SURPRISE BITCHES!

"Tell me about her?" I finally gain the courage to ask, and Greyson sighs from behind the bars that separate us.

"I don't like talking about it, Nyx. There's a reason I didn't tell you about her before," Greyson warned, and his eyes flashed in pain.

"Please?" I ask quietly. "I want to know about her. Maybe it'll help you to talk about it."

Greyson closes his eyes, swallowing thickly. "Her name was Ava. I met her in the woods when I left my original pack. She was a rogue, had been her whole life. Her parents were kicked out of their pack long ago, so she was born into it. She was looking for berries when I saw her. Humming a tune I didn't recognize, and her voice was like warm honey. Her scent drove my wolf insane, and I knew right away who she was to me.

I nearly scared the hell out of her when I wrapped my arms around her. In hindsight, not a good idea to sneak up on an unsuspecting she-wolf. She stomped on my foot," Greyson laughed slightly.

"Of course, she too felt the mate bond between us. I took her home with me that day after we gathered all of her items from her house. The mate bond is a hard thing to fight. Impossible, even.

She was beautiful, of course, but her soul was the best part about her. Very kind, generous, soft. We fell in love quickly, and she often told me it felt like she was in a fairytale.

One night, she made us dinner, light candles, the whole thing. She was so nervous, she knocked a glass of water on me. When she got a towel to help dry me off, she told me.

She was with pup," Greyson's voice cracked, and I inhaled sharply. "I was ecstatic, obviously. We stayed up that whole night to talk about names, arguing about what gender we thought the pup would be, even about what to paint the nursery. She was so convinced it was a boy, but I knew it would have been a girl. My princess.

Two weeks later, she went into the woods to find berries. During her pregnancy, she couldn't eat enough of them. I offered to get them for her, but she refused, saying she was going crazy being inside for so long. Told me she would be right back.

Shortly after, I felt the bond snap, and I lost the other half of my soul. I tore through the woods, and found her with a knife in her neck. No doubt the work of the Reaper, I had come across plenty of bodies just like hers before I met her, and I could smell her scent faintly in the body," Greyson has tears streaming down his face.

"I thought it was safe," He whispered. "We moved far away from where the Reaper was known to frequent. I hadn't known that she had been pushing deeper into the woods, each time going further than the last."

I wiped the tears off of my face, my hands trembling slightly. "Grey..."

Greyson took a shaky breath. "Ares is not the person you thought you knew. She killed my mate and my unborn pup. I had to try to kill her, for my mate, for my pup. Thinking about getting my revenge was the only thing that stopped me from taking my own life. Until I met you of course, and you brought light into my darkest days, reminded me how good people can be."

I gulped. "Greyson... I don't blame you at all for what you did. If Thane knew... I'm sure he would understand..."

Greyson snarled harshly, making me flinch. "Thane is the last person who would understand. He would have put the knife in my mate's neck just as quickly as the Reaper."

I grimace. "No, he wouldn't... He wouldn't hurt a helpless she-wolf. Ares would... but he's different."

Grey scoffed. "All of those Alphas are exactly the same. Wake up, Onyx. Your mate is just as ruthless as the rest of them. Don't be stupid."

Cringing, I lean away from the bars. "You're wrong. The Moon Goddess would not give me such a cruel mate."

Greyson leaned forward, his eyes glowing dangerously, "So ask him. Ask him if he's ever killed a rogue she-wolf without reason. Then you'll learn just how horrible your mate truly is."

"You're wrong," I shake my head slightly. "I should go," I say abruptly as I get up off of the ground.

"No, don't go, Nyx," Greyson sighed. "I'm sorry, I know you can't handle facing the truth of the monster in your bed."

"That's not an apology," I hiss, leaving him in the cellar alone.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"You're not focusing, Onyx," Thane says, and I growl in frustration.

"I'm trying!" I say defensively as the black mist from my magic dissipates into nothing. "I don't understand. Magic used to be so easy for me."

Thane rubbed his chin pensively. "Maybe when you got your Gift back, it reset everything you know how to do, and your body is relearning how to use it."

