful and heavy gulp. I quickly wiped away those few tears that had managed to escape and after a deep and calming breath I turned back around, my gaze falling on him.

"So...This is the infamous council, as it turns out," I mumbled out, struggling to keep my voice as casual and leveled as possible.

"They kinda look like teenagers, don't you think? I honestly thought that they were a bunch of old, wrinkly geezers," I failed. Shit! I rushed to force out a smile upon noticing the way his chin slightly rose, his gaze searching as he let it roam all over my face.

"They are," he absently said, his visibly tired eyes zeroing in on that faint tremble on my lower lip.

"T-they are?" Crap. Now it wavered even more.

"They're centuries old. They only look like that because they're stealing lifeforce, from every single werewolf king that goes through that ritual," he went on, his gaze lowering back to that random spot on the floor, a hint of guilt starting to glint in it.

"Us werewolves, our entire race, because we're gifted with a wolf spirit at birth, our bodies are naturally built differently. So we can easily bear and endure every transformation. Our beastly side. We get to have increased strength and senses, the ability to heal much faster than a regular human being and an almost unbeatable immune system. And because of all that, we get to live much longer than your average human being. A few centuries, even. Centuries that they get to steal whenever a werewolf king gets sworn to fulfil his duty to the treaty. And it's been like that for almost a millenia now. They do it every now and then, whenever their batteries get low, I suppose," he finished with a miserable and humourless chuckle, my lips parting open with shock after everything I'd just heard. So they were...actually old as fuck and they simply sucked the life out of werewolves whenever they felt like it? Holy crap, this was even more fucked-up than I'd initially thought.

Wait.

"But my dad said-"

"Your dad is a gullible fool. Or a skilled liar," he flatly said, his gaze still trained on that certain spot on the floor. Staring through it.

Yeah. Definitely the latter. I specifically remember the first time when he'd told me about the treaty, stating that it was only there to keep the peace between clans and that the werewolves were actually the spiteful and bloodthirsty ones. Now I was seeing it with my own eyes. Who the real bloodsuckers were.

"I'm not trying to say that the werewolves are any better, they did trade years of their own lives for the sake of power, but what these bastards are doing is plain sick. Unnatural," he shifted his conflicted gaze to stare at that shackle around his wrist, his hand balling into a tight fist as he flexed his arm.

I took a step in his direction and his eyes immediately shifted to my feet, a single word passing through his lips,

"Don't."

My body jolted into a halt, surprise and confusion marring my features as I stared down at him.

"Please," he softly added, letting his head fall forward. Both his hands balled into tight fists, making those veins become more prominent. I remained rooted to my spot, befuddled by his request until a single hiccup pushed at his chest, making my eyes go wide.

"I can't even look at you, not without seeing you lying there..." he nervously ran a hand through those longer locks at the top of his head and my very soul convulsed as if being struck by an invisible force, feeling those hot trails of wetness spill over my cheeks.

"And I..." his voice broke and I weakly whimpered from the pain radiating through me, my knees slamming against the creaky floor.

No. No no no no, no, no!

I desperately crawled my way straight towards him, nestling myself in that space between his bent knees, my hand shakily reaching out to caress his cheek.  His jaw clenched and I felt wetness there, his gaze raising to meet my own, allowing me to see that lifeless and miserable look in his glassy eyes. My heart constricted with raw pain at the at the sight of him like that, noticing the way his gaze shifted to peer at that still raw and tender wound on the side of my neck. A single tear rolled down his cheek, my own eyes filling with that hot wetness again as I finally understood what was happening.

He was feeling remorse for what happened. He was actually blaming himself.

"I'm so sorry, kitten. I shouldn't have brought you there," he softly uttered, another lone tear trailing down his cheek.

"I was such a fool for believing that my father would give up so easily," he let his head rest against the wall behind his back, closing his eyes for a moment as he let out a shaky exhale. "I shouldn't have let my guard down around them like that. Damn!" He roughly muttered under his breath, softly banging the back of his head a single time against the wall.

