Chapter 72

Hannah’s POV

Liam’s dead.

That’s all I could think about as blackness clouded my vision. My body was numb to any attacks. I knew of the damages done and I couldn’t shield myself. I saw the anger portrayed in his features as he leaned over me; every punch to my stomach, every swipe to my face, it felt like I was immune to them. I kept waiting for the pain to set in, but it never came. My already weakened body faded from me together and I could no longer feel the faint presence of my wolf.

My breathing became shallow; I typically would have tried to gasp for breath. I would have tried to stay alive. But I had nothing more to live for. My brother was dead, and I was dying alongside him. I wondered if he was alone when he died. I wondered if it was painful or if it was quick. I wondered if he thought of me at all as he took his last breath.

I was losing grip on reality. Jack was stained with my blood. I wanted to spit into his face and tell him to take the rest of my life. But I knew he was going to do that regardless; I just had to wait for the final blow. The blow that would end it all. All the pain, the troubles, the heartbreak, the disappointment. I just wanted it all to end.

I closed my already swollen eyes, and I thought I saw a small image of my brother. He stood before me and looked so well. He looked healthy and happy. He looked like himself, but so much better. He reached an arm out for me to take his hand; I reached toward him. Feeling the softness of his fingers against mine; I knew from the look he was giving me that everything was going to be all right.

That soon, everything would be over.

Darkness clouded me, and reality slipped away.

…

Sebastian’s POV

“You should go back to Hannah,” Sebastian said as they reached Alpha Steven’s house. “I can do this on my own.”

“What if he tries to fight you?” Arnold asked. “You’re going to need backup.”

“You don’t think I can handle him on my own?” Sebastian asked, narrowing his eyes at his beta; Arnold looked sheepish for a moment.

“If he has the moonstone scepter, then probably not,” Arnold told him, honestly. “You felt it too when we were here earlier. Something happened to us where we felt weak. You can use as much help as you can get.”

Sebastian knew that Arnold was speaking the truth. But he couldn’t help but worry about Hannah and the fact that she was all alone and vulnerable in the dungeon. He didn’t trust anybody there and he wanted to make sure she was safe.

He supposed this wasn’t going to be a long mission; once he got the moonstone scepter back, he would be back to Hannah. He wanted to see for himself that she was truly all right.

He didn’t bother knocking on the door; he walked in like he owned the place. This time he got the scent of both Naomi and Amy in the house, along with Steven. They all jumped to their feet startled to see Sebastian standing before them.

“You’re back…” Steven said, eyeing him carefully with wide and worried eyes. “Did you find Liam?”

“We need to search your house again,” Sebastian said, keeping his tone even.

“I already told you; we don’t know where Liam is…” Steven tried to argue, but Sebastian put his hand up, silencing him.

“What is this all about?” Naomi asked, there was a bit of nervousness in her tone as she glanced over at Amy.

Amy’s face was reddened, and Sebastian could nearly hear her rapid beating heart.

“I think you already know what this is about,” he said, addressing Amy and Naomi.

Amy hurriedly ran to her room with Sebastian trailing behind her closely. She blocked the door before he could enter; he could see the panic crossing her face. Just from being near her room, he could sense the scepter was inside. Eric felt weak to the scepter; the powers were too much for him to handle. It was why he used it during the full moon; it was the only thing that could weaken his strength and make the chains in the dungeon unbreakable.

It was almost like he was a slave to that scepter, and he needed it back. He wasn’t leaving without it. Eric’s rising anger was becoming evident in Sebastian’s eyes as he stared down at Amy. She looked frightened, but not enough to step out of the way.

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but…” Naomi tried to say but her words trailed off as Sebastian snapped his head in her direction to glare at her.

He turned back to Amy, curling his lip up as he snarled at her.

“Step aside,” he growled in a deep and low tone.

Her body was visibly trembling, but she stood her ground. She kept a hold on the door handle to keep herself leveraged. He clenched his fists, trying to keep himself from shifting. All he was seeing at that moment was blood and Hannah wasn’t there to calm him.

“I said step aside,” he said again, more threatening.

“It’s best you do what he says,” Arnold warned from a distance.

She sucked in a sharp breath and then Alpha Steven’s voice cut through the hallway.

“For god’s sake, Amy. Get out of his way!” He hissed.

Amy flinched at her father’s words. Tears welled up in her eyes as she realized how much trouble she was going to get in. She glanced over at Naomi who seemed unmoved. Soon, Amy sighed and took a step away from the door.

Sebastian shoved past her, nearly knocking her into the doorframe as he invaded her room. He saw the backpack Arnold was referring to right away. He was right; it had a faint blue glow coming through the zippers. The closer he got to it, the more he could feel the scepter. He could feel the powers of the scepter leaking through the backpack; it was calling for him.

He was surprised he didn’t feel it this strongly when he was there earlier. But maybe he just wasn’t close enough to it.

Sebastian grabbed the backpack and unzipped it.

The moonstone scepter was poking out and it looked unharmed to Sebastian’s immediate relief. This also meant that he had proof that Hannah wasn’t the one who stole the scepter.

He tightened his hold around the scepter and turned to Amy, fury boiling through him, making his features red through his mask.

“Why do you have this?” He demanded to know.

She looked too frightened to speak; Naomi appeared behind her daughter and Steven came in shortly after.

“We can explain this,” Naomi said.

“I should have known you had something to do with this too,” Sebastian hissed to her. “Why would you take this?”

“We were never planning on using it; the powers were too much for us. We tried to store it away. But it kept appearing out of nowhere. Eventually, we stuck it in the backpack until we could figure out what else to do with it,” Naomi admitted, her voice trembling slightly as she looked into Sebastian’s scarlet eyes.

“That didn’t answer my question!” He growled.

“Why did you have this?!”

“It wasn’t our idea…” Amy blurted, tears falling down her cheeks and soaking her features.

Naomi nudged her painfully, but Amy didn’t stop speaking.

“We were told to do this,” she said in a sob.

“By whom?!” Sebastian shouted.

“Your ex luna,” she said quickly, despite Naomi’s warning looks. “Emily.”