I considered his words, thinking that was a good enough explanation. It did feel like I was a young pup again, desperately trying to contain the power and manipulate it to my will.

"You have to focus, guide the magic with intention," Thane instructed. He twirled his finger in the air slowly, and shaped the grey mist into two wolves that ran through the air. He flicked his hand, and they disappeared.

"Wow," I exhaled. Until times like these, I always forgot just how powerful my mate truly is, his skill much more developed than mine.

"Try again," Thane instructed, standing still in the clearing. "Imagine your magic as an extension of yourself. You are in complete control of it. It will do your bidding if you are confident in your choices."

For the last hour, we had been trying to do one of his favorite uses of magic, using the mist to restrain someone from moving.

I sighed, draining the life force from nearby trees, the grass underneath me already dead. I held my palms out, moving the magic towards him, the black fog swirling around his ankles, and crawling up his legs.

He took a step forward, immediately causing the fog to dissipate into the air. I groaned, and he sighed.

"You're distracted," He muttered. "What's on your mind, Onyx?"

I scratched my head awkwardly. "I don't suppose you've considered letting Greyson go?"

Thane stilled, his eyes gazing at me intensely. "Absolutely not. He is a traitor."

"He tried to kill the person who killed his mate!" I defended him in exasperation. "Anyone would have done what he did!"

"He tried to kill a Luna, Onyx!" Thane's voice was sharp, making me flinch. "Do you realize how serious of a crime that is? Regardless of his reasoning, he committed an act of war against Blood Lake. By allowing him to live, I committed an act of war against Blood Lake."

"That's not fair!" I cry out. "Ares can't just go around killing whoever she wants and then declaring war on those who seek retribution! How can you not see how wrong that is?"

"It's not my job to determine the morality behind Ares' actions," Thane hisses. "If I release Greyson, they will declare war on Blue Moon. I will not put the lives of my pack members in jeopardy for a rogue, no matter what he is to you."

"If you hate rogues so much, you never should have taken me," I snarl. "You could have left me alone. I never wanted this, any of this."

Thane looks like a wounded puppy as his eyes soften. "You don't mean that, Onyx. We're mates. We are meant to be together."

"No mate of mine would keep the most important person in my life locked up until the end of time," I say.

"You are lucky I didn't let the Blood Luna kill him that night," Thane growls. "l cannot believe how ungrateful you are being. I have put the future of my pack at risk my straining my relation with Blood Lake. They have been our allies since the dawn of time."

"They are tyrannical!" I shout. "You let them terrorize innocent people in the name of peace! It is a gross abuse of power, and it will never end."

"We are wolves, Onyx!" Thane shouts back, and I cower, having never been yelled at by him before. "We kill. It is what we do. You have no understanding of our kind." Thane turns his back on me, taking a step towards the pack house.

"Would it even matter to you if I told you that she killed his mate when she was with pup?" I ask quietly, and he pauses for a moment, and I know he heard me.

He didn't say a word as he went into the pack house, telling me everything I need to know about my mate.

Hi Readers! A few things:

1. MY PATREON HAS OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED!!!!! The link is: www.patreon.com/vviticus

Just a reminder: You do NOT have to subscribe to my Patreon to read my works. I will still be posting on Wattpad, so no worries if you choose not to! Still love you all the same.

However, if you are interested in supporting my Patreon, you can go to the link to check out the prices for the tiers and their corresponding benefits.

Right now, if you subscribe to my Patreon, you will be able to read Chapter 33 of Lethal *Gasp* and find out what happens after Ares' dream (or nightmare- whatever you call it ;)) My patreon will always be a few chapters ahead of Lethal and ONYX, so subscribe to read them sooner rather than later.

Also, for those in the second two tiers, you will be able to read an excerpt from a novel I am working on, one that will not be coming to Wattpad for a few months, until ONYX and Lethal are finished. Hint: It's not your mother's typical fairytale.

2. Thank you to everyone for your support! I always enjoy reading your hilarious comments and kind words. I hope you all are staying safe and healthy, and enjoyed the chapter.

XX

VVITICUS