Innocent Devil’s Harem Ch. 67 (Patreon)

December 4, 2021

NOTE: This chapter is titled Revenge.

Next chapter will be titled Mercy.

At the end of the chapter, I've got a sort of roadmap explained, regarding where the story is heading (in a general sense).

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<< Chapter 66 | Ch 1 (Book1) | Ch 16 (Book 2) | Ch 31 (Book 3) | Ch 46 (Book 4) | Ch 61 (Book 5)

- CHAPTER 67: Revenge -

Death.

Death was my enemy, and also my judgement.

The very thing I sent others to, was the thing that I myself ran away from.

The very thing I counted on, in order to win, was also the thing I feared above all else, knowing that death claiming the wrong person would be an unforgivable loss.

Death was also the thing that made unlikely allies form an unbreakable alliance in battle. And death was also the reason why those unlikely allies became enemies the moment the battle was won.

The most pressing threat in my life was now gone, my werewolf enemy burned to ash by the unspeakable pride and rage that coursed through my soul. But my first enemy, the one who was responsible for forcing me to meet death in the first place, still lived and was still a threat.

Just from a single fight, I’d witnessed for myself that the elite vampire I’d fought beside was a shrewd and calculating man, capable of far greater destruction than I would have ever imagined.

But most importantly, I knew he wouldn’t hesitate to turn on me if it was ever in his best interest.

And what was worse, he actually had a power that could defeat me.

A power that could force me to meet death again, and possibly be reclaimed this time.

Dead, forever.

Which was a big problem.

I’d never forgive myself if he took Serenity’s life, and I hadn’t taken action when I had the chance.

If I hadn’t taken action while he was weakened from our earlier fight.

Maybe it was dishonorable for me to even consider such a thought, especially when our very victory depended in great part on the man who I was now planning to kill. But showing mercy now and regretting it later made me fear such a merciful action would be regretted.

Especially when I was reminded of the destruction this Absolute Disintegration spell could cause.

On my way back to the mansion, carrying the mysterious black knife that had allowed my werewolf enemy to break through Miriam’s barriers, I came across some of the stragglers, who had managed to only lose a body part from the dark spell, most of them now looking human. However, even those who were relatively unharmed found themselves soon collapsed on the ground, their flesh having become almost diseased as the decay climbed up their body, continuing to eat them away even though they’d escaped the majority of the blast.

Which meant, even coming into brief contact was enough to ensure death.

Truly, while it cost that man his arm -- a limb I was sure he could eventually regenerate -- that spell was beyond lethal, and I was highly uncomfortable allowing such a person to continue to wield it when my temporary ‘ally’ might truly become my enemy again, now that we didn’t have a common enemy to fight against.

However, when I finally reached the rear gate -- initially sprinting at full speed to kill stragglers along the way before discovering it would be a waste of time -- I was a little shocked to discover that Miriam was already taking things into her own hands.

Not wanting to interrupt, I stopped before she noticed me, though it was possible that she could sense my presence, given this new connection we shared as me being part-owner of her domain.

At the very least, while I knew from my strong connection with Natalie that she was inside the house right now, I could also vaguely sense everyone else, though they were all in sight at the moment.

Serenity and Gabriella were standing back a little, both wielding machine guns, lowered at the moment, while Gwen stood with her rifle aimed at the maimed old man, who was significantly more injured from the fall than I’d anticipated.

For one, jagged bones were showing out of his legs, and the side of his face was all bloody and dented, with his left eye appearing to be smashed enough to render it useless. And of course, his left arm was almost completely gone as well, with him being propped up on his right elbow, the only limb that was currently functional at the moment.

His expression was neutral, as if the pain didn’t bother him and nothing currently happening came as a shock, looking up at the short succubus with a single impassive crimson eye.

Miriam was standing with a metal blade in her hand, this one looking like it was meant to be only decorative, having elaborate engravings in the gray blade. She was still wearing her leather pants, her ivory shirt still soaked through with sweat enough that it didn’t hide her torso, her emerald eyes firm. Her black wings were also fanned out just slightly, as if to make herself appear larger and more intimidating.