"I should've-"

"It's okay. You didn't hurt me," I let that tiny smile grace my lips as I gazed upon his handsome face, quickly wiping that wetness away from my cheeks.

I didn't want him to feel like that. It wasn't his fault after all. He hadn't even been conscious to realize what he was doing, what was happening. It was all his father's fault. And the others that had agreed to participate and conduct that barbaric act without our consent.

His gaze met my own again, that desolated look in his eyes however still present.

"I..." he paused to let out a humourless chuckle, lightly shaking his head.

"Carina, I marked you without your consent. Fuck, I almost raped you, for crying out loud!" He accused, those beautiful eyes becoming glassy again. Filled with guilt.

"But you didn't," That candid smile remained present on my lips, my eyes peering between his own with nothing but sincerity as I added,

"You stopped just in time,"

"And you..." I lightly shook my head and held my tongue, not wanting to say anything about what happened next. Yes, he did save me, but in turn he'd sacrificed his own family. I didn't want to remind him of that.

"I killed almost the entire court. You can say it," he quickly finished that sentence for me, albeit not how I'd intended to.

"I know what I am. A murderer. A fucking monster. And I would do it all over again, in a heartbeat. For you," he sincerely vowed, that passion and determination returning in his gaze as he let it roam over my features.

"They can all rot in hell for all I care. They ceased to be anything else other than scum in my eyes, from the very moment they decided to do that to us. To you," his eyes met my own again, and with a self-loathing and sorrowful tone, he continued,

"But that doesn't make me anything less than a monster. A savage beast that definitely doesn't deserve you," his jaw clenched again and I sucked in a breath, my very soul hurting at the sound of his words.

No. I couldn't let him believe this. It wasn't his fault. Any of it. He'd proved himself far more than worthy, time and again. Hell, he fucking killed for me! Chose me instead of his own family! How could he believe such thing? That he was the monster? He was anything but! He was my mate! The other half of my soul! My savior! My knight in shining armour and the man of my dreams...

The love of my life.

"Darius..." I softly uttered his name, like a praising little sigh. He blinked and met my gaze, quietly staring back at me.

"I'm not afraid of you," I sincerely said, pushing myself closer to him. To the scorching warmth of his body. His kind soul. He didn't move. Didn't even dare touch me, let alone push me away.

"Never was and never will be," I timidly peered between his enchanting eyes from underneath my lashes, my movement slow and tentative as I climbed into his lap, just to prove that I wasn't lying. That I meant every single word.

"Not even in those moments," I placed my hands around the back of his neck, my body shivering from the feel of him underneath me, in front of me...all around me, his dizzying scent enveloping me like an enchanting caress.

"You could burn down the entire world and I would still want you," I softly whispered, my lips so close to his.

He mildly shivered, his hands gently gripping my hips.

I smiled, baring my soul to him from my end of the bond. I wanted him to feel everything. My emotions, all of it.

"I've longed for you, for such a long time. From the very moment I laid eyes on you. I had no idea that you were my mate yet my body yearned for you, for your touch," I timidly confessed, my cheeks turning just a tad bit hotter.

"I wanted you to make me your prey, hunt me down and take me as your prize," I bit my lip, my heart increasing its pace as I noticed that look in his eyes. Enticed. Intrigued.

"I wanted to tremble under your hands and mouth, surrender to your hunger," I shivered yet again as I dared recall all those moments I've secretly lusted for for all of that. His hands, his powerful body on top of my own, holding me captive and with no means to escape.

"I wanted to offer myself to you, and let you have me. In any way you desired," I became a little breathless by the end of that sentence, desire pooling low in my stomach as I could feel his member twitch underneath my bare ass.

He gently leaned closer, his lips so incredibly close to the side of my neck as he took a deep inhale. I shivered yet again and he slowly pulled back, his gaze questioning and even unsure as he peered into my own.

"Yes..." I breathed, my eyelids heavy with lust as I peered into his clouding black eyes, so eager and trembling with anticipation.

"Please..." I weakly mewled upon noticing his hesitance, my breathing hitching as he leaned closer, at last, his tongue darting out to languidly lick at the side of my neck.

Oh...yes...