Chapter 20: Counter Betrayals

Alexandra POV

As I call out to Nathaniel, his figure shrinks in the distance, something off about him. Just moments ago, he was in his usual self, but now, his eyes blaze a fiery red, stark against their usual calm hue. The sweat trickling down his face speaks volumes, each droplet carrying the weight of his untold agony.

It feels as though unseen hands are weaving poison into his very being, tearing him away from me, leaving behind a trail of anguish. My heart twists painfully as I watch him flee, each step taking him further from the warmth of our shared journey. I had hoped for a fond farewell, a tender moment to seal our bittersweet memories, but instead, I find myself seeing his desperate running away from me, lost in a haze of suffering.

I'm about to follow him but his friend Oliver stops me from going further. "Leave me, Oliver!" I yell, my throat swells, "there's something wrong with him." "If something is wrong with him then it's because of you! You're the cause of his destruction!"

His allegations pulls the anger inside me so I open my mouth and yells, "This's silly how you all fantasy land people are blaming me for no valid reason! This is so suffocating! Couldn't you see how he was suffering? We should help him."

"Oh, c'mon. When he was in the need of your help, you tried to kill him. You did everything just to make him suffer and now you're telling me we should help him? You're hypocrite and your actions are full of hypocrisy."

"Oh, can you stop blaming me and go to help him?" As I ask, he glares looking at me saying, "I know my friend will be alright but here if someone needs to be worried is you."

"What do you mean by that?" I ask him out of curiosity. "I think you want to go home." I shake my head acquiescing his statement. "Don't worry about him, he'll be okay. You should come with me." "Are you sure he'll be okay?" "Yes, indeed he's my friend. Sometimes he acts like that and this is normal for him." "I never saw anything like this. He was always a good man." "Then you don't know anything about him. Let's go, we're getting late."

He is kind of dragging me, I am on my way back home and I suppose to be the happiest till now but here my heart is aching for Nathaniel.

Listening to Oliver's harsh words, I already get it that he's someone whose DNA is totally contrary of Nathaniel and it's worthless talking to him. I'll go home but Oliver's in more of a hurry than I am.

We come out of the pack house and start walking deep into the forest. He's silent, and his silence leaves me in great suspicions. To break the awkward silence, I ask him, "How long it can take to reach home?" "It can cost your eternal departure."

"Are you serious now? How can insert fear inside someone you don't know properly?"

We exchange a piercing glance but both remains silent.

After few minutes, we start walking again so I tell him to walk faster and that's the mistake I've made severely.

"I hope you can keep up with the pace!" Saying this, he transforms instantly making my eyes drop. "Hey, what's the point of shifting?" I say in despair, "c'mon I'm afraid."

He looks at me with his hunter gaze like he is in the verge to eat me. My eyes widen seeing his already spreading claw thrown towards me. "Oh gosh! What's this Oliver?" I hide instantly behind the monsterious unknown tree when it becomes the prey instead of me by getting uprootted abruptly by his hard and fast clasp. As he fails to catch me, he starts growling in anger. Like an wild hunter, he starts chasing me throwing me into a vast ocean of contemplation about his intention because I don't believe Nathaniel would ever throw me in danger intentionally.

"You're Nathaniel's friend, why're you chasing me instead of helping?" "To kill you dear!" His mocking laughter makes me confused and shocked. "I don't believe you because Nathaniel would never do this to me."

"I think you deserve an explanation before dieing." He stops chasing me so I also stands maintaining a safer zone far away from him. He is right because everyone deserves an explanation before death.

"Your Nathaniel wants me to kill you, dear Alexandra. Now stop running and surrender." "What!?" I receive a big mental shock listening to him. "I don't believe you. Please stop it if you're joking around. My heart is too weak to deal with this type of betrayals and dangers." "I don't blame Nathaniel anymore after seeing your true color. You Alexandra talking about betrayals when you were the person who betrayed everyone!" "Y'all please stop this mind game with me. I'm not someone who can betray and Nathaniel isn't someone who can order someone to kill me." "Come out of your imagination. It's Nathaniel who wants me to give you the cruel punishment for the sin you committed a long ago." "Still he think so about me?" "Yes."

"Nathaniel told me that you're ready to help me in exchange of $50,000 because you need the money so badly," I say, he glares at me with clenched teeth. "I f**k your money," he sneers, the insult hanging in the air. I choose silence in response to his absurdity. His activities disgust me; how can one man own such relentless mistrust?

How can I distrust someone when he's insisting on the same thing again and again? Doubt creeps in as I ponder Nathaniel's motives. Would he leave me with such a vile person if he truly believed in my innocence? An storm washes me, grappling with the pain of his continuous claiming on the conviction of my crime. How can I bear the burden of his unforgiving judgment? Each time Nathaniel intervened, it was with a promise of pain. How do I reconcile accepting this that he Nathaniel himself always protected me from danger just to give me a death that's tainted with such torment?

Oliver chuckles sadly looking at me before saying, "I think you've understood it well how it feels like when someone betray you?" "Yes, I've understood it pretty well and nothing hurts more than this betrayal thing, you know. Nathaniel makes me understand very well that the enemy is never meant to be a friend. He will love you, hold you with affection, your heart will be forced to love him even if you don't want to, you will be bound by his love but when you start dreaming to cherish this new life, he will stab your back with a knife to introduce you to the greatest and most terrible pain in the world. What a terrible pain! Fool me couldn't even think that deeply. People can't forget their aim at all and the same goes to Nathaniel. And I'll never be able to forget the proper punishment I've received even without doing any crime, although I know nothing about the clashes of the land." "Don't you feel any shame?" I look at his angry face, not focused at him at all. All of my energy are drained and the voice of my throat is dwindling gradually. I hear the insulation and curse from his mouth again.

"Aren't you ashamed that you lie even before your death? How can you do so?"

"I wish I had all the answers for your questions. I may have committed a great sin in my life that I have to see these days. Only death can free you from this sin."

"You know I'm the worst ware wolf here in this area. I've committed so many crimes in my life that nobody will be able to stand hearing the description of my crimes and still I can't gather the courage to die without admitting my faults. And you've failed me because I've never met such evil in my entire life. I'm declaring you the queen of devil's land." "Please stop it! I can't take this anymore!" I yell covering my ears. "Get ready to die now!"

Listening to him, tears stream down my face, an storm of helplessness cascading within. Another ephemeral image dances across my vision, teasing with its acquisition, yet slipping away like smoke through my fingers. In the depths of my hopelessness, an ancient scream erupts, echoing the internal anguish clawing at my soul. Each cry is a plea, a desperate attempt to hold the segments of memory slipping through the sieve of my mind. Yet, as always, they remain just beyond reach, leaving me to drown in the ocean of my own confusion and sorrow. I tell him, "Kill me! I don't want to live anymore! Why does he hate me so much when I love him with my life!"