Now that the overall threat was gone and the barriers weren’t actively being attacked, all the lights in her mansion were on, and there were even a few light poles outside slightly illuminating the overall area. I had never been behind Miriam’s mansion, so I was surprised to finally see the makeshift greenhouse on the right that led off the dining hall, a breakfast room in between the two spaces, with a covered porch area extending across the majority of the rear side of the building.

There was then a patch of grass with a few trees, flowers, and other landscaping prior to the paved area where this man had fallen when I dropped him.

I’d heard the codger speak just a moment before, his voice low and deep, but I hadn’t understood what he said, given that it was in a different language. However, I had no problem understanding Miriam’s voice crystal clear as she responded.

“Yes, I fully agree. Which is why I’m only sealing you for now, instead of killing you.”

His tone was reserved. “Risparmia la principessa,” he responded.

“I will do the same for her,” she said simply, only to continue. “If for no other reason than the fact that she caused little harm while she was trapped in my domain, and since having her death on my hands might cause me undesired problems,” she added, lifting the decorative knife slightly.

The man didn’t respond, instead closing his one good eye and otherwise remaining still, as if there was nothing left to say.

Miriam paused for a few seconds, seeming to assess him, before moving as fast as lightning, ducking down and plunging her hand forward all in one motion, expertly piercing the blade through the man’s ribs.

All at once, he let out a breath of air, sounding like he was groaning as his skin grayed, his body beginning to shrivel up slightly.

His right arm then went limp, and his head fell back onto the pavement with a dull thud.

Just like that, there was a corpse lying on the ground.

Miriam stood back up, leaving the knife buried in the man’s heart, and took a deep breath.

She then focused in my direction, with me still hidden in the shadows.

I sighed and stepped forward, causing Serenity and Gabriella to both give me expressions of relief, looking me over as if they were searching for some sign of me being injured. But all my injuries were already healed, though I had to admit there was a slight craving for blood now. Hopefully finding a deer later wouldn’t be too much trouble.

But first, I wanted to ensure that everything here was fine.

“So you sealed him?” I wondered, sincerely curious, but also wanting to ensure she knew I’d at least heard part of her conversation with him.

She nodded. “Yes. I realize you fought together, and he was a huge help, but--”

I shook my head, cutting her off. “That power he wields is too dangerous. I was already prepared to kill him.”

She looked at me in surprise, only for her expression to become sympathetic. “We still can, if you want. All we would have to do is leave him outside until sunrise. What I’ve done is put him to sleep for now, as a sort of compromise for him helping us, but we don’t have to move him.”

“What was your original plan?” I wondered. “Put him in a box or coffin indefinitely?”

She sighed. “First, before I respond, might I ask a question?”

A little confused, I shrugged. “Sure.”

“Did the leader get away? The one controlling this army?”

I shook my head, surprised she didn’t assume as much. “No, he’s a pile of ashes.”

She nodded, glancing at the midnight blade in my hand. “I had hoped as much, but didn’t want to assume.” She then took another deep breath. “As far as my original plan, it would be against my ethics to allow either of them to go free. Not when their very existence means death to the humans I’ve committed myself to protect. But it would also be horrible of me to not treat them humanely, by keeping their sleeping bodies safe indefinitely, especially when they played such a huge role in saving our lives.” She took another deep breath. “While intelligent vampires like this do obviously exist in our world, they would still classify as the type of threat I’d prefer to keep sealed behind the gate. Such creatures with any sense of morality are rare. Most view humans purely as food, and feel no more remorse for taking a human life, than a hunter might perceive the death of a deer.”

“How did they even get on the other side?” I wondered.

She shrugged. “I have no doubt there are other such portals to that hellish world. Possibly they used it to escape some greater threat, since I can’t imagine anyone going in willingly under other circumstances.”

I nodded, glancing at the mutilated corpse. “Now what?”

“I’ve already uninvited his companion, thereby trapping her in my house. Though I never imagined that my barriers would interact with a vampire in this way, since usually the uninvited are able to leave unless I specifically keep them between barriers. But now, we need to find her and seal her as well.”

“The princess?” I commented.

She frowned at that. “I suppose it makes sense that you might have figured out what he was saying, even if it was Italian.”

I shook my head. “It’s not just that. When I saw her back in the East Drawing Room, I recalled a memory of what happened just as I was waking up after being killed. For some reason, I understood everything they said, and I remembered him calling her princess then.”

She sighed. “Well, if she truly is vampire royalty, then it would be in our best interest to not kill her, in particular. The last thing I need is to have that kind of threat come knocking on my door, and for me to not be able to give them what they want.”

“But they shouldn’t be able to get in, right?”

She nodded, again glancing down at the midnight knife in my hand. “Yes, that’s correct. The fact that anyone managed to penetrate my defenses is shocking. But such creatures could still wreak havoc on the surrounding area. They could also kill anyone who might want to come in, trap me on my own property, and otherwise seal me off from the outside world until I ran out of resources.” She shrugged. “I could probably survive under certain circumstances, especially if you were here, but it would just be more favorable to be able to hand them their princess if they ever requested it.”

I nodded, focusing at the long covered-porch area, toward the greenhouse, or I guess conservatory, when I sensed Natalie was hurrying out of it.

Miriam looked over her shoulder too, in response to my gaze, just in time to see Natalie open the door, holding something in her hand. She also had two guns on her back, using the straps crisscrossed over her shoulders to secure them in place, one appearing to be a machine gun like what Serenity and Gabriella had, while the other looked like a fancy shotgun. She’d taken off the leather jacket at some point, leaving her body visible underneath the sheer black dress, only her vinyl thong and matching top keeping her from being completely exposed.

Gabriella spoke up then, prompted by the pause in our conversation.

“So are there a lot of vampire princesses, or just one?” my busty redhead asked seriously, continuing when Miriam focused on her. “Because if there’s only one, then it might be better to get on her good side, don’t you think? Or, to at least try to give her back, rather than waiting around for them to come for her.”

Miriam only frowned, not responding as she seemed to consider that.

Serenity chimed in. “And was it one of them that bit Gwen? Or is there still another creature inside the house?”

“Probably one of them,” Miriam finally said. “But we shouldn’t rule out the possibility that it was something else.”

“No, I think it was definitely this vampire princess,” I replied. “I saw under that veil she was wearing. Her mouth looks pretty messed up. And you said that Gwen’s blood might hurt them like sunlight would.”

Miriam nodded, turning to face Natalie as she ran over the grassy area, since her expression still looked urgent.

We all focused on her to see that she was holding the gold compass in her hands, the one that was supposed to locate the guy who’d kidnapped and tormented her, with her expression almost desperate as she focused on the short succubus.

“Is it still working?” she asked urgently. “I think it’s still working. He’s still alive.”

Miriam’s eyes widened in surprise as she moved closer and focused on the device she’d enchanted.

I spoke up. “I did see some stragglers. But they all looked like they were close to death.”

Miriam gave me a serious look. “Then we’ll have to hunt them all down, and ensure they all truly die, if that’s the case. I do not wish to have monsters on my property every full moon.” She then focused on Natalie. “Yes, it appears it’s still working. He’s alive.”

Natalie immediately gave me a pleading look. “Can we find him? Please. I need him to die. He can’t get away.”

I nodded, holding up the black dagger. “Well, it seems he was here with all the others, and since I have this knife, he should be trapped between barriers now, since it feels like they’re impassable in either direction at the moment.”

“Precisely,” Miriam agreed. “Although, please don’t misplace that knife. Most likely, that weapon is a very ancient artifact, as such magic to create a tool that can cut through such powerful barriers has long since been lost. This item can never be allowed to enter the wrong hands ever again.”

I nodded, carefully holding it out to her. “The last thing we need is for the vampire princess to get a hold of it, and we also can’t afford for her to release this man either. I’ll take Natalie, if you want to take the knife and deal with it.”

Miriam hesitated for a second, before coming closer to carefully accept the blade, treating it like it was the most fragile piece of glass in the world…or like it was a cursed object, and one cut might be the end of her. However, based on how I’d seen the apex werewolf carrying it, literally stabbed through his hand, I doubted it was inherently dangerous to people, other than in ways a normal dagger might be.

But to a powerful barrier?

It might as well be sunlight to a vampire.

When Miriam turned away, still handling the knife carefully, Serenity spoke up, looking at me.

“Kai, what do you want me to do?” my sexy brunette wondered. “I’d like to go with you, but I understand if you need me to stay here.”

“Probably better if you do,” I admitted.

Miriam chimed in. “Serenity, if you want, you can come with me. Gwen will stay here to guard this body, and to ensure that sealing dagger doesn’t somehow leave his chest, but in the meantime I still need to worry about that young vampire going on the offensive.”

“Oh,” Serenity said in surprise, glancing at me again, as if to verify if that was alright, and then nodding at her. “Of course. Gabriella and I can both come with you…” She paused, glancing at the busty redhead in question. “Unless you want to stay with Gwen?”

Gabriella shook her head. “I think we need to prioritize safety above all else, and Gwen can obviously handle herself. Not that Miriam can’t, but I think it’s best if I go with you two. Especially if that vamp is stuck in the house.”

“Very well,” Miriam agreed. “Then let’s get this artifact locked away, and we can focus on finding the princess.”

Serenity and Gabriella both nodded, quickly following after her when she picked up the pace toward the terrace, despite her short leather-clad legs.

I looked at Gwen, prompting her to speak up right away. “I’ll be alright, master.”

I gave her a nod, just as a nonverbal acknowledgement, and then began heading back toward the rear gate. Of course, Natalie was hot on my heels, seeming more than eager to catch up to the guy who’d caused her so much torment.

The guy who was also responsible for killing her parents in front of her, and even responsible for forcing her to be the one to lead them to their deaths.

At first, we followed the compass down the wide paved driveway leading away from the back side of the mansion, only for it to appear to begin curving around toward the main driveway that led to the front of the house, with me vaguely recalling that there had been a gated pathway more toward the local street Miriam lived on. However, instead of continuing in that direction, we were forced to begin trekking through the trees, our overall direction more northwest.

Granted, that was based purely on my own spatial awareness, since the compass would continue pointing in a single direction no matter which way it was turned, with the way Natalie was holding it being the only reason it was currently pointed toward the N.

It wasn’t until we had almost walked to the invisible second barrier that we finally spotted a body on the ground, appearing to be actively dragging itself with its arms, as if it’s still-intact legs no longer worked.

Natalie immediately handed the compass off to me, assuming it must be him despite us not being able to confirm that yet at this distance, with her quickly unshouldering one of the guns. Specifically, the shotgun.

Picking up my pace in sync with her, we quickly closed the distance, the naked creature’s greasy black hair finally tipping me off that it probably was him, seeing that his legs had that diseased looked that I’d seen on the others. Which meant, he would probably die soon either way.

But I knew that wasn’t going to be enough for Natalie.

When we got close enough to be heard, with him beginning to turn his head to see who was coming, she abruptly cocked the shotgun, causing an empty shell to pop out in the process, indicating she’d already fired it at least once.

The panic on the bastard’s face was obvious, our positioning being so that he saw Natalie first.

“W-Wait, let me e-explain!”

“Explain my ass!” she snapped, walking around him as if she was trying to ensure his escape route was cut off.

“He…he made me do it,” he tried.

“Bullshit!” she snapped. “No one made you do anything! Fucking bastard!”

He was beginning to tremble, he was so panicked. “I…I’m s-sorry. I…”

I began moving more to the side too, prompting him to look up at me in shock as she continued.

“You’re a fucking loser! A no-good loser, who had to force himself on others to get what he wanted!”

Shockingly, that fired him up, his expression suddenly pissed as he glared up at her.

“Fucking bitch!” he snapped, swiping at her leg. “I should have fucking killed you when I--” His voice cut off.

Natalie had easily yanked her foot back, and then lowered the barrel right up to his eye, causing him to freeze solid. The blue-haired chick’s tone was suddenly calm and almost somber.

“You know what? Forget what you put me through. This is for my mom and dad.”

She pulled the trigger.

CRACK!

His head literally exploded into chunks of flesh and bone, causing her to jerk back when some of it got on her legs.

She then focused on the nearly headless corpse in front of her, just staring at it like she couldn’t believe he was really gone.

Like she couldn’t believe it was really over.

I sensed she was going to fall even before she dropped the gun, with me reaching out to catch her just as her knees buckled. She immediately grabbed at me as a wave of intense emotions hit her all at once, everything from the agony of all she’d been through, to the guilt of being forced to be a part of her parents dying, as if achieving her revenge finally released everything she’d kept bottled up inside for the last year.

“Oh God,” she unexpectedly sobbed, rapidly falling apart. “Oh God! I just want to die! I just want to fucking die!” she cried out, grabbing onto me even more as she became almost incoherent. “They're gone, they're all gone. He took everything from me,” she sobbed. “Everything,” she whimpered, her crying now too intense for her to speak.

I held her tightly against me as she let it all out, feeling the intensity of her bottled up emotions almost as if they were my own, as if I was the one mourning my own parents in a way I’d never done before. Feeling their loss all over again as something more than a part of my life disappearing. Experiencing it instead as if a part of my very soul had been severed from me and massacred.

Because, for Natalie, that’s what it felt like, and finally eliminating the one responsible for her torment made that void in her heart exponentially more painful. Honestly, it was almost as if she hadn’t been afforded the opportunity to really grieve until now. And she had so much to grieve for.

So she cried, and cried. Her entire world falling apart as if suddenly she had nothing to live for. No reason to persist. No reason to continue on. A fact that influenced the very core of her aura, causing the nature of it to waver slightly.

Because now, everything was gone, including revenge.

Everything was gone…

Everything…

Except one thing…

One person…

After a long while, her clinging to my chest became something else.

And very slowly, her sorrow and grief transitioned into something else.

She was no longer a ship adrift in the middle of a raging storm.

She had an anchor.

Except, it was more like a crane lifting her up, instead of holding her down.

Her ship was full of holes and she was sinking with no reason to even try to remain afloat any longer, only for a much larger ship to begin pulling her back to the surface. A much larger ship hoisting her onto its massive deck.

Thus, after a while…her clinging became something else.

Something more…

I honestly wasn’t sure how Natalie would have coped if she’d somehow obtained revenge on her own, without my help, but it was very obvious she was having a major existential crisis with several major questions plaguing her.

What now?

What is there worth living for?

What’s the point of it all?

Truly, the bond that werewolves shared was something else entirely, because I could feel these questions in my very core as if I was the one thinking them. And yet, I had answers for all of them, whereas the blue-haired vixen in my arms was slowly formulating her own responses, as she clung more and more desperately to me.

It wasn’t until I heard notable movement in the distance that I finally loosened my grip.

I could feel her reflexively try to stay molded to my body, but our link was powerful enough for her to quickly realize we still had work to do. There were still werewolf stragglers that needed to be put down. However, that was an activity that could take all night, and I wanted to make sure everything was a hundred percent alright back at the mansion before truly embarking on that quest.

Still, if I could hear an enemy, might as well take it down while we had the chance.

Natalie finally pulled away fully and bent down to pick up the shotgun, the second rifle on her back almost slipping out of position in the process. I began to turn around, only to stop when I could sense she was going to request it.

“Hold on,” she commented as she unshouldered the rifle while putting the shotgun back in place, focused down at the semi-decapitated corpse lying a few feet away. “I want to make sure he’s dead with a silver bullet,” she explained, aiming for his back.

The guy literally didn’t even have half a head at the moment, but oh well. If she wanted to triple-check he was dead for good, that was fine with me. Honestly, I would have been fine with turning his body to ash on top of everything, but didn’t have the magic for it, a topic that was growing more and more confusing with each spell I cast.

Like, seriously, I needed Miriam to start giving me magic lessons, because I didn’t have a clue what was going on, or how I could use up so much so quickly, only to be completely out and subsequently use a spell that required a ridiculous amount that seemed to bubble up from nowhere.

Kind of made me wonder if I fundamentally misunderstood what was ‘disposable’ magic.

Like, maybe I had a vast store of it hidden within me that I wasn’t aware of most of the time. Or maybe certain emotions triggered a rapid formation of what was needed to cast certain spells. Either way, I really needed to understand how it worked, so that I could be more effective at using it in a fight. Because it was obvious I couldn’t rely solely on my physical strength to win everything.

There were probably weapons and definitely magical spells out there capable of hurting me.

After Natalie put a couple silver bullets in the corpse’s back, for good measure, we tracked down the other straggler I’d heard, and put him out of his misery too.

We then began heading back for the mansion, with me not hearing any other notable signs of others who needed to be put down, but fully intending on ensuring none were left alive later on. Of course, my hearing was far above average, but it wasn’t nearly as precise as my sense of smell was, with it being more difficult to pin down specific sounds when there were a multitude of them. Granted, I could say the same about smells too, when it was a plethora of almost the same scent everywhere.

But with sounds, despite everything that had happened with the attack, the normal nighttime noises of crickets, tree frogs, bat squeaks, the occasional hoot of an owl, and everything else were in full swing, making other quiet noises more difficult to pick up on. And even a twig snapping wasn’t really significant, since I did hear the low grunting of a few deer toward the edge of the first outermost barrier.

A few deer which I might have to track down before the night was done, so that I could quench the slight craving I’d been plagued with, for a while now, after getting mildly hurt a few times.

Natalie was quiet as we walked back, but felt completely stable now.

Still somber, and a little emotionally drained, but stable.

She was tethered to me and that seemed to be her main focus now. The only thing that mattered at this point, at least in her own perception.

It wasn’t until we got to the rear gate that I began to wonder how long we were gone, feeling like it might have only been twenty minutes at most, but still being surprised that a tarp had been placed over the maimed old man’s corpse, a visible peak caused by the decorative knife in his chest, with Gwen having been replaced with Serenity now guarding.

“Oh Kai,” she said in relief, shouldering her machine gun when she saw us walking through the open gate. “I was starting to get worried.”

“We weren’t gone that long, right?” I said in surprise. “Feels like it’s only been about half an hour, at most.”

She frowned at that. “Well, I heard a gunshot not long after you two left, and I guess I just figured you’d head back right away.”

“S-Sorry,” Natalie stammered. “That was sort of my fault.”

Serenity shook her head, her expression gentle. “No, that’s alright. We’ve kept pretty busy while you two were away. That vampire princess is already taken care of, and now both Miriam and Gwen have been running around to make preparations to take care of the bodies.” She paused. “Gwen just dropped off this tarp a handful of minutes ago, just to ensure this guy doesn’t get exposed to anything harmful, and said she’d be back with a wooden box to put him in for now.”

I frowned at the mention that the young blonde vampire had already been dealt with, kind of surprised that they’d already found and stabbed her so easily. Especially since the blonde was mostly unharmed, unlike the older man who couldn’t exactly do anything to prevent getting stabbed in the heart with a knife.

“And how did that go?” I wondered. “Sealing the princess,” I added for clarification.

Serenity frowned again at that. “Well, not how I expected. She didn’t even try to hide or anything, unlike before. And the way Miriam handled the situation was a bit…unexpected. She pretty much just walked up to her, and stabbed her with another one of those fancy knives.” She grimaced then. “I’m not sure what that girl was thinking, like if she thought we were all friends all of a sudden, or what, but she looked almost relieved at first, and then really betrayed.”

Natalie spoke up with a scoff. “Yeah, I can imagine that getting stabbed in the heart with a knife when you weren’t expecting it probably has that effect usually.”

Serenity just sighed. “I don’t know. The whole thing was just weird. Like, I realize having her struggle would have made everything more difficult, and I understand that letting either one of them go free isn’t really an option, but I can’t help but feel like we could have handled this differently.”

“Differently how?” I wondered, doubting there really were other options. Especially since we were dealing with a couple of bloodsuckers, who I assumed required human blood to survive, and who also couldn’t be trusted.

The older guy especially couldn’t be trusted, and I hadn’t exactly gotten over the fact that both of them were at least partially responsible for my death.

Well, fully responsible for the old man, and maybe partially for the girl.

And sure, maybe it could be said that the young blonde vamp hadn’t made any of the decisions I was ultimately angry about, kind of just along for the ride, but I at least knew for a fact she was the one who sank her teeth into Gwen…

Or just a tooth? Since there was only a single puncture spot…

In the arm, of all places…

Oh well.

What was done, was done.

For now, probably best if I just made myself useful, so that this entire fiasco could be fully behind us.

When Serenity didn’t respond, I sighed heavily.

“Okay, well, I think I’ll go inside and see if Miriam needs me to do anything.”

Serenity nodded, still seeming somber as she readjusted her gun on her shoulder and reached into her back pocket. “Okay. I should probably call Michelle anyway. She and Avery both have been worried that you were transformed for so long. I sent her a quick message to let her know we were okay, but I’m sure they’re freaking out still.”

I nodded, moving closer to give her a quick hug. Surprisingly, she let out a cute little gasp of relief and hugged me tightly in response, giving me a long squeeze before letting go.

“Will you be okay out here?” I asked seriously after pulling away.

She inclined her chin. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. There are none of those things inside this area, and the rock wall is also a barrier, right? So nothing should be able to come in, not even through the gate?”

“Correct,” I agreed. “And yeah, the barrier is working just fine. No one should be able to get in now that we have that weird knife.”

She gave me a small smile. “Then I’ll be fine,” she repeated. “And the sooner we get these bodies taken care of, the sooner all this can be behind us. I’m glad the overall situation has been dealt with, but I never imagined something like this might happen.”

“Me either,” I agreed, taking another deep breath. “Okay, well just yell if you need something. I can hear fine now, so I should be able to hear even a whisper if you’re just outside the house.”

She smirked at me and nodded.

I began walking again, past her and over the grassy patch between two younger trees, only to step onto the deck and make a right toward the conservatory greenhouse. Unsurprisingly, Natalie stayed right with me, and it took me a second to realize why I hadn’t even considered suggesting that she stay with Serenity.

It was because of how it felt to be her alpha.

Even though she had full autonomy right now, I still couldn’t help but feel like she was an extension of my own body, and since I planned on going inside, it just felt natural that she would too, similar to how I would expect my own arm to accompany me wherever I went.

Granted, I could ask her to stay and feel comfortable with it, but it just wasn’t the first thought that popped into my head, my basic assumption being that she’d just continue to be my shadow as I went from one place to the next.

Although, there was another reason I wanted her with me too.

Even though she’d cried her heart out for the last twenty or thirty minutes, and felt mostly stable, I could sense that she would find it difficult to remain stable on her own. Because she was finding strength in the werewolf bond we had, feeling like she had a purpose by following me around, ready to obey my every wish, finding hope specifically in the concept of who she was following around.

In who she was submissive to.

In who she’d been dominated by.

Barely thirty minutes ago, and she’d lost sight of any reason to live.

She’d lost all light in her dark world.

But now, I was her light.

I was the one giving her hope, a hope that maybe the future wouldn’t be so bad.

A hope that maybe her future might even be more than she’d hoped.

Because she had a good alpha, one she felt safe around.

And she found healing in that fact.

Healing in her willingness to serve me.

Healing and safety, in her position beneath me.

Which was all I’d essentially promised her.

So yeah, I’d keep her by my side for now, though I knew she’d never truly be away from me ever again. Even if we were separated by miles, she’d still be by my side.

As was the strength of a werewolf bond.

FEEDBACK/ROADMAP: As I mentioned at the top, this chapter is titled Revenge, and the next will be titled Mercy.

Here soon (in the next few chapters), we are going to bring Mrs. Rebecca, Michelle, and Avery back into the story, for those who are missing those characters. Gwen will likely get a makeup session with Kai, as well (once everything else had been settled). After all, an incubus kind of needs it.

I'm not entirely sure how many chapters until each of these things happens, but just wanted to give a sort of roadmap as to the direction we are heading.

I really want to get a chance to focus more on Michelle and Avery, since they've kind of been pushed aside for a lot of the story.

We are also getting closer to where the sexual interactions will get a bit more crazy and fun, as Kai's women become more comfortable with each other, and such.

If there's anything in particular you'd like to see, let me know if the comments.

Chapter 68 >>